A financial audit to probe the alleged mismanagement of funds at the South Winnipeg Community Centre found no financial wrongdoings.
More than 600 people packed into the community centre’s Waverley Heights location Wednesday night to attend the annual general meeting and cast their votes on the centre’s financial statements and elect a new board of directors.
Some members of the community and facility staff alleged irregularities in financial disclosure to the board and possible human resource issues, prompting the audit.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
In April, Coun. Markus Chambers requested the board agree to an independent audit following rumours the 666 Silverstone Ave. location was being mismanaged under GM Paramjit Shahi.
“There was certainly a big smell around some of what was going on there,” said Fort Richmond resident Andrew Dutfield, who attended Wednesday’s meeting.
“I’ve been on a lot of boards, and I don’t remember ever 600 people turning up for a board meeting. So that kind of gives you an idea of how strong people’s emotions were.”
A line of people waiting to get in snaked through the centre’s parking lot well after the meeting began.
People who attended voted to replace all but one of the eight-person board. Four members, including former president Masroor Khan, did not run for re-election.
The audit covered the centre’s finances between April 1, 2023 and March 31 of this year.
In April, Coun. Markus Chambers requested the board agree to an independent audit following rumours the 666 Silverstone Ave. location — the centre’s other facility is located at 1885 Chancellor Dr. — was being mismanaged under GM Paramjit Shahi.
Concerns about stalled renovation projects, cash management and staffing were forwarded to Chambers, who then called for the independent investigation.
Khan previously told the Free Press the volunteer-run board launched an internal investigation on the operations of the Silverstone centre before Chambers requested the audit.
“I’ve been on a lot of boards, and I don’t remember ever 600 people turning up for a board meeting.”–Resident Andrew Dutfield
At the outset of that investigation, Shahi, who previously acted as board president but resigned to appoint himself as general manager, was immediately placed on administrative leave. He resigned on May 13.
In May Khan said the SWCC board was working to address some of the public’s concerns.
Dutfield took issue with the Silverstone location’s bathrooms, which he says are sorely outdated and in a constant state of disrepair.
“How does it take three years to fix a set of washrooms?” he said. “Do they not have any money?”
Among the allegations was misuse of grant and operational funding, which the community centre receives from multiple municipal and provincial streams.
Waverley West Coun. Janice Lukes, who oversees the community centre’s operations along with Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River) said she is satisfied with the audit’s findings.
“There was no need for an external audit, but the SWCC board decided to ensure transparency for the community, so they hired an external auditor whose report said all finances were in order,” Lukes said in a message to the Free Press.
“How does it take three years to fix a set of washrooms?” he said. “Do they not have any money?”–Resident Andrew Dutfield
The Free Press has not independently reviewed the audit.
Dutfield, whose grandchildren use the community complex for youth sports, also saw no reason to question the auditor’s report.
“There was nothing in the report that indicated to me as anything untoward about the past year,” he said. “So if any hanky-panky or anything inappropriate was going on with the numbers, it was occurring before.”
Dutfield’s wife Jacqueline and son-in-law Matthew Wilms were appointed board members Wednesday.
Newly elected board president Jennifer Shahi said she sees Wednesday’s results as a fresh start for the community.
Shahi’s first order of business is to improve transparency and accountability in the community centre’s financial management and rebuild trust with residents.
“The community is really excited for new leadership and folks who are actually utilizing our facilities and programming day to day as part of their family activities, who want to see transparency and who want to see stewardship of public dollars and more governance coming into running a community centre,” she said.
“There was nothing in the report that indicated to me as anything untoward about the past year.”–Resident Andrew Dutfield
Lora Meseman, executive director of the General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres who chaired the annual general meeting, pointed to internal strife within the board as the real issue and supported the auditor’s findings.
“The issues at hand were far more complicated than its finances,” she said. “If there was financial impropriety it would have showed up in the review.”
Shahi said she and the new board will work together to ensure harmony between members, staff and the public.
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.