Canmore council voted Tuesday night (Sept. 1) to eliminate one of its newest committees – the Program Audit Committee – after the results of its first report cost too much, took too long and produced underwhelming results.
Councillor Sean Krausert, who sat on the committee, made the motion to disband it after presenting a report to council about the results of its first audit of the streets and roads department.
“I do not think we have issues of a significant nature that require this sort of formal process,” Krausert said. “I think this administration is open to creative ways to improve departments – that is already there.
“I think the real reason behind this program audit committee being formed in the first place was a very different relationship between a previous council and administration. All of the players have changed since then, so I don’t know if the foundational reason exists still.”
Mayor John Borrowman said the report that resulted from the first audit did not result in any significant changes as most of the recommendations had already been adopted internally or were in process.
“The results were underwhelming and I do not think we got any value from that and it cost quite a bit,” he said. “I do not see much value in the process we went through, I think we can carry on like an internal review without a formal program audit committee.”
The consultant cost just under $60,000 to complete the work, which was presented to council earlier this year.
Not all councillors agreed with the direction proposed, with Coun. Ed Russell suggesting cancelling a new process and committee after one audit would be “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
“Oversight is to me part of the diligence we are responsible for and we need to make sure our programs are working good,” Russell said. “If we eliminate this we do a disservice to our staff, ourselves and taxpayers. Oversight in any business operation … is important and valuable.”
Coun. Joanna McCallum said oversight and accountability are not eliminated with the change and that council is just “dealing with the bathwater differently.
“Nothing is stopping us from having oversight or using best practices,” she said. “The way we do business is a lot different than we did five years ago when the committee was struck.’
The committee was originally struck in 2010 – two councils ago – and Krausert was appointed to it after a byelection along with then Coun. Hans Helder. At the time, its terms of reference focused on a forensic style audit and it was decided that was not an appropriate direction as the municipality already has appointed financial auditors.
The terms of reference were changed to focus on improving an individual department to make it more efficient and streets and roads was chosen, along with a consultant to assist the committee and write the final report.
The report to council recommended exploring a different process to examine a department a year for improvements alternating between the general managers of municipal services and municipal infrastructure every other year. The manager would review operations with staff and possibly consult other municipalities on best practices.
“I don’t t think the program audit committee was interested in creating a lot of work,” Krausert said. “We actually saw this as a fairly quick process.”
