THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF PEEL

AUDIT AND RISK COMMITTEE

MINUTES

ARC - 3/2021

Thursday, May 20, 2021

11:00 A.m. - 12:30 P.m.

Council Chamber, 5th Floor

Regional Administrative Headquarters

10 Peel Centre Drive, Suite A

Brampton, Ontario

Members Present:

• N. Fairhead
• C. Fonseca
• N. Iannicca
• K. Ras
• R. Santos
• I. Sinclair
• R. Starr
• H. Zuberi

Staff Present

• J. Baker, Chief Administrative Officer
• S. Baird, Commissioner of Service Excellence and Innovation
• G. Kent, Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Corporate Services
• P. O'Connor, Regional Solicitor
• Kealy Dedman, Commissioner of Public Works
• J. Sheehy, Commissioner of Human Services
• N. Polsinelli, Commissioner of Health Services
• K. Lockyer, Regional Clerk and Director of Clerk's
• S. Nagel, Director, Corporate Finance and Treasurer
• J. Weinman, Interim Director, Enterprise Risk and Audit Services
• C. Thomson, Deputy Clerk and Manager of Legislative Services
• H. Gill, Committee Clerk
• S. Valleau, Legislative Specialist
• S. MacGregor, Legislative Technical Coordinator
• D. Rai, Legislative Assistant

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1.

CALL TO ORDER

Councillor Starr, Committee Chair, called the Audit and Risk Committee meeting to order on May 20, 2021 at 11:01 a.m., in the Council Chambers, Regional Administrative Headquarters, 10 Peel Centre Drive.  Councillor Starr participated electronically.

The Chief Administrative Officer welcomed Gary Kent who joined the Region of Peel as Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Corporate Services on May 10, 2021.

2.

DECLARATIONS OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Nil.

3.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

• RECOMMENDATION ARC-11-2021:

  That the agenda for the May 20, 2021 Audit and Risk Committee meeting, be approved.

4.

DELEGATIONS

4.1

Trevor Ferguson, Audit Partner, Deloitte LLP

Presenting the 2020 Deloitte Audit Results Report
(Related to item 5.1)

• Received

Trevor Ferguson, Audit Partner, Deloitte LLP, provided a high-level overview of the 2020 Deloitte Audit Results Report for the external audit of the financial statements of the Regional Municipality of Peel and Peel Housing Corporation. He stated that there were no misstatements to report. He highlighted the Canadian audit standards communication requirements and three recommendations related to internal control matters captured in Appendix I of the report.

Members of the Committee discussed and raised questions regarding: vacant position impacts on segregation of duties; review of account privileges; and, the user access revocation process.

5.

REPORTS

5.1

2020 Deloitte Audit Results Report

(For information) (Related to item 4.1)

• Received

5.2

2020 Peel Housing Corporation Financial Statements

(For information)

• Received

5.3

2020 Region of Peel Consolidated Financial Statements

(For information)

• Received

In response to a question from Councillor Ras regarding the statement of operations surplus and how it differs from the 19M surplus, Gary Kent, Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Corporate Services, noted that financial statements differ from the municipal budget approach as they follow general accepted accounting practices to provide for consistent reporting across all municipalities.

5.4

2020 Region of Peel Sinking Funds Financial Statements

(For information)

• Received

5.5

2020 Region of Peel Trust Funds Financial Statements

(For information)

• Received

5.6

Appointment of External Auditors – Fiscal Years 2021 to 2025

• RECOMMENDATION ARC-12-2021:

  That Deloitte LLP be appointed as the external auditor for the Regional Municipality of Peel and Peel Housing Corporation for fiscal years 2021 to 2025.
• RECOMMENDATION ARC-13-2021:

  That staff be directed to conduct a jurisdictional scan of municipal processes related to external auditor appointments, including length of appointment and frequency of renewal;

  And further, that the findings of the jurisdictional scan be presented to the October 7, 2021 Audit and Risk Committee meeting.

In response to a question from Councillor Ras regarding the length of external auditor appointments, Gary Kent, Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Corporate Services, stated that there is no formal approach and that there are a limited number of external auditors who specialize in municipal financing.

5.7

Enterprise Architecture Audit

(For information)
Presentation by Janice Baker, Chief Administrative Officer, Sean Baird, Commissioner of Service Excellence and Innovation and Jennifer Weinman, Interim Director, Enterprise Risk and Audit Services

• Received

Janice Baker, Chief Administrative Officer, Sean Baird, Commissioner of Service Excellence and Innovation and Jennifer Weinman, Interim Director, Enterprise Risk and Audit Services, presented the results of the Enterprise Architecture audit. They provided an overview of the audit objectives; assessment of the governance, risk and compliance function; strategic focus of the enterprise architecture function; and, enterprise architecture maturity. The update included timelines for implementation of the various management action plans.

Members of the Committee discussed and raised questions regarding: the definition that constitutes maturity; legislative requirements for governance; audit scope exclusion of operational management; the definition of enterprise architecture; and, corporate governance.

5.8

Long Term Care Resident Trust Accounts Audit

(For information)
Presentation by Ann-Marie Case-Volkert, Acting Director, Long Term Care and Anila Lalani, Acting Manager, Enterprise Risk and Audit Services

• Received

Ann-Marie Case-Volkert, Acting Director, Long Term Care and Anila Lalani, Acting Manager, Enterprise Risk and Audit Services, presented the results of the Long Term Care Resident Trust Account audit. The overview included: audit background; audit objectives; audit observations; and management action plans that are or will be implemented to address identified risks.

Members of the Committee discussed and raised questions regarding: the number of resident trust accounts managed by the Region of Peel; the role and responsibility of the Region of Peel in the administration of trust accounts; Regional policies and processes in place to protect residents; irregularity investigations and process improvements; and, legislative requirements, guidelines and jurisdiction.

Councillor Ras suggested that the findings from the audit be shared with the Ministry of Long-Term Care.

5.9

Risk Management Functions

(For information)

• Received

6.

COMMUNICATIONS

Nil.

7.

OTHER BUSINESS

Nil.

8.

IN CAMERA

Nil.

9.

NEXT MEETING

Thursday, October 7, 2021
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Council Chamber, 5th Floor
Regional Administrative Headquarters
10 Peel Centre Drive, Suite A
Brampton, Ontario

Please forward regrets to Harjit Gill, Committee Clerk, at [email protected].

10.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 12:38 p.m.