City Council Approves Procedure By-law Update
/Council approved a new Procedure By-law, developed in consultation with the Procedure By-law Working Group, to govern Council meetings during their Monday night meeting.
Photo courtesy of the City of Peterborough.
The revisions in the proposed Procedure By-law focus on improving clarity, aligning with current legislative requirements and supporting efficient and transparent meeting processes according to Council.
It is customary during each term of Council to consider amendments to the current Procedure By-law. The Procedure By-law Working Group, comprising the Mayor, the Chair of the General Committee, the Chair of the Planning Committee, the CAO, the Commissioner of Legislative Services, the City Clerk, and the Deputy Clerk, met on several occasions to discuss procedural considerations. The Ombudsman’s Office was consulted and a review was undertaken of best practices from municipalities including Caledon, Cambridge, Chatham-Kent, Guelph, Pickering, Richmond Hill, St. Catharines, Whitby and Windsor.
The Procedure By-law updates certain aspects of how Council governs its meetings, such as the following examples:
The authority and duties of the Chair in maintaining order, decorum and the effective conduct of meetings;
Restricting the use of electronic devices during meetings to support transparency and uphold the statutory open meetings requirements;
Aurally recording Council's closed session meetings, with the recordings kept confidential in accordance with legislative requirements;
Using a consent agenda process for Council's closed session meetings, with Council having the option to approve reports through one motion prior to going into closed session and only matters not included as part of the consent agenda will be considered during the closed meeting;
Requiring that notices of motion be introduced at Committee meetings, not at a regular Council meeting, to follow a two-step approval process;
Setting a limit of four delegations per agenda item at a Council meeting to support efficient agenda management, with the delegations limit not applying to delegations heard as part of a statutory public meeting under the Planning Act or applicable legislation;
Setting a limit of two questions per Council member for questions on delegations, with the question specifically related to the content of the delegation and the response to the question from the delegate not to exceed 90 seconds - this change was amended during Council's General Committee consideration of the proposed by-law to increase the limit to two questions from one question;
When a motion to amend or a motion to defer a recommendation from City staff report is presented, the Chair of the meeting will ask staff to provide information on any implications on the amendment or deferral to ensure Council has the complete and accurate information prior to making a decision;
A majority vote is sufficient for a Motion to Reconsider where the original matter was not decided by
Council, or where it was decided by Council during a previous term of Council;A two-thirds vote will be required to pass a Motion to Reconsider where the original matter was decided by Council within the current term of Council; and
To support efficient and orderly debate, it is proposed that Members be permitted to speak to a Motion no more than twice, with each speaking opportunity limited to five minutes during General Committee meetings and a maximum of three minutes during Council meetings.
