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Official disputes claim that fire inspections weren’t done

Jan. 11, 2011, Halifax – The Nova Scotia government is challenging the auditor general's assertion that public safety had been compromised for years because fire inspections weren't being carried out at many buildings, including schools and hospitals.

The Labour Department's acting deputy minister told a legislative committee today that the inspections were being done, but they weren't being recorded.

Jeff Conrad says six of the 25 recommendations in auditor general Jacques Lapointe's report last May have been dealt with.

He says it will take up to two years to respond to the rest of the recommendations.

Conrad says the government has completed a database of all the buildings in the province and it has spent more than $330,000 in the past year improving staffing levels at the Fire Marshal's Office.

Conservative critic Alan MacMaster says the government is dragging its feet, noting that it has yet to appoint a new fire marshal more than a year after the last one retired.