The city’s independent auditor general has requested a $2 million budget to run his office next year that includes hiring two people to investigate “whistle-blower” complaints lodged against the City of Vancouver.
Mike Macdonell will go before a city council committee Friday (Dec. 16) to make his case for the funds to pay for the new employees and eight others currently on staff at the office, which began operating in 2021.
Salaries total $1.6 million of the budget request, with the balance for contracted services, training and support costs, including software licences and phones.
Macdonell's budget request last year was $400,000 cheaper, largely because a full complement of staff hadn't been hired yet.
The request for two staff to investigate whistle-blower complaints comes after Macdonell pointed out in a report to city council in April that the city received 113 “whistle-blower” complaints in 2021.
But whether any were substantiated or led to action were not details provided to city council, which was supposed to receive a report on outcomes of the complaints. Macdonell was informed that no such report was prepared or presented.
“Because no summary report was produced, and I didn't review the supporting files, I can't tell you how many complaints were investigated or substantiated, or the outcomes of those investigations that were in fact conducted,” said Macdonell, whose office is independent of city management and does not take direction from council.
Vancouver Is Awesome asked the city's communications department in May for more detail on the nature of complaints and status of investigations, but was told in an email that "we’re not able to comment or disclose information about the complaints received."
Definition of 'whistle-blower'
A council-directed review of the whistle-blower policy was also supposed to be conducted by city staff by the end of October 2020, but it was not completed. The policy was revised in 2017 after being first approved in 2008.
The definition of a whistle-blower is generally understood to refer to an individual reporting information they believe reveals activities that are against policy, laws, ethics, safety standards or similar rules at the city.
In Vancouver, the city manager is responsible for overseeing the whistle-blower policy, with day-to-day responsibility delegated to the general manager of human resources. That is a gap Macdonell identified when comparing what’s in place in Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa.
Unlike those three cities, which have auditor generals and integrity commissioners to conduct independent investigations, Vancouver is seen as “an outlier” in having city management involved in handling of complaints, Macdonell said in his presentation to council earlier this year.
“I actually have no role other than to comply with the policy, meaning any whistle-blower reports I receive must be reported to human resources,” he said, emphasizing the need for a process where whistle-blowers have confidence “that legitimate concerns will be taken seriously.”
In April, a council committee comprised of Sarah Kirby-Yung, Michael Wiebe, Pete Fry and Colleen Hardwick unanimously agreed Macdonell and integrity commissioner Lisa Southern be delegated responsibilities for “intake, assessments and investigations” of complaints.
Southern will only deal with complaints involving elected officials.
Annual report expected in February
Macdonell is expected to release an annual report in February on the work of his office.
His office’s first audit — which examines the city’s building permit fees — is also expected in February, followed by the release in March of an audit on office furniture purchases.
Monitoring the Vancouver Police Department’s performance, investigating the effectiveness of the city’s cybersecurity program and a look at how the city is adapting to climate change are on Macdonell’s to-do list over the next three years.
Police Chief Adam Palmer told reporters in November that he welcomed the audit of his department, which is expected to begin early in the new year.
“We've had a preliminary meeting with [Mike Macdonell], and we're looking forward to the audit because anytime somebody comes in, we're going to open up the books, we're going to show them everything,” Palmer said.
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