Nova Scotia’s Finance Department says over-budget spending needed to act swiftly

The executive deputy minister of Nova Scotia’s Finance Department has defended the government’s over-budget spending in light of criticism from the auditor general and the opposition.

Kellian Dean told a public accounts committee that the government needs flexibility to respond to people’s needs.

Since the 2020-21 fiscal year, Premier Tim Houston’s government has spent more than $6.7 billion outside the budget process — spending that wasn’t first authorized by a majority vote in the legislature.

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Auditor general Kim Adair recommended last month that Nova Scotia law be amended to require that the legislature authorize all spending that isn’t included in the budget.

However, Dean says the government does not accept Adair’s recommendation, saying the province provides a breakdown of its finances through quarterly updates.

Adair and opposition parties have criticized the Progressive Conservatives for their billions of dollars in unbudgeted expenditures, saying that kind of spending lacks accountability.

2:26 N.S. auditor repeats call for more oversight of government spending outside budget