Committee Agenda Erick
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COMMITTEE AGENDA TO Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee DATE Wednesday May 6 , 2015 LOCATION City Hall, Council Chambers TIME 5 p.m. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DISCLOSURE OF PECUNIARY INTEREST Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee meeting to hear an application requesting a compliance audit submitted by Ian Flett on behalf of Susan Watson, under Section 81 of the Municipal Elections Act , with respect to the financial statements filed by Glen Tolhurst. Attachments: Application Notice of Hearing Page 1 of 1 CITY OF GUELPH COMMITTEE AGENDA ERICK. GILLESPIE PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS IAN FLETT, J.D. Telephone: +1 (41 6) 703-5400 Direct: +1 ( 416) 703-7034 Fax: +1 (416) 703-9111 Ema il: iflett@gillespielaw .ca AprillO, 2015 {gilr«:;/,':fl~~lr :fa) Delivered by email APR ln 2015 Mr. Stephen O'Brien City Clerk CITY CLERKS OFFICE City of Guelph 1 Carden Street Guelph, ON NlH 3Al Dear Mr. O'Brien: Re: Application for Compliance Audit of the Financial Statements of Councillor Glen Tolhurst We are the lawyers for Ms. Susan Watson, an elector in the City of Guelph, who makes application for a compliance audit of the statements provided to t he City by Mr. Glen Tolhurst in relation to his 2014 election campaign finances. Ms. Watson details the groundsforherbeliefthe candidate has contravened provisions of the Municipal Elections Act in the enclosed Application for Compliance Audit. We would be obliged for your confirmation of receipt of this application. In addition, we ask that you provide notice to both our office and Ms. Watson directly of all upcoming hearing dates and other important matters as they relate to this application. Yours very truly, ERIC K. GILLES PIE PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION Per: lan Flett I I ! I L I I I 1 I guelph MIUftf I Dl fftrfftt~ APPLICATION FOR COMPLIANCE AUDIT APPLICANT INFORMATION Name of applicant.,_________ _, Soeu...,se<a'-1-!n--IW!.!.:a"'-'t'-'!s~onw____________ _ Mailing address,__________ _ A1L-7~K~etint~st....._.___ __________ City____ ___, G"""u..,.eo.u.lo!.!.h,_____ _ Province____ ..,:, O~n~t~ari..!.lio~---- Postalcode___ ~ N ~1H~3~B~6___ _ Phone 519-829-4099 State the address or description of property that qualifies the applicant as an elector in the City of Guelph (if different from mailing address) COMPLIANCE AUDIT OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN FINANCES REQUESTED OF Name of candidate Glen N. Tolhurst Candidate for the office of Ward 6 Councillor Date for election of the office________ ___, O""'ct""""'ob""'e...,.r_.2"""7_l'h~2"""0..._14-"------ GROUNDS FOR AUDIT REQUEST I, the undersigned applicant, an elector who is entitled to vote in the municipal election, have reasonable grounds for believing that t he candidate has contravened a provision of the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (MEA) relating to election campaign finances. The reasonable grounds are (specify sections of the MEA) (attach addit ional sheets if necessary) 1) It is my belief that the $400 donation recorded on Table 2 of Mr. Tolhurst's Financial Statement (Exhibit A) from the Grass Roots Guelph Voter Association Inc. ("GrassRoots Guelph") is not an eligible contribution. GrassRoots Guelph does not meet the donor requirements laid out in Section 70 (3) .2 of the MEA. Criteria for determining if a corporation "carries on business in Ontario" are elaborated in an Elections Ontario document: CFO Handbook for Third Party Spending (Exhibit B) at page 10. GrassRoots Guelph is a registered non-profit corporation. It carries on activities, not business, in the Province of Ontario. The money donated by GrassRoots Guelph was not generated by business dealings, but was received from other donors. This is inconsistent with Sections 70 (6) or 74 (1) of the MEA. guelph s APPLICATION FOR COMPLIANCE AUDIT Moreover, the 2014 Candidates' Guide for Ontario Municipal and School Board Elections (Exhibit C) explicitly excludes organizations such as GrassRoots Guelph from making contributions at page 15. I have included copies of the Letters Patent (Exhibit D) and a recent copy of the Corporation Profile (Exhibit E) of GrassRoots Guelph. 2) Mr. Tolhurst, along with other candidates, benefitted from political advertising paid for by GrassRoots Guelph which he has neither declared as a contribution or expense. GrassRoots Guelph ran a series of four~ page and one X page political advertisements in the Guelph Tribune during the campaign period. (Exhibits F, G, H, I, J). This beneficial political advertising has a market value of $6800 according to the Guelph Tribune Advertising rate sheet (Exhibit K). The director of GrassRoots Guelph, Mr. Gerry Barker, made statements to the media during the 2014 Municipal Election (Exhibit L) that GrassRoots Guelph was running a campaign to elect a slate of 12 candidates. I believe this advertising meets the MEA definitions of Contributions, S. 66 (1) & (2) and Expenses, S. 67 (1). The value of goods and services provided as a contribution is determined according to S. 66 (3). Mr. Tolhurst failed to record the value of this contribution on Table 4 of his financial statement, or as an expense in Box C, as required under S. 69 (1) (a - g) and further failed to file this information in his Financial Statement in accordance with section 78 (1) of the MEA. It is my belief that GrassRoots Guelph was not eligible to incur these expenses on behalf of Mr. Tolhurst as they were not an eligible contributor under Section 70 (3.2) and because of the restrictions of S. 76 (1) & (3). Under Section 70 (6), GrassRoots Guelph was ineligible to receive the contributions which paid for the advertisements. GrassRoots Guelph's contribution was not a broadcasting undertaking as defined by section 2 of the Broadcasting Act (Canada). 3) The combination of GrassRoots Guelph's $400 cash donation to Mr. Tolhurst in addition to the value of the advertising which specifically benefitted him exceeds the contributor maximum of $750 prescribed in S. 71 (1). 4) The $400 donation to Mr. Tolhurst, together with the $6,800 spent on advertising exceeds the maximum of $5000 allowed for multiple candidates prescribed inS. 71 (2.1). guelph APPLICATION FOR COMPLIANCE AUDIT 5) Mr. Tolhurst told a Guelph Mercury reporter (Exhibit M) that Grassroots Guelph is "an organization he has been a part of for two years." Mr. Tolhurst knew or ought to have known about the GrassRoots Guelph plan to place beneficial political advertising in the Guelph Tribune. I believe the facts and information submitted above to be true, and I hereby request a compliance audit of the ca ndidate's election campaign finances. 'Date I Signatureof applicant In accordance with Section 88 (5) of the MEA, this form contains information collected and maintained specifically for the purpose of creating a record available to the general public and may be insoected bv anv oerson at the Clerk's Office at any t ime when the office is open. r'~ :>- ::> Ministry of Municipal Affairs Financial Statement~ Auditor's Report f._;/- Ontario and Housing Form 4 Municipal Elections Act. 1996 (Section 78) Instructions: All candidates must complete Boxes A and B. Candtdates who receive contributions or incur expenses beyond the nomination fee must complete Boxes C, D, Schedule 1, and Schedule 2 as appropriate. Candidates who receive contributions or incur expen ses in excess of $10,000 must also attact1 an Auditor's Report. All surplus funds (after any refund to the candidate or his or her spouse) shall be paid immediately over to the clerk who was responsible for the conduct of the election. YYYY MM DO YYYY MM DO For the campaign period from (day candidate filed nomination) I 2 0 4 I 0 7 I 2 3 I to ~-.1~2_.;;. 0 ___4...:..._j i........;..__;2::....LI_::3::.._...:......J 0 Primary filing re necting finances to December 31 (or 45'" day after voting day in a by-election) 1 0 Supplementary filing including finances after December 31 (or 45 h day after voting day in a by-election) Box A: Name of Candidate and Office Candidate's name as shown on the ballot Last Name Given Name(s) TOLHURST GLEN Name of office for which the candidate sought election Ward name or no. (if any) Councillor 6 Name of Municipality Guelph Spending limit issued by cleri< $ 18,824.40 O 1d id not accept any contributions or incur any expenses other t:,an the nomination fee. (Complete Box A and B only) Box B: Declaration I, Glen Tolhurst , a candtdate in the municipality of ...:G:...;u:...;e:...;IJ:..p_h _____________________ , hereby declare that to the best of my knowledge and belief that these financial statements and attached supporting schedules are true and correct. inthe ______________-r--~~~~~~ ~----------- on (yyyy/mmldd) -----7i--?r--'--J---'--!--'-+-..____ _ mm/dd) TINA .-\GNELLO. a Cornrniss,oner wt~1le D0i:>Uiy Ci~r l( of !Is* Csi)' cf G:JGiph 9503P (2013111) ()Queen'$ Prinl$rfor Ontario. 2013 Dlsponlble en fran(:Ois Page 1 or 10 Box C: Statement of Campaign Income and Expenses LOAN Name of bank or recognized lending institution N/A Amount borrowed ~$~------------------------------------------------------------- INCOME Total amount of all contributions (From line 1A in Schedule 1) + $ 2.693.00 Refund of nomination filing fee + $ 100.00 Sign deposit refund + $ 200.00 Revenue from fund-raising events not deemed a contribution (From Part Ill of Schedule 2) + $ Interest earned by campaign bank account + $ 0.32 Other (provide full details) 1 + $ 2· --------------------------------------------------- + $ a + $ Total Campaign Income (Do not Include loan) = $ 2,993.32 C1 EXPENSES (Note: include the value of contributions of goods and services) Expenses subject to spending limit Nomination filing fee + $ 100.00 Inventory from previous campaign used in this campaign (list details in Table 5 of Schedule 1) + $ Advertising + $ 358.87 Brochures/flyers + $ 806.43 Signs (including sign deposit) + $ I ,624.00 Meetings hosted + $ Office expenses incurred until voting day + $ Phone and/or Internet expenses incurred until voting day + $ 259.44 Salaries, benefits, honoraria1 professional fees incurred until vobng day + $ Bank charges incurred until voting day + $ Interest charged on loan until voting day + $ Other (provide full details) 1.