Brampton City Council Rejects Ombudsman’s Plea to Resume Investigations into Brampton University Project and Audit Procedures

Brampton City Council has dismissed the appeals of Ontario’s municipal watchdog to revive halted investigations into the Brampton University project and strengthen the city’s audit processes.

In a letter dated May 8, the Ontario Ombudsman urged Brampton to reinstate the review of the BramptonU initiative, which aimed to bring post-secondary institutions to the city, and to conduct an audit of the city’s Request for Proposal (RFP) procedures.

This request comes after the Ombudsman’s previous call for Brampton to adopt best practices within its audit department and complete any ongoing audits.

Nevertheless, the Ombudsman is now encouraging the city to reconsider its decision to cancel these audits and take comprehensive measures to address any outstanding concerns at the municipal level. The Ombudsman also emphasizes the need to enhance accountability and transparency. The audits were terminated in August, following a motion by Mayor Patrick Brown, before their completion. However, auditors had already uncovered potential conflicts of interest, payments to consultants prior to securing a request for proposal, and unidentified projects associated with the BramptonU initiative.

The Ombudsman’s office has received complaints related to the cancelled audits and asserts that Brampton still fails to adhere to recommended best practices outlined in a 2017 systemic review of the city. The Ombudsman’s recommendations include appointing an independent municipal Auditor General who can carry out any required audits for the city.

The Ombudsman’s letter states the importance of granting third-party investigators real and perceived independence to conduct their work impartially and thoroughly, with sufficient time and resources.

Instead of accepting the Ombudsman’s recommendations, the council voted to refer the findings of a prior investigation into unsubstantiated complaints of workplace discrimination, bullying, and misconduct by city officials to the finance department. This was done to explore the possibility of recovering any costs associated with that matter. The investigation had previously concluded that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by former Brampton Chief Administrative Officer David Barrick and other high-ranking officials concerning contract awards, discrimination, bullying, hiring practices, and more.

Councillors Martin Mederios and Pat Fortini were the only ones to vote in favor of forwarding the letter to the city’s audit department for consideration. Mayor Patrick Brown, Councillor Michael Palleschi, and Harkirat Singh criticized the Ombudsman’s letters and voiced concerns about divisions within Brampton City Council during the previous term.

Although Mayor Brown expressed a desire for an apology regarding “defamatory allegations” made in the earlier investigation, he did not comment on the recommendations to resume the audits.

While the audit was underway, work on the BramptonU project had been paused. However, in November, city staff received approval to resume their efforts on university advocacy following a motion from Mayor Brown.