Toronto Audit Clears Staff in MyToronto Pay Fiasco

0:00It's April 28th, from your city to your ears. This is Canada News Today, powered by AI. A new audit in Toronto clears former city staff of any legal wrongdoing in the messy rollout of my Toronto pay and online system for paying parking. Tickets and bills. They hired U.S. tech firm Payet back in 2019, but staff broke some procurement rules during the rush deal at the pandemic start. No fraud or theft, just policy slips that didn't cross into serious misconduct. The whole thing kicked off with Payet's unsolicited pitch to modernize payments. No upfront costs, quick setup, staff tested it without full council. Okay, then pushed a sole source contract before a public bid in 2020. Pandemic pressures from bosses and the public sped things up, making records hard to track seven years later. Locals and council got fed up when the platform flopped hard. It was supposed to save $11 million, but cost $8.4 million instead.

1:00By 2024, council voted to shut it down and let the contract die in 2025. Digging deeper, Auditor's found staff sent emails to personal accounts, maybe dodging freedom of info requests, and shared draft reports with Payet for, fact checks. The ex-chief tech officer skipped interviews since he left Canada, but nothing proved an unfair edge. These Auditor General is pushing stronger rules for unsolicited bids to avoid future headaches, ensuring better oversight on these digital deals. Moving forward.