Latest news with #auditorGeneral
The Herald
a day ago
- Automotive
- The Herald
Transport department ‘weighing' extending validity of driving licences
'The tender was awarded in August and in September we handed our investigation report to the minister, who passed it on to the auditor-general. 'In March this year, the minister announced that the [auditor-general's] investigation confirmed irregularities, and said she would go to court to overturn the tender award. We are waiting for clarity on the contract process,' said Fick. The department's Collen Msibi has confirmed the ministry received the letter from Outa and it is 'being processed internally for the minister's attention'. 'T he driving licence card agency of the department is also conducting a study of the financial implications on the extension of the validity period of driving licence cards,' Msibi said, on Outa's recommendation for an extended validity period. 'Motorists can drive with an expired card for up to three months before being eligible to be fined, provided they can show proof they applied for a new card before their current card expires.' 'If the card had expired at the time of application for a replacement, they must apply for a temporary driver's licence and keep proof thereof in the vehicle. 'A temporary driver's licence is valid for six months, or until the new or replacement card is issued.'
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Work to clean up contaminated former gold mine site to begin this year
Social Sharing Work to clean up one of the more contaminated former gold mining sites in Nova Scotia is on track to begin later this year, while work at a second site could get underway in 2026. Donnie Burke, senior director of the environmental group with Build Nova Scotia, told reporters on Wednesday that engagement with the community about the work in Montague Gold Mines, near Dartmouth, is expected within days. The project should then go to tender next month. "I'm quite confident that you'll see boots on the ground and construction happening in Montague this year," he said. Burke spoke following an appearance at the legislature's public accounts committee to discuss an auditor general's report on contaminated sites. Plans for the work were announced in 2018. Burke said it's taken so long to get to this point in part because of the size of the property to be cleaned up. "Some of these are maybe a city block and some of them are seven city blocks. So it's like anything in construction — the bigger it is, the longer it takes," he said. A containment cell about half a hectare in size will be constructed to blend into the natural area, said Burke. It will have capping material to prevent leakage. The work is expected to take up to three years, followed by long-term monitoring. Burke noted that the sites in question are frequented by people who hike or use ATVs in the area. "Some of these tailings have, like, 14 or 16 per cent arsenic in the tailings, so we want to make sure it's contained, confined and managed in a proper way that's environmentally friendly both to human health and ecological health." A similar approach is being used at a former mine site in Goldenville, near Sherbrooke. The process will take about the same amount of time, said Burke, but is about a year behind the Montague effort due to preliminary work that involved private property. The site measures between 500 and 600 hectares in overall area impacted over time by the former mine operation, he said. "So we had to put boots on the ground and look at the whole site because tailings would have been just let go by gravity and carried by stream," he said. Burke said First Nation consultation is ongoing for a third site, the former celestite mine in Lake Enon, in Cape Breton. When that is complete, the project will move to tender. Because the site is smaller, he said construction should only take about a year. The province has identified 68 former mine sites to be remediated. Cost estimates evaluated each year The most recent update in government financial figures puts the liability for the cleanup of all known contaminated sites in the province at about $600 million, more than half of which is related to the work slated to happen at Boat Harbour. The figure for abandoned mine sites is about $148 million, with the majority of that — $64.5 million — reserved for Goldenville and Montague. For the remainder, the estimated cost for work at sites rated as high risk is $5 million each, the budget for medium-risk sites is $500,000 and low-risk sites are pegged at $250,000 per cleanup project. Officials at the committee told MLAs that the figures for cleanup of abandoned mine sites are reviewed and updated yearly. While some might not be remediated, there will be some work required to contain sites.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Automotive
- CTV News
Quebec corruption police raiding offices of auto insurance board
The Quebec anti corruption permanent unit logo is shown Wednesday, October 16, 2024 in Quebec City. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot QUÉBEC — Quebec's corruption police are searching the headquarters of the province's auto insurance board. The auto board has been mired in a scandal for nearly two years over the botched rollout of its new online platform. An auditor general report earlier this year revealed the government wound up paying a total of $1.1 billion for the platform, which was $500 million more than expected. The board is responsible for issuing and renewing driver's licences, administering road tests and the provincial no-fault insurance system. The scandal surrounding the online platform has also been the subject of an ongoing public inquiry. Corruption police are refusing to give details on what led to the search at the board's Quebec City offices. In a statement, the police force says that in general its officers conduct searches to obtain evidence to confirm or refute wrongdoing. Amid mounting pressure, Éric Caire was forced to step down in February as cybersecurity and digital technology minister. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025.
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Quebec's anti-corruption squad raids SAAQ headquarters
Social Sharing Quebec's anti-corruption squad is conducting a raid at the head office of the province's automobile insurance board in connection with its investigation into the SAAQclic fiasco. The investigative squad, known by its French acronym UPAC, has been investigating the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) since the end of February. The SAAQ's headquarters are located on Jean-Lesage Boulevard in Quebec City. On Wednesday morning. it confirmed operation was underway in a brief statement sent to Radio-Canada. UPAC said it won't provide any other information. "We won't go any further in order to not compromise the collection of information, protect the integrity of the evidence as well as the safety and reputation of the people who could may be involved," the statement reads. In 2023, the automobile insurance board rolled out its online platform, SAAQclic. The rollout of the new service was chaotic and sparked a customer crisis. It also led to a report by the auditor general, which revealed that the SAAQclic project was $500 million over budget. Since April, the issues with the SAAQclic rollout have been the subject of a public inquiry. According to Radio-Canada sources, about 20 UPAC officers took part in Wednesday's operation. In a brief statement of its own on Wednesday, the SAAQ said that it was "fully co-operating" with UPAC's ongoing investigation.
The Guardian
12-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
NSW government failing to measure or reduce gambling harm, damning audit finds
The New South Wales government has not set targets to reduce the harm caused by about 90,000 poker machines in the state and does not know if it is protecting people, according to a damning audit. The state's auditor general has also said the NSW government is doing 'relatively little' to assess whether pubs and clubs are identifying and preventing gambling harm at their venues. The report assesses government conduct from 2019 to mid-2024 across Labor and Coalition governments, but is likely to add to political pressure on the Minns government. Last week, a leading charity accused it of not doing enough to prevent serious harm caused by pokies. The Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport's 'strategy for regulating gaming machines is not based on a clear understanding of current levels of gambling harm and it does not set any targets for reducing harm associated with gaming machines,' the audit report said. 'The department does not have benchmarks, targets or other performance measures in place to assess outcomes against key measures of harm minimisation. 'There have been no evaluations of its compliance programs to measure their impact on harm minimisation outcomes. As a result, the department does not know whether its regulatory strategy is effective in minimising gambling harm.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The audit report said gambling harm appears to have increased despite the government's efforts. 'Calls to the GambleAware helpline increased by 8.5% in 2023–24 and gaming machine losses have increased in each of the last three years,' the report said. 'The results of the 2024 NSW Gambling Survey did not indicate a reduction in the level of gambling harm in NSW.' The report confirmed revenue from gambling taxes would increase from $2.47bn this financial year to $2.91bn in 2027-28. 'The forecast increase in gaming machine profits is due to expected increases in the use of gaming machines,' the report said. The chair of the state's independent liquor and gaming authority, Caroline Lamb, supported all recommendations from the audit. 'We propose to take a more structured approach to stakeholder engagement and acknowledge our responsibility, in conjunction with hospitality and racing, to ensure licensees meet their statutory obligations,' Lamb said. The state's gaming minister, David Harris, said the government 'takes harm minimisation seriously and has implemented a number of initiatives'. These initiatives include reducing the cash limit on new machines from $5,000 to $500, banning external signage at venues, putting more responsible gaming officers in venues and investing $100m in a gambling harm minimisation fund. But Wesley Mission's chief executive, Stu Cameron, believes these 'limited reforms' are 'clearly not having an impact'. 'While we didn't need an audit to know the system is broken, as frontline services have been saying this for years, now it is in black and white: the NSW government has done next to nothing to reduce gambling harm while clubs and hotels pocket billions.' In November last year, an independent panel advising the government on gambling reform wrote a 'roadmap' for overhauling the state's regulation of poker machines and limiting harm. The Minns government is yet to formally respond to the report's recommendations, which were contested by some panel members. Labor had promised to force poker machines to be made cashless by 2028, but a pilot of a gaming scheme attracted only 32 participants. The project was subsequently criticised by the Australian Hotels Association – whose members operate poker machines – which questioned the evidence base for further action. 'The research findings of the cashless gaming trial are embarrassing and not credible,' an AHA spokesperson said after preliminary results of the trial were released. ClubsNSW said the cashless gaming trial had a 'significantly low uptake' and said calls for it to become mandatory were based on 'no economic modelling' about its potential impacts. 'With only 14 genuine and active users participating in the trial, such a low adoption should necessitate a cautious, measured, voluntary approach to implementation of account-based gaming, rather than a short timeframe for a statewide, mandatory rollout,' ClubsNSW said in December last year. The shadow minister for gaming, Kevin Anderson, said 'gambling losses continue to skyrocket in NSW while the independent panel's report gathers dust on the desks of the premier and minister'. 'The Minns government must urgently respond to the recommendations in that report to give the community and the industry certainty of the path forward.' In Australia, Gambling Help online is available on 1800 858 858. The National Debt helpline is at 1800 007 007.
