City auditor fired
Posted Jun 21, 2010 11:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Calgary City Council has fired the embattled municipal auditor.
Tracy McTaggart is being let go just a couple months after a report from her department caused a firestorm of controversy over possible fraud in the procurement of city contracts.
Those allegations were shot down in a review by the city manager.
Now a report by Price Waterhouse Coopers found the audit department wasn’t meeting industry standards.
Alderman Andre Chabot, who was the only one to vote against the firing, tells 660News he didn’t agree with the way it was handled. “These are deficiencies and challenges identified that existed between the Audit Committee and management and administration. So, ultimately we needed to make some changes. I can’t dispute that, I just think the whole process by which we went about doing it was flawed.”
The review found the audit department meets just two of 11 industry standards and partially meets only another four.
But despite the curious timing on councils decision to get rid of McTaggart, one city alderman is making it clear that the move is purely coincidental.
Ric McIver tells 660News her dismissal had nothing to do with allegations of fraud about the way city contracts were handled.
He says an external review of the city’s auditor is a normal part of the auditing process, and it just so happens that now was the time for that review.
