Basia Ruta has been named B.C.’s first Auditor General for Local Government, and we thought it might be helpful to suggest three things her office should start looking into on day one.

1. Local Government Labour Costs

Labour is local government’s number one cost, and council relationships with public sector unions have never been cozier. The AGLG should investigate the bargaining process in a few cities and identify whether there would be value into going to a regional or provincial negotiating structure.

Back in 2007, when the last round of CUPE municipal contracts was being negotiated, cities followed the provincial government’s lead and paid dearly to ensure labour peace through the Olympics. Back then, the province handed out big signing bonuses and nice raises; the pressure to ensure Olympic peace meant most municipalities ended up with a 17.5 per cent pay increase over five years.  Vancouver workers got a $1,000 signing bonus on top of that raise.

The economy was still booming in 2007, so not much was made of the huge pay increases. But when the global economy tanked and B.C. was dragged into the muck with it, the province learned its lesson and went to the highly successful net zero mandate.

Despite following the provincial government’s mandate in 2007, municipalities don’t seem interested in net zero. Three major factors scuttled any chance of net zero coming to municipalities in this round of bargaining. First, CUPE is a massive donor to mayor and council campaigns. In the 2008 Lower Mainland council elections, CUPE donated more than $700,000 to various candidates —plus distributed labour endorsements to various candidates and slates.

The second hurdle is a very practical, and personal, one. Whereas cabinet ministers generally interact only with non-unionized, senior staff day-to-day, there is no similar separation between councillors and municipal union employees. They see these people every day. Councillors are directly reliant on unionized municipal staff, making it personally difficult to take a hard line against pay raises.

Finally, mayors and councillors are petrified of a work stoppage and the political damage that can occur. When CUPE fought Vancouver in 2007 and managed to message the stoppage as “Sam’s Strike,” they didn’t just scuttle Mayor Sam Sullivan’s political career, they sent a message to every other mayor: don’t mess with us.

Net zero—or the current cooperative gains mandate—would be a powerful model to bring to the municipal bargaining table, and save the taxpayers money at both the provincial and municipal level. By including local governments in its public sector wage mandates, the province would prevent its unions from using municipal salaries and raises as a starting point for their own negotiations, and municipal taxpayers would save money on labour. 

2. The City of Abbotsford’s Contract with the Abbotsford Heat

City taxpayers have covered $3.5 million in losses for the Abbotsford Heat AHL team—and that’s only the first three years of a ten-year contract! But Vince Dimanno, president of the Abbotsford Ratepayers Association, has a legal opinion stating the contract contravenes the Community Charter, making it illegal.

Unfortunately, the Province decided no to act on this information, instead telling Dimanno to fight it in court on his own dime. He is; but this might be a great topic for the AGLG to take up.

3. Politician Pay

Every few months, we get word of another municipality giving raises to its mayor and council. These are often tied to a formula based on other cities—automatically triggering raises over and over again.

The AGLG should look into pay and expense structures, and make recommendations on appropriate levels and transparency. And she can start by removing the one-third tax-free portion of a politician’s salary.