auditor general

“We need to restore order!” says Martinez Ferrada

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , ,

By Dan Laxer
The Suburban

A little over a week after the Auditor General blamed mismanagement and poor planning for the state of Montreal’s roads, Soraya Matinez Ferrada announced her party’s plan to get city’s roads and roadwork projects in order.

The Ensemble Montréal leader, and candidate for Montreal mayor, held a news conference in Carré Chaboillez at the corner of Peel and Ste. Catherine Streets, a part of the city that has been under construction for some time. She was joined by Saint Laurent Borough Mayor Alan DeSousa, and CDN-NDG candidate Alexandre Teodoresco, all of whom battled, at times, to be heard over the excavators and front-end loaders behind them.

“Montrealers are tired,” Martinez Ferrada said. “They’re tired of finding construction the day after, waking up not even knowing that the road was going to be closed.”

DeSousa said the purpose of the day’s announcement was to eliminate the orange cone as an international symbol of Montreal.

“We need to restore order,” Martinez Ferrada told reporters. “We need to restore coordination to all construction site management in Montreal.”

The measures announced include a complete inventory of all of the city’s worksites within the first 100 days of Martinez Ferrada’s mandate, should she be elected (as she does at other news conferences, she referred to herself as “the future mayor of Montreal”).

She also pledged to prohibit excavation on the same street segment more than once in five years, except in emergencies.

She called for the use of quality materials adapted to the city’s climate to reduce the need to repeat work down the road, as it were, and for real-time updates for residents and business owners impacted by major work, with QR codes on all signage to identify contractors.

Teodoresco added that they plan to leverage university research centres and the business community to make Ville-Marie “a laboratory for innovative solutions to construction management challenges.”

“We have the greatest research centres in the world,” he added. “We have the godfather of AI, for God’s sake, Yoshua Bengio, living right here in our city. So, how come we are on that leadership position as a city, but at city hall we’re the worst in class?”

The announcement comes with several major project either slated to begin or already begun. It was the first day of school, and the first day of major repairs that will have the Décarie Expressway tied up at the Cote St. Luc Road overpass for over a year.

And it comes two weeks after the announcement of eight-year closures for the McTavish Reservoir repairs.

“How come it takes eight years,” Martinez Ferrada asked, responding to a question from The Suburban as to whether she will be able to speed up projects announced or started before the election. “We have to accelerate the work that we’re doing in Montreal. It’s not normal,” she said, “that we can build a bridge in 42 months and not a road in less than that.”

Echoing DeSousa’s words, Martinez Ferrada said “I want to turn the page of having the orange cone as a symbol of Montreal.” n

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Damning Auditor General’s Report  – CISSS granted a grace period

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

Nelson Sergerie – LJI Journalist

GASPÉ – The Gaspé Peninsula Integrated Health and Social Services Centre (CISSS) has been granted a grace period until October to address the 64 recommendations proposed in response to the damning report by the Auditor General of Quebec. That report was produced three years ago on five major areas of the organization’s management. 

In May 2022, the then Auditor General, Guylaine Leclerc, criticized management and governance by making five major findings: lack of rigour in hiring and inadequate management of service contracts; work environment issues; poorly protected personal information; and lack of compliance with governance rules. The auditor noted that the CISSS management was problematic overall, particularly at the management level when Chantal Duguay was President and CEO. 

“Four of the five areas are 100% complete. We have met expectations. The fifth area that has not yet been completed is contract management, although many changes have been made over the past year and a half, we still have some areas to address to meet the VGQ’s (Quebec’s Auditor General) expectations,” says President and CEO Martin Pelletier. 

What remains to be done is the response to the logistics action plan, which had to be readjusted. 

“Our internal approach, with review processes to ensure that contracts are properly secured, is where it’s lacking. There are a lot of contracts we sign each year that are for five years and they aren’t in the mix. We see that there are still adjustments to be made to our mechanisms,” maintains Mr. Pelletier. 

The Auditor General is satisfied with the work accomplished over the past three years. 

“We met three times with the VGQ (Auditor General) office officials, and each time, it was satisfactory,” says Mr. Pelletier. 

Regarding governance, with the changes implemented with the arrival of Santé Québec, this aspect has been put on hold while the auditor adjusts to the new way of managing the future. 

Mr. Pelletier notes that a great deal of work has been done over the past three years to address the concerns raised by the report. Relations have improved. 

“One of my major projects was to ensure that we collaborate. We didn’t always agree, but we were able to agree on the well-being of users, and we did so respectfully with the unions and Santé Québec. We talk to each other, and that’s where we can find solid solutions. The lines of communication are excellent,” notes the CEO. 

Patient safety has never been compromised, he says. “I hope that not too late in the fall, we’ll be able to close the file once we’ve provided the latest information,” says the President and CEO.  

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