Watchdog finds no fault after looking into ‘Christmas miracle’
The city ’s integrity commissioner has found no wrongdoing after investigating a complaint from Coun. Catherine McKenney involving the budget review board.
In a report released Friday, integrity commissioner Robert Marleau says he has no jurisdiction over the budget review board as the city ’s meetings investigator. He’s also satisfied with the reasoning provided by Coun. Allan Hubley, whose comments about 2017 budget projections during a CFRA interview raised concerns for McKenney.
McKenney filed the complaint in January, wondering how much some councillors knew about the big 2017 surplus reported to council just before members voted on the 2018 budget in December. The $10-million “Christmas miracle” was a surprise to most council members, but McKenney questioned if there was information exchanged during a previous budget review board meeting that brought up an expected 2017 surplus.
“Over the course of the inquiry, it became evident that Coun. Hubley ’s public statements did not accurately reflect the activities of the budget review board,” Marleau writes in his report.
Added Marleau: “The councillor also explained that the words: ‘we knew we were tracking into the plus and well into the plus,’ pertained only to his own and individual judgment and prediction.”