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This article was published 11/2/2020 (219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s mayor wants annual audits of councillor expenses to continue, despite one council committee’s vote to eliminate them.

On Tuesday, council’s executive policy committee voted to have the governance committee reconsider its call to end those internal audits for councillors’ ward allowances.

Mayor Brian Bowman said he wants to maintain those audits, as well as similar reviews of his own office’s spending.

"It’s just part of the checks and balances we’ve put in place here to make sure there’s additional transparency and accountability … I think it’s a useful safeguard for taxpayers," said Bowman.

A group of local government auditors recommended that Winnipeg end the mayor and councillor audits, over concerns the city’s internal auditors weren’t independent from the elected officials they were scrutinizing, according to a public service report.

"This means that there is a structural threat to independence when the audit department is within the reporting structure of an area under audit," city auditor Bryan Mansky writes in the report.

The report argues Winnipeg would remain quite transparent about elected officials’ expenses even without the audits, since the claims are routinely reported online.

Mansky notes the city could spend between $50,000 and $100,000 per year to hire an external auditor to conduct the audits instead.

The governance committee didn’t recommend that idea but Bowman said he would consider paying for external audits.

"It is an additional cost but there’s costs when you don’t have the checks and balances in place," he said.

In an email, Coun. Devi Sharma (Old Kildonan), chair of the governance committee, said she supported the call to end the audits because Winnipeg has several other measures to scrutinize council members’ spending.

"We have many safeguards in place where expenditures are reviewed … City clerks and corporate finance review all expenses prior to processing. There is (a) high level of oversight and transparency with expenses being posted monthly online for public viewing," she wrote.

In interviews, both Sharma and Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) questioned whether the city should fund an external auditor to review council members’ expenses.

"We had … 44 murders in this city last year, we’ve got all sorts of important issues to debate. I don’t think my parking receipts are top of mind for people, at least in my ward," said Mayes.

A taxpayers’ watchdog, however, said the city would be wise to invest in the external audits.

"Ultimately, accountability saves money. When the people spending taxpayers’ money know there’s going to be watchdogs watching, they spend less money," said Todd MacKay, prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

MacKay also stressed that ensuring proper claims for even minor taxpayer-funded expenses does matter.

"When you’re looking at the mayor’s $40 Timmy’s bill that may seem insignificant. But when you take care of the little things, that’s one of the best ways to make sure the big things take care of themselves," said MacKay.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca