‘What could have been done better?’: a key question for the city’s convoy audit

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More than 500 people filled out an online survey for the city’s Auditor General’s Office and another 25 signed up to speak at two online information sessions this week to say how they were affected by last winter’s downtown Ottawa occupation .

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It’s the first time the office has solicited public input on one of its audits, says Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon.

“It’s definitely a first for my office,” Gougeon said in an interview Monday. “Generally, the work we do does not allow for public consultation. We typically look at city action after the fact and it’s more about compliance or whether it added proper value for money.

“In this case, I felt it was pertinent to understand how residents were affected,” he said. “Usually when you conduct an investigation, there are allegations and you are going to prove or disprove. In this case, we are taking a different approach. All parties involved agree that things could have been done better. So the question is, ‘What could have been done better? And how could it have been done better? Those are the answers we intend to get.”

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The first virtual online forum takes place on Zoom on Tuesday night, with a second session during the day on Wednesday. Registration to speak is now closed, but Ottawa residents and business owners have until July 31 to submit the survey.

Some of the strong response, Gougeon called “a good turnout,” may have been from convoy supporters who put out a call on Facebook for protesters to voice their opinion.

“I encourage all qualified Ottawa residents and stakeholders to get involved in getting our side of the story told,” read a post on the Live From the Shed Facebook page.

The Ottawa audit is taking place at the same time as the federal government’s Emergency Law Enforcement Commission, but Gougeon said he is coordinating with the commission to avoid duplication. Neither the commission nor the city audit have set ground rules or terms of reference for their respective reports, but Gougeon said he will make sure they don’t cover the same ground.

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“The commission is likely to stay at a higher level than we are and we’re more likely to go into specifics, and I think that’s where we’ll add more value, beyond what the commission is doing,” he said. .

A non-governmental People’s Commission on the convoy is also underway, with a hearing scheduled for late summer. The panel, with Commissioner Alex Neve, a human rights lawyer and former Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada; Leilani Farha, lawyer and housing advocate; and Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah, executive director of the Canadian Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity, will deliver her report to mark the first anniversary of the occupation.

Community advocate Ken Rubin, co-founder of the People’s Commission, also signed in to make a presentation to the auditor general. But Rubin said the auditor general’s survey is too vague and the two-minute limit on Zoom presentations too short to garner meaningful public input.

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“How can you do a survey if you don’t ask the right questions… if you don’t name the right people?” Rubin said.

The AG’s audit was requested by the municipal council in February. In March, the Ottawa Police Service Board also requested the AG’s help. Normally, the city auditor does not have jurisdiction to examine the Ottawa police and police services board’s actions, but the board’s official request gives Gougeon extensive powers. Unlike a commission or court of inquiry, the auditor general’s office has access to any information it needs, even if it is considered privileged. But that doesn’t mean the public can see it. While the GA’s report to the council is posted on its website, confidential or privileged information will be redacted.

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Originally, the council requested that the report be complete by Canada Day. Gougeon said it will probably be late fall or winter before it’s over.

“In my most recent update to the council, I said that we take the time to do our jobs and provide value-added recommendations to both the city and the police service and its board. To summarize: we are going to take the time to do a thorough audit,” he said.

The report probably won’t be complete before the municipal elections this fall.

“I don’t anticipate that,” he said. “Is that a factor in our consideration? Absolutely not. Our work continues whether there are elections or not. If we have work ready to report, we will be reporting. But having said that, I don’t think we are in a position to report before the election.”

His report will be delivered to the audit committee before the city council sees it, and because of the election, the audit committee is unlikely to hold a meeting until after the new year, he said.

The public can view both of this week’s Zoom sessions at these links:

Tuesday, 5-7 p.m. ottawa-ca.zoom.us/j/86840665005 and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ottawa-ca.zoom.us/j/82580464961

The survey can be found at engagement.ottawa.ca/public-consultation-on-convoy-protest