Municipal Affairs Minister Rick McIver has released details on Conclusions of an independent third-party investigation of ‘Chestermere City’S Finance.
Investigation ordered The minister fired Mayor Jeff Cowin and councilors Mel Foyt, Stephen Hanley and Blaine Funk last December following complaints by the province about financial irregularities and council dysfunction.
In January, Minister MacIver appointed Deloitte Canada to conduct a financial audit, the results of which were released by the Minister. A press conference in Calgary on Friday Afternoon.
McIver says Deloitte’s inspection found significant deficiencies in the city’s financial management and found that Chestermere’s finances were handled in irregular, improper and inappropriate ways between October 18, 2021 – the date of the last municipal election – and December 4, 2023. Was managed from. M = The mayor and councilors were dismissed.
The email you need for the day
Top news from Canada and around the world.
“It was certainly a strong and thorough inspection,” McIver said. “The report identifies gaps in processes and financial controls, as well as recent examples during the period of this review of how finances were not managed in compliance with the Municipal Government Act.”
During the press conference, McIver highlighted three examples from the report:
- The city did not have appropriate tools or procedures in place to log transactions or protect the data;
- The inspector examined 565 council expenses incurred by the mayor and councilors and found that 1 of them was submitted with full documentation and review approval in accordance with city policy; And
- Regarding financial administration, the report notes instances where the council and administration incurred costs without passing a resolution or bylaws or including those expenditures in the city budget.
“Many of these instances were directly related to the former mayor assuming power, functions or duties conferred on the chief administrative officer, which is specifically prohibited under the Municipal Government Act,” McIver said.
MacIver says he released the report after accepting it two binding instructions to the city:
- The Council and the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) must review all of the recommendations in the inspection report and provide a report to the Minister on the City’s plan to address each recommendation in the inspection report, or provide an explanation on why action is being taken. Has not been done or will not be done. For any personal recommendations. The report will be discussed in open session of the Council and approved by Council resolution after the restoration of the Council quorum.
- The CAO must provide printed copies of the inspection report to the public upon request and post the inspection report on the City’s website until all instructions have been completed to the satisfaction of the Minister.
“It is clear from this report that there was a lack of appropriate checks and balances to protect the public interest,” McIver said. “It checks and balances what citizens want from their government in the management of their tax dollars.”
McIver says he will write a letter to all Chestermere residents encouraging them to read the full report available Government of Alberta – Online at Chestermere,
McIver says he also hopes the City of Chestermere will soon announce a by-election to fill the vacant council seats.
“This has been an unfortunate chapter in the history of Chestermere,” McIver said. “It’s almost time to turn the page.”
©2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.