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Part IV — Duties of Mayor, Director of Finance, City Clerk, City Treasurer, and Auditors
207. (1) The Mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the city and the president of the Council.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Council may, from time to time, with the concurrence of the Mayor, appoint a Councillor to be Deputy Mayor of the city, and may confer upon the Deputy Mayor such of the powers and duties by this Act vested in the Mayor as the Council shall think fit.
1953-55-207; 1992-57-1; 1993-59-49; 1993-74-1; 2022-15-75,Sch 3.
208. The Mayor shall
(a) be vigilant and active at all times in causing the law for the government of the city to be duly enforced and obeyed;
(b) recommend to the Council such measures as the Mayor shall deem expedient;
(c) oversee and inspect the conduct of all employees of the city under the jurisdiction of the Council, and, so far as the Mayor can, cause all negligence or misconduct by any such employee to be punished;
(d) suspend an employee from the performance of the employee's duties if the Mayor considers it necessary. The Mayor shall forthwith give notice in writing of such suspension
(i) to the Director of Finance; and
(ii) to the City Clerk, who shall inform the Council at its next regular meeting.
The suspension shall continue until the Council either
(i) reinstates the employee; or
In every case the suspension shall be without pay, unless the Council otherwise directs.
1953-55-208; 1965-68-29; 2022-15-51; 2022-15-73,Sch 1.
209. (1) If the Mayor is absent from the city or otherwise unable to perform the duties of Mayor, the Mayor provides notice that the Mayor will be absent from the city or otherwise unable to perform the duties of Mayor or the Mayor's seat is vacated, the Council may appoint a Councillor to be Acting Mayor.
(2) An Acting Mayor has all the powers and duties of the Mayor other than taking the place of the Mayor as Chair of the Board of Administration unless the Councillor member of the Board is absent from the city or otherwise unable to act as Chair of the Board.
2022-15-52.
210. There shall be a Director of Finance appointed by the Council who shall have such duties and powers in addition to those provided by this Act as the Council may from time to time prescribe.
1953-55-210; 1965-68-29.
211. The Director of Finance may, whenever the Director of Finance thinks fit, and shall, whenever required by the Council so to do, advise the Council on the financial position of the city or any phase thereof and make recommendations with respect to the administration, co-ordination, and efficiency of the city's affairs and the systems under which they are carried on.
1953-55-211; 1965-68-29; 2022-15-73,Sch 1.
212. The Director of Finance shall exercise a general control and supervision
(a) over the collection and application of the revenues of the city of every description, and over the lawful expenditure thereof;
(b) over the sale, realization, and redemption of debentures of the city, and over the sinking funds of the city;
(d) over all other financial affairs of the city.
1953-55-212; 1965-68-29; 1985-89-2.
213. No money shall be disbursed by the city except on the warrant of the Director of Finance, to be drawn upon the Treasurer, specifying the fund out of which payment is to be made. Such warrant need not be signed by the Director of Finance if it is initialled by the Director of Finance, or by some person authorized by the Director of Finance for the purpose.
1953-55-213; 1958-72-15; 1965-68-29; 2022-15-75,Sch 3.
214. It shall be the duty of the Director of Finance to cause all accounts and claims against the city to be examined and verified before the Director of Finance draws a warrant for their payment.
1953-55-214; 1965-68-29; 2022-15-73,Sch 1.
215. With the exception of small amounts necessary, in the opinion of the Director of Finance, to meet an emergency, the Director of Finance shall not draw a warrant for payment unless such payment has been authorized by the Council.
1953-55-215; 1965-68-29; 2022-15-73,Sch 1; 2022-15-76,Sch 4.
216. The Council may, for periods of not more than twelve months at a time, give the authorization referred to in section 215 in advance, but every warrant for a payment so authorized in advance shall be reported in writing by the Director of Finance to the City Clerk, for the information of the Council, within fifteen days after the end of the month in which the warrant is drawn.
1953-55-216; 1965-68-29.
217. In drawing a warrant in favour of any person indebted to the city, or the assignee of such person, the Director of Finance may require the deduction of the amount of such person's indebtedness to the city.
1953-55-217; 1965-68-29.
218. No warrant for payment shall be drawn unless there is sufficient money in the fund out of which the payment is to be made to meet the warrant.
1953-55-218.
219. (1) As soon as practicable in each year and in any event by April 30, the Director of Finance must prepare and submit to the Council a report setting out the Director of Finance's estimates in detail of the anticipated revenues and expenditures of the city for that year.
(2) In the report under subsection (1), or in another report or reports submitted to the Council by April 30, the Director of Finance must set out objectives and policies for that year in relation to the following:
(a) for each revenue source identified under subsection (1), the proportion of total revenue that is proposed to come from that revenue source;
(b) the distribution of rates of levy among the property classes that may be subject to taxes under section 373 [annual rating by-law];
(b.1) the provision of development potential relief under section 374.6;
(c) the use of tax exemptions under sections 396A [exemptions for heritage property], 396C [exemptions for riparian property], 396E [revitalization tax exemptions] and 396F [exemptions for not for profit property].
2007-24-46; 2010-21-37; 2022-26-3.
220. There shall be a City Clerk appointed by the Council who shall have such duties and powers in addition to those provided by this Act as the Council may from time to time prescribe.
1953-55-220.
221. The City Clerk must ensure that an accurate record of all resolutions, transactions, and other business and proceedings of the Council and its committees are prepared, and must safely preserve and keep custody of all such records.
1953-55-221; 2003-52-509.
222. The City Clerk shall have the custody of all by-laws from the time they are introduced, and, having seen to their proper completion, the City Clerk shall preserve and keep the originals thereof.
1953-55-222; 2022-15-53; 2022-15-73,Sch 1.
223. The City Clerk, or someone authorized by the City Clerk, shall be available to attend all meetings of the Council and its committees in a secretarial capacity.
1953-55-223; 2022-15-53; 2022-15-75,Sch 3.
224. A copy of any record, book, or document in the possession or under the control of the City Clerk purporting to be certified under the City Clerk's hand and seal of the city may be filed and used in any Court in lieu of the original, and shall be received in evidence without proof of the seal or the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the same, and without further proof, unless the Court otherwise directs.
1953-55-224; 2022-15-76,Sch 4.
225. The City Clerk shall have the custody of the common seal of the city, and shall cause it to be affixed as required.
1953-55-225; 2022-15-53.
226. There shall be a City Treasurer appointed by the Council who shall have such duties and powers in addition to those provided by this or any other Act as the Council may from time to time prescribe.
1953-55-226.
227. The City Treasurer shall receive all moneys paid to the city from whatever source, and shall pay out the same only on the warrant of the Director of Finance.
1953-55-227; 1965-68-29; 2022-15-54.
228. The City Treasurer must keep a complete and accurate account of money that the City Treasurer receives or disburses.
2022-15-55.
229. The City Treasurer must, together with the Director of Finance, have the custody of all securities held by the city for sinking fund purposes otherwise than those in a bank.
1953-55-229; 1965-68-29; 2022-15-56.
230. (1) The Council shall, not later than the first Council meeting in each year, appoint a firm of chartered professional accountants to audit the accounts and transactions of the city and of every other administrative body.
(2) No firm of chartered professional accountants shall be appointed as auditors, any member of which is or was, during the year previous to the appointment, employed by, or is or was a party to, any contract with the city or other administrative body other than as auditor or as a consultant in respect of any of the affairs of the city.
(3) The auditors' appointment may be terminated at any time for cause upon a vote of two-thirds of all the members of the Council.
(4) The auditors so appointed shall be paid such fee as shall be agreed upon.
1974-104-31; 1993-74-2; 2015-1-102.
231. The duties and powers of the auditors are as follows: —
(a) the auditors shall make such examination as is consistent with good auditing practice of the records, including the books, documents, accounts, vouchers, receipts, investment securities, debentures, and matured debentures paid, of the city (including those of any sinking fund provided for under this Act) or relating to any matter or thing under the jurisdiction or control of the Council or of any other administrative body;
(b) the auditors shall make a report to the Council on or before the thirtieth day of April in the next following year on the balance sheets and statements of revenue and expenditure of the city and of any other administrative body, and such report shall state whether in their opinion the balance sheets and statements of revenue and expenditure of the city or other administrative body referred to in the report present fairly the financial position of the city or other administrative body as at the thirty-first day of December and the results of the operations of the city for the year then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted for municipal financial reporting, applied on a basis consistent with that of the preceding year;
(c) the auditors shall further report to the best of their knowledge and ability
(i) in what respect they find the books, documents, accounts, or vouchers incorrect, or lacking proper authority under this Act, or under any by-law or resolution adopted or passed hereunder;
(ii) in what respect any disbursement, expenditure, liability or transaction is without apparent authority.
1974-104-31.
232. The auditors shall, without delay, report in writing with particulars to the Mayor and the Board of Administration if, in their opinion,
(a) any payment made or authorized by the city or other administrative body is without apparent authority;
(b) any sum which ought to have been brought into account by any person or persons has not been brought into account;
(c) any loss or deficiency has been incurred owing to the negligence or misconduct of any person;
and the Mayor shall cause such investigation to be made as the Mayor thinks necessary.
1974-104-31; 2022-15-73,Sch 1.
233. The duties of the auditors shall include
(a) the examination, upon request of the Council, of the accounting arrangements and methods of the city or other administrative body, or of any proposed amendment thereof, and the submission of their recommendations as a result of such examination;
(b) such other duties not inconsistent with those required of them by this Act as may from time to time be included in the terms of their appointment.
1974-104-31.
234. Every member of Council, and every officer or employee of the city, and every member and servant of any other administrative body, shall make available all records, books, and documents necessary for the audit or required by the auditors, and shall give the auditors every reasonable facility and furnish full information and explanation concerning the affairs of the city or other administrative body necessary for the performance of their duties as auditors.
1974-104-31.
235. (1) For the purpose of, and in connection with, any audit under this Act, the auditors may, by summons in writing, require
(a) the production before them of all records, books, deeds, contracts, accounts, vouchers, receipts, and other documents and papers;
(b) the production before them of all moneys and securities;
(c) any person holding or accountable for any such records, books, deeds, contracts, accounts, vouchers, receipts, documents, papers, money, or securities to appear before them at any such audit, and to make and sign a declaration as to the correctness of the same.
(2) A person who neglects or refuses to comply in any respect with a summons issued under subsection (1) is liable for each neglect or refusal, on summary conviction, to a penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars.
(3) A person who falsely or corruptly makes or signs any such declaration as aforesaid, knowing the same to be untrue in any material particular, is liable, on summary conviction, to a penalty not exceeding five hundred dollars.
1974-104-31.
235A. (1) The auditors shall not, without the sanction of the Council or without an order of a Judge of the Supreme Court, remove or cause to be removed any records, books, deeds, contracts, accounts, vouchers, receipts, documents, papers, money, or securities from the office of the city or other place where the same may repose for safe-keeping.
(2) Nothing in this section prohibits the auditors from transferring records, books, deeds, contracts, accounts, vouchers, documents, or papers from one office of the city to another for the convenience of the audit.
1974-104-31.
235B. (1) Any elector of the city may, in writing, lodge with the auditors an objection to any item of account or other matter relating to an audit then in process.
(2) Upon receipt of any objection as provided for in subsection (1), the auditors shall appoint a time and place for dealing with the objection, and shall give notice thereof to such elector.
(3) The auditors shall consider the matters before them, and if in their opinion the objection comes within the scope of section 232, they shall forthwith proceed in the manner set out therein.
(4) Nothing in this Part shall be construed to prevent an elector, or a group of electors, from exercising any right to take action for recovery on behalf of the city.
1974-104-31.
Contents | Preamble | Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI | Part XII | Part XIII | Part XIV | Part XV | Part XVI | Part XVII | Part XVIII | Part XIX | Part XX | Part XXI | Part XXII | Part XXIII | Part XXIV | Part XXIV-A | Part XXIV-B | Part XXV | Part XXVI | Part XXVII | Part XXVIII | Part XXIX | Part XXX | Part XXXI
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