Document 1
BY-LAW NO. 2002 2006-247
A
by-law of the City of Ottawa to govern the proceedings of the Council and its
Committees and to repeal By-law No. 2005-4312001-20.
The
Council of The City of Ottawa, pursuant to Section 23855(2) of the Municipal Act, S.O.
2001, c. 25R.S.O. 1990, c. M-45, as amended,
enacts as follows:
1.
RULES OF PROCEDURE ADOPTED/SUSPENDED
(1)
The proceedings of the
Council and the Committees thereof, the conduct of the members and the calling
of meetings shall be governed by the provisions of the Municipal Act and the rules and regulations
contained in this By-law, and, except as provided herein, the rules of
parliamentary procedure as contained in Robert’s Rules of Order, shall be
followed for governing the proceedings of Council and the Committees thereof
and the conduct of its members;
(2)
Despite subsection
1(1), the rules and regulations contained in this by-law may be suspended by a
vote of three-quarters of the members present and voting.
2.
DEFINITIONS
In this By-law,
(1) “Chair”
means the chair of a committee;
"Ad Hoc
Committee" means a special purpose committee of limited
duration, created by Council to inquire into and report on a particular matter
or concern and which dissolves automatically upon submitting its final report
unless otherwise directed by Council;
(1)
“Advisory Committee” means a
committee created by Council to provide advice and technical expertise on major
public issues and social trends, act as vehicles for public consultation on
issues of municipal interest, conduct research, report on findings, and make
recommendations to City Council through Standing Committees. The membership is comprised of public
citizens and may have a Council member acting as a liaison member;
(2)
“Chief Corporate
Services Officer” means the official responsible for the Corporate Services
Department;
(3)
“City” means the
City of Ottawa;
(4)
“City Manager”
means the chief administrative officer referred to in Section 72229 of the Municipal Act;
(5)
“Clerk” means
the position appointed pursuant to Section 73228 of the Municipal Act;
(6)
“Committee”
means a committee of Council and includes Standing Committees, Joint
Committees, Coordinating Committees, Ad Hoc Committees, Task Forces, Advisory Committees, special committees and
sub-committees;
(7)
“Committee of the
Whole” means all the members of Council sitting in committee;
(8)
“Consent Agenda” means the portion of
the Agenda that may be approved by Council without debate;
"Coordinating Committee" means a
committee created by Council to coordinate the activities, policies and
responsibilities of the City with third parties;
(9)
“Council” means
the Council of the City of Ottawa;
(10)
“Councillor”
means a person elected or appointed as a member of Council but does not include
the Mayor;
(11)
“Day” does not
include Saturday, Sunday or a holiday;
(12)
“Deputy Mayor”
means the designated member of Council appointed to this position pursuant to
the rotation list by-law set out in Section 5;
(13)
“Deputy City Manager”
means the official responsibleility
for a department within the City;
(14)
“Holiday” means
a holiday as defined by the Interpretation
Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter I.11, as amended;
(15)
“Mayor” means
the Mayor as the Head of Council, or in the absence of the Mayor, the Deputy
Mayor or, in the absence of both, another member of Council appointed in
accordance with section
18 (1);
(16)
“Notice of Motion”
means a written notice, including the names of the mover and seconder, advising
Council that the motion described therein will be brought at a subsequent
meeting;
(17)
“Pecuniary Interest”
means relating to or connected with money pursuant to the relevant conflict of
interest legislation;
(18)
“Point of Order”
means a statement made by a member of Council during a meeting thereof drawing
to the attention of the Mayor a breach of the Rules of Procedure;
(19)
“Presiding Officer”
means the Mayor at a regular or special meeting of Council or the member of
Council appointed as the Chair of a Committee or, in the absence of either,
another member of Council appointed in accordance with the provisions of this
by-law;
(20)
“Privilege”
means the raising of a question which concerns a member of Council, or the
Council collectively, when a member believes that their rights, immunities or
integrity or the rights, immunities or integrity of Council as a whole have
been impugned;
(21)
“Procedural Motion”
means any motion concerning the manner or time of consideration of any matter
before the Council as opposed to the substance thereof, and includes, without
limitation, the following:
(a)
to extend the time of
the meeting;
(b)
to refer;
(c)
to lay on the table;
(d)
to defer indefinitely
or to a certain day;
(e)
to adjourn;
(f)
to move the question be
put; or
(g)
to suspend the Rules of
Procedure;
(22)
“Rules of Procedure”
means the rules and regulations provided in this By-law;
(1)"Special Resolution" means a
resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote;
(23)
“Standing Committee”
means a Committee of Council comprised solely by members of Council who are
appointed by Council;
(24)
“Standing Committee
Coordinator” means the person whose duties include the recording of the
proceedings of Standing Committee meetings;
(25)
“Substantive Motion”
means any motion other than a Procedural Motion;
(1)"Task Force" means a
special purpose committee of limited duration, created by Council to inquire
into and report on a particular matter or concern and
which dissolves automatically upon submitting its final report unless otherwise
directed by Council;
"Two-thirds Vote" means
the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members present at a meeting
and eligible to vote;
(26)
“Vice-Chair” means the vice-chair of a Committee as appointed by
the Committee.
PART
I DUTIES
OF THE MAYOR - COUNCILLORS
3.
DUTIES OF THE MAYOR
It
shall be the duty of the Mayor
to carry out the responsibilities set forth in the Municipal Act,
section 225 and:
(1)
to open the meeting of
Council by taking the chair and calling the members to order;
(2)
to announce the
business before the Council and the order in which it is to be acted upon;
(3)
to receive and submit,
in the proper manner, all motions presented by the members of Council;
(4)
to put to a vote all
motions, which are moved and seconded, or necessarily arise in the course of
the proceedings, and to announce the result;
(5)
to vote on all matters,
which are moved and seconded, or necessarily arise in the course of the
proceedings;
(6)
to decline to put to a
vote, motions which infringe upon the Rules of Procedure;
(7)
to enforce the Rules of
Procedure;
(8)
to restrain the
members, when engaged in debate, within the Rules of Procedure;
(9)
to enforce on all
occasions, the observance of order and decorum among the members;
(10)
to call by name any
member persisting in a breach of the Rules of Procedure and order the member to
vacate the Council Chamber;
(11)
to permit questions to
be asked through the Mayor of any officer of the City in order to provide information
to assist any debate when the Mayor deems it proper;
(12)
to provide information
to members of Council on any matter touching on the business of the City;
(13)
to receive all
petitions and communications and announce them to the Council;
(14)
to authenticate, by
signature, all by-laws, and minutes of Council;
(15)
to rule on any points
of order raised by members of Council;
(16)
to inform the members
of Council of the proper procedure to be followed;
(17)
to represent and
support the Council, declaring its will and implicitly obeying its decisions in
all matters;
(18)
where it is not
possible to maintain order, the Mayor may, without any motion being put,
adjourn the meeting to a time to be named by the Mayor; and,
(19)
to adjourn the meeting
when the business is concluded.
4.
PARTICIPATION OF MAYOR IN DEBATE
(1)
The Mayor may state
relevant facts and the Mayor’s position on any matter before the Council
without leaving the chair, which may take place immediately prior to the vote,
but it shall not be permissible for the Mayor to move a motion or debate a
question without first leaving the chair;
(2)
If the Mayor desires to
leave the chair to move a motion or to take part in the debate pursuant to
subsection (1), or otherwise, the Mayor shall call on the member designated as
Deputy Mayor pursuant to section 5, to preside until the Mayor resumes the
chair and the Mayor shall
assume a seat reserved for a Councillor.
5.
DEPUTY MAYOR
(1)
At the first regular
meeting of Council in its term, a by-law shall be placed on the agenda to
designate a rotation list for Deputy Mayor;
(2)
The rotation list shall
be comprised of all the members of Council to each serve a limited term as
Deputy Mayor in the event that the Mayor is absent and unable to perform the
duties of his or her office. The order
for the rotation list be determined by lot drawn by the Clerk;
(3)
The
by-law to designate a rotation list of Deputy Mayors may be amended by a
majority of those members present and voting;
(4)
Subject to subsection (5), the time period to be served as
of Deputy Mayor may be exchanged between Councillors upon written notice to the Clerk and written agreement of the Councillors concerned;
(5)
The Clerk may, upon notice to the Councillors
concerned, submit a
notice pursuant to subsection (4) to Council for approval, and where so submitted, such notice does not take effect until
approved by Council;
(6)
A motion to amend the
rotation list of Deputy Mayors may be made without notice upon the written
consent of the Councillors directly concerned.
(7)
Section 70 shall not apply to the
Deputy Mayor.
6.
DUTIES OF A MEMBER OF COUNCIL
(1)
A member of Council
shall have the following duties:
(a)
to deliberate on the
business submitted to Council;
(b)
to vote when a motion
is put to a vote; and
(c)
to respect the Rules of
Procedure.
7.
CITY MANAGER - ADDRESS COUNCIL AND STANDING COMMITTEES
The
City Manager, or his or her designate,
shall have the right to address the Council or any Standing Committee on any
matter relevant to the function or administration of the CityCorporation.
PART
II COUNCIL
8.
REGULAR MEETINGS
(1)
(a) Subject
to this section, the regular meetings of the Council shall be held at
1:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursday’s in each month in each year unless
otherwise changed by Council;
(b) A meeting shall adjourn at 9:00
p.m. If the City Council meeting is not
finished by 9:00 p.m.; it will automatically reconvene the following morning at
10:00 a.m.
(c) Despite clause (b),
Council can extend the meeting time beyond 9:00 p.m. by simple majority vote.
(d) Despite Subsection 8(1)(a), the time and date of individual
regular meetings may be varied by the Mayor;
(2)
During the months of March, July and August, the regular meeting of Council shall be
held at 1:00 p.m. on the second or the fourth Thursday of each month as
determined by the Mayor;
(3)
During the months of December and of November in a regular
election year, at least one regular meeting of Council shall be held at
1:00 p.m. on a Thursday of the
month determined by the
Mayor.
(4)
The Mayor may cancel one or more regular
meetings of the Council if, in the Mayor’s opinion, such meetings are not
necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the City and provided that
not more than two successive regular meetings are cancelled under this
subsection.
9.
REGULAR MEETING DAY A HOLIDAY
If
the day provided herein for a regular meeting of Council is a holiday, or a day
of religious observance that precludes the participation of any members of
Council, the meeting shall be held on the next following business day, unless
otherwise provided by resolution of the Council.
10.
PLACE OF MEETING
All
meetings of the Council shall be held in the Council Chambers at the Ottawa
City Hall or at such other place as is specified in the draft agendanotice calling the meeting.
11.
SEATING
AT COUNCIL
Councillors shall be assigned
seats at Council by the Clerk based upon their Ward Number in a clockwise
fashion commencing from the right of the Mayor’s right.
12.
MEETINGS OPEN TO PUBLIC
(1)
Subject to Section 1213, the meetings of
the Council shall be open to the public and no person shall be excluded
therefrom except for improper conduct;
(2)
The Mayor may expel or
exclude from any meeting any person who has engaged in improper conduct at the
meeting.
13.
CLOSED MEETINGS
(1)
Council may, by
resolution, close a meeting or part of a meeting to members of the public if
the subject matter to be considered is,
(a)
the security of the
property of the City;
(b)
personal matters about
an identifiable individual, including staff;
(c)
a proposed or pending
acquisition or disposition of
land for the purposes of the City;
(d)
labour relations or
employee negotiations;
(e)
litigation or potential
litigation, affecting the City, including matters before administrative
tribunals;
(f)
the receiving of advice
that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications
necessary for that purpose; or
(g)
a matter in respect of
which the Council is authorized by statute to hold a closed meeting;
(2)
Council shall, by
resolution, close a meeting or part of a meeting to members of the public where
the subject matter to be considered is a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;
(3)
A motion to close a
meeting or part of a meeting to the public shall state:
(a)
the fact of the holding
of the closed meeting; and
(b)
the general nature of the matter to be considered at the closed meeting
by reference to the specific issue to be considered at the closed meeting;
(4)
Where a meeting or part
of a meeting is closed to the public, all persons not specifically invited to
remain by the Council shall retire from the Chambers;
(5)
A vote shall not be
taken during a meeting or part of a meeting that is closed to the public where
to do so would be in contravention of any Act.
(6)
All reports intended to be considered in a closed meeting shall include
a reporting out date being a date when the report can be released to members of
the public upon request.
14.
SPECIAL MEETINGS OF COUNCIL
(1)
A Special Meeting of
Council shall be convened:
(a)
upon being summoned by
the Mayor; or,
(b)
upon receipt of a
petition of the majority of the members of the Council;
(2)
Upon receipt of the
petition set out in Subsection 1314(1)(b), the Clerk shall summon a Special
Meeting for the purpose(s) and at the time mentioned in the petition;
(3)
Once received by the
Clerk, no member may add or remove his or her name from a petition filed under
this section;
(4)
Notice of all Special
Meetings of the Council setting forth the matters to be considered at such
Special Meeting shall be given to all members of the Council either:
(a)
by prepaid, special
delivery mail deposited in a Canada Post Corporation Post Office not less than
ninety-six hours in advance of the time fixed for the meeting;
(b)
by delivery to the City
office, residence or place of business of the member, including by electronic
mail, not less than six hours in advance of the time fixed for the meeting, and
the Clerk shall attempt to give such other notice of the meeting to the member
by telephone or as is otherwise practical within the circumstances; and/or
(c)
by personal service to
the members, not less than six hours in advance of the fixed time for the
meeting;
(5)
The Council shall not
consider or decide any matter not set forth in the notice calling the Special
Meeting, without the consent, recorded in the minutes, of all of the members of
the Council;
(6)
Despite this section,
on urgent and extraordinary occasions, with the consent of two-thirds of all
the members of Council, recorded in the minutes, an emergency special meeting
of the Council may be called by the Mayor without notice to consider and deal
with such urgent and extraordinary matters.
15.
PRIORITY BUDGET ITEMS
Where a matter has been specifically
identified as a “Council Priority” during the consideration of the Operating or
Capital Budget, that item shall not subsequently in the same term of Council be
amended or repealed except by a majority vote of all members of the whole
Council.
16.
SHAREHOLDER MEETINGS
Council, at a regular meeting, may
consider reports from the City of Ottawa Non-Profit Housing Corporation and
Hydro Ottawa and the Mayor and Clerk are authorized, upon approval by Council,
to sign any necessary resolutions.
17.
COMMENCEMENT OF MEETING
(1)
As soon as there is a
quorum after the hour set for the meeting, the Mayor shall take the chair and
call the members present to order;
(2)
The Clerk shall call
the roll and record in the minutes the members present.
18.
MAYOR ABSENT
(1) If
the Mayor or Deputy Mayor, pursuant to the rotation list established by Section
5, does not attend within fifteen minutes after the time appointed for a
meeting of the Council, the Clerk shall call the members to order and the next member listed thereon shall
preside over the meeting until the arrival of the Mayor or Deputy Mayor. Should the next listed member not be present, the next member on the
list shall be called until a member is present to act.
(2) While presiding, a Deputy Mayor or
Presiding Officer shall have all of the powers of the Mayor and shall be so
addressed, and shall be entitled to vote as a member.
19.
NO QUORUM AT START OF MEETING
(1)
(a) The
quorum for a Council meeting is thirteen members of Council;
(b)
If no quorum is present
to enable a meeting to commence one-half hour after the time appointed for a
meeting of the Council, the Clerk shall call the roll and record the names of
the members present and the members shall stand discharged from waiting
further;
(2)
If a meeting does not
take place because of the lack of a quorum under subsection (1), the Council
shall meet either at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Council, or at
such other time and place as the Mayor shall announce;
(3)
The Clerk shall attempt
to give notice of any meeting so rescheduled by telephone, electronic mail or as is otherwise
practical within the time available.
20.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - QUORUM LOST
(1)
If during the course of
a meeting a quorum is lost, then the meeting shall stand adjourned, not ended,
to reconvene at the same time of commencement on the next following day, or at
such other time and place as the Mayor shall then announce;
(2)
If, in the Mayor’s
opinion, it is not essential that the balance of the agenda be dealt with
before the next regularly scheduled meeting, then the Mayor shall announce that
the unfinished business of the Council will be taken up at its next regularly
scheduled meeting;
(3)
If during the course of
a Special Meeting of the Council a quorum is lost, or a quorum is not present
when required to enable the Special Meeting to start, or resume, then the
meeting shall stand adjourned, not ended, to convene or reconvene at such time
and place as the Mayor shall then announce;
(4)
The Clerk shall give
notice of any meeting so adjourned and to be reconvened by telephone, electronic mail or
as is otherwise practical within the time available;
(5)
Prior to adjourning a
meeting under this section, the Mayor may recess the meeting to determine if a
quorum can be found.
21.
RECORDING PRESENCE BEFORE ADJOURNMENT
When
a quorum is not present as required to permit a meeting of the Council to
reconvene or to continue then before the members are discharged, the Clerk
shall call the roll and record in the minutes the names of those persons
present.
22.
PERSONS WITHIN COUNCIL RING
(1)
Only members of Council
and their staff or an officer of the City shall be allowed to come on the
Council floor within or outside the Council ring during the sittings of Council
without the permission of the Mayor;
(2)
No person, other than a
member of Council or an officer of the City, shall, before or during a meeting of the Council, place on the
desks of members or otherwise distribute any material whatsoever unless such
person is so acting with the approval of the Mayor.
23.
LEAVING CHAMBERS PRIOR TOON ADJOURNMENT
Members
of Council leaving their places prior to adjournment shall endeavour to do so
in a manner so as not to disrupte
the proceedings of Council.The members of
the Council shall not leave their places on adjournment until the Mayor has
left the chair
PART
III VOTING IN
COUNCIL
24.
SECRET BALLOT PROHIBITED
No
vote shall be taken in Council by ballot or by any other method of secret
voting, unless the Council
is in closed session
and such vote is .permitted to be taken in closed session.
25.
RECORDED VOTE
(1)
Any member, before the
question is decided, may require that the vote be recorded;
(1)No vote shall be recorded while the members are
sitting in Committee of the Whole.
(2)
When a vote is taken,
and no dissent is declared, such vote shall be deemed to be unanimously in
favour of the question approved;
(3)
If a vote is to be
recorded as herein provided, the Clerk shall call the vote, announce the
division, and shall record them in the minutes.
26.
SEVERABILITY OF QUESTION
When
the matter under consideration contains distinct recommendations or
propositions, upon the request of any member, a vote upon each recommendation
or proposition shall be taken separately and no vote shall be required to be
taken on the matter as a whole.
27.
ALL MEMBERS VOTE
(1)
Every member present at
a meeting of the Council when a question is put shall vote thereon, unless
prohibited by statute, in which case it shall be recorded;
(2)
Any member who is seated
in a seat reserved for Council and does not vote abstains or shall be
recorded as voting in the negative.
28.
DISPUTING VOTE
If
a member disagrees with the announcement of the Mayor that a question is
carried or lost, the member may, but only immediately after the declaration by
the Mayor, object to the Mayor’s declaration and require a recorded vote to be
taken.
29.
PUTTING QUESTION - MEMBERS SEATED
When
the Mayor calls for the vote on a question, each member shall occupy their seat
until the result of the vote has been declared by the Mayor, and during such
time no member shall walk across the room, or speak to any other member or make
any noise or disturbance. A member not in a seat reserved for Council
in their seatat the time that member’s name is called shall not be entitled to
vote.
PART
IV ORDER OF
PROCEEDINGS - AGENDAS AND MINUTES
30.
AGENDA IN COUNCIL
(1)
The Clerk shall, under
the direction of the Mayor, prepare and have printed for the use of the members
at the regular meetings of Council an Agenda under the following headings:
(a)
Prayer;
(b)
Announcements/Ceremonial Activities;
(c)
Roll Call;
(d)
Minutes of the previous
meeting;
(e)
Declarations of
pecuniary interest including those originally arising from prior meetings;
(f)
Communications;
(g)
Regrets;
(h)
Reports from Auditor-General, Hydro
Ottawa and/or City of Ottawa Non-Profit Housing Corporation (s);
(i)
Postponements and
deferrals;
(j)
Unfinished business;
(k)
Reconsiderations;
(l)
Presentation and
consideration of committee reports;
(m)
Motions of which notice
has been given previously;
(n)
Notices of Motion (for
consideration at subsequent meeting);
(o)
Introduction and consideration of by-laws;
(p)
Confirmation by-law;
(q)
Inquiries and answers;
(r)
Adjournment;
(2)
The business of the
Council shall be considered in the order set forth on the Agenda, provided
however that the Mayor, with approval of the Council, may vary the order of
business to better deal with matters before the Council;
(3)
The Council shall not
consider any by-law not listed on the Agenda, nor any report of a Committee or
any motion that has not been distributed to the members with the Agenda;
(4)
Communications received
after the day prior to a meeting of Council may, with the approval of the
Mayor, be distributed at said meeting.
Any communications so distributed shall be recorded in the minutes;
(5)
Notice of regrets from
members unable to attend a Council meeting shall be in writing and may be by electronic mail.
(6)
Reports, other than from the
Auditor-General, submitted pursuant to clause (1)(h) may be submitted directly
to Council provided that they have been distributed in accordance with
subsection (3).
(7)
Notice of a report from the
Auditor-General shall be given at the meeting of Council prior to the meeting
where the report is to be tabled with Council.
The report shall be considered at the next regular meeting (or special
meeting called for that purpose) following the meeting at which the report is
tabled.
31.
CONSENT AGENDA
(1)
Upon the adoption of a motion to permit the
consideration of the reports of the Standing Committees, the Mayor will proceed
through the recommendations in the reports to determine if it is the will of
the Council that the recommendations be adopted without debate or questions;
(2)
During the progression through the Agenda in
accordance with subsection (1), no debate, questions or recorded votes shall be
permitted but declarations of interest and dissents may be recorded;
(3)
Any member may require that a recommendation
be debated or subject to questions;
(4)
The Mayor shall declare whether each
recommendation is carried or will be subject to debate;
(5)
Upon completion of the progression through
the agenda in accordance with subsection (1), Council shall then proceed to
consider, in accordance with the agenda, the recommendations that have not yet
been adopted.
32.
INQUIRIES AND ANSWERS
(1)
Any inquiry made at a
meeting of Council, or a Committee thereof, shall be submitted in writing, and
referred to the City Manager, appropriate Deputy City Manager or Chief
Corporate Services Officer for response;
(2)
The City Manager, the
appropriate Deputy City Manager or Chief Corporate Services Officer shall
respond in writing to the inquiry and the response shall be distributed to all
members of Council or the Committee at which the inquiry was made;
(3)
The Clerk shall communicate to Council on a quarterly basis the status of
outstanding inquiries, including the name of the Councillor originating the
inquiry and the department responsible for an answer.
33.
DELIVERY OF AGENDA TO MEMBERS
(1)
Subject to Section 3134,
not less than five calendar days in advance of each regular meeting of the
Council, the Clerk shall cause the following to be delivered to each member:
(a)
Draft Agenda;
(b)
Copy of each Committee
report to be considered;
(c)
Copy of each Motion to
be considered.
(2)
Copies of each by-law
to be considered need not be distributed in advance to the members of Council
provided such by-laws are available for examination by members of Council in
advance of the meeting;
(3)
Delivery pursuant to
subsection (1) shall be to the office of the member at City Hallor the residence of the member.
34.
PLANNING REFERRALS AND APPEALS - DELIVERY OF REPORTS
Despite
Subsection 3033(1)(b), reports from the
Planning and Environment Committee or Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee that
contain recommendations with respect to:
(1)
Conditions for draft
approval of a plan of subdivision;
(2)
Draft approval of a
plan of subdivision;
(3)
Conditions for draft
approval of a plan of condominium;
(4)
Draft approval of a
plan of condominium; or
(5)
Zoning By-law,
may be considered by Council provided that the
staff report to the Standing Committee was distributed to all members of
Council at least five calendar days in advance of the meeting of Council.
35.
MINUTES
(1)
Minutes shall record:
(a)
the place, date and
time of meeting;
(b)
the names of the
presiding officer or officers and the record of the attendance of the members;
(c)
the reading, if
requested, correction and confirmation of the minutes of prior meetings;
(d)
declarations of
interest;
(e)
the motions considered and votes
taken by Council; and
(f)
all the other
proceedings of the meeting without note or comment;
(2)
If the minutes have
been delivered to the members of the Council then the minutes shall not be
read, and a resolution that the minutes be confirmed shall be in order;
(3)
After the minutes have
been confirmed they shall be signed by the Mayor and by the Clerk.
36.
COMMUNICATIONS AND PETITIONS
(1)
Every communication,
including a petition designed to be presented to the Council, shall be legibly
written or printed, shall not contain any impertinent or improper matter or
language and shall be signed by at least one person and filed with the Clerk;
(2)
The Clerk shall list on
the Agenda every communication delivered to the Clerk not later than the day
prior to the meeting of the Council where the title of such communication has not been
distributed to all members of Council;
(3)
All communications on
any subject within the jurisdiction of a Committee of Council shallmay be referred , without motion, to
the appropriate Committee without any motion or debate unless otherwise ordered
by Council or unless the subject matter of the
communication or petition has been considered by Council or will be considered at the
meeting where the communication or petition is submitted..
PART
V RULES
OF CONDUCT AND DEBATE
37.
ADDRESS THE MAYOR
Any
member desiring to speak shall signify their desire to speak in such a manner
as the Mayor may direct, and upon being recognized by the Mayor, shall address
the Mayor.
38.
ORDER OF SPEAKING
(1) Subject to subsection (2), Wwhen two or more members
signify a desire to speak, the Mayor shall recognize the member who, in the
opinion of the Mayor, so signified first and next recognize in order the other
members;
(2) Where
an electronic means of signifying a desire to speak is in place, recognition of
members to speak shall, subject to the other provisions of this by-law, be in
accordance with such electronic means.
39.
CONDUCT OF MEMBERS IN COUNCIL
(1)
No member shall:
(a)
speak disrespectfully
of the Reigning Sovereign, or of any member of the Royal Family, or of the
Governor General or the Lieutenant-Governor of any province, or of a fellow
member of Council or staff;
(b)
use offensive words or
unparliamentary language;
(c)
speak on any subject
other than the subject in debate;
(d)
where a matter has been
discussed in camera, and where the
matter remains confidential, disclose the content of the matter or the
substance of the deliberations of the in
camera meeting;
(e)
disobey the Rules of
Procedure, or a decision of the Mayor or of the Council on questions of order
or practice or upon the interpretation of the Rules of Procedure;
(2)
Where a member has been
called to order by the Mayor for failing to observe the provisions of
subsection (1) and the member persists in any such conduct, the Mayor may
forthwith put the question, no amendment, adjournment or debate being allowed,
“that Councillor [Name of Member] be ordered to leave their seat for the
duration of the meeting of the Council”, but if the member apologizes, the
member may, by vote of Council, be permitted to retake their seat.
40.
PRIVILEGE
(1)
Where a member
considers that the member’s rights, immunities or integrity or the rights,
immunities or integrity of the Council as a whole has been impugned, the member
may, as a matter of privilege, rise at any time, with the consent of the Mayor,
for the purpose of drawing the attention of the Council to the matter;
(2)
Upon being recognized
by the Mayor, the member shall state the question of privilege;
(3)
The Mayor shall:
(a)
determine the question,
or
(b)
require that the
question be seconded and permit a debate and a vote to be held on the question.
41.
POINTS OF ORDER
(1)
The Mayor shall
preserve order and decide points of order;
(2) (a) When a member desires to address a point of order, the member shall ask leave of the Mayor to raise a point of order and, after leave is granted, the member shall state the point of order to the Mayor and the point of order shall be forthwith decided by the Mayor;
(b) Thereafter,
a member shall only address the Mayor for the purpose of appealing the Mayor's
decision to the Council;
(c) If no member appeals, the decision of
the Mayor shall be final;
(d) The
Council, if appealed to, shall call a vote, without debate on the following
question; “Shall the Mayor be sustained?”, and its decision shall be final.
42.
MEMBER SPEAKING
When
a member is speaking no other member shall pass between the member and the
Mayor or interrupt the member except to raise a point of order.
43.
QUESTION READ
Any
member may require the question or motion under discussion to be read at any
time during the debate but not so as to interrupt a member while speaking.
44.
SPEAK ONCE - REPLY
No
member shall speak more than once to the same question without leave of the
Council, except that a member who has presented a substantive motion, rather
than an amendment, may reply.
45.
TIME LIMITED
(1)
(1) No member shall be permitted to ask questions and
/or speak to a
motion, for more than five minutes, excluding staff response
time.
46.
QUESTION PUT – NO
FURTHER DEBATE
After
any question is put by the Mayor, no member shall speak to the question, nor
shall any other motion be made until after the result is declared, and the
decision of the Mayor as to whether the question has been put, shall be
conclusive.
47.
QUESTIONS
(1)
A member may ask a
question of the Mayor for the purpose of obtaining information relating only to
the matter under discussion and such questions must be stated succinctly;
(2)
When questions are
called for on the Agenda or a specific item is under discussion, inquiries may
be made of the Mayor, or through the Mayor to any member of Council, the City
Manager, or any Deputy City Manager, concerning any matter connected with the
business of the City, but no argument or opinion is to be offered, or facts to
be stated, except so far as may be necessary to explain the same. In answering or putting any such question a
member is not to debate the matter to which the question refers.
48.
UNPROVIDED CASES
(a)
In all unprovided cases
in the proceedings of Council or in the Committee of the Whole, the matter
shall be decided by the Mayor, subject to an appeal to the Council.
PART
VI COMMITTEE
OF THE WHOLE
49.
PROCEDURE
(1)
Council may, by
resolution, go into a Committee of the Whole;
(2)
The Committee of the Whole may,
by resolution of which
prior notice has been given at a regular meeting of Council, or when notice is given in the Draft Agenda for
the meeting, receive
oral submissions from the public;
(3)
While sitting in
Committee of the Whole, the rules governing the procedure of the Council and
the conduct of the members thereof shall not be limited, provided that no
member shall speak more than once until every member who desires to speak shall
have spoken;
(4)
A motion in Committee
of the Whole to rise and report shall be put immediately and shall be decided
without debate;
(5)
Any member of Council is
entitled to be present at a meeting of a Committee of the Council from which
the public has been excluded, unless such member of Council has an interest
which the member is obligated to disclose pursuant to the relevant declaration
of interest legislation;
(6)
A mover and seconder is required
in Committee of the Whole.
49.1 BUDGET
(1) The consideration of the annual budget
shall be by the Committee of the Whole and not by the Standing Committees of
Council.
(2) A quorum shall be maintained throughout
the Committee of the Whole sessions.
(3) Subject to any motion adopted by the
Committee of the Whole, oral submissions by public delegations with respect to
the budget shall be heard by the Committee of the Whole.
(4) Oral submissions by delegations shall be
limited to 5 minutes with oral submissions on behalf of an Advisory Committee
being limited to 10 minutes.
(5) No Member of Council shall speak for
more than 5 minutes at one time until all Councillors wishing to speak have
spoken.
(6) A Notice of Reconsideration shall be in
order during the consideration of the budget by the Committee of the Whole but
where Notice of Reconsideration is accepted, the Motion for Reconsideration
shall be dealt with at the time referred to in subsection (10).
(7)
A motion to defer or refer any of the estimates within the budget to
after its consideration by the Committee of the Whole shall only be carried
upon the affirmative vote of the majority of the whole Council.
(8)
Following completion of the consideration of the budget and its
recommendation, subject to any deferrals and referrals of estimates within the
budget, a motion to rise and report to Council shall be in order.
(9) Upon adoption of the motion to rise and report, a motion in Council to adopt the budget as reported by the Committee of the Whole shall be in order.
(10) Following adoption of the motion to rise
and report, the Committee of the Whole shall forthwith, and prior to reporting
to Council, proceed to consider any motions of reconsideration of which notice
was given during its consideration of the budget and the outcome of such
reconsideration shall be included within the Committee’s report to Council.
(11) A motion in Council to adopt the budget
shall not be severed, amended or be subject to a motion for reconsideration
without the concurring votes of three-quarters of the Members of Council
present and voting.
(12) Deferrals or referrals of estimates within
the budget which are not substantively considered prior to the adoption of the
motion to rise and report, may be considered by Council, Committee or the Whole
or a Standing Committee as the motion of deferral or referral directs and where
no direction is made in the motion, it shall be brought forward to either
Council, Committee of the Whole or a Standing Committee as the Mayor determines
is appropriate.
(13) The minutes for the Committee of the Whole
shall be in accordance with Section 35.
(14) This section does not apply to amendments
to the budget which occur following the adoption of the budget by Council.
(15) Subject to the provisions of this Section,
Section 49
shall apply.
PART
VII MOTIONS
1.WITHDRAWAL
After a motion is read or stated by the Mayor,
it shall be deemed to be in possession of the Council, and it may only be
withdrawn before decision or amendment with the permission of the Council.
50.
READING
Every
motion when seconded shall be received and read by the Mayor, except in the
cases provided for by the Rules of Procedure.
However, where motions have been distributed or printed in the Agenda, or are visible by means of an
electronic viewing screen, recitals need not be read.
51.
NO DEBATE UNTIL READ
No
member shall speak to any motion until it is first read by the Mayor, and the
mover is entitled to speak first thereon if the member so elects. If debated, the question or motion shall be
read again before being put,
unless such motion is visible by means of an electronic viewing screen.
52.
MOTIONS RULED OUT OF
ORDER
Whenever
the Mayor is of the opinion that a motion or resolution is contrary to the
Rules of Procedure, the Mayor shall rule the motion or resolution out of order.
53.
NOT WITHIN JURISDICTION
OF COUNCIL
A
motion or resolution which requires the exercise of a power or powers by
Council which are not within its jurisdiction, shall not be in order.
54.
NOTICE OF MOTION
(1) Notices of Motion shall:
(a)
be in writing, and
(b)
include the name of the
mover and seconder;
(2) All Notices of Motion received by the
Clerk prior to or at the Notices of Motion segment of the Agenda may be read out by the mover or the
Mayor during that segment;
(3) Copies of the Notices of Motion that
have been read out shall be distributed to members at the first available
opportunity;
(4) Consideration of a motion, of which
notice was given pursuant to this section, shall be in order at the next
regular meeting or at a special meeting of Council called for that purpose;
(5) Prior to Council’s
consideration of a motion of which notice has been given previously, a revised
motion on the same subject, approved by both the mover and seconder, may be
substituted for the original one contained in the Notice of Motion.
55.
MOTIONS
(1) The following matters and motions may be
introduced orally without notice and without leave, except as otherwise
provided by the Rules of Procedure:
(a) a
point of order or privilege;
(b) presentation of
petitions;
(c)
to move the question be
put;
(c) to adjourn;
(2) The following motions may be introduced
without notice and without leave, except as otherwise provided by the Rules of
Procedure:
(a) to refer;
(b) to table, or to postpone, or defer to a
certain day;
(c) to amend;
(d)
to suspend the Rules of
Procedure;
(e)
any other procedural
motion;
(3) Except as provided in subsection (1),
all motions shall be in writing and signed by the mover and seconder.
(4) All motions shall commence with the
words “Be It Resolved that”, and shall be moved and seconded;
(5) All motions may be supported or opposed
by the mover and seconder;
(6) When a member’s motion has been called
from the Mayor at two successive meetings and not proceeded with, it shall be
deemed to have been withdrawn and be dropped from the Agenda unless Council
then otherwise decides;
(7)
The mover and seconder
may withdraw a motion or a Notice of Motion at any time prior to the
commencement of debate thereon.
56.
ORDER OF CONSIDERATION
(1)
When a question is
under consideration, no motion shall be received except a procedural motion or
a motion to amend;
(2)
Procedural motions
shall be considered immediately upon receipt and shall have precedence and may be subject to debate as
follows:
(a)
to extend the time of
the meeting (not debatable);
(b)
to move the question be
put (not debatable);
(c)
to refer (debatable);
(d)
to lay on the table
(debatable);
(e)
to defer indefinitely
or to a certain day (debatable);
(f)
to adjourn (not debatable);
(g)
any other procedural
motion (debatable).
57.
AMENDMENT
A
Motion to Amend:
(1)
shall be presented in
writing;
(2)
only one Motion to
Amend an amendment to the question shall be allowed at one time and any further
amendment must be to the main question;
(3)
shall be relevant and
not contrary to the principle of the report or motion under consideration;
(4)
may propose a separate
and distinct disposition of a question provided that such altered disposition
continues to relate to the same issue which was the subject matter of the
question;
(5)
notwithstanding the
standard Rules of Procedure concerning negative resolutions, a motion may be
treated as an amendment to a report of a Committee which has the effect of
replacing one or more recommendations of the Committee with recommendations on
the same point of another Committee or of officials of the City where such
recommendations are found in the same report that is before the Council;
(6)
shall be put in the
reverse order to the order in which it is moved; and,
(7)
despite subsection (6),
any amendment(s) to a motion may be placed in order to be determined by the
Mayor as the most logical, practical and expeditious in all of the
circumstances; and,
(8)
despite subsection (6) but subject to subsection (7), an amendment that is a substantialcomplete substitution
for a motion and is antithetical to the intent of the motion shall be considered after the original motion,
and only if that motion is lost.
58.
THE QUESTION BE NOW PUT
(1) A motion that the question be now put:
(a)
is
not debatable;
(b)
cannot
be amended;
(c)
shall
preclude all further amendments
of the
main question;
(d)
when
resolved in the affirmative, the question and all amendments thereto areis
to be put forward without debate or further amendment;
(e)
cannot
be moved by a member who has already debated the question unless another member
has subsequently debated the question; and
(f)
can
only be moved in the following words, “that the question be now put on Motion/Item/Recommendation
(as the case may be)” and cannot preclude a member from completing the
introduction of an amendment that he/she has moved but has not addressed.
59.
MOTION TO ADJOURN
(1)
A Motion to Adjourn:
(a)
shall always be in
order except as provided by the Rules of Procedure;
(b)
when resolved in the
negative, cannot be made again until after some intermediate proceedings have
been completed by Council;
(c)
is not in order when a
member is speaking or during the verification of a vote;
(d)
is not in order
immediately following the affirmative resolution of a motion for the previous
question;
(e)
is not debatable;
(2)
A Motion to Adjourn
without qualification, if carried, brings a meeting or session of the Council
to an end;
(3)
A Motion to Adjourn to
a specific time, or to reconvene upon the happening of a specified event,
suspends the meeting of the Council to continue at such time.
60.
MOTION TO REFER
(1)
A motion simply “to
refer”, without specifying the Committee or other body or official to whom the
matter is referred, is a referral to the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee;
(2)
A motion for referral to a Committee,
Board, Official or Commission until it is decided, shall preclude all
amendments of the main question and any motion to postpone or defer, or to lay
on the table;
(3)
A motion to refer is
debatable.
61.
MOTION TO LAY ON THE TABLE
(1)
A motion simply “to lay
a matter on the table” is debatable but cannot be amended;
(2)
A motion “to lay on the
table” with some condition, opinion, or qualification added to the motion to
table shall be deemed to be a motion to postpone or defer made under Section 62;
(3)
The matter tabled shall
not be considered again by the Council until a motion has been made to take up
the tabled matter at the same or a subsequent meeting of the Council;
(4)
A motion to take up a
tabled matter is not subject to debate or amendment;
(5)
A motion that has been
tabled at a previous meeting of the Council cannot be lifted off the table
unless notice thereof is given in accordance with Section 54 hereof;
(6)
A motion that has been
tabled and not taken from the table for six months shall be deemed to be
withdrawn, and cannot be taken from the table.
62.
MOTION TO POSTPONE OR DEFER
(1)
A matter postponed or
deferred to a definite date shall have precedence over all other business on
such date;
(2)
A motion to postpone or
defer indefinitely shall be treated as if it was a motion to lay on the table.
63.
RECONSIDERATION
(1)
(a) Reconsideration
shall only take place at Council and not at Committees;
(b)
Only a substantive
motion may be reconsidered; and then only if upon the putting of the
substantive motion, the minority vote comprised not less than one-third of the
members present and voting;
(2)
After a substantive
motion has been decided, any member who voted thereon may, at any time prior to
the end of the meeting at which such substantive motion was decided, give notice
in writing that the a motion will be movedmember will move at
the first meeting held thereafter for a reconsideration thereof;
(3)
The Council shall,
immediately when such notice has been given, vote as to whether or not such
notice of motion for reconsideration
shall be accepted;
(4)
The notice of reconsideration shall only be
accepted iIf
the vote in favour of acceptance
of the notice is one-third or greater of reconsideration is less than
one-third of those present and voting then such notice of motion for reconsideration
shall be immediately declared lost;
(5)
If such notice has been
given and accepted, no action shall be taken to carry into effect the main
motion until after the motion to reconsider has been disposed of;
(6)
Every motion for
reconsideration considered at a subsequent meeting shall be declared lost,
unless the majority of the whole Council votes therefortherefore and must be moved by a
member who voted with the majority in the original decision;
(7)
Debate on a motion for
reconsideration must be confined to reasons for or against reconsideration;
(8)
No discussion of the
main question shall be allowed upon an accepted notice of motion for reconsideration or upon
the motion to reconsider, unless and until the Council shall have voted to
reconsider the same;
(9)
No question upon which
a notice of motion for reconsideration
has been accepted shall be reconsidered more than once, nor shall a vote to
reconsider be reconsidered;
(10)
In the case of notice
given under subsection (2) at a special meeting of Council “the first meeting
held thereafter” shall mean the next special meeting called to deal with the
general subject matter under reconsideration or the next regular meeting of the
Council, whichever shall occur first;
(11)
If a notice of motion for reconsideration is
accepted by the Council then, subject to Section 60, the consideration of the
motion to reconsider shall be the first item of business at the next regular
meeting of the Council, unless the Council decides to deal with the motion at
some earlier time;
(12)
Where an amendment has been reconsidered and the reconsideration has
resulted in a modification, any Councillor may require that Council shall
immediately proceed to a vote, by simple majority and without debate, as to
whether the motion, by-law or other matter, as amended, shall be subject to
further amendment;
(13)
If a motion to
reconsider is decided in the affirmative, such reconsideration shall become the
next order of business, and, subject to subsection (12) debate on the question to be
reconsidered shall proceed as though it has never previously been considered.
64.
MOTION ADOPTING REPORTS
A
motion of the Council to formally adopt the Reports of the Committees of the
Council as those Reports have been adopted, amended or otherwise dealt with by
the Council and a by-law to confirm and adopt the same shall:
(1)
not be the subject of
amendment or debate;
(2)
not be divided under
Section 2326;
(3)
not be subject to
reconsideration directly or indirectly under Section 6063;
and
(4)
not be subject to any
procedural motion.
PART
VIII BY-LAWS
65.
READINGS OF BY-LAWS AND RELATED PROCEEDINGS
(1)
Subject to the Delegation By-law Except as
otherwise provided, no by-law, except a by-law to confirm the
proceedings of Council, shall be presented to Council unless the subject matter
thereof has been considered and approved by Council;
(2)
When introduced, every
by-law shall be in typewritten form and shall be complete with the exception of
the number and date thereof;
(3)
The Clerk shall endorse
on all by-laws enacted by Council the dates of the several readings, if any,
thereof;
(4)
Every by-law which has
been enacted by the Council shall be numbered, dated, sealed and shall be
deposited in the office of the Clerk for safekeeping;
(5)
Other than the confirmation
by-law, all by-laws shall be carried in bulk unless upon a request by a Member of Council for the
severance of a by-law, the
Mayor is of the
opinion that the subject matter of the by-law has not previously been adopted
in a report to Council, or a Member of Council has advised the desire to
declare a conflict of interest on the by-law, and in such instance, only that portion of the
by-law not previously adopted by report or to which is subject to a
declared conflict of interest, shall be subject to a separate vote;
(6)
All by-laws enacted by
the Council shall be printed, paged, indexed and bound up in a separate volume
for the year in which they are passed.
PART
IX COMMITTEES
66.
PUBLIC PRESENTATION AT COMMITTEE
Oral
submissions by the public shall be made to Committees and not to Council.
67.
PROCEDURE
Except
as otherwise provided herein, all Committees shall conform to the rules
governing procedure in the Council.
68.
PREPARATION OF AGENDA
(1)
The Agenda for a
meeting of a Committee shall be prepared under the direction of the Chair for
that Committee;
(2)
Despite subsection (1),
the City Manager, the Chief Corporate Services Officer, the Auditor General or the City Solicitor, have
the right to place items on the Corporate Services and Economic Development
Committee Agenda;
(3)
Items submitted
pursuant to subsection (2) shall contain the following statement: “This report is submitted to the Corporate
Services and Economic Development Committee pursuant to the provisions of
subsection 66(2) of the Procedure By-law”.
69.
ESTABLISHMENT
Committees
may be established by the Council at any time as is deemed necessary for the
consideration of matters within the jurisdiction of the Council.
70.
MAYOR - EX
OFFICIO
(1)
The Mayor of the
Council is an ex officio member of
every Committee;
(2)
Where a Committee is
established by reference to a particular number of members without specifically
providing for the membership of the Mayor of the Council, such number is
automatically increased by one, being the Mayor of the Council, as provided
under subsection (1);
(3)
The Mayor of the Council
may vote and otherwise participate in the business of the Committee without any
restriction on the same basis as any other Committee member.
71.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Subject
to the provision of any general or special Act,
the Council, in establishing any Committee, shall set forth Terms of Reference
of the Committee and such other provisions as the Council shall deem proper.
72.
COMMITTEE CHAIR
(1)
The Council in
establishing or making appointments to a Committee, other than a Standing
Committee, may direct who shall be the Chair of the Committee;
(2)
The Mayor of Council
shall be the Chair of the Corporate Services and Economic Development
Committee;
(3)
Subject
to any such direction, the Clerk shall preside at the inaugural meeting of any
Committee to conduct the election of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the
Committee. The inaugural meeting of Standing Committees
will be held immediately following adjournment of the Council meeting in which
the Nominating Committee Report was considered so as to elect the Standing Committee
Chair and Vice-Chairs and to confirm the Standing Committee first meeting
dates.
73.
DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEE
CHAIR
It shall be
the duty of the Committee Chair;
(1)
to open the meeting of
the Committee by taking the chair and calling the members to order;
(2)
to announce the
business before the Committee and the order in which it is to be acted upon;
(3)
to receive and submit,
in the proper manner, all motions presented by the members of the Committee;
(4)
to put to a vote all
motions, which are moved, or necessarily arise in the course of the
proceedings, and to announce the result;
(5)
to vote on all
matters, which are moved, or necessarily arise in the course of the
proceedings;
(6)
to decline to put to a
vote, motions which infringe upon the Rules of Procedure;
(7)
to enforce the Rules
of Procedure;
(8)
to restrain the
members, when engaged in debate, within the Rules of Procedure;
(9)
to enforce on all
occasions, the observance of order and decorum among the members and the attending public;
(10)
to call by name any
member persisting in a breach of the Rules of Procedure and order the member to
vacate the meeting room;
(11)
to permit questions to
be asked through the Chair of any officer of the City in order to provide
information to assist any debate when the Chair deems it proper;
(12)
to provide information
to members of the Committee on any matter touching on the business of the
Committee;
(13)
to receive all
petitions and communications and announce them to the Committee;
(14)
to authenticate, by
signature, all minutes of the Committee;
(15)
to rule on any points
of order raised by members of the Committee;
(16)
to inform the members
of the Committee of the proper procedure to be followed;
(17)
where it is not
possible to maintain order, the Chair may, without any motion being put,
adjourn the meeting to a time to be named by the Chair; and,
(18)
to adjourn the meeting
when the business is concluded.
74.
PARTICIPATION OF CHAIR IN
DEBATE
(1)
The Chair may state
relevant facts and the Chair's position on any matter before the Committee
without leaving the chair, which may take place immediately prior to the vote,
but it shall not be permissible for the Chair to move a motion or debate a
question without first leaving the chair;
(2)
If the Chair is
absent, or desires to leave the chair to move a motion or to take part in the
debate pursuant to subsection (1), or otherwise, the Chair shall call on the
Vice-Chair elected pursuant to subsection 72(3) to preside until the Chair resumes
the chair.
75.
QUORUM AND SIZE OF COMMITTEES
(1)
A Committee shall not
consider any business if a quorum is not present;
(2)
A quorum for a
Committee having an even number of members is one half of all the members
thereof. A quorum for a Committee
having an uneven number of members is the number of members thereof, plus one,
all divided by two;
(3)
The membership of the
following Standing Committees shall not be less than eight nor exceed eleven,
exclusive of the Mayor:
(a)
Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Committee;
(b)
Community and Protective Services
Committee;
(a)
Emergency
and Protective Services Committee;
(a)
Environmental
Services Committee;
(c)
Planning and Development
Environment
Committee;
(d)
Transportation Committee; and
(e)
Transit Committee.
(4)
The membership of the
Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee shall not be less than
seven nor exceed ten, exclusive of the Mayor;
(1)
The
membership of the Audit Committee shall be six, exclusive of the Mayor;
(1)
The
membership of the Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Committee shall be seven, exclusive
of the Mayor;
(5)
Only members of the
Council shall be appointed to the Standing Committees of Council;
(6)
The presence of the
Mayor at a meeting of a Committee shall always be considered in the
determination of whether a quorum is present;
(7)
The determination of
the quorum requirements pursuant to subsection (2) for Corporate Services and
Economic Development Committee and the Audit Committee shall take
into account that the Mayor is an ex
officio member of the Committee, but otherwise the ex officio membership of
the Mayor shall not be included in determining the quorum requirement.
76.
MEETINGS OF COMMITTEES
(1)
(a) The
regular meetings of Committees shall be on the day of the week determined by
Council but at such time and at such place as shall be determined by the
Committee;
(b) Individual regular meetings of a
Committee may be varied by the Chair from the day of the week determined by
Council and the time and place determined by Committee, subject to the notice provisions of subsection 76(12), provided that the date
or time do not conflict with the date and time assigned to another Standing
Committee by Council or the regular meeting times of the Ottawa Public Library Board
or the Ottawa Police Services Board;
(c) During
the months of July, August, December and November in an election year, one
regular meeting of each Committee shall be held;
(d) The Chair may cancel one or more regular
meetings of the Committee if in the Chair’s opinion such meetings are not
necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the Committee and provided
that not more than two successive regular meetings are cancelled under this
subsection;
(2)
No Committee shall meet
while the Council is in session;
(3)
Members may speak more
than once on the same question;
(4)
Notwithstanding subsection (3), no member,
without leave of the Committee, shall speak to the same question, at one time,
or in reply, for longer than five minutes;
(5)
A member of Council who is not a member of a
Committee is entitled to attend at all meetings of the Committee and to
participate, subject to Subsection (6) herein;
(6)
A member of Council who is not a member of a
Committee, at a meeting of the Committee shall:
(a)
not be counted in determining the presence
or number for quorum; and
(b)
not move any motion or vote on any matter;
(7)
Where a report of an Advisory Committee is being presented to a Standing
Committee, either the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee or a member designated by the
Advisory Committee, but not more than one of themboth, may address
the Standing Committee for up to 10 minutes on any one
item;
(8)
Notwithstanding
subsection. (7) while at a Standing Committee meeting if an Advisory Committee
Chair, Vice Chair or member(s) designated by the Advisory Committee is asked to
comment on, or asks to comment on, a report or report item that is not related
to the report submitted by the Advisory Committee, said Advisory Committee
representative is then addressing the Standing Committee as a resident and
shall therefore limit his or her comments to a total of up to 5 minutes on any
one item;
(9)
A substantive motion
made in Committee must be in writing but need not be seconded;
(10)
Subject to Section 1213, the meetings of a
Committee shall be open to the public;
(11)
Seven calendar days’ notice of a meeting shall be given to the members of a
Committee and an Agenda shall be provided to the members seven calendar days in
advance of the meeting;
(12)
Council members have
the right to place items on Committee Agendas provided that such items are
received by the Clerk or the Committee Coordinator nine calendar days in
advance of the Committee meeting;
(13)
Minutes of Committee
meetings shall contain a concise narrative of the consideration of the item together with the motions
considered and votes taken by the Committee..
77.
GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR COMMITTEES
(1)
The Chair shall
preside; in the absence of the Chair, the Vice-Chair shall preside;
(2)
The Chair of the
Committee may vote on any question before the Committee, and, in the event of
an equality of votes, the question being voted upon shall be deemed to have
been lost;
(3)
Committees shall
consider and report on such matters only as have been referred to them by the
Council or such matters as come within their continuing Terms of Reference and
jurisdiction;
(4)
Committees may receive representations from
the public. Other than at a statutory public
hearing, Subject to be permitted
further time by the Committee, nNo person, without leave of
the Committee, shall speak for longer than five minutes;
(5)
Each Standing Committee
shall diligently pursue its duties and shall report to Council on every matter
and question coming before it within its Terms of Reference and jurisdiction;
(6)
Subject to its terms of
reference, each Committee, other than a Standing Committee, shall diligently
pursue its duties and shall report to the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee and Council on every matter and question coming before it
within its terms of reference;
(7)
Should the Chair of any
Committee neglect or refuse to call meetings of the Committee at such times or
with such frequency as the proper dispatch of the Committee’s business
requires, or do the business of the Committee without the knowledge or consent
of its members, or contrary to their wishes or actions, the Committee may
report such neglect, refusal or action to the Council which may remove such
Chair from office and, except in the instance of a Standing Committee, appoint
another member as Chair;
(8)
Should any member of a
Committee fail to attend three successive regular or Special Meetings thereof,
without being authorized to do so by a resolution of the Committee, the Committee
may certify such failure and thereupon the membership of such person on the
Committee is terminated and the Council may appoint another member in their
place. Reception of a written notice of
regret by the Committee or Council shall constitute authorization for the
purposes of this subsection;
(9)
Should any Committee
neglect or refuse to give due attention to any matter before it, the Council
may, by resolution, discharge such Committee and appoint another in its place;
(1)When an Ad Hoc Committee / Task Force has completed
its work and submitted its final report, it dissolves automatically, unless
otherwise directed by Council.
(10) Deputy City Managers shall have the right to address the respective Standing
Committee that they attend on any matter relevant to the function or
administration of the City.
78.
CONSENT AGENDA
(1)
At the commencement of
a meeting, and in the absence of any
speaker registered, the Chair shall proceed through the items in the
Agenda to determine if it is the will of the Committee that the recommendations
be adopted without debate or questions;
(2)
During the progression
through the Agenda in accordance with subsection (1), no debate, questions or
recorded vote shall be permitted but declarations of interest and dissents may
be recorded;
(3)
Any member of the
Committee may require that a recommendation be debated or subject to questions;
(4)
The Chair shall
declare whether each recommendation is carried or will be subject to debate;
(5)
Upon completion of the
progression through the Agenda in accordance with subsection (1), the Committee
shall then proceed to consider, in accordance with the Agenda, the
recommendations that have not yet been adopted;
(6)
No recommendation
which is subject to the holding of a statutory public hearing may be adopted at
the time of the consideration of the Consent Agenda unless no speakers are
registered and the Chair has made an announcement inviting submissions and any
other statutory requirements are met.
79.
SUPPLEMENTARY REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE ESTIMATES
(1)
A motion or
recommendation to approve or direct the expenditure of funds, or the raising of
revenue, not within an estimate or revenue measure previously approved by
Council shall be tabled until the next regular meeting of the Committee or
Council unless the motion or recommendation is within a report that:
(a)
was distributed to
members of the Committee at least seventwo clear days in advance of the
Committee or Council meeting, and
(b)
contains a financial
comment by the Chief Corporate Services Officer;
(2)
Where a notice of
motion to approve or direct the expenditure of funds, or the raising of
revenue, not within an estimate or revenue measure previously approved by
Council, is given to Council, the Chief Corporate Services Officer, shall
submit to Council at its next regular meeting, or at a special meeting called
to consider the motion, a financial comment with respect to the motion;
80.
COORDINATOR
(1)
The Coordinator of any
Committee shall be designated by and be responsible to the Clerk;
(2)
It shall be the duty of
the Coordinator:
(a)
to give notice of each
regular and Special Meeting of the Committee together with an Agenda of the
matters to be considered;
(b)
to submit the reports
of the Committees to Council, as the case may be;
(c)
to record motions, votes,
public delegations and a concise narrative of the committee discussion
through the preparation of meeting minutes in accordance with Subsection 76(14); and
(d)
perform such other
functions as may be required from time to time.
81.
SPECIAL MEETINGS OF COMMITTEES
(1)
The Chair may at any
time summon a Special Meeting of the Committee or, upon receipt of the petition
of the majority of the members of the Committee, the Coordinator shall summon a
Special Meeting for the purpose and at the time mentioned in the petition;
(2)
Notice of all Special
Meetings of the Committee setting forth the matters to be considered at such
Special Meeting shall be given to all members of the Committee either:
(a)
by prepaid, special
delivery mail deposited in a Canada Post Corporation Post Office not less than
seventy-two hours in advance of the time fixed for the meeting;
(b)
by delivery to the City
office, residence or place of business of the member, including by electronic mail, not less than six hours in
advance of the time fixed for the meeting; or
(c)
by personal service to
the members not less than six hours in advance of the time fixed for the
meeting; and/or
(d)
by such other manner as
the Chair may direct;
(3)
At Special Meetings of
the Committee, it shall not be competent to consider or decide upon any matter
unless such matter has been explained in the notice calling the meeting,
without the consent, recorded in the minutes, of all of the members of the
Committee;
(4)
Subject to Section 1213, a Special Meeting
of the Committee may be either open or closed as determined by the Committee;
(5)
Once received by the
Coordinator, no member may add or remove their name from a petition filed under
subsection (1);
(6)
Despite this section,
on urgent and extraordinary occasions, with the consent of two-thirds of all
the members of Committee recorded in the minutes, an emergency Special Meeting
of the Committee may be called by the Chair without notice to consider and deal
with such urgent and extraordinary matters.
1.MEMBER SERVICES COMMITTEE
(1)The Member Services Committee shall be composed of
three members of Council.
(1)The Member Services Committee has jurisdiction
regarding:
(a)the administration of the offices of the
Councillors;
(a)expenditures by Councillors;
(a)entitlement of Councillors to City facilities and
resources for the performance of their duties; and
(a)personnel matters related to:
a)the offices of the Councillors, or
a)the performance by the Councillors of their duties.
(1)The Member Services Committee shall meet at the
call of its Chair in accordance with the notice provision in Section 79.
(1)A decision of the Member Services Committee may be
forwarded directly to Council but only upon written request of two members of
Council.
82.
JOINT MEETINGS OF COMMITTEES
(1) (a) Where
an issue is relevant to the mandate of more than one Committee, the Committee
Chairs of the respective Committees
will meet to determine which Committee will be responsible for the issue or,
alternatively, whether or not a joint Committee meeting should be held;
(b)
A
joint meeting of two or more Committees may be directed by Council, or may be
called by their Chairs, in accordance
with subsection 1(a), or whenever such Chairs consider it necessary for
their respective Committees to consider and report jointly on matters within
their joint areas of concern;
(2)
(a) Upon the receipt of a request in writing
by a majority of members of each of two Committees, the respective Committee
Chair, or in the case of the illness or absence of one or the other of them, the
Clerk shall summon a joint meeting of such Committees for the purpose of considering
and reporting on matters within the Committees’ joint areas of concern;
(b) All
joint meetings will be in accordance with the Standing Committee’s Joint
Meeting Procedure.
(3)
(a) A quorum for the joint meeting of
Committees shall be a majority of the combined number of members of the
Committees excluding the Mayor; and
(b) The Mayor, if present,
shall be counted as one member in making such quorum and shall have one vote;
(4)
(a) Where a joint meeting consists of the
Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee and any other Committee
of Council, the Mayor shall preside as Chair of the joint meeting;
(b) Subject to subsection (4)(a), the members in attendance at a joint meeting called pursuant to this section shall appoint the Chair of one of the Committees to chair the joint meeting, but if both such Chairs are absent, another member of one of the Committees shall be so appointed;
(5)
(a) When the Chair of the joint meeting
calls for the vote on a question, each member of the Committees shall vote in
unison, and the question shall be decided by a majority of votes, so that only
one decision is made thereon; and,
(b) The Chair of the joint meeting may vote
on all questions submitted and in the case of an equal division, the question
shall be deemed to have been decided in the negative;
(6)
The provisions of the
By-law with respect to the conduct of business in Committees shall apply, with
necessary changes, to the conduct of business at a joint meeting called
pursuant to this section.
83.
AGENDA IN COMMITTEE
(2)
The Coordinator shall
have prepared and printed for the use of the members at the regular meetings of
Committee an Agenda setting forth the business to be considered at such
meeting;
(3)
The business of the
Committee shall be considered in the order set forth on the Agenda, provided
however, that the Chair, with the approval of the Committee, may vary the order
of business to better deal with matters before the Committee;
(4)
Except as otherwise
decided by a two-thirds vote of the members of Committee present and voting,
the Committee shall not consider any report, Information Previously Distributed memorandum, or any matter, that
has not been distributed to the members with the Agenda;
(5)
If the minutes of the preceding meeting have been delivered, in advance,
to the members of the Committee then the minutes shall not be read, and a
motion that the minutes be confirmed shall be in order;
(6)
After the minutes have
been adopted they shall be signed by the Chair and by the Coordinator.
84.
INFORMATION REPORTS
(2)
A report may be
forwarded to a Committee for information;
(3)
Notwithstanding that a
report has been forwarded for information, motion(s) may be made by members of
the Committee for action to be taken on matters that arise from or are
discussed in the report;
(4)
Motions made under
subsection (2) may be made at any meeting where the report is presented to the
Committee or Council;
(5)
Unless otherwise
required by law, including a direction of Council, an information report
submitted to, and not amended by the Committee, shall only be reported to
Council where the Committee so directs.
PART X ORGANIZATION OF NEW COUNCIL
85.
INAUGURAL MEETING OF COUNCIL
The
Inaugural Meeting of the Council shall be held on the first weekday in December
in the first year of its term at a time and place determined by the person who has been certified by
the Clerk to be
elected as Mayor.
86.
INAUGURAL MEETING - BUSINESS
(1)
At the Inaugural
Meeting of the Council, the only business to be brought before the meeting
shall be the following:
(a)
Filing of Certificates and Declarations
of Office;
(b)
Election of Nominating
Committee pursuant to Section 8687; and
(c)
Matters incidental to
any of the above;
(2)
Despite Subsection (1),
an Inaugural Address by the Mayor may be delivered at the Inaugural Meeting of
Council or at a subsequent meeting of Council.
87.
ELECTION OF NOMINATING COMMITTEE
(1)
If the Nominating Committee is not elected at the
Inaugural Meeting of Council, it shall be elected at the next meeting of
Council A Nominating Committee shall be elected at the Inaugural
Meeting of the Council in accordance with this section;
(2)
The composition of the
Nominating Committee shall be determined by the Council exclusive of the Mayor
who shall sit as Chair;
(3)
The Mayor shall call
for nominations;
(4)
Each nomination shall
be in writing, regularly moved and seconded, and shall only be accepted if
either the written consent of the nominee is appended thereto, or the nominee,
being present, signifies their consent;
(1)All voting shall be done in open Council without
the use of any form of secret ballot.
(5)
Where there are more
nominees than positions available on the Committee a vote shall be taken;
(6)
Each member shall have
a number of votes equal to the membership of the Committee;
(7)
A nominee requires the
vote of a majority of the members present to be elected;
(8)
The name(s) of the person or persons receiving
the fewest votes will be deleteddropped off from the list until nine ten nominees remain;
(9)
In the event that there
are two or more person tied for the fewest number of votes, the following
procedure shall be observed:
(a)
A run-off election
shall be held amongst those tied for the fewest number of votes;
(b)
Each councillor shall
have a number of votes equal to the number of nominees tied for the fewest
votes minus one;
(c)
The nominee receiving the
fewest votes amongst those in the run-off shall be dropped offdeleted from the list
of nominees.
88.
NOMINATINGION COMMITTEE REPORTCOMMITTEE AND
LOCAL BOARD APPOINTMENTS AND MEETINGS
The
Nominating Committee upon election shall forthwith consider and recommend to
Council, at a meeting to be held on the Wednesday next following the Inaugural
Meeting, or at such other time as the Mayor shall determinewhich meeting shall be deemed to
be the regular meeting of Council for that month,
(1)
the names of the members
to serve on each Standing Committee and all appointments to any other
committees, local boards, commissions, bodies and organizations;
(2)
a schedule for the
meetings of the Standing Committees.; and
89.
ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS MEMBERS ELECTED TO
(1)
Despite Section 8788,
other members may be nominated by members of Council;
(2)
Where an additional
person to those recommended by Nominating Committee are nominated, the choices
shall be debated and the voting held in accordance with the provisions of
Section 86 88 hereof with the
necessary modifications if,
(a)
the committee, local
board, body or organization has a defined maximum number of members; and
(b)
the addition of the
person nominated at Council would cause the committee, local board, body or
organization to have a number of members in excess of its maximum;
(3)
Where subsection (2) is
not applicable and an additional person to those recommended by Nominating
Committee is nominated, members of Council shall vote, with each member of
Council having one vote, as to whether the additional nominee shall be added to
the members of the committee, local board, body or organization in question;
(4)
Where a vote has been
taken under Sections 86 87 or 8889(3)
such that the required number of members is reached, such members shall be deemed
to have been elected or appointed by the Council and no formal resolution to
that effect is required;
(5)
After the initial selection of
the membership of Committees in a term of Council, if a vacancy should develop,
the Committee in which the vacancy has occurred may recommend a replacement to
Council.
PART
XI GENERAL
PROVISIONS
90.
TIME
Time,
in this by-law, shall be governed by Eastern Standard Time, except that Eastern
Daylight Saving Time shall govern when it is in use in Ottawa.
91.
RECORDING EQUIPMENT
At
the meetings of Council or a Committee, the use of cameras, electric lighting
equipment, flash bulbs, recording equipment, television cameras and any other
device of a mechanical, electronic or similar nature used for transcribing or
recording proceedings by auditory or visual means by members of the public,
including accredited and other representatives of any new media whatsoever, may
be permitted and shall be subject to the approval and/or direction of the Mayor
or Committee Chair unless otherwise decided by the Council or a Committee.
92.
COMMUNICATION
DEVICES
(1)
Subject to subsection
(3), at the meetings of Council, the use of cellular phones, audible pagers or
any other similar communication device is only permitted in the press gallery
section of the Council Chambers;
(2)
Unless a meeting of a
Committee is taking place in the Council Chambers, in which case subsections
(1) and (3) apply, the use of audible cellular phones, audible pagers or any
other similar communication device is prohibited in the room in which the
Committee is meeting;
(3)
Despite subsection
(1), the use of any communication device may be prohibited by the Mayor of
Council or the Committee if, in the Mayor’s opinion, the device is interfering
with any video or audio broadcast of the meeting.
93.
REPEAL
(1)
By-law No. 20051-43120
is hereby repealed;
(2)
This By-law shall not
be amended or repealed except by a majority vote of all members of the whole
Council;
(3)
No amendment or repeal
of this By-law shall be considered at any meeting of the Council unless notice
of the proposed amendment or repeal with a summary of the changes proposed was:
(a)
considered by the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee;
or
(b)
tabled at a previous
regular meeting of the Council; or,
(c)
delivered by personal
service to the members not less than ten (10) days in advance of the next
meeting;
and the
Council may not waive such notice.
94.
EFFECT
This
By-law shall be deemed to have come into force on the 14th day of December, 200612th day of June,
2002.
95.
SHORT TITLE
This By-law may
be referred to as either the “Procedure By-law” or the “Rules of Procedure”.
ENACTED AND PASSED this 14th day of December, 2006
.12th day of June, 2002.
BY-LAW NO. 2002 20065 -–
xxx 431247
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
A by-law of the City of Ottawa to govern the proceedings
of the Council and its Committees and to repeal By-law No. 20035-589 4312001-20.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Enacted by City Council at
its meeting of December
14, 2006
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
LEGAL SERVICES
TM/
COUNCIL AUTHORITY:
City Council August 25, 2005
CSEDC Report 33, Item 1