HALIFAX: Mayor Andy Fillmore has requested a strengthened approach to the action plan arising from the Auditor General’s June 2026 Office of the Mayor Expenses Audit.
At Wednesday’s meeting of the Audit and Finance Standing Committee, Chair Councillor Cathy Deagle Gammon incorporated changes proposed by Mayor Fillmore to broaden the action plan to improve accountability and improve processes organization-wide.
The changes will examine the complete municipal process involved in the four transactions reviewed by the Auditor General – including the roles of relevant administrative business units and where financial, procurement, and other internal controls may need to be strengthened.
Also released in June, the Auditor General’s Capital Budgeting Audit identified gaps in how HRM estimates, evaluates and prioritizes major capital projects, and made nine recommendations to strengthen the municipality’s capital planning process.
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Mayor Fillmore provided the following statement in response:
“The Mayor’s Office is accountable for its part, and I have accepted the Auditor General’s findings. But accountability means more than identifying where a problem started – it means understanding how it happened, fixing every weakness we find, and making sure it doesn’t happen again.
I’m pleased the Chair incorporated the changes I proposed and that we found a collaborative way to strengthen accountability for taxpayers.
I expect the same standard to apply across the municipality. When the Capital Budgeting Audit Action Plan comes before Committee this fall, I expect clear responsibility, timelines, and measurable progress on all nine recommendations.
The Capital Budget affects how we make billion-dollar decisions about housing, transportation, and the infrastructure our growing region needs. We need to get better at deciding what comes first, why it matters, and what it will actually cost.”
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Backgrounder
Below is the final motion approved by the Audit and Finance Standing Committee on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
The Chair’s original motion is in regular font, with additions originally proposed by Mayor Fillmore and subsequently incorporated by the Chair shown in italics.
The motion was approved by the Committee.
“That the Audit and Finance Standing Committee direct the Chief Administrative Officer to develop an action plan regarding the Office of the Mayor Expenses Audit that addresses internal corrective measures and other steps taken as a consequence of the internal administrative review conducted by staff into this matter, including:
- identify the respective responsibilities of the Mayor’s Office, Procurement, Finance, Accounts Payable, Legal Services and senior approving authorities at each stage of the four transactions examined by the Auditor General;
- any gaps identified in approval, documentation, financial controls, procurement controls or other internal controls, and corrective measures taken or proposed to address them;
- report corrective measures taken or proposed in relevant business units to address whether those corrective measures should apply municipality-wide, and if not, why office-specific treatment is justified;
- consideration to the Auditor General’s planned municipality-wide procurement audit to avoid duplication;
and report back to the Audit and Finance Standing Committee within two months.”
