Auditor general probes four municipalities

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This article was published 17/02/2023 (984 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba’s auditor general is looking into allegations involving four municipalities in an investigation that will also examine oversight from the provincial government.

Tyson Shtykalo’s investigation involves St. Andrews, Swan Valley West, West St. Paul and WestLake-Gladstone, his office announced in a brief news release Friday afternoon.

He also will look at municipal oversight in the province’s municipal relations department and how it handles complaints about municipalities.

Shtykalo will not provide additional information, including details about the allegations, until his “examinations” are complete and a public report is released, the news release said.

Last September, an order in council — a decision by the Manitoba government’s cabinet — asked the auditor general to examine and audit the operations and accounts of “various” municipalities.

WestLake-Gladstone was the only municipality named in the document.

On Friday, the auditor general’s news release confirmed the investigation would look at WestLake-Gladstone and three other municipalities based on the results of “preliminary procedures.”

September’s order in council said citizens had raised concerns about council governance, financial management, oversight and public accountability in some municipalities.

The finance department recommended a special audit, with the scope of the investigation to be determined by Shtykalo.

The order in council stated the probe may look into whether financial and administrative provisions of acts, regulations, policies and directives have been complied with, and whether the form and content of financial information documents, including municipal and provincial oversight, were adequate and suitable.

Daryl Shipman, who was elected mayor of WestLake-Gladstone in October, said the municipality last week received a letter about the investigation, but the auditor general did not disclose the allegations.

“It was a previous council, before I was elected. I’m pretty much in the dark,” he said.

In December 2019 and January 2020, an external cyberattack led to more than $470,000 being stolen from the municipality’s account with a credit union.

Shipman believes the auditor general’s investigation involves concerns unrelated to the cyberattack.

The Association of Manitoba Municipalities has not been given any details about the investigation beyond what has been publicly released, said president Kam Blight.

“We’re somewhat in the dark, just the same as everyone else,” he said.

Blight said the association looks forward to the report and would consider any initiatives that would help to strengthen municipal governance.

In Swan Valley West, Reeve Bill Gade said the current council wrote to the auditor general asking to be included in the investigation.

The decision, according to Gade, was based on concerns that came up during the previous council term.

The concerns relate to things such as tendering, governance and code of conduct, he said.

“I would love for the A.G. to find out nothing was wrong,” said Gade. “I’m hoping this leads to a little bit more oversight from the province. Up until now, there are rules, but nobody enforces them.”

Amid infighting in the previous term, then-councillor Gade was suspended by council. He recently survived a similar vote as reeve.

Infighting also was a theme in St. Andrews, where Mayor Joy Sul’s council colleagues used a bylaw to strip her of key responsibilities during the previous term.

She was re-elected last fall.

Sul and West St. Paul Mayor Peter Truijen, who was not on the previous council, could not be reached for comment.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching