AUDITOR GENERAL

Council revisits thorny issue

It was the fourth meeting of the new city council last Monday and — bam! — the thorny and protracted debate over an auditor general was back, raised by a rookie councillor, no less. They’ve already debated cannabis stores and fluoridating water. Now this.

“Talk about getting thrown into the fire,” laughed Coun. Jim Morrison, who requested a report on hiring an auditor general. This debate has dogged three councils, spewing misconceptions, polarizing politicians and undercutting public trust. This council needs to get this right, finally.

The first thing it needs to do is clarify what an auditor general does and how that differs from council’s auditor, Pricewater house Coopers. PwC has conducted 38 audits for the city, from employee purchasing cards to cyber-security and managing the city’s infrastructure. It also administers a hotline for employees and the public and has investigated alleged fraud. PwC’s audits look for adequate controls to limit the risk of mismanagement. It has made more than 200 recommendations. For example, it told council that it needs more oversight over who uses purchasing cards and what they buy with them.

That’s valuable, but there should be more, says Coun. Irek Kusmierczyk.

He wants value-for-money audits, like Ontario’s auditor general does, that look for efficiency and savings.

“We spend about $22 million to $23 million on roads every year,” he said. “Are they falling apart or are they withstanding the test of time? That’s something Ontario’s auditor general looked at, and it raised some significant questions.”

Council can ask PwC for valuefor-money audits or deeper dives. It hasn’t, said Mayor Drew Dilkens.

“Not a single member of council has ever asked for a deeper dive,” he said, an assertion sure to raise eyebrows.

They’re “generally satisfied” with the audits, he said. While auditor generals quantify savings from recommended efficiencies, the city has never quantified the savings from PwC’s recommendations. Because the recommendations focus on limiting risk, it would be speculation, said city CAO Onorio Colucci. “Which of the cities that did value-for-money audits had eight years without tax increases?” he said. “We didn’t contract out garbage collection because an auditor asked us to but because there were efficiencies.” Windsor has been “maniacal” about efficiency and saving money, Colucci said, citing new, combined power and heat generation at the aquatic centre expected to save $500,000 a year and new street lights that cost $15 million but were estimated to save $30 million in electricity and maintenance costs over 15 years.

An AG won’t banish all the alleged monsters at city hall, but when it comes to analyzing spending, they also have three fundamental advantages. They are independent, have unfettered access to information and can subpoena witnesses to testify under oath. And that authority is entrenched in Ontario’s Municipal Act.

PwC, under its current contract, has none of the above. Council can change what PwC audits, but it’s never done that, said Colucci. It approves PwC’s proposed audits at public meetings, in front of residents and the media (many of whom don’t understand them). Councillors regularly ask PwC if it has been denied information. It says no. As for subpoenas, “that’s so unimportant,” said Dilkens, saying if it came to that, police would be called.

So Windsor has a “de facto” AG, reasoned Colucci.

The city has fired one auditor for incompetence, one for fraud and hired another who “thought he was at the right hand of God,” Dilkens complained. Maybe that says more about the candidates we’re able to attract, our hiring practices or, in the last case, our attitude toward auditor generals. Dilkens doesn’t want another “empire” — a whole new office with salaries and benefits. Morrison doesn’t, either. He’s a retired banker. There are other ways to do this—hire an AG who oversees the work by a firm like PwC. So do you want accountability with “de facto” power or legislated power? The city has an $826-million operating budget. Legislated power sets a compelling tone.

And after 13 years, “de facto” won’t settle this.

“The public wants more assurance,” said Morrison. That’s the second thing council needs to do — listen. That will determine how much confidence voters have in their new council. The mayoral candidate who campaigned for an AG lost, Dilkens said, referring to Matt Marchand. But at least six councillors — the majority — support an AG, and three of them garnered the strongest election mandates, sweeping 70 per cent of the votes in their wards. Three who opposed an AG last term lost re-election, replaced by three who support one.

The third test will be, can council debate this without whipped votes and polarization?

“As long as councillors do their homework, are open to the arguments their colleagues make and to what delegates say, it elevates the debate, which leads to a more informed decision,” said Kusmierczyk.

They did that in the debates on fluoride and cannabis stores. Were those votes anomalies or is this the new council?