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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCRPS-10-111 - 2010 Municipal Election - Compliance Audit CommitteeREPORT REPORT TO: Chair B. Vrbanovic and Members of the Finance & Corporate Services Committee DATE OF MEETING: June 21, 2010 SUBMITTED BY: R. Gosse, Director of Legislated Services/City Clerk PREPARED BY: R. Gosse ext. 2801 WARD(S) INVOLVED: n/a DATE OF REPORT: June 16, 2010 REPORT NO.: CRPS-10-111 SUBJECT: ELECTIONS - COMPLIANCE AUDIT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION: That the creation of the Joint Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee and the Terms of Reference attached as Appendix “A” to Corporate Services Department report CRPS-10-111, be approved; and That the City Clerk be delegated the authority to appoint members of the Joint Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee, in consultation with the Clerks of the other participating municipalities; and further, That remuneration of $150 per diem be approved for members of the Joint Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee. BACKGROUND: In 2003 and 2006, council exercised an option under the Municipal Elections Act (the Act) to appoint a Compliance Audit Committee (CAC). The committee’s mandate was to determine if an allegation made by an elector regarding non-compliance of the Act with respect to a candidate’s financial statement, would warrant an audit by a certified auditor. Recent amendments to the Act now mandates that every municipality appoint a CAC no later than October 1 of an election year, for a 4 year term. REPORT: Under section 81 of the Act, an elector who is entitled to vote in an election and believes on reasonable grounds that a candidate has contravened a provision of the Act relating to election campaign finances, may apply for a compliance audit of the candidate’s campaign finances. The elector would submit to the clerk in writing, the application setting out the reasons for the elector’s belief there has been a contravention of the Act. The clerk in turn would then forward the application to the CAC and within 10 days, the committee would decide whether the application should be granted or rejected. If granted, the committee would appoint a qualified auditor to conduct a compliance audit and submit their report to the: committee; candidate; council; clerk; and applicant. The expenses of the auditor are paid by the municipality. ïð ó ï If the auditor’s report concludes that the candidate appears to have contravened the Act, the committee may commence a legal proceeding against the candidate for the apparent contravention. If the report concludes there was no contravention and the committee determines there were no reasonable grounds for the application, Council is entitled to recover the auditor’s costs from the applicant. An effective Compliance Audit Committee should be composed of skilled and knowledgeable members with expertise and experience in one or more of the following areas: • accounting and audit practices • political science or local government administration • municipal/election law • campaign finance rules in the Municipal Elections Act At a meeting of the Area Clerks within the Region, the Clerks acknowledged the potential difficulty in finding sufficient individuals with those qualifications willing to serve on seven different committees across the Region. The Clerks from the Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo and Townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich, and the Region of Waterloo propose forming a joint Municipal Elections Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC). The City of Cambridge has opted to form its own committee. Membership for the Joint MECAC will be solicited by advertising, posting on the respective municipal websites and approaching previous compliance audit committee members (Region of Waterloo and City of Kitchener). The proposed Joint MECAC will have seven (7) members from across the Region. The selection of members will be based on criteria such as: • demonstrated knowledge and understanding of municipal election finance rules • analytical and decision-making skills • availability for meetings during the day or evening • previous committee experience, etc. The Clerks (or designates) from the participating municipalities will review the applications. It is recommended that approval of the appointments be delegated to each of the Clerks by the respective Councils and the approved names provided to each Council for information. This delegation process is recommended in order to streamline the process of establishing the committee and eliminate a potential or perceived conflict of a sitting member of council. Appointments will be approved by a majority vote of the Clerks. Once appointed, the MECAC will conduct business, if required, under the terms of reference attached to this report. These terms have been reviewed and agreed upon by the participating municipal clerks and contains a conflict of interest policy based on the Region’s policy for its advisory committees. When an application is received it will be the municipality in which the candidate ran for office that will be responsible for administering the meetings of the committee and paying all costs including a $150 per diem for committee members plus applicable mileage. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: None at this time, however costs will be incurred if a request for a compliance audit is received. ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Tory Speck, General Manager Corporate Services ïð ó î APPENDIX A Terms of Reference Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC) Refer to Section 81 of the Municipal Elections Act 1. Name of Committee Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC) The municipalities of the Region of Waterloo, City of Kitchener, City of Waterloo, Township of North Dumfries, Township of Wellesley, Township of Wilmot and Township of Woolwich have agreed to create a joint Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee. The establishment of this Committee and its terms of reference will be reviewed prior to the start of the next term of Council in 2014. 2. Purpose/Mandate/Scope The MECAC will operate within the provisions of the Municipal Elections Act, as amended. The MECAC will consider an application for a compliance audit of a candidate’s election campaign finances received under Section 81 of the Municipal Elections Act from an elector to determine if the application should be granted or rejected. If granted, the MECAC will appoint an auditor, receive and consider the auditor’s report and decide whether legal proceedings should commence or if there were reasonable grounds for the application. The auditor’s report is also submitted to the host Council and they are entitled to recover the auditor’s costs if there was no apparent contravention and the MECAC finds no reasonable grounds for the application. Definition “Host Municipality” is the municipality where the application for a compliance audit is received. A host municipality can only receive applications for candidates registered in its municipality. 3. Committee Membership The MECAC will consist of seven (7) members. The Chair of the Committee will be determined at each meeting by selection of the members present. Membership for the MECAC will be derived from the following groups: a) Accounting and audit b) Academic with expertise in political science or local government administration c) Legal d) Other individuals with knowledge of the campaign finance rules contained in the Municipal Elections Act ïð ó í Members shall not include: a) Members of any municipal Council represented; b) Employees or officers of the municipalities represented; c) Any persons who are candidates in the election for which the committee is established 4. Selection of Members Advertisements, including postings on the respective municipal websites, will be placed to solicit membership for the MECAC. Previous Compliance Audit Committee members will be contacted, along with direct contacts by municipal staff. The Clerks (or designate) from the Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, Townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich and the Region of Waterloo will meet to review the applications. Approval of the appointments will be delegated to each of the afore-mentioned Clerks by their respective Councils and the approved names will be put forward to each Council for their information. Appointments will be approved by a majority vote of the Clerks. Criteria used to determine membership may include: demonstrated knowledge and understanding of municipal election finance rules; analytical and decision-making skills, availability for meetings during the day or evening; previous committee experience, etc. 5. Term of Office st The term of office of the MECAC is the same as the term of Council, December 1 of an th election year to November 30 of the subsequent election year. 6. Meetings Meetings will be held as required when an application for compliance audit is received under the provisions of the Municipal Elections Act. The time frames for receiving applications an holding meetings shall be as established by the Municipal Elections Act. Meeting locations will be determined by the host municipality. 7. Agenda and Minute Preparation for the Meeting The Clerk of the municipality where the request for compliance audit is received (host municipality) will be responsible for scheduling the meeting, preparing the agenda and taking minutes for the meeting. All expenses will be paid by the host municipality. 8. Closed Meetings of Committees Closed sessions will be held in accordance with the provisions of Section 239 of the Municipal Act and will follow the procedures of the host municipality. The Clerk of the host municipality is responsible for conducting the closed meetings. 9. Meeting Procedures Quorum will consist of at least four (4) members of the MECAC. ïð ó ì Voting by consensus will be used for decisions of the Committee or a majority vote by members, usually performed by the show of hands. The Chair is also entitled to a vote on MECAC. Meetings will be governed by the Procedural By-law of the host municipality and Roberts Rules of Order as required. 10. Remuneration Members of the MECAC shall be paid a per diem rate of $150 plus the applicable mileage rate from the host municipality. Expenses will be paid by the host municipality. 11. Conflict of Interest Policy Members of the MECAC will conform to the conflict of interest policy, attached as Schedule “A” to these terms of reference. 12. Expulsion of Members The MECAC and/or the represented Clerks group may recommend to the host Council where the application was filed for the expulsion of a member for reasons as listed, but not limited to: the member being in contravention of the Municipal Act, the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the Provincial Offences Act, the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act and/or the Municipal Elections Act; the member disrupting the work of the Committee; or other legal issues 13. Errors/Omissions The accidental omission to give notice of any meeting of the MECAC to its members, or the non-receipt of any notice by any of the members, or any error in any notice that does not affect its substance, does not invalidate any resolution passed or any proceedings taken at the meeting. Any members of the MECAC may at any time waive notice of the meeting. ïð ó ë Schedule “A” CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY Policy Application This policy applies to the Municipal Elections Act Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC) for the municipalities of the Region of Waterloo, City of Kitchener, City of Waterloo, Township of North Dumfries, Township of Wellesley, Township of Wilmot and Township of Woolwich. Operating Principles: Members of the MECAC have a duty to conduct themselves in an impartial and objective manner. It is recognized that appointees have a broad range of interests and, from time to time, actual or potential conflicts of pecuniary interest or the appearance of such conflicts may arise. The purpose of this policy is to enable the MECAC to deal with such conflicts in as open and appropriate a way as possible. It is understood that members of MECAC will perform their duties in such a way as to promote public confidence and trust in the integrity, objectivity and impartiality of the Committee. No member shall directly or indirectly receive any profit from his/her position, provided that an honorarium, as established in the Terms of Reference and reasonable expenses may be paid in the performance of their duties. Definitions “Affected Party” means any individual, partnership, corporation, organization or other legal entity which has an interest in property, objects or other assets which are the subject matter of consideration by the Committee; “Business associate” means an individual in a formal partnership or in a shared ownership of a company or enterprise with a Member; “Committee” is the Municipal Elections Act Compliance Audit Committee (MECAC); “Immediate family” means a parent, child, spouse or common-law spouse of a Member; “Member” is an individual formally appointed to the MECAC in accordance with the Terms of Reference. Conflicts Conflicts of pecuniary interest arise when Members may financially benefit, directly or indirectly, from their membership on a Committee. Such involvements include, but are not limited to, the following: Members being the Affected Party or employed by or doing business with the Affected Party Members’ immediate family being the Affected Party or employed by or doing business with the Affected Party Members’ business associates being the Affected Party or employed by or doing business with the Affected Party A conflict of interest may be actual, potential or apparent. The same duty to disclose applies to each. The pecuniary interests of a Member’s immediate family or business associate are ïð ó ê considered to also be the pecuniary interests of the Member. Full disclosure in itself does not remove a conflict of interest. Principles and procedures It is important that Members be sensitive to appearance and perception and err on the side of transparency. In case of conflicts, whether actual, potential or apparent, Members are expected to fully disclose the conflict as soon as it arises and before the Committee makes any decisions in the matter where the conflict exists. Once such a disclosure has been made, the Member involved shall abstain from voting and shall not participate in the discussion of the matter which gave rise to the conflict. The affected Member must not in any way, whether before during or after the meeting, attempt to influence the outcome of any discussion or voting on the matter. If the meeting at which the matter is discussed is not open to the public, in addition to the above, the Member must leave the meeting room for the duration of any discussion and voting on the matter. In cases where one or more of the Committee’s Members has abstained from voting as a result of conflict, such Members shall be identified in the minutes of the meeting. Individual Members are encouraged to seek independent advice on conflicts or potential conflicts. Quorum Where the number of Members who, by reason of conflict, are disabled from participating in a meeting such that the remaining Members no longer constitute a quorum as set out in the Committee’s Terms of Reference, then remaining Members shall be deemed to constitute a quorum provided there are not less than two Members present. Solicitation No Member may in any way, either overtly or otherwise, use the fact of their membership on the Committee to solicit business for their own benefit or the benefit of their immediate family or business associates. ïð ó é