Nunavut language authority lacks paperwork, says auditor

IUT chair Mary Thompson and executive director Jeela Palluq-Cloutier during a break in their standing committee appearance in November 2015. (FILE PHOTO)

Nunavut’s language authority, Inuit Uqausinginnik Taiguusiliuqtiit, has “minimal information” to validate what it pays people, according to a warning from its auditor, which was included in the organization’s 2015-16 annual report.

The report, tabled in Nunavut’s legislature Feb. 22, includes an audit of the organization’s finances for the 2015-16 fiscal year, compiled by Lester Landau Chartered Accountants.

“[IUT] has minimal information to substantiate honoraria payments. There is also no control or verification in the case of overpayment of honoraria,” Lester Landau said in a pair of recommendations attached to its audit.

It’s important to note that the auditor found no irregularities in the financial statements of IUT and that the language body produced financial statements deemed to be a fair representation of the organization’s annual accounts.

However, chartered accountant Debbie Lyng said in a letter included within IUT’s annual report that “during the course of our audit we identified matters that may be of interest to management.”

“An audit would not usually identify all such matters,” Lyng noted.

Lester Landau recommended that the Government of Nunavut provide “detailed payroll reports” for verification with IUT’s own records.

That’s because the payroll reports used in the audit only listed gross payments.

“As a result, there is a lack of supporting documentation for honoraria payments,” the auditor’s recommendations state.

No one at IUT was available to comment on the auditor’s report by our publication time.

Nunavut’s language authority has struggled to account for its activities in recent years.

During a standing committee hearing in 2015, IUT’s chair Mary Thompson admitted to a practice of internal favoritism within IUT’s office that left the organization struggling to maintain a roster of full-time employees.

That has caused ballooning casual wages for part-time workers picking up the slack, as was evident again in the organizations 2015-16 annual report. It says IUT paid $123,294 on casual labour last year—about $35,000 over-budget.

IUT spent about $30,000 below budget overall, for a yearly total spending of roughly $2.14 million.

But IUT’s standing committee appearance in 2015 prompted a series of recommendations submitted to the organization by MLAs, including more detailed reporting of its activities.

Culture and Heritage Minister George Kuksuk rose in Nunavut’s legislature, March 6, announcing that IUT is finalizing a series of five Inuktut Language Assessments—a long-standing project between the language authority and the Iqaluit-based Pirurvik Center.

The test is designed to gauge the fluency of different speakers of dialects of Inuktut in the workplace.

“In the coming weeks, between 50 to 60 people of all fluency levels will be tested to pilot the assessments and the final draft will be made available. These tests will help validate and improve the assessment tools,” Kuksuk said in his statement.