The former president of the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), Dominique Ollivier, criticizes the Auditor General’s report and criticizes her for not having allowed her to express her point of view.
In a long letter sent this morning to members of the municipal council, she denounces certain elements of the report which was devastating for her administration and that of her successor, Isabelle Beaulieu.
She said that the Auditor General had promised to hear from her last February, but that this was not the case before the report was released.
“I read several questions and assertions in the report that startle me and that if the BVG had taken the time to hear me and consider my answers would, in my opinion, have had an influence on its analysis,” she wrote in the report. email obtained by our Investigation Office.
Dominique Ollivier leaving a press conference last November where she announced her departure as number 2 in the City of Montreal.
Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
She criticizes Andrée Cossette for only relying on the new OCPM team in place since the dismissal of Isabelle Beaulieu at the end of last year.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying she would have agreed with me, but at least we would all have the satisfaction of knowing that this report is done with complete impartiality and with the right information,” he said. She.
Explanations
According to her, certain findings of the VG are inaccurate and she could have provided documents explaining in particular the budgetary requests of the organization. It also insists on the independence of the organization in relation to the municipal administration.
However, she does not call into question the report itself and recognizes that the auditor revealed certain shortcomings in the management of the OCPM. She concluded by saying that before drawing conclusions, she should have asked for clarification from those who had them.
Remember that our Bureau of Investigation first revealed several expenses on restaurants and trips last November. In the following days, Dominique Ollivier gave up his position as number 2 in Valérie Plante’s administration.
In the process, the AG carried out an audit which led to the report submitted to the municipal council today. She noted “insufficient controls”, a “partial justification of expenditure”, a “lack of vision” and an “incomplete governance framework”.
“The OCPM has not demonstrated that it has applied rigorous controls on its expenditure to ensure economical and efficient use of public funds since at least 2014,” she indicates.
At the municipal council, the head of the OCPM in Valérie Plante’s team, Robert Beaudry, also asked the general auditor if she had met “the former presidencies” as part of the preparation of the report.
The latter refused to answer this question, indicating that the names of the people met are confidential.
More details to come.
