The most recent report from Saskatchewan's Provincial Auditor dishes out disheartening details about an estimated $1 million defrauded from the Department of Community Resources, and raises a brand new flag.

Earlier this year taxpayers learned the Department of Community Resources and Employment (DCRE) had terminated an employee and called in the police to investigate "financial irregularities" at the department. We now know that a high-level manager created 16 imaginary welfare clients over 12 years and proceeded to write and cash 917 cheques worth more than a million dollars.

On average, the manager supplemented her income by between $90,000 and $100,000 per year. The Auditor was unable to establish the identity of the alleged clients, and found that most of the addresses listed in the client files were bogus. The report notes that that the phony payments were very regular, averaging about 8 cheques per month.

While a $1 million scam is offensive to all taxpayers, this case is not an indictment of all civil servants; in fact it's exactly the opposite. 99.99 per cent of all government workers are law-abiding and dedicated employees. The fact that more people haven't abused this sloppy government system is proof of that.

Making matters worse, the Provincial Auditor has been raising alarm bells about welfare payments for a number of years:

2000: "We found that the Department did not adequately follow its established rules and procedures to ensure that only eligible persons received the correct amount of assistance"

2002: "-because the Department did not adequately follow its rules and procedures, it did not know that only eligible clients received assistance in the correct amount."

2004: "We expect the Department to identify the data it must collect about welfare recipients."

2005: "We recommend that the Department of Community Resources and Employment train its employees to help establish a culture of fraud awareness."

Since the 1999/2000 budget year, after which the Auditor first raised the issue, the fraud artist stole $573,284 - money that was intended for welfare recipients.

The problem lies with the leadership in the department. You would think that after such a significant malfeasance scandal many department officials were called on to the carpet and dismissed for their failure to implement proper business controls, but that has not happened. To our knowledge, not a single bureaucrat aside from the fraud artist herself has been fired. Taxpayers deserve more accountability from both elected officials and civil servants, and the Provincial Auditor deserves more respect.

In the latest report, the Auditor raised a new flag around how the First Nations Trust spends our money. As part of a 2002 agreement, the government pays money to a First Nations Trust, as well four Community Development Corporations (CDCs) - Painted Hand, Bear Claw, Gold Eagle, and Northern Lights. This money is intended to be spent on community development initiatives in First Nation communities.

Last year the government provided the Trust and the CDCs with $38 million. It appears that the Trust and the CDCs are not providing the documentation to the province that is required under the law. The Auditor puts it succinctly in his report: "Because of the deficiencies noted, the Department does not know if the Trust and all the CDCs spent public money as the law intended."

Alright folks, consider this your first warning. Here is the Provincial Auditor's official recommendation for all to see:

"We recommend that the Department of First Nations and Métis Relations follow all of its processes to ensure the First Nations Trust properly protects public money and spends it as required by law."

It's up to all of us to ensure this recommendation is accepted and the department delivers.