Ongoing investigation resulted from ‘whistle blower’ complaints made in 2024
Complaints filed under the City of Vancouver’s whistleblower policy that relate to the sale of city lands has prompted the auditor general’s office to commence a performance audit that it says will “address the allegations in a more systemic manner.”
The information was included in the auditor general’s first-ever whistleblower annual report for 2024. Mike Macdonell’s office took over responsibility of whistleblower complaints last year from the human resources department, and now has a dedicated whistleblower team.
“The [complaints] raised issues arising from specific transactions involving the sale of city lands, including whether the sale process was robust and whether council was fully informed before approving recommendations to sell the land,” said the report, which went before council Thursday.
The whistleblower team’s preliminary assessment concluded an investigation was warranted. However, early in the investigation it was determined the issues raised “would best be examined systematically rather than just looking at the individual transactions that were the focus of the report.”
No further details were disclosed in the report regarding the transactions, but Macdonell told BIV prior to his presentation to council that his office received a half-dozen complaints from “outside the city” regarding the transactions.
He said the complainants were concerned the city wasn't obtaining best value...
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