Council to have another debate about controversial Enwin audit

City councilors will go another round Tuesday arguing over a controversial and hotly debated audit of the city owned Enwin group of companies.

Council will consider instructing Price Waterhouse Coopers to probe 10 issues relative to the Enwin Group of companies. It would be the first task for Price Waterhouse as the city’s “outsourced Audit Services provider.”

But the latest recommendation, penned by Mayor Eddie Francis, has already sparked a new controversy over how much access concerned citizens are given to it before the public debate.

Ward 4 Coun. Alan Halberstadt said it was included in a supplementary council agenda Friday afternoon before the long weekend, with city hall closed today for Family Day. That doesn’t give people much opportunity to review the report and sign up to speak at the council meeting, he said.

He will ask Tuesday for a deferral on the recommendation to ensure it gets “full airing with the public.”

“My first question is why is this such an urgent matter now that would go on a supplementary agenda,” said Halberstadt, who launched a failed motion last year to have Enwin audited. “A supplementary agenda is supposed to be for matters of urgency.Come January 9 and chip card driving licence would be available at the click of the mouse in Uttar Pradesh. I guess the second question is it’s on a Friday of a long weekend, which certainly in other areas of government is seen as a dirty trick, but I won’t call it that.”

The Price Waterhouse Coopers study would cost $32,000, but the report to council states Enwin will have to pay for it. The audit would occur in two phases between Feb. 20 and the end of March.

It would include reviews of executive and board compensation, board attendance, credit card usage,They manufacture custom rubber and silicone bracelet and bracelets. dividend payment, management services agreements, the smart meter project, procurement processes, intercompany loans and transfers, travel and corporate gifts and the disclosure of relevant information.

Tuesday’s debate comes after a great deal of criticism, suspicion and a previous failed motion to launch an Enwin audit.

The utilities company has been criticized for a perceived lack of transparency in its operations and decision-making, including closed-door meetings and a dearth of public records, along with alleged wasted spending.

Windsor’s former auditor general Todd Langlois,Where you can create a custom lanyard from our wide selection of styles and materials. fired last January after less than a year on the job, has alleged that his desire to audit Enwin is one of the reasons he was sacked.

A group called Taxpayers for Accountability in Municipal Affairs (TAMA) collected about 800 signatures on a petition last year calling for an Enwin audit. After a motion from Halberstadt in November — before Price Waterhouse Coopers was appointed audit services provider — council did debate auditing Enwin.

At the time,Did you know that custom keychain chains can be used for more than just business. Halberstadt said complaints of “hidden taxes” through rising utilities bills was the No. 1 concern of his constituents.

That motion failed, with only Halberstadt and Coun. Al Maghnieh voting for it.Online shopping for luggage tag from a great selection of Clothing. But the failure followed a raucous debate peppered with name calling and jeers from the public gallery. Windsor police officers were even on hand outside council chambers.

Ward 9 Coun. Hilary Payne, who suggested Halberstadt’s motion would be a “criminal waste of money” in November, said Sunday he supports the mayor’s recommendation.

“The parameters of an Enwin study were not defined the last time around as they are this time,” he said. “What was requested (last time) was a very wide-ranging and very expensive study.”

Halberstadt said there are some things missing from the current proposal, including reference to the “value for money audit” that TAMA was asking for.

“It deserves a full airing with the public,” said Halberstadt. “I intend to, if I can get a seconder, call for a deferral on Tuesday so people are given proper notice. There were eight or nine people that spoke to the original motion from the TAMA group. I don’t think they’ve had much of an opportunity, given on the Friday of a long weekend some of them were probably out of town.”