Audit concludes Sudbury city councillor likely violated campaign finance rules

An outside audit has concluded that Sudbury Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc appears to have violated Ontario’s Municipal Elections Act.

An audit of his election finances by KPMG was ordered after the city’s election compliance audit committee received a complaint from a resident, Anastasia Rioux.

The committee reviewed Rioux’s complaint, which was related to the October 2022 municipal election, and decided there was enough evidence to order the full audit.

The 85-page KPMG audit concluded Leduc received donations that exceeded the allowable amount, didn’t pay some expenses using his campaign bank account, as is required, and hosted an event billed as ‘Grandparent’s Day’ that he partly used as a campaign event.

The audit concluded that Leduc exceeded the $14,159.60 spending limit for candidates by $2,937.95, mainly because he didn’t report the money he spent on Grandparent’s Day event as a campaign expense.

The election compliance committee will receive the audit at its July 3 meeting.

“On considering the auditor’s report, the committee must decide whether to commence legal proceedings against the candidate for apparent contraventions of the campaign finance rules,” said a staff report.

At the July 3 meeting, the committee will first hear from KPMG, then from Leduc and Rioux, who will each get 10 minutes to speak.

They won’t be allowed to question each other or KPMG.

“At the conclusion of the submissions of the parties, the committee will have the opportunity to deliberate whether or not to commence legal proceedings against the candidate,” the report said.

“On concluding its deliberations, the committee will advise whether it has reached a decision and call a vote on the matter. The committee may issue an oral decision, or it may reserve its decision.”

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