Effective now, procedures for Council meetings have been further modified as a result of a new by-law passed at the recent full Council meeting on September 25. The main change is the elimination of one standing committee – the one that was a virtual Committee of the Whole since all Councillors attended. The change is that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Standing Committee is amalgamated into the Corporate, Finance, and Legislative Standing Committee. The Mayor plus two other councillors are members; currently these are Deputy Mayor Beatty and Councillor Barber but that could change. There were a number of other minor changes mostly to do with minutes and items on the Agenda but notable were some things that did NOT change – see the list below.
The only objection to the new procedures came from Councillor Miriam Mutton. She was concerned that with only 3 members of Council on Standing Committees that this would mean a quorum would be two. But this means that a two way non-public discussion (e.g. the Mayor and Deputy Mayor) could be an official meeting. No-one else was concerned.
But before I list what did NOT change, I must point to a few items that previously changed with little or no debate.
Recent Agenda Changes
- Lord’s Prayer. It was not that long ago that Regular Council meetings started with a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer. After recognizing that this is not allowed per a Supreme Court ruling, this became a “moment of reflection” before that too was dropped.
- The statement of land acknowledgement. It seemed that again without debate, all meetings in the Town must start with acknowledging that we are on indigenous land. I have never heard any explanation as to why this is suddenly required.
- Correspondence. Many resolutions of Cobourg Council and those of other Ontario Municipalities require a letter to upper tier Government(s) and copies to all other Municipalities. Most of these are “for information” but sometimes our Council wants to support an issue so adds to the deluge of lobbying letters. Since there are so many and they often need no action, Brent has sensibly created a special day/time when they are posted: Fridays at 4:00 pm on escribe.
What did NOT change – despite suggestions (these did NOT happen)
- Change time limit for speakers from the current 10 minutes to 5 minutes
- Combine four (4) Standing Committees into 2 Standing Committees with each committee consisting of all Councillors
- Schedule 2 Regular Council meetings a month
These ideas were not debated.
If you want to look at the new By-law see Resources below. I have also provided a link to the previous by-laws.
The bylaw is now in effect and the changes will happen starting with all meetings after 25 September.
Resources
- New Procedural By-Law 050-2024 – Procedural By-Law (PDF)
- More on Governance at Town of Cobourg
Previous Procedural By-Laws
- Previous Procedural By-Law 079-2017
- Procedural By-Law 009-2019 – (some minor modifications in bylaw 088-2022 )
- Procedural By-Law 085-2023
Note that each new by-law indicates which previous by-law is repealed. You can find all by-laws at this page. (Thanks Brent)
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Miriam Mutton is consistently the smart one.
Further to land acknowledgment, I have high respect for survival in a harsh climate, and knowing the land. We are disconnected from it now. I also acknowledge that indigenous peoples warred and took slaves hundreds of years ago – life was tough and short.
I think Councilor Mutton’s concern may be Warranted Is this to maintain Secrecy or Control over items the Public needs to know about .
Our Councilors do not seem to Know or care about the working and Whats really Going on around them in the various departments .
Nor do they seem to understand why the People and Professionals trying to work with the Towns various Departments are so frustrated .
It does not matter which department Planning , Policing , Engineering
etc etc . The Council needs to be more involvement and understanding as to
the dealings of Everything Cobourg inorder to Properly look after and into
our Concerns and Representation of its Citizens
Further to John’s questions:
The “Moment of Reflection” was last included in the 009-2019 revision of the Procedural Bylaw.
The “Traditional Land Acknowledgement” was added to the Procedural Bylaw in the 085-2023 revision as a replacement for the Moment of Reflection.
I have no idea of the rationale for the substitution. Nor do I understand why a Land Acknowledgement appears to be included in all events in Victoria Hall. Perhaps Mr. Larmer can shed some light on the questions.