Scathing report slams spending practices at Montreal’s Public Consultations Office

Spending practices at Montreal’s Public Consultations Office (OCPM) came under fire Tuesday by the city’s auditor general.

The scathing report details unjustified expenses and a lack of accountability.

The report exposes large sums of money spent on meals, international travel and transportation and that about 80 per cent of the receipts to justify those expenses were missing.

The report concludes that the expenses were happened because there was a lack of oversight from the city of Montreal.

The audit was commissioned by Montreal last fall after a news report unveiled extravagant and unjustified expenses by the OCPM.

It covers the mandate of two of the OCPM’s presidents, Dominique Ollivier and Isabelle Beaulieu, who lost her job over the scandal.

Expenses include tens of thousands of dollars on dinners and wine justified as job interviews or meetings and an average of 7 international trips a year to promote the OCPM.

All on the dime of contributors.

The auditor general urges the city to audit the organization’s expense guidelines and mechanisms of control and for the OCPM to develop a proper governance framework.

“There are no solid markers of sound governance at the OCPM to provide oversight management of activities. All the rules and collective processes linked to taking decisions and monitoring of actions are only partially defined. It is the same for the roles and responsibilities within the OCPM and the stakeholders involved,” wrote Andrée Cossette, the auditor general.

The city’s executive committee says they have already taken action to improve the office.

“Because we saw the problems — everybody saw the problems during the fall — we asked the government of Quebec to change the law, to clarify that the OCPM is independent in the methodology of consultations but they are accountable to the city of Montreal in terms of administration,” said Luc Rabouin, head of Montreal’s Executive Committee.

The opposition wants an overhaul.

“I think there’s definitely a cleanup that needs to happen and we have to make sure the cleanup happens fast,” said Alan DeSousa, borough mayor of Montréal’s Saint-Laurent and member of Ensemble Montréal.

Ollivier, who stepped down last year as the head of the city’s executive committee over the scandal, penned a letter to city council.

Global News obtained the letter that says the auditor general never talked to her during her report, despite having convened to do so and that she could have provided explanations.

“I deplore that the auditor general in the face of these questionings, before drawing her conclusions, didn’t take the time to ask for clarifications to those who had them. I believe that listening to the administrators could have enriched the perspectives, conclusions, recommendations and utility of this report,” the letter read in part. “I hope my voice will be heard.”

When asked, the auditor general said she didn’t deem talking to Ollivier necessary.

“We obtained the documents and answers that we needed through the meetings we had with different actors. The necessary documents were at the OCPM and it’s based on these documents that we proceeded to execute our audit,” said Cossette.