Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin sets his sights on problem-plagued Brampton

Sept. 19, 2014
Thestar.com
Rob Ferguson Queen's Park Bureau

Ontario’s ombudsman is salivating at the prospect of delving into Brampton’s municipal finances after a spending scandal involving councillors and Mayor Susan Fennell.
“I can’t wait to oversee it,” Andre Marin told a meeting of the Star’s editorial board Thursday, anticipating the passage of provincial legislation giving his office powers over municipalities, universities and school boards.

“I’d look at the whole system of checks and balances to make sure that politicians are kept honest … there are so many things that can still be done.”

Ontario Provincial Police are investigating after a forensic audit by Deloitte Canada concluded Fennell — who is seeking election for a fifth term on Oct. 27 — and her staff broke spending rules in 266 transactions over seven years, with a total value of $172,000.

The other 10 members of council were found to have violated spending rules on amounts totalling almost $43,000, excluding some reimbursements to the city.

Fennell threatened earlier this month to take legal action against the Toronto Star and some councillors over “smears” against her, and Deloitte and the city’s integrity commissioner for “exceeding their mandate.”

A notice of libel was served to the Star Thursday.

The Star stands behind its reporting.

Brampton council passed a motion in August to request a police investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing.

The Deloitte audit of Fennell’s expenses found that a further 79 transactions totalling $156,000 may have violated the rules, but were too poorly documented to be sure. There were 38 transactions worth $144,150 for a private limousine service, but Deloitte said it did not have sufficient documentation from the mayor to prove the travel was for city business.

Brampton appears to need a cultural change in how public officials handle taxpayers’ hard-earned money, Marin, an outspoken advocate for more transparency in municipal government, said during a wide-ranging one-hour discussion.

“Brampton is the place that rolled back the approval of expense accounts in favour of an honour system. That worked out well,” he said, facetiously.

The provincial legislation, better known as Bill 8, received first reading in the summer after Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals won a majority in June. It is expected to come back to the legislature for debate when MPPs return for the fall session Oct. 20.

With Ontario’s 444 municipalities getting about $30 billion a year in funding from the provincial government, more oversight is clearly needed, given a lack of checks and balances, said Marin.

Toronto and Ottawa are the only cities to have an auditor general and lobbyist registry. Just 29 cities have integrity commissioners, and only Toronto has an ombudsman.

“That’s it,” Marin said, encouraging municipalities, school boards and universities to hire ombudsmen to handle front-line complaints.

“My position is … solve things locally. Keep our office for the systemic issues, the ones that require a more broad look at an issue and not individual cases.”
It remains to be seen how long Marin will be in the job after Bill 8 passes, later this year or in 2015.

Now in the fourth year of his second five-year term, the lawyer from Ottawa has not yet decided if he will seek a third appointment, as happened with Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller and outgoing Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian.

“I haven’t directed my mind to that yet … I’ll have to make a decision,” said Marin, who noted he hasn’t talked to the Wynne government or opposition parties.

“It’s a very rewarding job,” added Marin, who has repeatedly made headlines for hard-hitting investigations into lottery fraud, municipal secrecy, nursing homes, police oversight, jail violence, municipal tax assessments, cancer drugs, errant Hydro One billings and unlicensed daycares, among many others.

Marin warned that his office’s $12 million budget — including 87 staff — will require “significant new resources” to keep up with its new responsibilities under Bill 8, which blocks him from long-sought oversight of the hospital sector.