It has become an annual Christmas-time tradition that taxpayers would rather do without. For years, around this time of year, Provincial Auditor Fred Wendel has released the final volume of his report on the province's finances that, without exception, outline more waste and mismanagement at the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA).

It's hard to forget, try as we may, the famous exploits of wannabe tycoon, former SIGA CEO Dutch Lerat. He was fired after Wendel's office discovered Lerat had improperly spent $800,000 on a rock star lifestyle that included elaborate vacations and flights on a Concorde jet. From 1998 to 2000, Lerat withdrew $152,000 in cash from his SIGA debit card and charged another $239,000 to the debit and credit cards for personal expenses. Lerat racked up $30,000 a month in expenses while driving three company cars - a Cadillac Escalade, Toyota 4 Runner and a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The money spent by Lerat has not been recouped by SIGA. It's difficult to understand how Lerat sleeps at night, knowing that he piddled away hundreds of thousands of dollars that were supposed to help on-reserve natives.

After dropping the Lerat bombshell in 2000, Wendel's team again found serious problems at SIGA in 2001, and showed that SIGA still hadn't implemented changes recommended in the 2000 report. Wendel notes that SIGA didn't even have a business plan by the end of March, 2001.

SIGA was again lambasted in Wendel's 2002 report for "improper use of public money." He found that $550,000 in payments made to the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) and to Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Licensing (SIGL) was not authorized under the 1995 Casino Operating Agreement.

Wendel summed it up best when he wrote "[as] a result, SIGA has reduced profits available for distribution to the First Nations Fund, community development corporations, and the General Revenue Fund of the government."

In 2003 Wendel wrote up SIGA for, among other things, $446,000 spent to promote and win approval for a casino in Saskatoon despite the fact that the Framework Agreement with the FSIN clearly states that government will not spend public money to promote a casino.

The 2004 report found that $480,000 in staff travel, promotion and sponsorship was unjustifiable.

Wendel says SIGA made countless "unreasonable" expenditures: $95,000 for golf fees and merchandise, $20,000 for golf clubs for a former general manager and other staff members, and $81,000 for leather jackets, fleeces and t-shirts. SIGA purchased 3,500 tickets for concerts, sporting events and fundraisers for a grand to total of $112,000 including food and beverages at those events. They also spent $100,000 on sponsorships that did not comply with policy. In many instances, sponsorship recipients didn't even have to fill out an application form.

While SIGA's recent indiscretions pale in comparison to Dutch Lerat's era of nauseating excess on the backs of native communities and taxpayers, it's clear that SIGA is still a country club for a few individuals privileged enough to obtain employment there. And under the surface lurks a serious indictment of our provincial government for their tacit approval of SIGA antics, for they have mostly turned a blind eye to the blatant waste and mismanagement, and even granted them a license to build their biggest casino yet.

Of the 26 recommendations for improvement made by the Provincial Auditor since 2000, only 12 have been implemented. Stay tuned next Christmas for more tales of SIGA excess.