AG able to launch probes independent of council
Council endorsed a charter for its new auditor general Monday, giving Christopher O’connor the power to freely investigate any financial irregularities he finds troubling at city hall.
“With this, you’re giving me the power to not wait,” O’connor, a partner with the city’s current auditor, Pricewaterhousecoopers, told councillors who were worried about possible delays for O’connor to get the OK to start investigating. But under the new scenario — long sought by some critics of council — the AG doesn’t need a council OK. He makes the call to investigate anything he warrants needs a financial going-over, putting aside scheduled auditing work. The only say council has is to approve spending extra money so both the new investigation and the scheduled one can happen at the same time.
“If he feels something is wrong, you are empowering him (now) to undertake an investigation into the area where the red flags popped up,” Mayor Drew Dilkens told councillors.
The AG became an issue in the 2018 mayor’s race, with challenger Matt Marchand promising to hire one within 100 days of taking office and Dilkens defending the merits of the existing system involving outside auditors.
At a meeting in September, delegates demanded an AG and spoke of previous controversial council decisions they believed deserved more scrutiny, such as construction of a massive hangar at the airport; $750,000 to rebuild a century-old trolley car; $3 million for Jackson Park holiday lighting; construction of Adventure Bay; the $50,000 annual sponsorship of the Detroit Grand Prix; and funding to host the FINA world swimming championships.
Dilkens voted in favour of an AG at that September meeting, because he said a new idea for a hybrid model — in which the role of the AG would be contracted to an outside firm instead of being a city employee — wouldn’t cost anything extra. The current auditing firm proposed it could provide an AG — O’connor — at no extra cost beyond what the city was already paying, about $300,000 annually. Council agreed and Monday night approved extending the Pricewaterhousecoopers contract an extra five years, to 2025.
The mayor described the charter as “striking the perfect balance.”
The charter “defines the purpose of the AG and outlines the scope, roles, responsibility and authority of the AG,” an administrative report says. The AG will have the authority to actually stop or postpone a city project if he wants time to investigate. And he’s entitled to access to all books, accounts, financial records, electronic data, reports, files — basically all records — belonging to the City of Windsor, it’s local boards, municipally-controlled corporations and even grant recipients.
He’s required to be objective and independent.
“In order to ensure maintenance of his independence and objectivity, the AG will remain free from interference by any element in the City of Windsor, including matters of audit scope, procedures, frequency, timing or report content,” the report says.
Ward 10 Coun. Jim Morrison, who made the push for an AG last year after 11 years of acrimonious debate, said his biggest requirement for an AG was always independence.
“This is an independent auditor general we all have wanted,” he said. “It’s mentioned in the charter many, many times.”
Speaking to O’connor, he said: “I want you to be truly independent and ... I know the people on this council and I know there would be no interference.”
But he wants to make sure independence is ensconced in the AG job in the years to come.
Proponents of an outsourced AG said it will give the city access to all the expertise of a big international accounting firm, while providing a legislative guarantee of independent, free and unfettered access to all city records.
But on Monday, Howard Weeks, a Windsor resident who had made it a personal mission to push for an AG during the 2018 municipal election, asked council to postpone passing the charter. Last year, he told council an independent AG would give people the security to sleep well at night, knowing their taxes were being well spent.
“We have waited five months to see this charter, there’s no reason why more time cannot be taken to have a robust discussion in which possible changes can be considered,” he said Monday, asking multiple questions about the charter.
Ward 9 Coun. Kieran Mckenzie was the only councillor to vote against the charter. He said he doesn’t believe it provides the AG with true independence because he’s still under the control of council.
“I loved 95 per cent of what I see in this charter, but this is fundamentally a deal-breaker for me,” he said.
Ward 6 Coun. Jo-anne Gignac made it clear she was happy with Pricewaterhousecoopers’ auditing services up to now. Over the eight years it has been the city’s auditor, Pricewaterhousecoopers has made 238 recommendations to tighten up the city hall operation financially, 198 of which have been carried out.
“It’s made a big difference at the corporation here,” she said. “But obviously, the public has always said, ‘We want an auditor general.’ ”
She said she believes this new arrangement will lead to the public having more confidence in what’s going on at city hall.
“And that’s why I support this motion.”