Being a By-Law to establish a joint compliance audit committee

for the 2010 municipal election period.

WHEREAS Section 20 (1) of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, Chapter 25

authorizes municipalities to enter into joint agreements;

AND WHEREAS Section 81.1 (1) of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, as

amended, requires municipalities to establish a committee prior to October 1,

2010;

AND WHEREAS interested municipalities in the Almaguin Highlands and

surrounding area have individually agreed by resolution of each respective

council, to form a joint committee;

NOW THEREFORE the Council of the Corporation of The Township of Strong

hereby enacts as follows:

1. That participation in the joint compliance audit committee as authorized by this by-law shall be limited to the following municipal corporations:

The Township of Armour The Village of Burk’s Falls

The Township of Joly The Town of Kearney

The Township of Machar The Township of McMurrich/Monteith

The Township of Perry The Municipality of Magnetawan

The Village of South River The Township of Ryerson

The Village of Sundridge The Township of Strong

The Municipality of Whitestone;

2. That the Council of the Corporation of the Township of Strong agrees to the Terms of Reference, attached hereto as Schedule

“A”;

3. That the Mayor and Clerk are hereby authorized to execute the documents by signature and seal of the Corporation of the Township of Strong.

Read a first, second time this 10^th day of August 2010 and finally passed on a motion by: Merlyn Snow and Seconded by: Vi Montpetit.

This 10^th day of August 2010.

Seal ________________________

Mayor, Stephen Rawn

__________________________

Clerk/Treasurer, Linda Maurer

Certified to be a true

copy of the original

By-law 2010-0029

passed in open council

This 10^th day of August 2010

Terms of Reference

for the Joint Compliance Audit Committee

Serving the interested Municipalities of the Almaguin Area

1. Definitions:

For the purpose of this Terms of Reference, the following definitions shall apply;

Almaguin Clerk’s Group - The informal organization of Clerks, CAO’s, or

appointed staff from interested municipalities in the Almaguin Area, who have

agreed to pool information, staff, and financial resources for the 2010 election,

for the mutual benefit of all participating municipalities.

Clerk - The Administrative staff member, generally known to be the Clerk, or

Clerk-Administrator from any municipality within the Almaguin Clerk’s Group, for

which an application for a compliance audit has been received, or who carries

out the business of the Council for his or her respective municipality.

Committee - The Joint Compliance Audit Committee as established by the

respective Councils of those municipalities represented by the Almaguin Clerk’s

Group, and which have passed a resolution of participation for the 2010 election

term.

Council - The group of elected officials, generally known to be the Council, from

any municipality within the Almaguin Clerk’s Group, for which an application for a

compliance audit has been received, or who is responsible for making

appointment to a Compliance Audit Committee, as required by Section 81 of the

Municipal Elections Act, 1996, as amended.

Hiring Committee - The sub-committee of the Almaguin Clerk’s Group to

promote, process, and make recommendation to Council for membership to the

Joint Compliance Audit Committee.

Interested Municipalities - Those municipalities in the Parry Sound District who

have by mutual agreement established a joint compliance audit committee, as

supported by a resolution of each respective council, and authorized by By-Law

from each respective council.

2. Committee Mandate:

The Joint Compliance Audit Committee shall ensure that the provisions of

Section 81 of the Municipal Elections Act, are not contravened, and shall follow

the necessary procedures to ensure compliance when requested.

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The Committee shall abide by any terms and conditions which may be set out by

the respective municipality’s Solicitor, Auditor, and/or Insurer, for any business

relating to a compliance audit, in accordance with the procedural by-law for the

respective municipality.

The Committee will perform all required functions relating to all compliance audit

applications. This shall include the following:

i) Within 30 days of receipt of an application for a compliance audit from the

Clerk, Committee members shall consider the application and decide

whether to grant or deny the request. 81(5).

ii) If an application is granted, the Committee shall appoint an auditor to

conduct a compliance audit of the candidate’s election campaign

finances. 81(7).

iii) Receive audit report(s) from the appointed auditor. 81(10)(11).

iv) Give consideration to the auditor’s report within 30 days of receiving it, to

determine if legal proceedings should be commenced against the

candidate. 81(14).

v) Make recommendation for recovery of the auditor’s cost from the

applicant, in the event that the auditor’s report reveals no apparent

contravention of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, as amended, and/or

the auditor finds no reasonable grounds for filing an application. 81(15).

3. Term of Appointment:

The Committee shall serve for the 2010 -2014 term of council, which shall be

from December 1, 2010 to November 30, 2014, to consider applications

originating from the 2010 election, and any by-elections during that term.

Notwithstanding the term identified above, the Committee shall be dissolved at

the earliest of:

i) the conclusion of the requirements noted in Section 81 of the

Municipal Election Act, or

ii) on November 30, 2014.

4. Committee Composition:

The Committee shall consist of four (4) members, one of which is to be

designated as an alternate.

A Chair, a Vice Chair, and a Secretary shall be appointed at the first committee

meeting.

Membership shall be limited to individuals with a legal or financial background, or

who have served on boards or committees, or who have demonstrated

knowledge of campaign finances, including retired municipal professionals.

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Appointment to the Committee shall be by resolution of Council.

Members of the Committee shall not be Council members, municipal staff or

candidates in the 2010 election or any by-election during the term of council, and

must attest to same in writing.

To avoid possible conflict of interest, any auditor or accountant appointed to the

committee may not undertake the audits of preparation of financial statements of

any candidates seeking election to Council. Contravention of this requirement

shall result in expulsion from the Committee.

The respective Clerk shall provide administrative support to the Committee, and

shall establish procedures, as required.

5. Committee Selection:

To ensure adherence with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection

of Privacy Act, a hiring committee shall be established by the Almaguin Clerk’s

Group, from among its members.

The hiring committee will promote, advertise, interview, and make

recommendation for appointment to the joint committee, having regard for

individual municipalities’ policies relating to committee appointment. One

individual shall be chosen from within the hiring committee to be the Secretary,

and shall be the contact for resume submission.

Applicants will be required to submit a resume outlining their qualifications and

experience.

The hiring committee will receive and review all applications, conduct interviews,

and make recommendations to Council based on the following:

i) knowledge of rules for municipal election campaign finances

ii) experience on a committee, board, or similar group

iii) availability to attend meetings

iv) oral and written communication

v) level and area of expertise

Upon acceptance by Council, the Almaguin Clerk’s Group shall prepare an

advertisement to be placed in the Almaguin News, calling for interested,

qualified applicants to submit resumes for consideration. The Committee

positions shall also be promoted on respective municipal web sites, where

available, for application submission by the date prescribed by the Almaguin

Clerk’s Group.

A recommendation for the expulsion of a member of the Committee may be

made to Council by another member of the Committee, or by the Clerk.

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Reasons for expulsion shall include, 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, the Municipal Elections Act, or the Joint Compliance Committee

Terms of Reference, or for disrupting the work of the Committee.

6. Meetings:

The committee shall hold one initial meeting. Subsequent and additional

meetings shall be in response to application(s) for compliance audit, to a

maximum of 4 meetings per application, in consultation with the Clerk of the

respective municipality.

Meetings shall be conducted using guidelines established in the Municipal

Procedural By-Law for the municipality from which an application originated.

The Chair shall cause notice of the meetings, including the agenda for the

meetings to be provided to members of the Committee a minimum of three (3)

business days prior to the date of each meeting. Quorum for meetings shall

consist of a majority of the members of the Committee.

Minutes shall be recorded at each meeting and shall outline the general

deliberations and resulting actions and recommendations.

The location of the meetings shall be set by the Committee. Notice of a meeting

will be provided in accordance with the Provision of Notice by-law for the

municipality from which the application originated.

Financial consideration shall be as per section 9.

7. Closed Meetings:

The meeting may be held in whole or in part in a closed session upon affirmative

vote of the majority of the membership to do so. Closed sessions shall be

conducted only to discuss matters identified under Section 239 (2) of the

Municipal Act. Should a closed session be required, all attendees who are not

committee members, or the clerk, or individuals expressly requested by the

committee to remain, shall vacate the meeting premises. Members of the public

may return to the meeting, once the closed session has concluded.

8. Conflicts of Interest:

Committee members shall be bound by the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act,

with respect to financial interest, and shall disclose any pecuniary interest to the

Secretary. That member shall then remove himself or herself from that portion of

the meeting at which the matter for which pecuniary was declared is discussed.

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9. Financial Compensation:

An honorarium of $500.00 per year shall be provided to each active committee

member, including the alternate member. Payment of the annual honorarium

shall be shared equally between the participating municipalities.

In addition to the annual honorarium, a meeting per diem shall be issued in the

amount of $75.00 per meeting. Mileage shall be reimbursed at a rate of .45/km

upon receipt of the request for reimbursement from the committee member.

Payment of the per diem reimbursement, as well as the mileage reimbursement,

shall be paid by the municipality for which an application has been received,

except in the case of the initial meeting, for which payment of these monies shall

be shared equally between the participating municipalities.

Administration of financial compensation shall be the responsibility of the Office

of the Clerk for the Township of Whitestone.

10. Misc/Notes

Committee members shall be asked to sign an acknowledgment accepting terms

and conditions outlined in the above Terms of reference, and the Municipal

Elections Act, 1996, as amended.

Any responsibilities not clearly identified within these Terms of Reference shall

be in accordance with Section 81 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 as

amended.