966. The council shall appoint an external auditor for not more than five fiscal years. At the end of the term, the external auditor shall remain in office until replaced or reappointed.
In the case of a municipality having a population of at least 10,000 inhabitants, the council may appoint two external auditors. In such a case, the council entrusts one auditor with the audit mandates under article 966.2 and the other with the audit mandate under article 966.2.1.
Every external auditor must be a member of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec.
When carrying out their value-for-money audit mandate and despite any general law or special Act, neither an external auditor nor the employees under the external auditor’s direction or the professionals under contract may be compelled to give testimony relating to any information obtained in the performance of their duties or to produce any document containing such information. A judge of the Court of Appeal may, on an application, summarily annul any proceeding instituted or decision rendered contrary to this paragraph.
Neither an external auditor nor the employees under the external auditor’s direction may be prosecuted for any act they have done or failed to do in good faith in the performance of the duties related to their value-for-money audit mandate.
No civil action may be instituted for the publication of a report of an external auditor prepared under this Act in connection with a value-for-money audit mandate or the publication in good faith of an extract or summary of such a report.
Except on a question of jurisdiction, no application for judicial review under the Code of Civil Procedure (chapter C-25.01) may be exercised nor any injunction granted against an external auditor, the employees under the external auditor’s direction or the professionals under contract when the external auditor, employees or professionals are acting in their official capacity in connection with their value-for-money audit mandate.
M.C. 1916, a. 642; 1921, c. 109, s. 1; 1927, c. 74, s. 13; 1930, c. 108, s. 1; 1935, c. 108, s. 7; 1938, c. 103, s. 7; 1949, c. 59, s. 67; 1952-53, c. 29, s. 20; 1965 (1st sess.), c. 17, s. 2; 1977, c. 5, s. 14; 1984, c. 38, s. 71; 1995, c. 34, s. 44; 1996, c. 27, s. 96; 1999, c. 43, s. 13; 2001, c. 25, s. 61; 2003, c. 19, s. 150, s. 250; 2005, c. 28, s. 196; 2009, c. 26, s. 109; 2016, c. 172016, c. 17, s. 261; 2018, c. 82018, c. 8, s. 1031.