It is not unusual for municipal councils to ask delegations wishing to speak to council to register in advance, as your CAO indicates. It is also normal that the requester be asked to specify the agenda item to which you want to speak. All this is helpful in ensuring an orderly meeting in which all those wanting to be heard can be heard.

That said, I have never heard of a municipality requiring the delegation speaker’s notes, much less the text of the speech, to be submitted ahead of the event. And, I have never heard of a requirement for a copy of the notes or speech text to be submitted with the application to appear. Sometimes when I appear before parliamentary bodies they request a copy of my submission ahead of time so they can distribute it to the committee members and, where there is simultaneous translation, to give a copy to the translators so as to help them. But, this is only after I have been accepted as a speaker and it is not a requirement.

While I feel it is both wrong and bad practice for your municipal council to do as yours is doing, it is not illegal to the best of my knowledge. It is something that should be fought in the court of public opinion.

It should be an easy fight. The government of Canada’w website states, ‘The right of everyone to hold opinions without interference and the right to freedom of expression are in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirmed in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.’

This includes the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, whether orally, in writing or in print, or through any other media of choice. Certain restrictions are only permissible when in line with international human rights law.

Related: Hear Delegate Request Discussion June 12, 2023 Council Meeting

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