Listen to this article
Estimated 5 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
After spending by Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore’s office was flagged to police earlier this year, some residents wrote to the city to express their disappointment — while a former top bureaucrat took issue with one of Fillmore’s explanations.
In late June, a municipal audit found four financial transactions from Fillmore’s office did not follow Halifax Regional Municipality policy. The city’s auditor general said he referred the expenses to police because they went beyond his “comfort zone,” saying only law enforcement can decide when something is illegal.
The Nova Scotia RCMP said last week their investigation continues and they could not provide further details.
The expenses included about $14,000 for a consultant to help with the mayor’s April 2025 Halifax Chamber of Commerce speech, and around $90,000 to restructure the mayor’s office, which was originally expected to cost about $50,000.
Neither was sent for a competitive tender, which the auditor general said violated city policy.
Days after the audit, a resident wrote to Coun. Jean St-Amand that they were “shocked and quite frankly annoyed” that public money was spent on an external speechwriter when Halifax did not have enough funds to repair potholes and other infrastructure.
Halifax City Hall is seen in this file photo. The Nova Scotia RCMP are investigating four expenses from Mayor Andy Fillmore’s office. (Robert Short/CBC)
“The sense of entitlement the mayor brings to the office is most likely a carryover from his years in Ottawa where MPs regularly expense everything — even a single bottle of water!” reads an email released to CBC through a freedom of information request.
“Very poor [judgment] by the mayor.”
Another resident emailed Fillmore’s office with the subject line: “The Appearance of Glad-handing and Violating Policies.”
The resident asked multiple questions about the reorganization of the mayor’s office. While city officials cited confidentiality for skipping the bidding process, the resident wrote that “these appear to be standard human-resources and organizational-consulting services.”
“Given both the direct award and the substantial increase in cost, the public deserves an EXTREMELY clear explanation of why normal procurement safeguards were not followed,” the resident wrote.
“In short, this really stinks.”
One District 3 resident sent a supportive email to Fillmore’s office, seemingly referencing concerns about the audit raised by other councillors whose names were redacted.
The resident wrote those councillors should be held “responsible for their failure to perform their duties with respect and honesty such as yourself. Please be advised I appreciate you as a mayor.”
The remaining two items were for external legal advice totalling nearly $7,700 relating to advice about code-of-conduct complaints against Fillmore. The audit said the second legal expense in November 2025 was logged as “other goods and services,” months after staff were told legal advice on code-of-conduct complaints could not be expensed.
Fillmore reimbursed the city for those two expenses in February after senior staff directed him to do so.
Speaking to reporters after the audit in June, Fillmore said he and his staff were doing the best they could in fall 2025, but the situation was a “side effect of the former CAO making the choice to spin the office of the mayor out on its own” without supporting staff with purchasing training.
Cathie O’Toole, the former Halifax chief administrative officer Fillmore referenced, sent an email to Coun. Cathy Deagle Gammon on June 26 soon after that comment from the mayor aired on CBC Radio.
O’Toole wrote that Fillmore’s statement was “not factually correct,” and said she wanted to provide accurate information.
The mayor’s office became an independent unit rather than falling under the CAO’s office in Halifax’s organizational chart as of Oct. 1, 2025.
Finance staff were assigned to support the mayor’s office and “positioned to provide what was essentially ‘white glove’ service to them,” O’Toole wrote. She also said “continuity existed” after the 2024 municipal election to help smooth the transition from former mayor Mike Savage to Fillmore.
O’Toole said finance staff did provide training to new employees in the mayor’s office, and “it was up to the mayor” to identify any additional training needs for his office, as she had noted in an August 2025 internal memo.
CBC reached out to O’Toole about her email, but did not receive a response.
While Fillmore’s chief of staff said the mayor’s office never made an explicit request to become independent, the change came weeks after Fillmore publicly backed a strong mayor system, arguing power was currently “concentrated with an unelected CAO” and preventing him from tackling various issues.
Reports coming on mayor’s office audit, overall structure
A staff report on whether any corrective measures should be taken to improve financial accountability in Fillmore’s office, and the municipality at large, is expected later this month.
Last week, regional council also unanimously backed Fillmore’s motion to have new CAO Marnie Cluckie provide a staff report with a full review of the decision to make the mayor’s office independent.
Fillmore said he is open to any outcome. “The structure of the mayor’s office will matter beyond my term.”
Cluckie told council she will likely hire an outside consultant to review whether the setup provides good value for public money, or requires further adjustments.
MORE TOP STORIES