Municipalities in York Region have established a Joint Compliance Audit Committee under section 88.37 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.
The powers and functions of the Committee are as follows:
- Within 30 days of receipt of an application requesting a compliance audit, the Committee shall consider the compliance audit application and decide whether it should be granted or rejected;
- If the application is granted, the Committee shall appoint an auditor to conduct a compliance audit of the candidate’s election campaign finances;
- The Committee will review the auditor’s report within 30 days of receipt and decide whether legal proceedings should be commenced;
- If the auditor’s report indicates that there were no apparent contraventions and if there appears there were no reasonable grounds for the application, the Committee shall advise Council accordingly; and
- Within 30 days after receipt of a report from any participating municipality’s Clerk of any apparent over-contributions to candidates or third-parties (“report of the Clerk”), the Committee shall consider the Clerk’s report and decide whether legal proceedings should be commenced
A minimum of 3 members of the Committee shall be called upon to hear an application. The term of appointment for the Committee will expire on November 30, 2022.
Should an eligible voter who believes that there are reasonable grounds that a candidate for Municipal Council (Mayor, Regional Councillor, Ward Councillor) in the Municipal Election has contravened a provision of the Act relating to election campaign finances, may apply for a compliance audit of the candidate’s election campaign finances.
For additional information:
Joint Compliance Audit Committee
Joint Compliance Audit Committee - Bylaw and Terms of Reference
Joint Compliance Audit Committee - Current Members