Amendment to Procedure Bylaw No. 677, 2007 – Electronic Participation Staff Report

AMENDMENT TO PROCEDURE BYLAW NO. 677, 2007 – ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION BY COUNCIL

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the report dated November 30, 2022 from the Director of Corporate Administration titled “Amendment to Procedure Bylaw No. 677, 2007 – Electronic Participation by Council” be received for information.

PURPOSE:

To introduce Procedure Bylaw No. 677, 2007, Amendment Bylaw No. 1109, 2022 (Attachment “A”), a bylaw to remove Section 12(2) regarding limiting the number of meetings Council members can participate in electronically.

TIME CRITICAL:

There is no urgency for a bylaw amendment that staff is aware of.

BACKGROUND:

At the June 8, 2021 Committee of the Whole meeting, the CAO Update report described the Province’s 4-Step Restart Plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and, based on that Plan, staff prepared to invite the public back into Council Chambers for open meetings beginning in September 2021 though noted the Town would continue the use of the Microsoft Teams Live Event platform.

In July 2021, a report describing upcoming amendments to Procedure Bylaw No. 677, 2007 in relation to electronic meetings came forward to the Committee of the Whole meeting. This report was prepared in anticipation of September 2021 changes coming from the Province, amending the Community Charter to better support the continuation of the hybrid Council meeting model that had been embraced in 2020 with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the changes were embedded into the Community Charter by the Province, the Town would be able to amend its Procedure Bylaw to facilitate the hybrid meeting model – with both in-person attendance and live webcasting available.

At that July 2021 Committee of the Whole meeting, there was discussion about the potential lack of in-person attendance at meetings by both Council and staff. It was suggested that the amendment bylaw include a limit on the number of meetings that elected officials may attend electronically throughout the year with exceptions (i.e., special Council meetings, surgery, etc.). One Council member proposed a limit of ten meetings per year, but the majority support was for three.

Following up, a Procedure Bylaw amendment came forward to the October 5, 2021 Council meeting for first, second and third readings consideration. At this meeting, a Council member reiterated their concern with limiting Council’s ability to participate in meetings when there is a limit on the number of meetings one can participate in electronically. On October 19, 2021 the amendment bylaw was adopted.

At the November 15, 2022 Council meeting, Councillor Brown had a Notice of Motion on the agenda, seeking to remove the limit on how many times elected officials can attend meetings electronically in a calendar year. This report stems from the discussion at that meeting. The following motion was passed:

THAT Section 12 (2) of Procedure Bylaw No. 677, 2007, limiting the number of times a Council member may participate electronically in a meeting each calendar year to three, be deleted;

AND THAT the topic of Council attendance at meetings be referred to staff for inclusion in a letter of expectations. (C-101-22)

CARRIED Councillors Kowalewich, Lemon, and Rogers opposed

DISCUSSION:

The application of the requirement has not been stringent. Since the adoption of the amendment bylaw, there have been at least two occasions when the Chief Administrative Officer or Corporate Officer have communicated to elected officials that the three-meeting limit would not be applied – notably with new variants of COVID-19 arising (B1 late in 2021, for example) and varying levels of comfort for elected officials to attend in-person meetings.

In preparing this report, staff reviewed Procedure Bylaws from many municipalities in the Capital Regional District regarding electronic meeting participation:

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

When there is an amendment to the Town’s Procedure Bylaw, legislation requires newspaper notification to allow for input.

ALTERNATIVES:

1. Do not proceed with an amendment to Procedure Bylaw No. 677 to remove the limit on the number of meetings that Council members can participate in electronically each year.
2. Do not continue with a hybrid model and revert back to an all in-person meeting format.

CONCLUSION:

In discussion with staff at other municipalities on this topic, there was some commentary based on experiences elsewhere that it would be desirable to include such a cap in procedure bylaws to ensure strong in-person attendance. In-person attendance does result in better communication – visual cues, no time lags, less one-off handling of late distribution materials, issues with tech, etc. – and direct involvement in decision-making.

As noted above, the application of the three meetings per year limit has been flexible.

For these reasons, staff strongly encourage retention of this section (Alternative 1).

ATTACHMENTS:

Procedure Bylaw No. 677, 2007, Amendment Bylaw No. 1109, 2022