WHEREAS Section 140.1 (1) (petition for a financial or management audit) of The Municipalities Act is flawed in that it forces a municipal council, as a result of a petition, to expend ratepayers money without a democratic process in that not every voter is provided an equal opportunity to participate in the decision-making process;

WHEREAS it is also flawed in that there is no requirement for the petitioners to provide, to those being requested to sign the petition, a clear and concise written reason on what is being requested to be included in the audit(s) and the cost of the audit(s);

WHEREAS because of these flaws a municipality could be forced into a situation to to spend ratepayer dollars such that it puts a real financial burden on the ratepayers for nothing more than a fishing trip;

BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial government make changes to Section 140.1 (1) of The Municipalities Act such that a petition for a financial or management audit starts a series of events to ensure that all voters in the municipality are provided all the necessary information on the rationale and costs of conducting the audit(s).

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all voters are provided an equal opportunity to participate in a democratic process on whether the audits are necessary, similar to what is provided in section 132(1) (petition for a referendum) of The Municipalities Act.

View response from the Ministry of Government Relations