City's whistleblower hotline cheaper than forecast

Hiring a firm to manage the city's new complaint hotline and website is going to cost a lot less than officials originally thought, says a report going to city council Tuesday.

In January, city council approved a plan to have an external firm handle complaints, in part as a response to expanded oversight by Ontario's Ombudsman.

City Clerk Caroline Hallsworth said at the time the ombudsman is supposed to be a last resort for people who have exhausted other options. And the ombudsman's office will want to see how the city handled the complaint before it went to them.

“We should have a formal mechanism,” Hallsworth said. “The ombudsman's first question (will be) to see the documentation.”

Hiring a firm was expected to cost as much as $20,000 to set up, although that amount was expected to fall once the system was up and running.

But following a suggestion from Auditor General Ron Foster, the city is pursuing a plan that would provide the whistleblower hotline at a much lower cost.

“The auditor general has determined that the service providers for the hotlines that are (presently) used by the City of Ottawa can implement similar functionality within CGS cost-effectively with a revised implementation date of April 1,” says a report going to city council Tuesday.

The line will cost the city $3,500 to set up and $2,000 in annual maintenance costs after that.

“Staff will enter into two-year contracts with these two firms provided they agree to acceptable terms and conditions,” the report says. “The annual costs and time requirements for these services will require single sourcing of both of these contracts.

“At the end of the two-year pilot, longer term contracts will be pursued with these providers or other options will be pursued that better meet the City's requirements for high quality, cost-effective services.”

The website provider is Baytek Systems Consulting International Ltd., and the provider of the call centre is On Call Centre Inc.

“Both firms are located in Ottawa and have been providing quality, bilingual services to the City of Ottawa for over five years,” the report said. “Using these firms for at least the initial pilot may provide a level of confidentiality that is not available from local service providers.”

Councillors are expected to approve the plan Tuesday.