Auditor should ‘stay in her lane’: Ford

Lysyk engaged in ‘sting operations,’ at Niagara casinos, premier argues

Premier Doug Ford says auditor general Bonnie Lysyk should “stay in her lane” and audit government spending, not run undercover sting operations at casinos that rankle police.

In his first public comments the morning after Lysyk’s annual report to the legislature, Ford expressed concern she had moved far beyond her mandate to track government waste.

“I can’t speak for the police, but … I’m sure they wouldn’t be happy. Be it the OPP, local police or RCMP, the auditor general has to stay in her lane,” the premier told reporters Thursday at the Michener Institute, where he announced $4.6 million to boost nursing education there.

“Focus on where there’s (a) waste of money. You can’t do a sting operation. You can’t all of a sudden deputize yourself and think you’re the secret service,” he said.

As first disclosed by the Toronto Star, Lysyk hired “mystery shoppers” for a covert mission at four Ontario casinos in Toronto, Niagara Falls and Windsor to test antimoney laundering efforts at facilities overseen by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).

The ruse was criticized by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Lysyk admitted the OPP told her

“don’t do this” because it needlessly diverted policing resources.

In spite of being chided by the force, the auditor insisted it was “a worthwhile exercise.”

Asked Thursday about the premier’s comment that she should stick to auditing, Lysyk said, “Everyone has a right to their opinion.”

“All we did was test the internal controls at the casinos,” she said.

“Our role is to do our job and do our report for all MPPs and all citizens.”

Lysyk noted while some of her agents were nabbed by casino security, other operatives proved that money could be “washed” through gambling houses.

Ford, echoing concerns that former premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government had with Lysyk, said she should “focus on value-for-money” audits instead engaging in “jurisdictional creep.”

Prior to the premier’s statements, the auditor defended her scope of work and her tactics.

“There’s no creep,” Lysyk said at her Wednesday news conference.

“We’re just doing our mandate according to our methodology as an office … that is our professional process,” she said.

“Oh my gosh, we’ve been using it for probably 30 years. Each of those audits are done by different teams in the office, so they determine the focus.”

New Democrat MPP Catherine Fife (Waterloo) said the auditor “showed that the OLG and its private casino operators do not have adequate processes to prevent money laundering.”

“Money laundering is happening in Ontario’s casinos. British Columbia has stronger money laundering provisions in place today that the government should bring in,” said Fife.

Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser said Ford should “be able to take the criticism” of the auditor without lashing out.

“I don’t think — even when we were in government — it’s a good idea to criticize publicly the officers of the legislature,” said Fraser.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner pointed out that Ford has in fact contributed to the perception of mission creep in Lysyk’s role.

“The government handed the auditor general additional powers when they fired the environment commissioner, for example,” said Schreiner, referring the November 2018 move to merge the ecological watchdog into Lysyk’s office.

Indeed, her 1,083-page report found a lack of co-ordination among four provincial departments — or “gaps” — could lead to the increased risk of flooding due to inadequate drainage systems.

As well, Lysyk concluded there isn’t enough staff to “properly monitor and protect” the Niagara Escarpment.

Beyond that, she raised a litany of concerns, including that doctors earned five times more than nurses to give vaccinations against COVID-19, and that Ford ignored ministry experts on the proposed Highway 413 between Milton and Vaughan.