In a damning report, the city’s auditor general confirms the flawed management of the Office de Consultation publique de Montreal (OCPM) under the last two presidents, Isabelle Beaulieu and Dominique Olivier.
“Inadequate financial controls”, “partial justification of expenditure”, “lack of vision”, “incomplete management structure”, André Cosset mentions in his 2023 annual report, in which an important part is allocated to this company.
“The OCPM has not demonstrated that it has applied strict controls on its expenditures to ensure the economical and efficient use of public funds since at least 2014,” he notes.
The Auditor General also alleges that the City of Montreal did not adequately monitor how OCPM spent Montreal taxpayers’ money.
“Management of OCPM rests on its chairman, without a rigorous management structure or an effective external monitoring mechanism. This has led to expenditure that cannot demonstrate particular need and relevance,” said M.me Cosette.
“The past two presidents’ use of the city’s spending policy has been confusing,” we read.
Controversial cost
Last fall, our Bureau of Investigation uncovered significant travel and meal expenses incurred by the company in recent years.
Photo taken from OCPM Facebook page
The auditor carried out his audit in the wake of our revelations that led to the dismissal of former President Isabelle Beaulieu and Secretary General Guy Grenier.
Screenshot
Dominique Olivier announced his resignation as number two in Montreal last November.
Former President Dominique Olivier left his second seat at City Hall in the days following our first reports.
A significant percentage of expenses were not properly documented, particularly due to lack of supporting documentation, the report noted. Some expenses are completely questionable.
“Others of these expenses are controversial because of the lack of reasoning surrounding them, for example including an $80 dinner and 1 bottle of wine taken alone at a restaurant near the OCPM campus,” we read.
Among the elements raised, we note fifteen restaurant invoices totaling $1,537 with the justification “possible commission.”
All these meetings led to the appointment of a commissioner, meaning that the success rate of these meetings was only 3.5% of the financial value.
The need for some foreign trips by the officers of the organization has also not been proved.
53 expeditions
In total, VG counted 53 trips between 2014 and 2023, an average of seven per year, excluding the pandemic period.
He notes that in the four years studied, spending on foreign travel exceeded spending on current affairs in mainland France.
The auditor recommends that OCPM implement stricter monitoring mechanisms and better accountability.
► Also, the City Council on Monday evening formalized the appointment of Phillip Borg as the organization’s president. She has been acting since Isabelle Beaulieu was fired.
Read the report
Seven trips per year
The OCPM averaged seven overseas trips per year, but leaders rarely questioned their relevance.
“No prior analysis was documented justifying the motivations for participating in international forums or undertaking overseas missions and describing the objectives, benefits or expected benefits,” Viji writes.
He also criticizes the scant information contained in the reports following these expeditions. Cost accounts were also submitted very late in many cases. No major irregularities were found in travel expenses.
Documents to be shredded
Documents relating to expenditure incurred by the OCPM prior to 2018 were found by the Auditor General’s office in a box intended for shredding at the end of January last year. These boxes were in a room attached to the OCPM complex. Also, during the period from 2014 to 2017, the auditor found no trace of 22% of expense accounts generated by credit cards.
Split contracts?
The auditor criticizes the contract award process by OCPM. It lists a series of contracts awarded over the counter to a supplier initially engaged as a “process coordinator”. Between 2018 and 2021, he received thirteen contracts totaling $229,000.
According to documents obtained by our Bureau of Investigation under the Access to Information Act, this is former Secretary-General Guy Grenier. VG notes that the minimum period between different contracts is not always respected. In some cases, the new contract began before the previous contract ended.
“In such a context, there is reason to question whether it is a question of separation of contracts,” writes the auditor.
