Audit of Brampton council spending due out this week
Report prompted by lavish spending by Mayor Susan Fennell and her staff will examine how all members of council have spent taxpayers money

TheStar.com
Aug. 4, 2014
Gemma Karstens-Smith

An external forensic audit into the spending of Brampton’s mayor and councillors is set to be made public this week.

The audit is in its final stages and the report is almost done, but an external legal review will be completed before the report can be made public, the city’s chief administrative officer, John Corbett, said in an email sent last week.

“The report may contain information the city is under a statutory duty to protect and that could have legal implications if disclosed” without a review, he said.

It is expected the review will be completed in time for the report “to be placed on the council meeting agenda for Aug. 6,” Corbett said.

Once the report has been vetted, the auditor, Deloitte Canada, will send it to council, the city clerk and the city’s integrity commissioner. The clerk will post the report to the city’s website immediately, Corbett said.

The Star does not know if the legal review will lead to parts of the audit being kept from the public.

The forensic audit looked at the expenses for all council members, but it was Mayor Susan Fennell’s spending that prompted the review.

A series of freedom of information requests filed by the Star revealed Fennell and her staff had charged $663,000 on City of Brampton credit cards over six years. She had also expensed $186,000 over three years and charged $185,000 for travel for herself and her staff over five years.

Fennell’s spending included: $500- to $800-a-night stays at hotels such as the InterContinental in London, the Fairmont Chateau in Whistler and the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa; $1,800 flights to Ottawa, Saskatoon and Quebec; $1,300 Mandarin lessons; $2,100 for personalized barbecue aprons; $1,500 for orchestra tickets; $1 iTunes downloads and $2 airport luggage cart rentals.

Some of the charges were reimbursed.

Corbett did not comment on whether the audit would address any possible violations of legislation or the city’s code of conduct.

“It would be inappropriate for city staff to speculate on what may or may not be in the report,” he said.

Brampton’s integrity commissioner is expected to report on his review of the forensic audit at council’s Sept. 10 meeting. Council will then vote on any next steps, Corbett said.