Queens Municipality getting head start on provincial transparency bill
A Nova Scotia municipality is planning to appoint a member of the public to its audit committee Tuesday, well ahead of revisions to the province's Municipal Government Act anticipated this fall.
"This simply helps improve public transparency and enables another avenue for questioning what we're doing as a municipality," said Richard MacLellan, CAO of the Region of Queens Municipality.
Following financial controversies in Richmond and Guysborough counties, a committee made recommendations to the minister of Municipal Affairs in March.
If approved, the changes would:
- Prevent municipal officials from claiming alcohol as an expense.
- Require all expense claims from municipal politicians and CAOs to be posted online.
- Create at least one citizen member of a municipality's audit committee.
MacLellan said the municipality already posts council expenses online, but the format will have to be adjusted to meet the proposed provincial requirements.
"When the municipality received the final report, we took those recommendations to council, who gave approval for the municipality to go forward and start implementing them," he said.
Audit committee's pick
The municipality's current audit committee recommended council appoint the lone applicant for the unpaid position, Bruce Inglis, as its independent member.
Inglis, a financial advisor in Liverpool and former Region of Queens Municipality councillor, could not be reached for comment.
MacLellan said going ahead with appointing an independent member to the audit committee was a "fairly easy action." He expects the first audit committee meeting will be held some time in September.
