►
From YouTube: Auditor General Committee - July 6, 2023
Description
PLEASE NOTE:
• Send your comments to Council at http://vancouver.ca/contact-council.
• Requests to speak to Council about an agenda item, via phone or in person, at http://vancouver.ca/speak-tocouncil; requests to speak must be received prior to 12 pm on the day of the meeting.
• Get live updates on the meeting at http:vancouver.ca/speaker-wait-times.
• Watch the meeting live at http:vancouver.ca/council-video.
• Ask a question about this agenda: email speaker.request@vancouver.ca or call 604.829.4272.
A
Tuesday
July
6
2023
to
order
this
committee
meeting
is
being
convened
by
electronic
means
as
authorized
under
part
14
of
the
procedure
by
law.
As
such
committee
members
May
participate
in
person
or
by
electronic
means.
If
any
Committee
Member
loses
connection
during
the
voting
process,
we
have
staff
on
hand
to
facilitate
getting
you
back
online
quickly.
While
we
suspend
the
voting
process,
the
contact
information
has
been
circulated
to
you.
A
Members
of
the
public
can
view
the
proceedings
via
the
live
stream
and
YouTube
link,
which
have
been
tweeted
out
by
the
atvan
city
clerk
account.
Video
of
committee
members
speaking
presentations,
amendments
and
vote
results
will
be
projected
to
the
viewers
when
available.
Many
members
are
reminded
to
please
enable
their
video
to
ensure
Quorum
is
maintained
during
the
meeting
under
section
14.13
of
the
procedure
by
law.
If
attending,
virtually
external
members
of
the
committee
can
access
the
speaking
queue
by
raising
or
by
clicking
the
raise
hand
icon
on
WebEx
or
raise
your
hand.
A
This
seems
like
a
good
time
to
introduce
our
newly
appointed
external
liaison
Carol
bellringer
Carol,
welcome
and
I'd
like
to
ask
the
auditor
general
Mike.
If
you
could
give
a
brief
introduction,
please
oh
thank
you.
Chair.
B
To
introduce,
can
you
hear
me
now
introduce
carabell
ringer
to
the
committee.
Carol
has
a
really
lengthy
and
impressive
resume.
She
served
two
terms
as
the
auditor
auditor,
general
and
provincial
auditor
for
the
province
of
Manitoba.
She
served
as
British
Columbia's
auditor
general.
She
has
served
on
the
boards
of
the
International
Federation
of
accountants,
the
auditing
and
Assurance
Standards
Board,
and
the
auditing
and
Assurance
standards,
oversight,
Council,
various
National
and
international
organizations,
and
she
is
the
past
president
and
CEO
of
the
Canadian
audit
and
accountability
Foundation.
A
Great
thanks,
Mike
moving
on
just
some
housekeeping
in
case
of
an
emergency
where
we
need
to
evacuate
the
building,
I'd
like
to
direct
your
attention
to
the
exits
over
there.
There
are
two
exits
beyond
the
glass
door
and
to
the
left
if
the
glass
doors
are
obstructed,
please
direct
your
attention
or
exits
in
this
chamber
and
please
use
the
stairs
do
not
use
the
elevator
also
like
to
highlight
that
there
is
a
defibrillator
located
at
the
end
of
the
hallway
outside
of
the
council
chamber.
A
So
we
acknowledge
that
we're
on
the
unseated
territory,
the
musqueam,
the
Squamish
and
sloven
tooth
people.
We
thank
them
for
having
cared
for
this
land
and
look
forward
to
working
with
them
in
Partnership,
as
we
continue
to
build
this
great
City
together.
I
also
want
to
take
a
moment
to
recognize
the
immense
contributions,
the
city
of
Vancouver
staff,
who
work
hard
to
every
day
to
make
our
city
an
incredible
place
to
live,
work
and
play
clerk.
Maybe
we
have
a
roll
call,
please.
Yes,.
C
And
counselor
president
Archie
Johnson,
external
representative
and
Sophia
sui
is
absent
today
and
Carol
bellringer
present.
The
auditor
general
committee
has
formed
chair
frack.
A
Thanks,
Clerk,
and
so
before,
I
have
some
announcements
on
the
agenda
can
be
sent
to
the
committee
using
the
web
form
on
the
city's
website.
The
link
to
that
form
will
be
tweeted
out
on
the
atvan
city.
Clerk
account.
I
also
want
to
note
the
city
of
Vancouver's,
long-standing
commitment
to
equity,
diversity
and
inclusion,
including
utmost
respect
for
all
genders.
I
remind
committee
members
that
when
addressing
speakers
and
staff,
we
will
avoid
using
gendered
honorifics
and
will
instead
refer
to
that
person
by
first
and
last
name
roller
title.
A
There's
only
one
report
on
today's
agenda
and
I
would
like
to
remind
committee
members
that
if
amendments
are
to
be
brought
forward,
they
must
be
submitted
to
the
clerk
in
final
written
form
before
the
Committee
Member
introduces
them.
Please
ensure
the
clerk
has
received
your
amendment
by
emailing
it
directly
to
Tina,
Penny
and
Elise
Stewart.
The
first
and
only
item
on
the
agenda
is
the
2023
mid-year
report.
I'm
going
to
now
invite
the
auditor
general
to
introduce
and
present
the
item.
A
Mike
McDonald
who's,
accompanied
by
Anna
Mattie
and
did
I
say
that
right,
okay,
who
just
joined
the
office
of
the
auditor
general
yesterday
as
an
administrative
assistant.
B
B
Thank
you,
chair
and
good
morning
committee
members
I'm
pleased
to
present
to
you
a
mid-year
check-in
for
my
office.
This
isn't
a
report
that's
required
under
the
auditor
general
bylaw,
but
in
consultation
with
committee
members,
a
Midway
through
my
office's
First
full
year
of
operations,
seemed
a
good
time
to
provide
a
brief
presentation
on
the
progress
we've
made
and
the
benefits
achieved.
I'll
just
wait
for
at
least
to
get
the
slides
out.
Please.
B
Great,
if
we
go
to
the
next
one,
thank
you.
We
achieved
some
significant
Milestones
over
the
last
six
months.
Our
first
audit
report
on
building
permit
fees
was
released
in
January.
It
contains
some
positive
findings,
especially
around
processes.
However,
it
also
identified
opportunities
for
improvement
and
how
a
fees
are
calculated.
Money
was
being
left
on
the
table.
We
also
found
that
fees
were
not
always
calculated
in
compliance
with
the
building
bylaw.
B
The
report
contained
five
recommendations
for
improvement.
We
released
two
more
reports,
office
furniture
purchases
in
February
and
permitting
program
cost
recovery
model
in
may.
We
had
generally
positive
findings
with
respect
to
the
purchases
of
office
Furnishings,
albeit
with
opportunities
to
improve
compliance
with
various
trade
agreements
that
were
addressed
in
five
recommendations.
B
However,
we
identified
significant
deficiencies
in
the
permitting
program
cost
recovery
model,
while
the
intention
was
to
fully
recover
costs.
Instead,
there
were
significant
under
recoveries
of
fees
and
costs.
Excuse
me
across
subsidization
between
permit
categories,
a
total
debate
recommendations
were
provided
to
management
in
January.
We
also
released
the
oag's
first
annual
report,
as
well
as
an
updated
audit
and
operational
plans
like
any
leading
organization.
B
We
monitor
our
performance
through
framework
outlining
why
we're
here
and
what
we're
trying
to
accomplish,
which
was
presented
to
you
in
the
office's
2023
operational
plan
since
I've
already
presented
this
performance
framework
to
you.
I
won't
review
it
in
detail.
I
just
wanted
to
remind
committee
members
of
the
framework,
since
it's
the
basis
for
the
rest
of
the
presentation.
B
Performance
for
each
of
the
goals
of
the
previous
slide
was
measured
with
one
or
more
key
performance
indicators
or
kpis
you'll,
see
in
the
report,
a
color
associated
with
actual
performance.
To
date,
green
means
the
performance
target
has
been
fulfilled
or
is
on
track
to
be
by
year.
End
yellow
means
performance
target
has
or
will
be
only
partially
met
and
red
means
the
performance
Target
will
not
be
met
by
year
end
the
blank
fourth
category
signifies
the
performance
has
not
yet
been
assessed.
B
At
this
interim
stage,
performance
will
be
measured
for
all
kpis
in
the
office's
2023
annual
report,
which
will
be
released
early
next
year
goal.
One
was
to
establish
an
independent
whistleblower
function
in
June
of
last
year,
Council
approved
a
motion
from
this
committee
to
assign
responsibility
for
the
city's
whistleblower
function
to
the
auditor
general.
A
revised
possible
or
policy
has
yet
to
be
brought
to
council
for
approval
work
on
the
redraft
continues
with
the
city
in
my
office,
developing
mutually
acceptable
revisions
to
the
policy
revisions
to
the
auditor,
general
bylaw
and
underlining
procedures.
B
So
we
have
two
kpis
here.
My
budget
request
for
this
year
included
funding
for
two
investigators
to
staff
The
Whistleblower
function.
That
request
was
endorsed
by
this
committee
and
approved
by
Council
on
January
17th.
My
working
assumption
is
that
responsibility
for
The
Whistleblower
function
will
transition
to
my
office
on
January
1st
2024.
However,
I
will
not
hire
people
for
these
positions
until
Council
has
actually
approved
a
revised
policy.
The
second
kpi
relates
to
the
developmental
procedures
for
the
intake,
processing,
investigation
and
reporting
of
whistleblower
activities.
B
B
Goal
2
is
to
produce
high
quality
work.
This
year,
I
plan
to
release
six
reports.
Five
audit
reports
plus
the
report
following
up
on
the
status
of
audit
recommendations
following
the
process
requested
by
this
committee,
we've
begun
out
at
work
with
the
board
of
Parks
and
Recreation
and
with
the
Vancouver
Police
Department,
and
expect
both
artists
to
be
completed
by
the
end
of
the
year,
so
we're
on
track
for
kpi
2.1.
B
The
second
kpi
relates
to
external
quality
reviews
by
my
practice,
regulator
of
the
charter,
professional
accountants
of
British
Columbia
cpabc
conducted
their
first
file
inspection
in
March,
looking
not
only
at
my
audit
files
but
at
the
systems
of
quality
control
that
are
in
place.
I'm
very
pleased
to
report
that
the
office
passed
the
inspection
with
no
exceptions
to
be
clear,
I've
been
a
member
of
CPA
ABC's
practice,
Review
Committee
and
passed
with
no
exceptions
is
pretty
High,
Praise
In
fact
it's
as
good
as
it
gets
in
the
world
of
practice.
Review.
B
Goal
three
is
to
provide
the
city
departments
with
objective
and
helpful
recommendations,
as
evidenced
by
three
things:
the
proportion
of
recommendations
accepted
by
audited
departments,
the
proportion
of
audit
recommendations
endorsed
by
this
committee
and
the
proportion
of
recommendations
implemented
over
three
years.
At
this
time,
I
can
report
that
all
18
of
our
audit
recommendations
have
been
accepted
by
the
city,
which
has
provided
action
plans
in
relation
to
each
of
them
and
that
the
committee
and
this
committee
has
endorsed
all
18
recommendations
as
well
as
for
implementation.
I'll
begin
reporting
out
on
that.
B
The
last
goal
is
for
our
work
to
yield
cost
savings
or
enhanced
revenues
that
at
least
match
our
operational
costs
over
five
years.
For
each
audit,
we've
identified
quantifiable
and
non-quantifiable
benefits
of
our
recommendations.
Return
on
investment
or
Roi
is
calculated
by
summing
the
quantifiable
impacts
and
comparing
this
to
the
cost
to
operate
the
office.
B
B
I
have
to
point
out
that
this
includes
startup
costs.
Roi
would
be
quite
a
bit
higher
if
I
were
to
exclude
the
costs
associated
just
with
getting
in
the
office
up
and
running,
so
this
figure
should
improve
over
time.
It
should
be
noted
that
not
all
audit
recommendations
will
result
in
outcomes
that
can
be
measured,
but
that
shouldn't
be
construed
as
meaning
the
work
wasn't
valuable.
For
instance,
our
excuse
me,
our
audit
report
on
office
furniture
purchases
contain
recommendations
to
improve
the
city's
compliance
with
national
and
international
trade
agreements.
B
Non-Compliance
could
create
serious
legal
liabilities
for
the
city,
but
while
it's
important
that
the
city
avoid
potential
litigation
and
other
costs
related
to
non-compliance,
I
don't
believe
it's
reasonable
to
report
an
economic
benefitable
to
what
may
or
been
avoided
through
improved
compliance.
Some
important
work,
but
not
reasonably
quantifiable,
I'd,
like
to
conclude
this
presentation
by
saying.
Thank
you.
I
greatly
appreciated
the
support
provided
to
me
in
my
office
from
Council.
B
You
entrusted
me
with
responsibility
to
establish
a
high
performing
group
that
would
contribute
to
improving
the
economy,
efficiency
and
effectiveness
of
City
operations
and
I
hope.
The
work
that
we've
done
today
proves
that
this
trust
was
well
placed.
We've,
Only,
Just
Begun
I'd
also
like
to
express
my
appreciation
to
City
management
and
their
teams.
B
Who
provided
excellent
cooperation
for
every
project
to
date
having
an
auditor
looking
over
your
shoulder,
one
who
reports
publicly
on
everything
he
finds
is
new
in
Vancouver
and
can
be
stressful
I
I,
get
that
we
focused
on
developing
positive
professional
relationships
with
City
staff
and
I'm
pleased
that
we're
very
quickly
finding
ways
to
work
well
and
fulfilling
our
respective
roles.
Lastly,
I
want
to
thank
my
team
for
taking
a
chance
on
me
and
building
this
new
Enterprise.
B
A
Fantastic
thanks,
Mike,
we
do
have
questions,
and
so
anybody
who
has
a
question
for
the
auditor
general
who
hasn't
already
please
add
yourself
to
the
queue
we'll
start
with
counselor
Montague.
D
Thanks
chair
and
thanks
for
the
report,
Mike
just
a
quick
question-
you
mentioned
that
you're
working
on
an
audit
for
the
VPD
and
the
park
board
as
well.
Was
there
a
third
one?
Did
I
miss
a
third
one?
There.
B
D
A
Thanks
counselor
councilor
Boyle.
E
Thanks
for
this
work
and
I'll
Echo,
your
thanks
to
the
whole
team
really
appreciate
what
you
all
do.
I'm
I'm
wondering
if
you
can
just
give
us
a
bit
more
information
on
the
slide.
You
had
about
the
ROI
to
date
being
200
percent.
What
can
you
give
us
a
little
more
color
of
what
that
what
those
returns
or
savings
have
been
sure.
B
If
you
flip
to
the
the
last
page
of
the
of
the
report
that
I've
provided
you,
which
I
believe
is
on
page
eight
you'll
see
that
for
each
of
the
three
audits
we've
identified,
what
we
believe
the
potential
benefit
to
the
city
will
be
in
the
next
five
years
over
each
each
year.
So
for
the
building
permit
fees.
B
We
believe
that
the
city
is
very
likely
to
bring
our
recommendations
forward
and
enclose
that
that
Revenue
shortfall
that
we
identified
right
away,
and
so
that's
that's
the
benefit
that
we
should
see
this
particular
year
for
the
permit.
B
Cost
recovery
model
was
a
much
larger
Gap
12
million
dollars
a
year
and
I,
don't
know
exactly
what
that's
going
to
look
like,
whether
you
will
want
to
increase
fees
to
close
that
Gap
all
in
one
year
or
if
that's
something
that
you
might
do
over
a
number
of
years,
so
for
this
I've
assumed
that
it's
going
to
take
five
years
to
close
that
Gap,
so
the
benefit
in
any
given
year
will
increase
over
time.
As
that,
Gap
is
closed.
And
so
we
take
that
as
a
an
increased
Revenue
as
a
benefit
to
the
city.
B
E
Appreciate
you
just
saying
in
the
public
meeting
outlining
some
of
what
was
there
thanks?
That's
all.
A
Thanks
counselor
councilor
Joe
yeah.
F
Thanks
chair
yeah,
thanks
Mike
for
this
amazing
work,
I
think
I
might
wish
everyone
in
the
team.
It's
amazing
team
doing
a
very
amazing
work.
Thank
you,
okay
question
so
again
to
follow
up
councilor
Boyle's
question
regarding
200,
so
I
guess
the
calculation
is
using
the
potential
cost
saving
every
year,
divided
by
the
three
years
operating
cost.
F
B
I
don't
want
to
claim
that
benefit
yet
because
that
would
think
be
a
little
bit
cheeky
on
my
part,
so
I'm,
just
comparing
it
to
the
costs
to
date
and
what
we
anticipate
potential
benefit
to
the
city
in
year,
one
and
as
the
years
go
on,
then
we'll
have
a
more
and
more
reasonable
basis
of
comparison.
My
startup
costs
will
be
out
of
the
equation.
B
We'll
have
a
number
of
audits
with
with
staggered
benefits
to
the
city,
either
through
enhanced
revenues
or
or
cost
efficiencies
or
cost
avoidance
and
we'll
compare
that
to
the
costs
as
we
go
on
the
goal
is
that
you
know
we
at
least
break
even
I,
don't
know
if
that's
reasonable
or
not,
there's
not
an
awful
lot
of
audit
offices
that
produce
this
information.
B
The
the
one
that
stands
out
that
really
does
is
Toronto
and
Toronto
estimates
that
their
office
of
the
auditor
general
provides
benefits
to
the
city
each
year
that
are
between
7
to
12.
So
every
dollar
invested
in
the
office
results
in
a
benefit
to
the
city
of
somewhere
between
seven
and
twelve
dollars.
Wow,
that's
amazing!
That's
something
that
we
would
certainly
aim.
F
B
F
F
B
Follow-Up
process
that
this
committee
is
actually
this
committee's
responsibility
to
follow
up
on
the
recommendations.
Okay,
but
this
committee's
asked
me
to
run
with
that,
which
I
think
makes
perfectly
good
sense,
and
every
year
we'll
be
asking
City
departments
to
provide
us
with
an
update
on
the
status
of
the
implementation
of
the
recommendations.
They're
in
relation
to
the
the
action
plans
that
they
provided
in
relation
to
each
recommendation.
So
we'll
be
monitoring
that
and
Reporting
it
back
to
you
and
you'll
have
an
opportunity
to
ask
City
management
where
things
are
at
Rich.
F
Okay,
one
more
last
question,
so
I
guess
it's
a
very
general
question.
If
we
saw
a
particular
areas,
we'd
like
you
to
look
at,
we
can
understand
this
input
to
your
to
your
I,
always
value
suggestions,
yeah
thanks.
A
Great
thanks,
counselor
Joe
I've,
put
myself
on
the
Queue
and
I'm
hoping
I
can
pass
the
mic
to
Vice
chair
Boyle
to.
A
All
right,
thanks
for
this
Mike
and
I,
just
I,
just
wanted
to
jump
on
the
on
the
The
Whistleblower
report
and
and
just
kind
of
gauge.
How
confident
you
are
that
we
are
on
track
to
have
a
new
whistleblower
sort
of
office
component
by
the
by
the
new
year
and
and
maybe
add
a
little
color
to
what
the
Whistleblower
function
is.
Gonna
gonna
affect
and
look
like.
B
Sure,
well,
we're
I'll
start
with
the
second
part
of
the
question.
What
it's
going
to
look
like
we're
we're
trying
to
model
this
on
other,
well-functioning
whistleblower
programs
that
operate
in
Toronto
and
and
Ottawa
they
have.
They
have
good
programs,
there
good
processes
and
we
are
working
with
those
offices
to
to
learn
from
them
and
and
copy
their
success.
B
We
in
terms
of
the
revising
the
policy,
there's
there's
three
components
to
it:
one
is
the
the
actual
policy
itself
and
that
is
I.
Think
we've
come
to
a
point
where
we
have
agreement
on
wording
between
my
office
and
the
city,
but
there's
two
other
components:
there's
there's
underlying
procedures
that
are
referred
to
in
the
policy
that
the
city
is
drafting
and
I've,
not
yet
seen
so
I,
don't
know
what
that
will
look
like
I'm,
hoping
to
see
it
sometime
soon.
B
There's
also
consequential
amendments
to
the
auditor
general
bylaw
that
are
necessary.
The
auditor
general
bylaw
references,
The
Whistleblower
policy
three
times
and
the
references
don't
actually
make
sense
in
the
context
of
a
revised
policy,
so
it
needs
to
be
adjusted
accordingly.
So
I've
had
a
legal
advisor,
provide
suggestions
to
the
city
for
what
that
might
look
like
and
have
not
yet
heard
back.
B
I
was
hopeful
that
that
might
have
happened
this
month,
but
I
don't
think
that's
going
to
it
at
this
juncture,
Council
courses
on
break
in
August,
so
keeping
my
fingers
crossed
that
this
comes
forward.
September,
October,
but
you'll
have
to
ask
the
city
for
a
more
definitive
answer.
A
Okay,
that
was
it
for
me
thanks
Mike
and
thanks
Vice,
chair
Boyle
and
seeing
no
further
questions
or
anybody
on
the
queue
to
Carol
and
Archie
visually
nope
looks
good
okay.
Then
this
item
was
for
information
only
and
doesn't
require
a
vote,
and
this
actually
concludes
the
one
and
only
item
on
the
agenda.
So
with
that,
can
we
get
a
motion
to
adjourn
councilor
Joe
seconded
by
councilor
Boyle,
all
in
favor,
say
yay,
I'll
post,
say,
nay.
This
motion
carries
unanimously
thanks
everyone.
The
meeting
is
adjourned.