Yesterday in the Vancouver Sun - veteran political columnist Vaughn Palmer digs into Victoria's plan for a Municipal Auditor-General (MAG) - see his column here. Also - Tom Fletcher (Black Press's political columnist) looks at this issue as well here. However, Charlie Smith from the Georgia Straight says that a Municipal Auditor-General is necessary - see his column here. Also - the Union of BC Municipalities or UBCM gets into this issue as well by issuing a "background paper" on this topic here. Strangely enough - UBCM reports that a local government already can appoint, on its own, a Municipal Auditor-General without Victoria butting in
My personal take on it is that a MAG from Victoria will not solve spending issues except create more bureaucracy. Municipalities and Regional Districts are already required to have their books audited on a yearly basis, in addition to a municipality and regional districts holding a budget meeting to discuss a yearly budget/5-Year Financial Plan prior to adoption
If the public was looking for another tool to increase public accountability - then current recall legislation should be extended to include Mayor, Councillors and Electoral Area Directors if the public feels strongly that their locally elected officials ought to be recalled (thrown out of office). Although - I feel the threshold to successfully recall a local politician out of office should be lower than the recall standard for provincial politicians. For example - the standard to recall a local elected official should be, say, 20% of the voting public. If the public is mad enough, at say, Williams Lake Council and under this proposal - a City Councillor or the Mayor could be successfully recalled or turfed from office if 1,550 signed a petition to recall said Mayor or City Councillor within the timelines laid out in the Recall and Initiative Act
Though I'm a Christy Clark supporter - this is one policy initiative I absolutely disagree with and should be withdrawn forthwith and reading the UBCM background policy paper - the idea of a MAG is also something municipal politicians don't buy into either
SBF
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