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In an interview this week, STF President Pat Maze said the audit — the first in his five years as president — was expected to cost $55,000, but ultimately cost the federation upwards of $120,000 due to “roadblocks” related to missing documentation.

He characterized the report’s findings as “sloppy accounting.”

While the STF gives its local associations as much autonomy as possible, it “takes very seriously” any issue related to its members’ dues to ensure they have confidence that money is spent appropriately and “controls” are in place, Maze said of the reason for the audit.

“Ultimately, we’re concerned about the reputational impact that this could have on teachers across the province. We want to make sure that members know that when they submit their dues, they are appropriately handled.”

The audit comes as the STF attempts to present a united front in its collective bargaining battle with the provincial government over wages and whether a mechanism for ensuring adequate classroom resources is included in its next contract.

The first section of the report concerns the two over budget conventions, which exceeded cost estimates without the knowledge of the STA’s executive committee.

In response, the STA said there were no executive meetings during the time the expenses were incurred, and that the budgets appear larger than they are because the 2017 and 2018 conventions occurred during a single fiscal year.

The report’s second section details McGettigan’s expenses; some refunded expenses do not appear to have been properly documented while others were submitted at different times and to different STA expense accounts.