Technoparc CEO, board slammed by Montreal Auditor General

Montreal's auditor general, Jacques Bergeron, has found dozens of problems with governance and accountability at the publicly-funded industrial park known as Technoparc, including questionable compensation for theCEO, Mario Monette, whoreceives a $200,000 annualsalary, plus bonuses and a generous car allowance.

Technoparc is a non-profit organization in the St-Laurent borough. It's funded largely by an annualcontribution of $2.6 millionfrom the city of Montreal.

The agency's mission is to encourage high-tech companies inthe life sciences, information technology and aerospaceindustriesto buy anddevelop land in the industrial park off highway 40.

Bergeron released his report Monday afternoon.

In his review of the Technoparc's governance, Bergeron identified major problems including:

• Lack of oversight by the city.
• Excessive commissions and expenses for CEO Mario Monette.
• Failure of board members to follow therules they put in place.
• Lack of thorough documentation.
• Board members voting to give themselves contracts.
• Expense claims submitted by the CEO and senior managers not properly approved.
• Lack of transparency on land sales.
• Contracts awarded before being voted on by the board.

Big money for CEO

Bergeron's report targetedin particular the role of Technoparc CEO Mario Monette, who also sits on the agency's board of directors.

Bergeron notedthat from 2007-2013 Monette received commissions for each piece of land sold in the park. He found that Bergerondidnot withdraw from board meetings or abstain from voteswhere such sales wereapproved.

Bergeron saidthis was a violation of ethics and professional conduct rules.

Bergeron found, for example,that Monette earned nearly $30,000 in commissions in 2012and close to$100,000 in commissions in 2013, on topof his $200,000 base salary.

"These added commissions appear questionable at the very least, given that this non-profit organization is largely subsidized by the city," Bergeron wrote.

Bergeron also noted that Monette receives a $15,000annual car allowance in addition to his salary. Until 2014, Monettewas allowed toclaim expenses for use of his personal vehicle in addition to the car allowance.

Bergeronnotedthe maximumforcar allowances permitted in other city departments is$3,372 a year.

'Ethically questionable'

Bergeron also found that Technoparc board members including the chairman of the board, Paul Saint-Jacquesvoted on contracts fromwhichthey stood to benefit personally.

For instance, Saint-Jacques proposed at aboard meeting in 2013 that he be awarded a $25,000 consulting contract,which was renewed in 2014.

Bergeron found that no professional services contract was ever drawn up,and Saint-Jacquesdid not withdraw or abstain from the vote at whichthe board awarded him the contract.

"The chair should have withdrawn from deliberations and abstained from voting regarding a situation that could, at least in appearance, be likened to a conflict of interest," Bergeron wrote.

In another case, a lawyer who serves on the board was awarded a $10,000 contracta situation that Bergeron said was "ethically questionable."

Missing documents

Bergeronfound generally that oversight, documentationand proper approvals of expenses and contracts are severely lacking at the Technoparc.

In a review of 223 expense claims submitted by the CEO and senior managers,Bergeron found a third of them had inadequate or missing supporting documents.

In the case of a contract worth hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to a real estate consultant, Bergeron found the contract was signed by the CEObefore it was approved by the board of directors.

Overall,Bergeron found "a lack of thoroughness in documenting decisions taken, making it sometimes impossible to check the validity of certain facts."

Bergeronalso notes thatthe city didn't show much interest in oversight of the Technoparc.

He found that city bureaucratsdidlittle tofollowup on the city's annual investment ofmore than $2 million in the Technoparcand failed to verify if Montreal was getting value for its money.

Bergeron made several recommendations to improve governance of the Technoparc. He noted in his report that Technoparc managers have promised to follow up on most of his recommendations.

Bergeron will present his report at a newsconference at 2 p.m. The city is expected to respond after that.