MONTRÉAL, May 17, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - On May 12, 2016, in accordance with the provisions of the Cities and Towns Act, auditor general Jacques Bergeron submitted to mayor Denis Coderre his seventh and final annual report, the 2015 Auditor General's Report. Mr. Bergeron's mandate will end on June 2 of this year. As expected, the mayor tabled the report at the municipal council meeting that was held yesterday afternoon and will do the same at the urban agglomeration council meeting that will take place on May 19 of this year.
The report contains eight value-for-money and information technology audits and 184 recommendations aimed at improving the administration of municipal affairs. The audits found in the 2015 annual report are:
- Allocation of Financial Contributions;
- Authorization of the Autorité des marchés financiers;
- Framework Agreements for IT Professional Services;
- Information and Communications Technology Recovery Management;
- Energy Management;
- Acquisition Card Management;
- Real Estate Transaction Management;
- Management of Construction and Renovation Work on Ville de Montréal Buildings.
Assessment
For his final annual report, Mr. Bergeron considered it appropriate to give an overview of the highlights of the 72 value-for-money and IT audits conducted by the Bureau du vérificateur général (BVG) during his seven-year term and to highlight the key measures that the municipal administration has taken or initiated as well as the measures it must keep in place in order to remedy the main deficiencies identified. Among these were audits concerning water meters, the telecommunications services outsourcing project, the distribution of contracts awarded by authorities to contractors, the implementation plan for infrastructure work and quality control of materials, the fire safety cover plan and fire hydrants, contracts for snow clearing and for the collection and transportation of residual materials, and information technology governance.
"There is no doubt in my mind that the audits conducted by the BVG have brought about positive changes and that the municipal administration has improved during this period. However, I leave the BVG with serious concerns over city governance, particularly in the areas of accountability reporting and integrated management of business risks", Mr. Bergeron noted.
Apart from his assessment, Mr. Bergeron noted that the situation is deteriorating from the standpoint of the implementation rates of recommendations issued by the BVG to business units. These targeted implementation rates are as follows: 70% of the recommendations issued must have been implemented by the end of the first year after they were issued, while 90% of the recommendations issued must have been implemented by the end of the second year after they were issued, with a view to implementing 100% of the recommendations at the end of three years.
Yet Mr. Bergeron noted that the proportion of recommendations considered "completed" by the end of the first year was 35% for 2014, compared with 43% for 2012 and 44% for 2013. Furthermore, the implementation rates for recommendations issued in 2013 and 2012 were 67% and 65%, respectively, falling well short of the implementation target of 90% at the end of the second year after they were issued. Furthermore, the implementation rate for the 2012 recommendations was only 79% at the end of the third year after they were issued, even though the targeted rate is 100%.
As in previous years, Mr. Bergeron believes that "remedial action must be taken as quickly as possible and business units must be made aware of the importance of implementing the auditor general's recommendations in accordance with the commitments they made in the action plans to ensure the implementation of the recommendations that were addressed to them."
It should be noted that the auditor general's primary responsibility is to audit the City's financial statements and those of its reporting entities. The auditor general is also responsible for auditing the City's compliance with laws, by-laws, policies and guidelines as well as for conducting the value-for-money audit, which includes the IT audit.
The auditor general's annual report for 2015 and associated Highlights are available on its website at bvgmtl.ca. Please note that the "View our latest report" tab refers to the Highlights and that, in order to obtain the full report, it is necessary to click on the tab Our reports > Annual reports > 2015.
SOURCE Ville de Montréal - Bureau du vérificateur général
Pierre Tessier, Office: 514-849-4554, Cell: 514-233-1636, Email: [email protected]
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