St. John's depot spending probe spans 5 years of purchase orders
Union stresses its membership not involved in situation
An investigation into questionable spending at the St. John's city depot involves purchase orders spanning the past five years, CBC News has learned.
The purchase orders in question are valued at under $350 each.
It's not yet clear how much, in total, is encompassed by the ongoing inquiries.
Councillors met Thursday to be briefed on the issue.
Mayor Dennis O'Keefe says he first found out about the suspicious purchase order spending shortly before Christmas. Senior city staff — the city manager and the head of the public works and parks department — informed him.
"They found out through people who indicated to them that they should look into this issue of the use of purchase orders," the mayor said.
But the national respresentative for CUPE, the union that represents workers at the depot, is making it clear that his membership is not involved.
"An officer of the executive was in contact with an official from management last evening and it has been confirmed that it wasn't a member of the bargaining unit," CUPE's Ed White told CBC News on Thursday.