The powers and functions of the Committee are set out in Municipal Elections Act, 1996 as follows:

1. Review any applications of a compliance audit of any candidate who ran for election, if the application was received in accordance with the legislative requirement, even if the candidate has not filed a financial statement under Section 88.25 of the Municipal Elections Act.
2. Review any applications of a compliance audit of a Registered Third Party for an election.
3. 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.
4. If the application is granted, the Committee shall appoint an auditor licensed under the Public Accounting Act, 2004, or other prescribed person, to conduct a compliance audit of the candidate’s/Registered Third Party’s election campaign finances.
5. The Committee will review the auditor’s report within 30 days and may, if the report concludes that the candidate/registered third party appears to have contravened a provision of the Act relating to election campaign finances, commence a legal proceeding against the candidate for the apparent contravention.
6. Review any Clerk’s Report of over Contribution under Section 88.34 or 88.36 to decide whether to commence a legal proceeding against a contributor for an apparent contravention.

The Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee will:

• Consider applications for a compliance audit of the campaign finances of a candidate for municipal council or a registered third-party advertiser resulting from the regular municipal election or any by-election held during the term of office for the Council for which the Committee was appointed;
• Appoint an auditor, if the Committee decides to grant a compliance audit;
• Review the auditor’s report and if the report concludes that the candidate or registered third-party advertiser appears to have contravened the Municipal Elections Act, 1996(link is external), decide whether legal proceedings should be commenced against the candidate or registered third-party advertiser; and
• Receive and consider report(s) from the City Clerk identifying contributors who appear to have contravened any of the contribution limits set out in the Municipal Elections Act, 1996(link is external), and decide whether to commence a legal proceeding against a contributor for an apparent contravention.

The Committee will be composed of five (5) members, with membership drawn from the following stakeholder groups appointed to represent each of the seven (7) Northumberland county municipalities.

Pursuant to section 88.37 (5) the term of office of the Council or local board that takes office following the next regular election, and the term of office of the members of the committee is the same as the term of the committee to which they have been appointed.

Information on the Committee’s meetings (including dates, location, and agendas) and decisions will be posted on the eSCRIBE Meeting Portal.

A quorum consisting of a majority of the members of the Board is required for a Board meeting. Quorum will be based on the number of active members appointed to the Committee.

The Committee will be composed of Members under the following qulaifications:

1. accounting and audit – accountants or auditors with experience in preparing or auditing the financial statements of municipal candidates;
2. academic – college or university professors with expertise in political science or local government administration;
3. legal; and
4. other individuals with knowledge of the campaign financing rules of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.

Composition shall not include:

1. employees or officers of the municipality or local board;
2. members of the council or local board; or
3. any person who are candidates in the election for which the committee is established pursuant to clause 88.37 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.
   Any persons who are registered third parties in their participating Municipality in the election for which the Committee is established.

Staff from the Clerk’s Office of the host municipality requiring the compliance audit review will provide administrative support to the Committee.

Any responsibilities not clearly identified within the Terms of Reference shall be in accordance with Section 88.33, 88.34, 88.35, 88.36, and 88.37 of the MEA. The Clerk has delegated authority to make administrative changes to these Terms of Reference that may be required from time to time due to legislative changes, or if, in the opinion of the Clerk, the amendments do not change the intent of the Terms of Reference.

Municipal Elections Act, Superior Court of Justice