Auditor: Canada disaster planning is poor

OTTAWA, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Canada's auditor general says the country's disaster and terror attack response planning is inadequate.

In a report presented to Parliament in Ottawa Tuesday, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said the key government department charged with designing responses was lagging, the Canwest News Service reported.

"We found that Public Safety Canada has not exercised the leadership necessary to coordinate emergency management activities," Fraser's report said.

After the report was presented, opposition Liberals attacked Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government for its handling of the H1N1 flu vaccination program that was hit with production delays last week. One point the Liberals raised was the decision to contract only one supplier, GlaxoSmithKline.

However, the 10-year contract was awarded by a previous Liberal government in 2001, the Globe and Mail said.

The auditor general's report didn't cover the handling of the outbreak originally called swine flu, as that falls under the scope of the Health Canada department.