Hamilton looks to create anonymous hotline for reporting fraud and waste

Hamilton's audit division is pushing for the creation of an anonymous hotline for reporting fraud and waste of city resources.

The department says the Fraud and Waste Hotline could significantly increase the reports of wrongdoing citywide.

In a report to be tabled Monday, Hamilton's director of audit services Charles Brown says he hopes to get city council's approval for a new hotline pilot project that would allow city employees or the public to report any suspected wrongdoing involving city resources.

"Currently, the City of Hamilton does not have a Fraud and Waste hotline," he said in the report.

"For citizens, there is no formal channel to submit anonymous or confidential reports, and such reports are rare."

Brown's report says that while a whistleblower by-law has been in effect from May 2010 to March 2018, only 28 cases of serious wrongdoing have been reported — a number it says is "very low" compared to other cities.

The report also claims that the introduction of hotlines in other cities caused a sharp increase in the number of reported instances of fraud.

Brown claims in the report that Winnipeg received only one complaint a year before the city introduced a hotline but the number of reported cases went to 42 once it was implemented.

Large cities, however, have seen hundreds of reports, with Toronto receiving 687 complaints through its fraud and waste hotline in 2014, and Ottawa receiving 319 in 2015, according to Brown.  

Hamilton's proposed hotline would also allow tips to be given anonymously, something not possible for city employees under the whistleblower by-law.

Brown said the cost of a hotline provided by an independent third party could cost between $25,000 and $30,000 a year, with a one-time set up cost of $4,500. An in-house alternative was also proposed, but Brown was unable to say how much he expected it to cost.