Elections resources

Section 88.37 of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (Act) requires all municipalities and local boards to establish a compliance audit committee. In accordance with the Act, the Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee is composed of no less than 3 and not more than 7 members.

The role of a Compliance Audit Committee is to review and consider compliance audit applications received from an eligible elector who believes that a candidate or registered third party has contravened a provision of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 relating to election campaign finances.

The Compliance Audit Committee is also responsible for reviewing reports submitted by the City Clerk that identify each contributor who appears to have contravened any of the contribution limits to a candidate’s or to a registered third party’s campaign.

The Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee shall have the authority to:

• consider a compliance audit application received from an eligible elector and decide whether it should be granted or rejected;
• appoint an auditor to conduct a compliance audit, if the application is granted;
• receive the auditor’s report; and,
• commence legal proceedings against the candidate or registered third party, if the report concludes that the candidate or registered third party appears to have contravened a provision of the Act relating to election campaign finances.

An elector who is entitled to vote in an election and believes on reasonable grounds that a candidate or registered third party has contravened a provision of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 relating to election campaign finances may apply for a compliance audit.

The Application for a Compliance Audit Request listed below must be completed and sworn in front of a commissioner and addressed to the City Clerk. It must also include the reasons for the elector’s belief that the candidate or registered third party has contravened the Act. The application must be made within 90 days after the applicable filing deadline.

Applications for a compliance audit on a preliminary financial filing can be made after 2 pm on Friday, March 29, 2019.

*There is no fee associated with the application process*

An eligible elector can have the application sworn before a commissioner of oaths at the City Clerk’s Office when they file the application with the City Clerk:

City Clerk’s Office 3rd Floor of City Hall 300 Dufferin Ave London ON N6A 4L9 519 661-4535 elections@london.ca Monday to Friday (excluding holidays) 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Application for a Compliance Audit Request.pdf

Within 10 days after receiving the application, the City Clerk will forward the application to the compliance audit committee for consideration.

Within 30 days after receiving the application, the committee will consider the application and decide whether it should be granted or rejected. The decision of the committee may be appealed to the Ontario Court of Justice within 15 days after the decision is made and the court may make any decision the committee could have made.

• 2021 Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee Rules of Procedure

• Municipal Elections Compliance Audit Committee Terms of Reference.pdf