Dieppe to discuss sewerage commission

The City of Dieppe will hold a special council meeting Monday night to discuss the Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission, following a scathing report by the auditor general.

But the mayor believes the matter should be handled at a tri-community meeting with Moncton and Riverview, as well as the commission.

The auditor general's report, released last month, found a series of problemswith the commission, ranging from excessive travel to financial mismanagement.

"So this evening there'll be a chance for council to discuss without having the wastewater commission there," said Dieppe Mayor Jean LeBlanc.

"I'm not sure how productive it will be, but it is what council asked to do," he said.

The meeting, which will be open to the public, will be held in council chambers at 7 p.m.

Citizens in Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe pay fees to the commission and make recommendations to the provincial government about who should be appointed to the commission's board.

LeBlanc expects a joint meeting will be held soon.

"We're all three partners in itwe want to take the auditor general's report seriously," he said.

"We want to see how the commissionis reacting to it and if there are corrective actions and new policies to put in place and suggestions that they want to make, so we'd like to hear that from them."

Moncton willing to meet

Moncton council has said it wants to discuss the auditor general's report further with its counterpartsin Dieppe and Riverview.

Moncton also plans to undertake a review of all its other boards and commissions, in light of the auditor general's report.

Meanwhile, Riverview plans tomeet with the commission, said Mayor Clarence Sweetland.

"Well our councillors have reviewed the report and a lot of questions have been raised and I know some of our councillors are very concerned and we plan on meeting with the sewage commission in probably sometime towards the end of the month or early December," he said.

The auditor general's report questioned spending by the commission, including chairman Ron LeBlanc's office expenses, his BlackBerry bill that averaged $550 a month and the appropriateness of almost $90,000 worth of foreign travel by commission members within a three-year window.

The Opposition Liberals are calling for a public inquiry and for LeBlanc to be immediately removed from his position.

LeBlanc, who has been chairman since 1983, has defended his board's actions. He contends the commission has served the community well and has described the call for him to step down by Liberal MLA Donald Arseneault, a former Liberal cabinet minister, as "petty politics."

Auditor General Kim MacPherson said she felt the questions raised by her audit should cause ratepayers in the three municipalities to be concerned.

She is calling on the provincial government to strengthen the governance and accountability of wastewater commissions.