IQALUIT - To the surprise of no one, two reviews of Nunavut government financial practices highlighted deep, long-term problems.

In the follow-up to her 2005 report on the Government of Nunavut's finances overall, Canada's auditor general Sheila Fraser said progress made by the government on recommendations to improve its financial management was "unsatisfactory," due mainly to a lack of qualified staff.

"Simply put, there are not enough qualified financial staff to properly carry out basic financial functions," the report states.

Departments are filling out their financial records late and/or incorrectly, spending money without approval from the legislative assembly and without adequate monitoring.

The end result is "... the quality of the government's financial information is still poor," she wrote.

In her report on the Department of Health and Social Services, Fraser identified problems including cost overruns, late bill payments to suppliers, budgets with no relation to actual costs, and not enough staff at the Department of Finance to collect money owed to Health and Social Services.

The report characterizes the department's record of paying its bills as "inaccurate, incomplete and untimely."

"There are significant delays in paying suppliers. In fact, several suppliers have put the department's credit on hold, which impedes operations," reads the report. "One pharmaceutical supplier has terminated its business relationship with the department. Other vendors will no longer supply the department unless paid in advance."

Staffing problems were a recurring theme of the report. Nunavut is chronically short of skilled accountants and the Department of Health and Social Services is no exception. In the past two years, about 35 per cent of positions in the department were unfilled.

The Department of Finance, which is responsible for collecting money owed to the Department of Health and Social Services, is also shortstaffed.

Among Fraser's recommendations were improved long-term planning, expanded training opportunities for staff and clearer policies and procedures.

The Department of Health and Social Services agreed with the auditor general's assessment and all her recommendations.

In his response to Fraser's opening comments to the legislative assembly, Health and Social Services deputy minister Alex Campbell said Fraser's findings "are not a surprise." He said improvements had already been made along those lines, such as a new computer system to track who owes the department money for medical travel.

"Air travel recoveries jumped from $3 million to $4.5 million during the fiscal year 2007/2008, a year which there were no significant increase in volumes of travel," he told the legislative assembly.

He also said the Health and Social Services and Finance departments were working together to "aggressively pursue" money owed.

Fraser anticipated the release of the review of the Department of Human Resources in 2010, where she will make recommendations based specifically around the GN's chronic problems of recruitment and retention of skilled personnel.