British Columbia’s former auditor general for local governments, whose office was disbanded by the BC NDP government, says recent controversy around spending at Metro Vancouver shows the value his office brought to the province.
Gordon Ruth’s comments come amid controversy over the ballooning costs of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant and Global News reporting on Metro Vancouver travel and event spending, along with politician pay for serving on the regional district’s boards.
“You look at some of the challenges around the Metro Vancouver wastewater treatment plant, you look at some of the challenges (Global News has) raised, those are all things that could fall within the mandate of an auditor general in local government,” Ruth told Global News on Thursday.
“Part of the whole thing of having an auditor general review of the North Shore treatment plant is trying to rebuild trust. That’s not the point of the audit, but it will accomplish that … it would answer a lot of the questions.”
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The Office of the Auditor General of Local Governments was created in 2012 by the former BC Liberal Government, with the aim of finding cost savings and efficiencies at the municipal level.
In 2017, the NDP campaigned on eliminating the office after controversy when the first auditor general filed just three reports in three years.
After taking power, the NDP government reversed that decision when a 2019 survey found a majority of audited governments felt they had benefited from the auditor’s work.
The government reversed course in 2020, amid friction with the Union of B.C. Municipalites.
Ruth told Global News he has written to the provincial government with suggestions on how to improve the oversight of municipal governments.
Among his suggestions is expanding the scope of B.C.’s existing provincial auditor general’s mandate to include municipalities.
“They’ve got staff, they’ve got experience. Their office was probably at least 10 times the size of the Auditor General for Local Governments Office.”
“Plus in a large office you have the ability to do perhaps a bit more of an agile approach.”
The province appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach, responding to Ruth with a letter saying current policies provide adequate oversight.
“There have been no calls by local governments through the Union of BC Municipalities to add tools, include them in the purview of the Office of the Auditor General or re-establish an Auditor General for Local Governments,” the response from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs said.
In a statement to Global News the ministry said that elected officials are accountable to their constituents and are expected to be transparent.
“When circumstances require it, local governments and regional districts can retain independent auditing services on their own to review the implementation of specific projects and financial practices,” the ministry said.
“While we are not considering adding an additional oversight body, the Ministry will continue to work with local governments to improve financial transparency and accountability.”
Metro Vancouver, meanwhile, has promised an internal review of its governance.
The regional district has also pledged an independent review of cost overruns at the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.
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