CAPITAL WEST ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE

1.0 Composition

The Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee represents the member municipalities of the City of Colwood, the Township of Esquimalt, the District of Highlands, the City of Langford, the District of Metchosin, the District of Sooke, and the Town of View Royal.

2.0 Mandate

2.1 In accordance with the Accessible BC Act, the mandate of the Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee is:

2.1.1 to assist member municipalities to identify barriers to individuals in or interacting with the municipality;

2.1.2 to advise member municipalities on how to remove and prevent barriers to individuals in or interacting with the municipality; and

2.1.3 to confer with the member municipalities in the development and revision of the accessibility plan.

3.0 Membership

3.1 The Committee will comprise a minimum of seven (7) voting members with each member municipality appointing one member.

3.2 In accordance with the Accessible BC Act goals, the Committee must, to the extent possible, have a membership whereby:

3.2.1. at least half of the members are persons with disabilities, or are individuals who support, or are from organizations that support, persons with disabilities;

3.2.2 the members described in 3.2.1 reflect the diversity of persons with disabilities in British Columbia;

3.2.3 at least one member is an Indigenous person; and

3.2.4 the Committee reflects the diversity of persons in British Columbia.

3.3 The term will be up to a maximum of four (4) years, as determined by each member municipality, and, regardless of respective term length, expire on December 31.

3.4 The Chair and Vice Chair will be selected annually at the first meeting by resolution of the members.

4.0 Meetings

4.1 The Committee will meet electronically a minimum of four (4) times per year at 2:00 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of the following months: April, June, September, and November.

4.2 Accommodations for members unable to attend electronically may be arranged by contacting the host municipality twenty-four (24) hours prior to the start of the scheduled meeting time.

4.3 Meeting length is not to exceed two (2) hours.

4.4 Special meetings, if required to address time sensitive business items that are unable to be addressed at the next regularly scheduled business meeting, may be held at the call of the Chair.

4.5 Any voting member missing three regularly scheduled consecutive meetings without giving a reasonable cause to the Chair in advance will be deemed to have resigned and will be advised as such in writing or suitable alternative format.

5.0 Agendas

5.1 At least seven (7) days prior to each meeting, the host municipality shall:

5.1.1 prepare an agenda which lists and briefly summarizes the matters to be considered at the meeting;

5.1.2 provide an electronic copy to all Committee members; and

5.1.3 post the agenda at the host municipality’s designated public notice posting place and on the host municipality’s website.

5.2 Non-hosting member municipalities shall endeavour to provide a link to the agenda posted on the host municipality’s website, once the agenda is posted, in advance of the meeting.

5.3 The agenda must include a description of:

5.3.1 the way in which the meeting is to be held electronically;

5.3.2 how the public may hear, or see and hear the proceedings; and

5.3.3 the location where the public may attend to hear, or see and hear, the meeting.

5.4 The order of business at regular Committee meetings shall be as follows:

Call to Order
Introduction of Late Items
Approval of the Agenda
Adoption of Minutes
Business Items
Unfinished Business
New Business
Adjournment

5.5 Business at Committee meetings must, in all cases, be taken up in the order in which it is listed on the agenda unless otherwise resolved by a majority vote of those members present.

6.0 Quorum

6.1 Quorum for the Committee is a majority of its appointed voting members, including the Chair.

6.2 If there is no quorum in attendance within 15 minutes of the advertised start time, the recording secretary shall record the names of the members in attendance and those absent and then adjourn the meeting to the next regularly scheduled Committee meeting.

7.0 Motions

7.1 Decisions of the Committee shall be made by motion.

7.2 Motions shall be seconded before discussion can take place.

7.3 Motions that are not seconded will not be recorded in the meeting minutes.

8.0 Amendments

8.1 A member may, without notice, move to amend a motion that is being considered at a meeting.

8.2 An amendment may propose to add, strike out, or strike out and add words to an original motion.

8.3 Amendments must be strictly relevant to the main motion and not alter in a material way or be contrary to the principle embodied in the main motion.

8.4 Only one amendment shall be allowed to be before the Committee at one time and shall be decided before the main motion is decided.

8.5 An amendment that has been defeated by a vote cannot be proposed again.

9.0 Voting

9.1 Each member has one vote on any motion or question.

9.2 Each member present at the time of voting:

9.2.1 must vote on the matter by indicating their assent or dissent, or if participating electronically without video, by verbally stating their vote as either in favour or opposed;

9.2.2 no member may leave a meeting once a vote on a matter has been called; and

9.2.3 if a member abstains from voting or does not indicate how they vote, the member is deemed to have voted in the affirmative.

9.3 A motion or any other question before the Committee is decided by a simple majority of the quorum.

9.4 If the vote of the members present at the time of voting are equal for and against the motion, the motion is defeated.

9.5 The Chair must state the name or names of the members opposed and the recording secretary shall record those names in the minutes.

10.0 Minutes

10.1 Minutes of the Committee meetings must:

10.1.1 be legibly recorded;

10.1.2 record the names of all members in attendance and record voted in opposition of each motion voted upon in the meeting;

10.1.3 be certified correct by the recording secretary;

10.1.4 be signed by the Chair or presiding member once the minutes are adopted; and

10.1.5 be circulated for information to member municipalities.

10.2 Recommendations for consideration will be included in the Committee minutes provided to member municipalities as described in section 10.1.5.

11.0 Public Attendance and Input

11.1 All meetings must be open to the public unless the meeting is permitted to be closed in accordance with the Community Charter.

11.2 Meetings will be held electronically for the members with the public able to observe the proceedings either electronically or in-person at a location to be determined and provided by the host community.

11.3 Public input or presentations by members of the public are not permitted at Committee meetings.

12.0 Host Municipality Responsibilities

12.1 Committee meetings will be hosted on an annual rotational basis by the member municipalities.

12.2 During its year of hosting, the host member municipality is responsible to provide:

12.2.1 staff support for agenda preparation, minute-taking, and minute distribution;

12.2.2 a physical location within the host municipality where members of the public can hear, or see and hear, the proceedings of the meeting; and

12.2.3 record keeping for the year, including the posting of public agendas and minutes on the host municipality’s website.