91原创 City doesn鈥檛 seem to want anyone outside city hall to have any say in its doings.
In early July, City council snatched the initiative away from 91原创 Reunification Association, unilaterally stating it will not co-operate in any study on amalgamation 鈥� even though the association had just started to gather signatures on a petition, which simply asks each council to approve (and pay for) an objective study of the issue by a third party.
City council received a report from chief administrative officer Francis Cheung, stating why amalgamation was bad, and citing examples in other parts of Canada. The report was thorough, but clearly fed council exactly what it wanted to hear.
Now the City has come out against the concept of a municipal auditor-general. This idea has been floated by the provincial government, in order to provide an outside and independent look at municipal spending.
The City says its books are audited independently. This is true 鈥� however, this is the same type of audit that all companies, societies and governments must undertake each year. These audits do not recommend new ways of doing things, nor do they compare the way one municipality operates with another.
In fact, it is quite possible for auditors to miss gaping holes in financial management. They did not catch spending problems at 91原创 School District over several years, which has a $13 million deficit which must be made up over the next few years.
The federal auditor-general, in particular, has proven to be one of the few voices speaking up for taxpayers in Ottawa. Outgoing auditor-general Sheila Fraser was the first to blow the whistle on the sponsorship scandal which led to the Gomery inquiry, and also led to several individuals going to jail.
Fraser has often offered suggestions on how to do things better. If a municipal auditor-general was able to do the same thing, taxpayers might finally get a break from continuous four to five per cent tax increases at a time of economic turmoil.
Local governments are showing little inclination to reduce spending. In fact, the City is now talking about spending $600,000 on downtown signs.
The City does not have all the answers on either amalgamation or spending. City council and staff need to exhibit more open minds.
