The Alberta government has cut funding for a Lethbridge safe drug consumption site after an independent audit discovered a litany of problems including ” financial irregularities.”.“The review substantiated allegations of asset and funding misappropriation, non-compliance with grant agreements, and inappropriate governance and organizational operations. The ARCHES organization was found to have seriously mismanaged taxpayer funds meant for the most vulnerable in our society,” the government said in a Thursday release..The government is now meeting with officials to determine whether a police investigation is required..ARCHES has received more than $14.4 million in taxpayer dollars over the past two years..The accounting firm Deloitte found:.$1,617,094 unaccounted for due to missing documentation for expenditures from 2017 to 2018.$13,000 of interest off ARCHES bank accounts was used to fund parties, staff retreats, entertainment and gift cards.A senior executive’s compensation totalled $342,943 for calendar year 2019. This includes $70,672 in overtime for fiscal year 2019-20. The grant agreement allows for a salary of $80,000. The Everyone Comes Together (ECT) program staff salaries and benefits also exceeded the amount allocated by the grant agreement by $16,000.The number of ARCHES employees is greater than allowed by the grant agreement. ARCHES maintained up to 126 employees. However, the exact number could not be verified.$4,301 spent on European travel for management to attend a conference in Portugal.Thousands of dollars in unverifiable travel expenses, including trips charged to company credit cards but not recorded in the ledger.A senior executive’s family member was hired, earning $9,900. The auditors could not locate a resume or personnel file to verify any qualifications.$7,557 for management retreats, including meals and mileage where documentation for spending was unclear.The grant agreement requires the organization to maintain the funding received from Alberta Health within a separate bank account; however, the audit revealed that it was comingled with other funding sources. As a result of ARCHES comingling their accounts, the auditors could not verify thousands of dollars of expenses.Proper personal conflict of interest declarations were not recorded when related individuals or vendors were hired or utilized.Vendors were repeatedly secured in secrecy with a lack of transparency and accountability.No petty cash reconciliations have been completed.$1,129 was used to buy gift cards for board members for The Keg, iTunes, Boston Pizza, Earls, Gap, Shell, Chapters, Cineplex, Amazon, Starbuck’s, Tim Hortons, MasterCard, and Bath and Bodyworks. The expense was recorded as “Gift cards – Board Members.”$2,100 was spent on gift cards to The Oil Changer – a business owned by a senior executive’s spouse.$2,205 was spent on a television with no receipt documentation to support the purchase..“It is disturbing and extremely disappointing to me that taxpayer funds allocated to this organization in order to serve the most vulnerable in Lethbridge would be used for European conferences, expenses for retreats, entertainment and gift cards. Our government will not stand idly by while millions in taxpayer funds are missing or misappropriated,” said Jason Luan, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.. POLL: Many Albertans say they will ignore Christmas COVID lockdown .The auditors said they were unable to complete the grant expenditure review in respect to all allegations received or provide a complete financial value attributable to each allegation, due to the state of ARCHES’ records and the related outstanding documents..The government said to ensure people struggling with addiction can continue to receive services, government has asked Alberta Health Services to set up a temporary mobile overdose prevention site in Lethbridge. It will also be adding three recovery coaches to the region to assist in expediting individuals into treatment..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter.com/nobby7694
