The Elections Compliance Committee in the city of Ottawa approved audit requests in two out of three cases regarding campaign spending during the 2022 municipal elections.

The committee is an independent legal body responsible for reviewing and making decisions on compliance audit requests for municipal election campaign financing. After considering the compliance audit requests, the committee may appoint an auditor to review the campaign's financial affairs and decide whether to take legal action.

The committee was asked to consider compliance audit requests regarding campaign financing for Shaun Menard, the Ward 20 candidate, Doug Thompson, and the third-party advertiser Horizon Ottawa, with the same resident in Ottawa submitting requests for all three candidates.

The committee rejected the audit request for Menard on Monday, stating that there was no reasonable basis to believe a violation occurred but approved the audit requests in the cases of Thompson and Horizon Ottawa.

Thompson ran unsuccessfully for Ward 20, finishing second behind current Mayor George Darouze by a margin of 238 votes. Thompson was a previous councillor in this ward from 2001 to 2014.

The committee found, and Thompson acknowledged, that his financial statements regarding the cost of reused signs from previous elections were inaccurate. Thompson estimated the cost of the signs at $100, which he described as an accounting error.

Thompson offered to provide additional materials, but the committee rejected them because the deadline for submissions had passed.

Horizon Ottawa was a registered third-party advertiser in the 2022 municipal elections and was accused in the audit application of benefiting from an event called "Horizon Fest" in September 2022.

The event, which Horizon Ottawa described as a music festival, featured several council candidates, including Menard and Somerset Ward candidate Ariel Troster, who was elected to the council.

The complaint alleged that Horizon Ottawa had undisclosed donations, which were not monitored for compliance with election laws stipulating that donations cannot exceed $25.

Horizon Ottawa's lawyer told the committee that the festival was not intended primarily as a fundraising event for purchasing advertisements, noting that Horizon Ottawa actually lost money on this event. The lawyer also stated that the complainant had not provided any evidence that cash donations exceeded $25.

However, the committee found reasonable grounds to suspect a violation based on social media posts announcing the festival event on social media on August 12 and 20, 2022, days before Horizon was formally registered as a third-party advertiser.

The city clerk was directed to call upon up to three auditors from the committee to choose to conduct audits of the campaign funds of Thompson and Horizon Ottawa.

The committee's decision to grant the compliance audit may be appealed to the Superior Court within 15 days of the decision, and the court may make any decision that the committee could make, such as approving or rejecting the compliance audit request.

In the event of an audit, the committee will review the auditor's report and decide whether legal proceedings should be initiated against the candidate or registered third-party advertiser for a clear violation within 30 days of receiving the auditor’s report.