OTTAWA - Funding delays of more than a year plagued two major Canada humanitarian assistance projects in Syria, while the military's water purification system didn't measure up during last year's typhoon in the Philippines.
So says auditor general Michael Ferguson in his latest report, which explores, among other things, how well the federal government has been responding to humanitarian crises around the world.
The audit focused mainly on the Foreign Affairs Department, but included an assessment of how the Canadian Forces responded to Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, which left 6,300 dead and forced more than four million people from their homes.
The report examined 42 Foreign Affairs projects totalling $172 million in response to eight global crises between April 2011 and the December 2013, including African drought and famine, floods in Pakistan and Central America, an earthquake in Guatemala and Hurricane Sandy.
The audit examined how Foreign Affairs funds specific projects in response to emergency appeals from the United Nations, the International Red Cross and non-governmental agencies.
The audit found "varying degrees of clarity" in department documents on how it decides to fund humanitarian aid projects.
