Auditor general slams Bluenose II restoration

Nova Scotia’s auditor general says the decision to hand the job to a department with little experience managing construction projects is to blame for delays and cost overruns plaguing the restoration of the Bluenose II.

Auditor general Michael Pickup says he is baffled that the work was overseen the Heritage Department, saying its supervision was undermined by a lack of planning and weak management.

“Nobody has been able to provide me a good answer as to why this government was given the lead,” he said.

To this day, he says everybody in the government is left scratching their heads as to why the department was in charge.

The report contains two recommendations. Pickup says they boil down to: “have the right people looking after big projects,” and “make sure you follow a thorough project management approach to managing capital projects.”

When restoration work on the replica of the famous schooner was announced in 2009, it was estimated to cost 14.4 million dollars.

But Pickup says that has grown to 20 million dollars, with four million to five million on top of that in dispute.

“I’m disappointed that the people overseeing a $15, $20 million — frankly even if it was $5 million — expenditure, are not following these basic principles of good management,” he said.

Pickup’s report on the project points to the installation of a steel rudder as required by an American safety classification agency as a major factor in the delays and added costs of the restoration.