By: Alex G
Brampton’s city director claims she was fired because she sent an email to members of the council, media in which she made allegations of mismanagement of funds and discrimination against top city officials.
Gurpreet (Nikki) Kaur was the city’s former director of the corporate projects, policies, and liaisons. The email, which was sent on April 22, accused David Barrick, chief administrative officer (CAO) of wrongdoing and other top city staffers, of abuse of power and nepotism.
But a third-party corporate report launched in the wake of blistering allegations last week, by a former City of Brampton staffer did not find evidence of unlawful activity or discriminatory behaviour by employees or third-party vendors.
The report, commissioned by Brampton council through forensic auditor Deloitte in late April after Gurdeep (Nikki) Kaur made allegations of improper hiring practices and criminal activity and other allegations, found that “corporate policies have been followed in all but two instances of administrative non-compliance with City policies and standard operating procedures at the Director-level, one regarding the lack of a completed limited tendering form for an extension of existing work and another regarding the lack of a limited tendering form.”
The report, which cost $500,000 and came to the same conclusions as previous investigations by Peel Police and the Ontario Ombudsman, and led to discussions between councillors over whether to air the matter publicly, found that many of the areas of investigation resulted in allegations that were “were not substantiated upon review or lacked sufficient detail to investigate further.”
Additionally, the report suggests that accusations Kaur made towards the city’s human resources director, Sandeep Aujla, alleging that he made discriminatory remarks at a meeting, were found to be false, as Deloitte obtained a tape recording of the meeting in question.
The report also states that, regarding policy and procedure compliance, “Deloitte did not identify any evidence of a raise being given outside of standard process nor due to favoritism from a pre-existing relationship… in reviewing allegations of improper employee transfer, Deloitte did not identify any policy violations.”
As part of the investigation, an anonymous portal was made available to city employees and residents to submit concerns related to processes or personnel. In a statement, the city said it would look to “automate aspects of the Finance process, with the intention of reducing documentation-related compliance risks.”
