Joint Compliance Audit Committee

The Township of Malahide is seeking interested applicants with accounting, auditing, and legal experience and from individuals with in depth knowledge of campaign finance rules of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, for appointment to the Elgin Election Joint Compliance Audit Committee.

The Joint Compliance Audit Committee is an adjudicative body established to examine instances where election participants (including candidates, third party advertisers, and campaign contributors), appear to have contravened rules and limits established within the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, as amended.

Section 88.37 of Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (MEA) requires all municipalities and local boards to establish a compliance audit committee. In accordance with the MEA, the Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee is composed of no less than three (3) and not more than seven (7) members, and is responsible for considering applications when an eligible elector believes that a candidate or a registered third party has breached finance rules in the campaigning period.

Duties of the Committee

Consider a compliance audit application received by an elector and decide whether it should be granted or rejected
Appoint an auditor to conduct a compliance audit of the candidates' or registered third party's campaign finances, if the application is granted
Receive the auditor's report
Consider the auditor's report and it may:
- Commence legal proceedings against the candidate or registered third party of an apparent conviction if the report concludes that the candidate appears to have contravened a provision of the MEA relating to election campaign finances
- Make a finding as to whether there were reasonable grounds for the application if the report concludes that the candidate or registered third party does not appear to have breached election campaign finance rules. Based on this finding, the Committee can recommend to Council whether or not to pursue the recovery of costs from the applicant.