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BYLAW - Establish Appoint Joint Compliance Audit Committee 2014 2018 - 20140715 - 564314THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF AURORA By-law Number 5643-14 BEING A BY-LAW to establish and appoint a Joint Compliance Audit Committee for the 2014-2018 term of Council for The Corporation of the Town of Aurora. WHEREAS subsection 81(1) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, 8.0. 1996, c. 32, Sched., as amended, (the "Act"), states that 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 election campaign finances; AND WHEREAS subsection 81.1(1) of the Act states that a council or local board shall, before October 1 of an election year, establish a committee for the purposes of section 81 of the Act; AND WHEREAS subsection 81.1 (2) of the Act states that the Committee shall be composed of not fewer than three (3) and not more than seven (7) members and shall not include: (a) employees or officers of the municipality or local board; (b) members of the council or local board; or (c) any persons who are candidates in the election for which the committee is established; AND WHEREAS subsection 81.1 (3) of the Act states that the term of office of the committee is the same as 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; AND WHEREAS on March 18, 2014, the Council of The Corporation of the Town of Aurora (the "Town") endorsed participating with other local municipalities in The Regional Municipality of York in establishing a Joint Compliance Audit Committee (the "Committee") and adopted Terms of Reference for the Committee; AND WHEREAS on June 24, 2014, the Council of the Town appointed members to the Committee; AND WHEREAS the Council of the Town deems it necessary and expedient to establish and appoint a Joint Compliance Audit Committee for the 2014-2018 term of Council for the Town; NOW THEREFORE THE COUNCIL OF THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF AURORA ENACTS AS FOLLOWS: 1. THAT the Committee be and is hereby established in accordance with the Act for the 2014-2018 term of Council for the Town. 2. THAT the membership of the Committee shall be selected by the Town Clerk from the following roster of individuals, subject to the requirement that the membership of the Committee shall consist of not fewer than three (3) and not more than seven (7) of such individuals: (a) Terrance James Alderson (b) Janet Andrews (c) Ron Colucci (d) Robert Freedman (e) Mark Gannage (f) Kelly Gravelle (g) Paul Jones (h) Karen Leung (i) Jason Nice By-Jaw Number 5643-14 Page 2 of 4 3. THAT the business of the Committee, including dealing with each compliance audit request, be conducted in accordance with the Terms of Reference for the Committee, as set out in Schedule "A", attached hereto, which shall be binding and form part of this By-law. 4. THAT this by-law shall come into full force and effect on the date of final passage hereof. READ A FIRST AND SECOND TIME THIS 15'h DAY OF JULY, 2014. READ A THIRD TIME AND FINALLY PASSED THIS 1s'h DAY OF JULY, 2014. ~R~,MAYOR By-law Number 5643-14 Page 3 of 4 SCHEDULE "A" TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR JOINT COMPLIANCE AUDIT COMMITTEE (2014-2018) MANDATE The powers and functions of the Committee are set out in Section 81 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996. 1. 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; 2. If the application is granted, the Committee shall appoint an auditor to conduct a compliance audit of the candidate's election campaign finances; 3. The Committee will review the auditor's report within 30 days of receipt and decide whether legal proceedings should be commenced; and 4. 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. Members of Council, staff or candidates running for office in the 2010 municipal election are not eligible to be appointed to the Committee. Should an appointed Member accept employment with any of the member municipalities or register as a candidate with any of the member municipalities, their appointment will be terminated. All Committee Members must agree in writing that they will not work for or provide advice to any candidate running for municipal office within the member municipalities. To avoid any potential conflict of interest, applicants with accounting or auditing backgrounds must agree in writing that they will not offer their services to any municipal election candidates. Anyone who has participated as candidates in the member municipality elections, or who have conducted audits or provided financial advice in respect of such campaigns, would be disqualified from participation on the Committee. COMPOSITION Collectively a total of nine committee members shall be appointed by the participating municipalities. When a municipality is in receipt of a request for a compliance audit, the Clerk of the applicable municipality shall contact the Committee Members and arrange for a minimum of three Members to hear the audit request. TERM The term of the Committee is co-terminus with Council. CHAIR The three-Member Committee called to hear a request for compliance audit shall select one of its Members to act as a Chair at the first meeting. PROPOSED MEETING SCHEDULE The Committee shall meet as needed with meetings to be scheduled by the Clerk, in consultation with the Chair, when a compliance audit application is received. STAFFING AND FUNDING Staff from the applicable member municipality shall provide administrative support to the Committee. The member municipality requiring the services of the Committee By-law Number 5643-14 Page 4 of4 shall be responsible for all associated expenses. RECORDS The records emanating from meetings of the Joint Compliance Audit Committee shall be retained and preserved by the municipality requesting the service of the Committee in accordance with that municipality's Records Retention By-law. MEETINGS Meetings of the Committee shall be conducted in accordance with the open meeting requirements of the provisions in the Municipal Act, 2001. The websites of the member municipalities will be utilized to communicate the meeting notices and agendas. REMUNERATION $400 -Retainer fee (includes compensation for review of any background materials). $350 -Per Diem rate, plus mileage. MEMBERSHIP SELECTION All applicants will be required to complete an application form outlining their qualifications and experience. The Clerk, or his/her designate, from each participating municipality will serve on the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee shall meet to review all applications based upon the approved selection criteria. The Selection Committee shall prepare a slate for consideration by the Councils of the member municipalities. SELECTION CRITERIA a) Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of municipal election campaign financing rules; b) Proven analytical and decision-making skills; c) Experience working on committees, task forces or similar settings; d) Demonstrated knowledge of quasi-judicial proceedings; e) Availability and willingness to attend meetings; and f) Excellent oral and written communication skills.