Audit, Budget and Finance Committee
and Council / et au Conseil
10 November 2009 / le 10 novembre 2009
Submitted by/Soumis par : Kent Kirkpatrick, City Manager/Directeur des
services municipaux
Contact Person/Personne ressource : M. Rick O'connor, City Clerk and
Solicitor / Greffier et Chef du contentieux
(613)
580-2424 x 21215, rick.oconnor@ottawa.ca
That the Audit,
Budget and Finance Committee receive this report for information.
Que le Comité de vérification, du budget et des
finances prenne connaissance de ce rapport.
On October 27, 2009, the Attorney General introduced Bill 212, the Good Government Act, 2009, in the Provincial Legislature. The proposed legislative initiatives in Bill 212 include amendments to a significant number of Acts, including a number related to municipal matters, such as the Provincial Offences Act, Municipal Act, 2001, Assessment Act, Planning Act, Clean Water Act, Ontario Heritage Act and the Municipal Elections Act, 2006 (MEA). The Provincial Government indicates that the changes in Bill 212, if passed, will improve clarity, increase transparency and enhance accountability in a number of the province’s laws, regulations and administrative processes.
Some of the proposed amendments to legislation affecting municipalities are outlined below:
Document 1 in this report is the explanatory note for Bill 212, which provides a summary of all of the recommended changes for all of the Acts.
Bill 212 received Second Reading on November 18th, 2009, and was immediately ordered referred to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs. Public hearings on the Bill began atthe Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs regular meeting on Thursday, November 19, 2009. Furthermore, all amendments will need to be filed by noon on November 24, 2009, and the Standing Committee will undertake clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill on Thursday, November 26, 2009. The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs is expected to provide its report on Bill 212 to the Provincial Legislature no later than Monday, November 30th, 2009, at which time it will be called for Third Reading. As such, it is anticipated that Bill 212 will become law by early December 2009.
Finally, a motion related to the proposed Bill 212 revisions to the Planning Act was tabled at City Council at its November 16, 2009 meeting. Upon its consideration, Council felt the motion warranted more time for public consultation and discussion. However, City Council’s next meeting on November 25, 2009 would be too late to provide comments on Bill 212 (e.g. by noon on November 24th). To this end, City Council referred the matter of reviewing all Bill 212 changes, as well as the motion (see Document 4) to a Special Meeting of the Audit, Budget and Finance Committee to be held on Monday, November 23, 2009 to enable a Committee of Council to provide formal input into Bill 212.
Bill 212 is a 287-page piece of legislation that makes numerous changes to scores of provincial Acts. For City of Ottawa purposes, the most significant changes are those being proposed for the Municipal Elections Act, 1996. Generally, most of these changes will directly affect candidates, and Clerk’s staff will be revising all candidate materials to reflect the changes. In addition, staff has received training on Bill 212 from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. While there are some significant changes to the legislation regarding the administration of the election, staff believes the changes can be accommodated within existing resources.
A summary of the most significant changes can be found in Document 2. However, highlights of the changes are set out below.
Nomination Day changes from 45 days before Voting Day to the second Friday in September of the election year. Therefore, for 2010, Nomination Day will be Friday, September 10, 2010. Further, the close of nominations moves from 5 p.m. on Nomination Day to 2 p.m. on Nomination Day. Voting Day moves from the second Monday in November to the fourth Monday of October. For the 2010 Municipal Elections, Voting Day will be Monday, October 25, 2010.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) will be able to enter into an agreement with the Registrar General for the use of information collected through Vital Statistics and other sources to improve the quality of the voters’ lists they provide to municipalities. As well, municipalities will be able to use any of their own sources to improve the quality of their own list, within existing MFIPPA regulations. City staff expect that this change will improve the accuracy of the voters’ list overall. During the last election, over 17,000 changes were made to the Preliminary List of Electors provided by MPAC.
Furthermore, students who are temporarily residing in a municipality will be eligible to vote in both areas where they are resident.
The proposed legislation will require voters to provide proof of identity and residence. While a regulation will be provided in the near future to define what will constitute such proof, ministry staff have indicated that photo identification will not be a requirement, and that the regulation will be consistent with existing federal and provincial requirements (e.g. the Province currently accepts an Ontario Driver’s License that shows the voter’s name, residence and signature, or a combination of two documents to cover the three criteria, such as a credit card or library card and a residential utility bill or magazine subscription). A voter’s ability to ‘swear in’ at the polls is retained.
In addition, all voting locations are required to be accessible, and the Clerk is required to report the actions taken to conduct an accessible election to Council within 90 days following Voting Day. The City of Ottawa already uses accessible voting locations, and will be working with ministry staff to clarify what, if any, additional measures might be required.
There are a number of changes in the proposed legislation to the rules around campaign financing and spending.
The estimated spending limit for each candidate will be provided at the time of registration, based on the number of electors in the previous election. A final estimate will be issued based on the list of electors for this election will be provided following Nomination Day. Should there be a difference between the spending limit amounts, the greater amount will apply.
While the maximum individual donation to each candidate continues to be $750, individual contributors cannot donate more than a total amount of $5000 in one municipal election. Any contributor who exceeds this limit may be penalized.
New exemptions to campaign spending limits include expenses related to any campaign-specific accommodation needs for a candidate with a disability and expenses related to a compliance audit. Audit and accounting fees, interest on loans, and the nomination filing fee will be included in the limit. The exemption for the purpose of fundraising is further defined and clarified, such that all communications and events where fundraising is incidental to the main purpose of the communications or event shall be subject to the limit.
There are new reporting requirements for election spending. The Financial Statement and Auditor’s report must be filed by 2 p.m. on the last Friday in March (rather than March 31) of the year following the election. For this election, the filing date will be Friday, March 25, 2011. It should be noted that filing is mandatory and this filing date is firm. Any candidate who does not file within the mandatory time shall be removed from office if they have been elected or will be barred from running in the next election. A request for time limit extension must be filed in court and approved in advance of the filing date.
The supplementary reporting period has been reduced to a single six-month period. For candidates in a deficit, the supplementary reporting period will be Thursday, June 30, 2011, and the supplementary reporting date will be Wednesday, September 28, 2011.
All campaign surpluses (including those under $500) will now be returned to the municipality rather than being held in trust for the next campaign. As part of the review of the Election Contribution Rebate Program, staff is considering recommending that surpluses be directed to the Election Reserve Fund to assist with expenses related to that program.
The City will be required to make all campaign financial statements available electronically, free of charge.
All municipalities and schools boards will be required to appoint a Compliance Audit Committee to hear and decide on applications for compliance audits. The Compliance Audit Committee must be composed of 3-7 citizens (municipal employees, Members of Council and candidates are ineligible), and be established by Friday, October 1, 2010 for a four-year term consistent with the Term of Council. Staff will be preparing a report by the end of Q1 2010 recommending a process for the establishment of a Compliance Audit Committee for the 2010-2014 Term of Council. While there will be some costs associated with the establishment of this committee, staff are confident they can be accommodated within existing resources.
Bill 212 proposes several changes related to the administration of Provincial Offences, highlighted in Document 3. The bulk of the changes streamline the administration of the program, generally to the benefit of the program as a whole.
For defendants, a number of scheduling processes will be able to be handled by the POA clerks without the need for the defendant to appear. Inadvertent administrative errors in tickets would be remedied more efficiently, and witnesses for the defendant will be able to be summoned by someone other than a provincial offences officer.
For staff, the above will help streamline First Attendance and other court processes. As well, the new regulations would make fine collection easier.
(c) Proposed Changes to the Planning Act
The proposed revisions to the Planning Act are primarily technical in nature and include changes to various references to section and subsection numbers in the Act for clarification purposes.
Of particular note is the clarification provided to Section 42 of the Planning Act dealing with cash in lieu of parkland. The current wording provides that funds may be used for the acquisition of land to be used for parks or other public recreational purposes, including the erection or repair of buildings. The proposed amendment clarifies that the funds may be used not only for the erection and repair of buildings but for the improvement of such buildings.
Amendments proposed to Section 45 of the Act will provide a Committee of Adjustment with the power to authorize minor variances to by-laws that are passed under Section 34 (zoning) and Section 38 (interim control). The current wording states that such by-laws must be in effect which means all possibility of appeals must have been exhausted and any appeals resolved. This change will permit minor variances to be authorized during the statutory notice period and any subsequent appeals thereby ensuring that minor variance applications related to development matters continue to be dealt with during these circumstances.
Finally, attached at Document 4 is the motion with respect to a request to the Provincial Government to strengthen the Planning Act as it relates to the Ontario Municipal Board’s review of planning decisions by municipal councils.
(d) Proposed Changes to the Assessment Act and the Municipal Act, 2001
The proposed amendments to the Assessment Act and the Municipal Act, 2001 are intended to provide flexibility to municipalities in determining certain tax policy matters. The amendments would remove the deadlines imposed on the City in the Assessment Act for determining which tax classes apply or cease to apply in a year. The amendments would also remove the deadlines imposed on the City in the Municipal Act for determining tax ratios, graduated tax rates and capping calculations for the year. The Bill would also permit the City to accept applications from charities for property tax rebates after the deadline if extenuating circumstances caused the charity to miss the application deadline.
(e) Proposed Changes to the Ontario Heritage Act and the Municipal Act, 2001
Bill 212 proposes to amend the Ontario Heritage Act and the Municipal Act, 2001. These include the proposed amendment to Section 39 of the Ontario Heritage Act to permit municipalities to provide grants or loans to owners of heritage designated property even if the property is owned by a commercial enterprise. Currently, the municipality is not permitted to provide such assistance to commercial owners of heritage-designated property due to bonusing restrictions in Section 106 of the Municipal Act.
Staff from the City Clerk and Solicitor’s Department reviewed various sections in Bill 212 with some operational staff. However, due to the short timeframe established by the Province, no further consultation was undertaken on this matter.
There are no legal/risk management implications arising from this report.
There are no financial implications arising from this report.
There are no rural implications arising from this report.
Document 1 - Explanatory notes for Bill 212
Document
2 – Proposed changes to the Municipal Elections Act, 1996
Staff in the City Clerk and Solicitor Department will undertake the implementation of any decision made by Council as a result of this report.