WATERMAIN-GATE: The Investigation Screw-up

I truly cannot take this any more. There is only one way out now.

If there is a way to screw something up, then Windsor does it!

Now we hear that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs may not undertake the Section 9 inquiry into WUC as requested by the City. The Star reported that a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs said

• "It's not automatic. It's not a done deal -- in fact most times I say it doesn't happen," said June Kasperski Wild, municipal adviser for the ministry's Windsor-Essex region.
  
  "Our jurisdiction doesn't include municipal policing. We do things of provincial interest...
  
  Requests such as Windsor are rare and doing them are even more rare," Kasperski Wild said...
  
  Kasperski Wild said she didn't known how long it will take for a decision to be made."

Well this makes a complete mockery of what the Mayor said at Council during his attempted hijacking of Councillor Halberstadt's Motion which was to bring in the Provincial Auditor General. Didn't the Mayor state he wanted something done right away and that is why he wanted the Ministry involved. I wonder if anyone called the Ministry in advance and just neglected to tell us what they said. Now we find out they may not be involved and their decision could take some time to make.

We have to have action taken since Windsor's reputation and that of the Mayor and Council are mud now. As I said before, can you recall any Municipality asking for a third party audit and investigation? Nope, Windsor has to do it because of the mess that has been made with the seeming doubts as to what the facts truly are. Citizens no longer believe our local Government so we have to bring in outsiders to tell us the truth

Welcome to Windsor new investors. Put your money here!

As for the Auditor General of Ontario, there is an ethical issue whether his Office can be involved or not now since the Mayor spoke directly with him. Has the A-G been "contaminated" by Eddie's call? Is there now an appearance of lack of impartiality so that he is disqualified since the matter was discussed even to a small degree.

Why the CAO or City Solicitor did not make the call if it was just to gather information rather than the person who might be investigated is beyond me.

I have not discussed a lot yet about the possible conflict of interest of the Mayor and 4 councillors--or perhaps even the entire Council--- but the fact that the Clerk allowed the Mayor to introduce the Motion or that he dared do it is absolutely astounding. But that will be for another time.

There is only one solution: Councillor Halberstadt is a member of the City's Audit Committee. He must take charge now. His only alternative is to bring in a third party forensic auditor from out of town to undertake the broadest of investigations into WUC to answer the questiosn that I and others have raised. Moreover, it should deal with what happened subsequently about how the Mayor's Motion was introduced by the Mayor and the A-G phone call and determine the propriety of those actions.

I had suggested Rosen & Associates out of Toronto before since they are Litigation and Forensic Accountants. More importantly, they had investigated Boards of Education for the Ontario Government resulting in the appointment of a Provincial Supervisor over the Toronto, and Ottawa Boards of Education as an example. I wonder if that could happen with the WUC! Check out his Toronto Report http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/tdsb.pdf

He works quickly too. In Ottawa, he was given one month to examine the Baord of Education's budget.

According to the Ottawa Citizen:

• "Mr. Rosen, president of Rosen and Associates Ltd., advised Canadian auditors general from 1977 to 1992, and Ontario auditors before turning mainly to forensic investigation. He has been an accounting professor at York University, the University of Alberta, University of Washington and the University of British Columbia."

It also stated that:

• "On Bay Street, Mr. Rosen is known as Dr. Al, or the Enforcer. As the manager of Rosen & Associates Ltd., he has worked on more than 750 litigation cases, often as an expert witness. Now in his late 60s, his many credentials include a PhD (he taught accounting at York University for more than 30 years) and a CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner.
  
  "Dr. Rosen is the undisputed reigning champion of forensic accounting in Canada,''

The National Post reported that hospitals were concerned when he was hired by the Government to review the books of Ontario's 160 hospitals:

• "Hospital administrators are worried about the province's appointment of a forensic auditor, one hospital sector source said, because the term implies mismanagement on the part of institutions."

It's time for Alan to arrange for him to be hired and to get the job done. Council has no alternative! This farce has to end. NOW!