Louis Martin v. International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 5, 1997 CanLII 15555

[1997] OLRB REP. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1030

3840-96-M Louis Martin, Applicant v. International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 5, Responding Party

BEFORE: D. L Gee, Vice-Chair.

APPEARANCES: Louis Martin on his own behalf; L. A. Richmond and R. Forbes for the responding party.

DECISION OF THE BOARD; December 3, 1997

1The style of cause is hereby amended to reflect the correct name of the responding party: "International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 5".

2This matter is an application concerning financial statements filed pursuant to section 92 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (the "Act").

3Section 92 provides as follows:

(1) Every trade union shall upon the request of any member furnish the member, without charge, with a copy of the audited financial statement of its affairs to the end of its last fiscal year certified by its treasurer or other officer responsible for the handling and administration of its funds to be a true copy, and, upon the complaint of any member that the trade union has failed to furnish such a statement, the Board may direct the trade union to file with the Registrar of the Board, within such time as the Board may determine, a copy of the audited financial statement of its affairs to the end of its last fiscal year verified by the affidavit of its treasurer or other officer responsible for the handling and administration of its funds and to furnish a copy of the statement to the members of the trade union that the Board in its discretion may direct, and the trade union shall comply with the direction according to its terms.

(2) Where a member of a trade union complains that an audited financial statement is inadequate, the Board may inquire into the complaint and the Board may order the trade union to prepare another audited financial statement in a form and containing the particulars that the Board considers appropriate and the Board may further order that the audited financial statement, as rectified, be certified by a person licensed under the Public Accountancy Act or a firm whose partners are licensed under that Act.

4The applicant, Mr. Louis Martin seeks a copy of the audited financial statements of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen, Local 5 ("Local 5") for the year 1996 and further seeks a breakdown of the amounts spent under the headings "automotive", "seminars and conventions" and "wages".

5On or about July 7, 1997, Local 5 forwarded to Mr. Martin a set of unaudited financial statements accompanied by a Review Engagement Report (the "Report") prepared by the Chartered Accountants of Hoar & Kloosterman. The Report indicates that the review conducted by the accountant does not constitute an audit. Local 5 submits that the review conducted by the accountant is sufficient to constitute an "audit" for the purposes of section 92 and further submits that Mr. Martin is not entitled to a breakdown of amounts spent. Local 5 asserts that, if Mr. Martin wants a breakdown of the amount of money spent, he can request such details at the membership meeting where the financial statements are presented. The following decisions are relied on by Local 5: Murray G. Strong, [1981] OLRB Rep. July 901; Edward Miller, [1983] OLRB Rep. Nov. 1864; Reginald Robert, [1984] OLRB Rep. Aug. 1125; John Kozak, [1988] OLRB Rep. Dec. 1281; and International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 793, [1995] OLRB Rep. Oct. 1270.

6As a result of section 92 of the Act, any member of a trade union is entitled, upon request, to be provided with a copy of the trade union's audited financial statements. "Audit" is defined in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as "[an] official examination of accounts with verification by reference to witnesses and vouchers". Thus, an audit requires someone to have systematically checked all of the receipts and vouchers to ensure that the numbers as stated on the financial statements are correct. The case law relied upon by Local 5 indicates that such exercise need not be conducted by a chartered accountant (it is sufficient if it is conducted by a qualified individual in an arm's length relationship to the trade union) but it does not support the proposition that something less than an audit, such as a "Review Engagement Report", is sufficient to constitute an audit.

7The financial statements provided to Mr. Martin by Local 5 clearly indicate that they are "unaudited". This means that the accountant who prepared such statements did not verify Local S's accounts by reference to witnesses and vouchers. The financial statements Local 5 has provided to Mr. Martin are thus not audited financial statements as required by section 92 of the Act.

8Concerning Mr. Martin's request that Local 5 be required to provide him with a breakdown of the amounts spent on automotive, seminars and conventions and wages, it is my determination that Mr. Martin is to be provided with such a breakdown. I recognize that the jurisprudence relied upon by Local 5 indicates that the Board will not normally require a trade union to provide a breakdown of expenses. I am persuaded, however, that such is appropriate in this case. First, it is apparent that relations between Mr. Martin and Local 5 are strained. In Local S's view, Mr. Martin is seeking the information for "improper" purposes. I am not confident in such circumstances that, should Mr. Martin request such information at a membership meeting as Local S submits is his proper recourse, the information will be forthcoming. Second, the amounts of money in question are very small and accordingly it is unlikely that the exercise involved in breaking the amounts down will be time consuming.

9As a result, I hereby direct Local 5 to file with the Registrar, no later than January 1, 1998, a copy of its audited financial statement for the year 1996 verified by the affidavit of its treasurer or other officer responsible for the handling and administration of its funds and to furnish a copy of the statement to Mr. Martin together with the affidavit. Such statement is to contain a breakdown of the amount of money spent on automotive, seminars and conventions and wages.