On September 24, I emailed questions to all members of council.

Councillor Pouget emailed CAO Critchley this morning, These are all very good questions and I for one, would appreciate answers to them, concerning our new procedural by-law.  When time permits, will you or one of your staff please respond to all copied in this email?

Critchley answered the questions this morning.

the burg watch: how was it determined that Mr. Bolger will be a ‘presentation’ at the September 25 council meeting instead of a ‘delegation’ when presentation is not defined in the by-law and he will be speaking to an agenda item like a delegate? 

Critchley: A “presentation” is a form of a delegation and so the rules for delegations apply equally. Mr. Bolger registered within the time frame set out in the Procedure By-law and notice of the delegation was made public with the revised Agenda which was posted on Friday.

the burg watch: please explain the stipulation that a unanimous vote is required for council to waive the rules to allow audience members to speak freely.

Critchley: The new Procedure By-law has been changed to state that Agendas will now be posted publicly 10 days before a Council meeting. With this change, members of the public have ample time to review the Agenda and determine if they wish to register as delegations (by noon on the Friday preceding the meeting). Given this expanded timeline, there should be very few situations where someone cannot register to delegate in a timely manner. As such, there is now a rule that there must be a unanimous vote of Council to waive these rules. I would note that having procedures around delegations is a normal part of public meeting management that reflect municipal best practices, and that they are needed in order to run an orderly and professional meeting.

the burg watch: did members give any consideration to ontario human rights code accommodations of persons with disabilities when voting to approve the new by-law?  

Critchley: I cannot speak to what each member of Council considered when voting on the new by-law. However, I will say that, had any member asked if the new rules complied with the Ontario Human Rights Code, I would have advised them that it does. There is nothing in the new rules that would prohibit a person with disabilities from registering as a presentation or delegation and the Town’s Procedure By-law is in keeping with municipal best practices. 

the burg watch: on what date did members of council give direction to admin to update the by-law?

Critchley:  August 14, 2023

the burg watch: and, since my september 8 email has not been answered, would you please describe the procedure for delegates to council meetings regarding items that do not appear on the agenda?

Critchley:  By “items that do not appear on the agenda” I am assuming you are referring to items raised during “new business”. Should a member of Council raise an item at this portion of the meeting that someone wishes to speak to, Council can direct that a report on the item be prepared for a future meeting and delegations will be able to register to speak to those items in accordance with the Procedure By-law.

the burg watch: The by-law should have defined presentation and the public should have been consulted during the draft stage, a best practice other municipalities utilize. Nowhere can I find the ‘unanimous’ rule; and obviously, you cannot speak to what each member of council considered when voting. My questions were addressed to the members who, as you all know, are mandated to ‘develop and evaluate the policies and programs of the municipality.’