NDP orders quick probe into Hydro

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Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk says the special audit into the whistleblower’s complaints will be done quickly. (BRUCE BUMSTEAD / BRANDON SUN ARCHIVES)

The Selinger government has asked Manitoba's auditor general to speed up an investigation into allegations that Manitoba Hydro lost $1.1 billion in the last several years and might face blackouts.

It's the latest twist in a messy, year-long saga that raises questions about the provinces' whistleblower process.

Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen said the move was little more than "damage control."

But Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk, who is also responsible for Manitoba Hydro, said Wednesday she wants answers to serious allegations raised by a whistleblower.

"We want those all cleared up and we want it done quickly," Wowchuk said.

Auditor General Carol Bellringer was already doing a regular audit of Hydro's risk management announced in August when she released her to-do list for the year.

It was prompted by the original whistleblower complaint.

Wowchuk has asked for a special audit, which is faster and often comes with specific questions the government wants answered. Wowchuk wants it completed in a few months.

To head off criticism that Bellringer's past ties to Manitoba Hydro put her in a conflict of interest, the province has asked her to bring in outside expertise to help with the highly technical audit.

McFadyen said he took little comfort in that, since outside auditors will still be reporting through Bellringer, who used to serve on Hydro's board and chaired its finance committee.

"This is not even a perceived conflict," McFadyen said. "It is a conflict. It's clear as day."

Wowchuk said Bellringer is a "highly credible" professional who would recuse herself if she thought it was the right thing to do.

The audit will look at the specifics of the consultant's complaint as well as how Hydro handled her concerns and her contract.

The consultant was fired abruptly more than a year ago.

The province's new whistleblower legislation, developed by Premier Greg Selinger when he was finance minister, protects employees and contractors from retribution if they expose gross mismanagement, criminal activity or threats to public safety.

It had its genesis in the firing of former Workers' Compensation Board CEO Pat Jacobsen, who complained about the board and was promptly terminated.

It has been nearly a year since the Hydro whistleblower, a New-York based risk-management consultant, filed dozens of pages of documents with the Manitoba ombudsman.

She detailed a litany of concerns, including the possible future bankruptcy of Manitoba Hydro, $1.1 billion in mismanaged funds and fears of blackouts.

After several months, the complaint landed on Bellringer's desk.

The whistleblower said she never imagined the complaint would take so long to work its way through the system. She said it would take just two days to validate her findings and determine her complaint has merit.

"There has been an inordinate amount of delays and to date, not one regulator has talked to me about the facts," the consultant said.

"It appears in this province there is no time limit to get matters resolved."

She spoke to the Free Press earlier this week on condition of anonymity, fearing her business interests would be damaged if she were identified.

The United States has a plethora of state and federal whistleblower legislation and similar complaints tend to be investigated more quickly.

Federal whistleblower rules give the Office of Special Counsel nine months to investigate a complaint.

McFadyen said there is also some provision for public reporting so citizens have a sense of what the complaint was and what the investigation found.

Long delays give government departments or Crown corporations time to manage an issue and present their own spin to the public, he said.

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca

Under review

The serious concerns raised by the whistleblower have been passed around no fewer than five oversight agencies in the last year or so.

Manitoba Hydro board:

Hydro CEO Bob Brennan says he presented the whistle­blower's initial risk reports to the board to get direction, and the whistleblower wrote a letter about 50 pages long to chairman Vic Schroeder in the summer.

Crown Corporations Council:

The watchdog CCC, which keeps and eye on Hydro's capital and long-term plans, heard the most serious of the whistleblower's concerns in 2008. The CCC can only determine whether legislation or policies have been violated, and it found no violations.

Manitoba ombudsman:

The first stop for many whistleblower complaints, the Hydro information arrived at the ombudsman's office in last December but was handed to the auditor gen­eral's office.

Manitoba auditor general:

Carol Bellringer received the whistleblower's information in March and said in August she would spend the next 18 months doing an audit of Hydro's risk management.

On Wednesday, the Selinger government asked Bellringer to make the audit one of her top priorities.

Public Utilities Board:

The group, which sets Hydro's rates, might be the unlikely venue where some of the whistleblower's concerns get aired. She recently filed between 300 and 500 pages of information with the PUB, which has guaranteed that her name and company will be kept confidential. It's still not clear what the PUB will do with the information and when. Will it table it as evidence? Will it convene a special hearing on it? Or will it decide the allegations have no merit?

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 22, 2009 A4