Memorandum of Understanding

Memorandum of Understanding Between the Office of the Auditor General and the Office of the Integrity Commissioner

Preamble

The Auditor General and the Integrity Commissioner (“the Officers”) are statutory officers of the City of Ottawa appointed under Part V.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001.

The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to establish a formal mechanism for the exchange of information between the Officers, as may be required to ensure the effective carrying out of their respective mandates.

Legislative Authority and Mandates

The Auditor General is appointed under Section 223.19 of the Municipal Act, 2001 with all the statutory duties and functions as set out in Part V.1 of the Municipal Act, 2001.

The Auditor General is responsible for assisting City Council in holding itself and its administrators accountable for the quality of stewardship over public funds and for the achievement of value for money in municipal operations. In doing so, the Auditor General is responsible for carrying out financial, compliance, and performance audits of all programs, activities and functions of all City departments and agencies, the offices of the Mayor and Members of Council, grant recipients and the City’s agencies, boards, commissions, and corporations.

The Integrity Commissioner is appointed under Section 223.3 of the Municipal Act, 2001 and is also delegated the statutory roles of Lobbyist Registrar (Section 223.11) and Meetings Investigator (Section 239.2) with all the statutory duties and functions of each role as set out in Part V.1 and Part VI of the Municipal Act, 2001.

The Integrity Commissioner is responsible for the oversight and administration of codes of conduct for Members of Council and members of the City’s local boards, application of sections 5, 5.1 and 5.2 of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, oversight and administration of the Lobbyist Registry By-law and investigating complaints respecting closed meetings.

Information Sharing

Under the terms of this Memorandum of Understanding, the Officers may consult, as appropriate, to share information.

Information, including case specific information containing personal information where necessary, may be shared between the Officers for the following purposes:

  • To assess jurisdiction and refer matters that may be subject to inquiry by the other Officer as necessary;
  • To evaluate whether inquiries relate to the same or similar matters in order to assess whether a joint inquiry or the sharing of information in concurrent inquiries being conducted by each Officer is appropriate;
  • To provide information or to otherwise assist in an ongoing or potential inquiry by each Officer; and
  • To assist the Officers in carrying out their respective functions and duties, as agreed by each Officer.

It is specifically understood that that sharing of such information will be strictly limited to the information that is absolutely necessary to allow each of the Officers to effectively fulfill his/her mandate, respectively.

Confidentiality

The Officers shall preserve secrecy with respect to all matters in accordance with each Office’s respective duty of confidentiality set out in Sections 223.5 and 223.22 of the Municipal Act, 2001. Information shared between the Officers under this Memorandum of Understanding will remain confidential indefinitely.

Each Officer will notify the other Officer of any legally enforceable demand for information furnished under this Memorandum of Understanding and prior to compliance with the demand, the Officer from which the information was demanded will assert all appropriate legal exemptions or privileges with respect to such information as may be available.

Duration

This Memorandum of Understanding will come into effect upon the signature of both Officers and will remain in effect until modified or terminated. The terms of this Memorandum of Understanding may be modified by written mutual consent of both Officers. Either Office may terminate this Memorandum of Understanding by providing written notice to the other Officer.

All confidentiality provisions remain in force after termination of the Memorandum of Understanding.

(Original signed by)                                        (Original signed by)

Nathalie Gougeon                                           Karen Shepherd
Auditor General                                               Integrity Commissioner
City of Ottawa                                                 City of Ottawa

Dated: October 18, 2021

 

Back to AG By-Law Back to Home Page
Scroll to top