The City of Winnipeg will undergo an audit of all of its major real estate deals, dating back at least five years.
All 15 councillors and the mayor voted their support for the audit.
“Obviously, it reached a breaking point where the councillors said, ‘We can’t just put our heads in the sand. We have to deal with this,’” said Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge - East Fort Garry Ward).
It stems from a controversial land swap deal, in which city property that was home to two old fire halls, along with a vacant property, were traded for a commercial property on Taylor Avenue for a new fire hall.
City councillors and the mayor said they weren’t made aware of the deal while it was up for consideration.
“A mistake was definitely made. There may have been more,” said Mayor Sam Katz.
Gerbasi said the deal for the downtown Winnipeg Square Parkade in 2009 was also called into question.
Critics said accountability is needed, considering a similar audit hasn’t been completed in more than a decade.
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation said the city audit is welcome news.
“There are a lot of concerns out there with the public and something needs to be done,” said Colin Craig from the federation.
The mayor said he’d like to also see an external review of the fire hall deal started soon, meaning both the audit and review could happen at the same time.
