Alain Lalonde said he is happy with the powers and tools he has to do his job as auditor general. (CBC)

The City of Ottawa's auditor general shouldn't just expose waste and mismanagement at city hall — he should be given the power to fix the problems, some city councillors suggested Thursday.

A day earlier, Alain Lalonde tabled his annual report, which highlighted issues including the $6 million cost of last year's transit strike and the fact that only a quarter of ambulance calls result in someone being taken to the hospital.

Cumberland Coun. Rob Jellett said that while Lalonde is fulfilling his mandate, "I think we need to give him a little bit more teeth." He suggested there should be more force behind Lalonde's recommendations: "If staff are doing something that they shouldn't be doing, come right out and say they should be gone."

College Ward Coun. Rick Chiarelli said he likes how Lalonde has audited the books of most city departments in his five years on the job, but it's time for a shift.

"I'd like to see him concentrate on some things like the management scope — how many people a particular manager manages; different ways to deliver the same service with at times either fewer people or fewer capital resources," he said.

Lalonde said he is open to discussing his mandate with council, but at the moment his role is to make recommendations to council.

"We try to be very clear and after that I believe it's the role of the city manager to implement these recommendations," he said.

He added that he is happy with the powers and tools he has now to do his job.