Audit Statute Law Amendment Act, 2003 Gerretsen, John — Bill 6 (37th Parliament, 4th Session)

Bill 6, 37-4

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 6, Audit Statute Law Amendment Act, 2003

Gerretsen, John

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[37] Bill 6 Original (PDF)

Bill 6 2003

An Act to amend the

Audit Act to provide for

greater accountability of hospitals,

universities, colleges and

other organizations that receive grants

or other transfer payments

from the government

or Crown agencies

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative

Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

(1) The definition of "Assistant Auditor"

section 1 of the Audit Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

"Deputy Auditor" means the Deputy Auditor General;

("Sous-vérificateur")

(2) The definition of "inspection audit" in

section 1

of the Act is repealed.

(3) Section 1 of the Act is amended by adding the

following

definitions:

"audit" includes an examination of the matters mentioned in clause 12 (2)

(f); ("verification", "vérifier")

"grant recipient" means an association, authority, board, commission,

corporation, council, foundation, institution, organization or other body

that receives, directly or indirectly, a payment in the form of a grant or

other transfer payment from Ontario, an agency of the Crown or a Crown

controlled corporation; ("bénéficiaire d'une subvention")

(4) The

definitions of "Auditor" and "Office of the

Auditor" in

section 1 of the Act are repealed and the following

substituted:

"Auditor" means the Auditor General; ("Vérificateur")

"Office of the Auditor" means the Office of the Auditor General; ("Bureau

du Vérificateur")

2. The Act is amended by adding the following

section:

References to former names

1.1 A reference in

an Act, regulation, order

in council or document to a person or office by the former title of that

person or the former name of that office set out in Column 1 of the following

table or by a shortened version of that title or name shall be deemed, unless

a contrary intention appears, to be a reference to the new title of that

person or the new name of that office set out in Column 2:

Column 1

Column 2

Former titles and names

New titles and names

Assistant Provincial Auditor

Deputy Auditor General

Office of the Provincial Auditor

Office of the Auditor General

Provincial Auditor

Auditor General

Section 2 of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Office of the Auditor

2. The Office of the Auditor General shall

consist of the Auditor, the Deputy Auditor and such employees as the Auditor

General may require for the proper conduct of the business of the Office.

4. The following provisions of the Act are amended by

striking out "Assistant Auditor" wherever that expression occurs and

substituting in each case "Deputy Auditor":

Section

Section

Section

Section 10 of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Duty to furnish information

(1) Every ministry of the

public service, every agency of the Crown, every Crown controlled corporation

and every grant recipient shall furnish the Auditor with the information

regarding its powers, duties, activities, organization, financial

transactions and methods of business that the Auditor requires.

Access to records

(2) The Auditor shall have free access to all books, accounts,

financial records, electronic data processing records, reports, files and all

other papers, things or property belonging to or used by the ministry, agency

of the Crown, Crown controlled corporation or grant recipient, as the case

may be, that the Auditor considers necessary to perform duties under this

Act.

No obstruction of auditor

(3) No person shall obstruct the Auditor or a member of the

Office of the Auditor in the performance of an audit or conceal or destroy

any books, papers, documents or things relevant to the subject-matter of the

audit.

Offence

(4) Every grant recipient who knowingly contravenes subsection

(3) and, if the grant recipient is a corporation, every director and officer

of the corporation who knowingly concurs in the contravention is guilty of an

offence and on conviction is liable to,

(

a) a fine of not more than $2,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more

than one year, or both, if the person is not a corporation; or

(

b) a fine of not more than $25,000, if the person is a corporation.

6. The Act is amended by adding the following

section:

Accommodation in grant recipient

11.1 For the purposes of exercising powers or

performing duties under this Act, the Auditor may station one or more members

of the Office of the Auditor in a grant recipient and the grant recipient

shall provide the accommodation required for the purposes of this

section.

7. (1) Clause 12 (2) (

c) of the Act is

repealed and the following substituted:

(

c) the examination of the

summary financial statements of Ontario as

reported in the Public Accounts and shall express an opinion as to whether

the

summary financial statements of Ontario as reported in the Public

Accounts are presented fairly in accordance with appropriate accounting

principles as recommended for governments by the Canadian Institute of

Chartered Accountants;

(2) Clause 12 (2) (

f) of the Act is amended by striking

out "agencies of the Crown or Crown controlled corporations" in the portion

before subclause (

i) and substituting "agencies of the Crown, Crown

controlled corporations or grant recipients".

Section 13 of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Audit of grant recipient

(1) The Auditor may audit a

grant recipient to the extent that the Auditor considers necessary and may

require the recipient to prepare and to submit to the Auditor a financial

statement that sets out the details of the disposition that the recipient

made of the grant or other transfer payment that it received.

Time of receiving payment

(2) The Auditor may audit a grant recipient under subsection

(1) in respect of a grant or other transfer payment that the recipient has in

its possession on or after the day subsection (1) comes into force, even if

the recipient received the grant or other transfer payment before subsection

(1) comes into force.

Section 14 of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Examination on oath

(1) The Auditor may examine any

person on oath on any matter pertinent to the performance of the Auditor's

duties under this Act.

Powers of Auditor

(2) For the purposes of the examination, the Auditor has the

powers that

Part II of the Public Inquiries Act confers on a

commission, and that Part applies to the examination as if it were an inquiry

under that Act.

Section 20 of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Staff

20. Subject to the approval of the Board and

to sections 22, 25 and 26, the Auditor may,

(

a) employ the professional staff and other persons that the Auditor

considers necessary for the efficient operation of the Office of the Auditor;

and

the Deputy Auditor and the other employees of the Office of the Auditor.

11. Clause 21 (1) (

a) of the Act is amended by striking

out "Provincial Auditor" in the oath of office and substituting "Auditor

General".

12. Subsections 22 (1) and (2) of the Act are amended

by striking out "Assistant Auditor" wherever that expression occurs and

substituting in each case "Deputy Auditor".

Section 26 of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Conduct and discipline

(1) The Auditor may make orders

and rules for the conduct of the internal business of the Office of the

Auditor and, subject to this section, may for cause suspend, demote or

dismiss an employee of the Office of the Auditor or may release an employee

of the Office of the Auditor.

Application of Public Service Act

(2) The provisions of the Public Service Act and the

regulations made under it that apply where a deputy minister exercises powers

under

section 22 of that Act, except the requirement for a deputy minister to

give notice to or to obtain the approval of the Civil Service Commission,

apply with necessary modifications, as if the Auditor were a deputy minister,

where the Auditor for cause suspends, demotes or dismisses an employee of the

Office of the Auditor or releases an employee of the Office of the

Auditor.

Grievances

(3) An employee whom the Auditor for cause suspends, demotes or

dismisses may file a grievance with respect to the Auditor's decision.

Application of Public Service Act

(4) The provisions of the regulations made under the Public

Service Act that apply in relation to a grievance mentioned in those

regulations apply with necessary modifications to a grievance mentioned in

subsection (3) as if the Auditor were a deputy minister.

14. (1) Subsection 27 (1) of the Act is

amended by striking out "Assistant Auditor" and substituting "Deputy

Auditor".

(2) Subsection 27 (2) of the Act is

repealed.

15. The Act is amended by adding the following

section:

Information confidential

27.1

(1) The Auditor, the Deputy

Auditor and each person employed in the Office of the Auditor or appointed to

assist the Auditor for a limited period of time or in respect of a particular

matter shall preserve secrecy with respect to all matters that come into the

person's knowledge in the course of employment or duties under this Act and

shall not communicate the matters to any person, except as is required in

connection with the administration of this Act or a proceeding under it or

the Criminal Code (Canada).

Personal information

(2) No person shall collect or retain personal information on

behalf of the Auditor unless the Auditor determines that it is necessary for

the proper administration of this Act or a proceeding under it.

Retention of information

(3) If the Auditor retains information relating to the medical,

psychiatric or physiological history of an individual or relating to an

individual's health care or well-being, the Auditor shall,

(

a) remove all references in the information to the name of the individual

and any other identifying information;

(

b) retain the information by using a system of identification at source

that separates personal and confidential identifiers from generic

information;

(

c) ensure that the information is not,

(

i) disclosed to any person who is not authorized to have access to the

information,

(ii) used or disclosed for any purpose not directly related to the

Auditor's duties under this Act,

(iii) published or distributed in any manner that would allow the identity

of the individual to whom the information relates to be ascertained or

inferred, and

(iv) combined, linked or matched with any other information if the result

could be the identification of the individual to whom the information

relates, unless the combining, linking or matching is necessary, in the

opinion of the Auditor, in order for the Auditor to perform his or her duties

under this Act.

Definition

(4) In this section,

"personal information" means personal information within the meaning of

the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act .

Complementary Amendments

16. The Acts named in Column 1 of the Table are amended

by striking out "Provincial Auditor" wherever that expression occurs in the

provisions set out opposite them in Column 2 and substituting in each case

"Auditor General".

TABLE

Column 1

Column 2

Act

Provision

AgriCorp Act, 1996

section 13

Agricultural Rehabilitation and Development Act

(Ontario)

subsection 7 (1),

section 8

Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario Act

section 6

Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Research Foundation Act

section 16

Algonquin Forestry Authority Act

section 18 in the portion before clause (a), clause 18 (

b) Arts Council Act

section 11

Cancer Act

section 12

Capital Investment Plan Act, 199

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 6, 37-4
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p37 s4 bill 6 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	521782fc56587dcdaff1f3fe334812a9206d0eb9

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