Speaking at a Council Meeting

The Municipality of Neebing Procedural By-law 2016-010 governs proceedings at Council and Committee meetings and contains rules relating to persons addressing Council. The information presented here summarizes those rules. Any questions or concerns can be addressed to Administrative staff at the Municipal Office.

Town Hall segment of council meetings

Neebing Council hosts a town hall segment at the commencement of each regular council meeting. During the town hall segment, any person can speak to Council about any item at all – unless it is an item already on Council's agenda for that meeting.

People addressing Council during the town hall segment should not expect to get an answer to their questions immediately. The Council may wish to have information from its staff about the issue that the person has raised.

The town hall segment of the meeting is a great way to connect with your council and get up to speed on issues that concern you.

Formal deputations

A Deputation is a formal presentation made by someone at a council meeting. Deputants may ask questions of Council, but the questions will not be answered during the meeting. Information in response will be provided to the Deputant after the meeting.

Deputations are restricted to ten minutes in length, exclusive of a period of questioning at the conclusion of the deputation. Regardless of the number of persons who are part of the deputation, the time limit remains ten minutes unless this rule is relaxed through a resolution of the Council.

If a Deputant wishes to place his or her issue on a formal Council or committee meeting agenda, he or she must complete this form: Request for Deputation or submit a written request to the Clerk prior to noon on the Friday that precedes the meeting. If a Deputant wishes to address a matter that is already on the agenda for the Council or Committee meeting, he or she must submit a written request to the Clerk prior to one hour before the commencement of the meeting.

To add an item to an agenda, the request for deputation must include:

• The subject matter on which the person wishes to address the Council;
• The outcome that the person is seeking;
• The efforts, if any, the person has made to achieve the desired outcome working with Administration prior to making his or her request of Council.

To speak to a matter already on the agenda, the deputation request merely indicates which item the Deputant wishes to address.

The deputation request will be included in the agenda as a matter of public record and should not contain any confidential information that the Deputant does not wish to be made public. If the written request is lengthy or contains material that is complex or expensive to copy, the Deputant may be required to pay a fee for the reproduction of the material, or may be required to bring eight copies of the material to the Clerk for distribution in the agenda package.

Deputants must restrict their comments to the subject matter outlined in their requests for Deputation. If the Deputant introduces other material or information at the meeting, it must relate to the information in the written request.

If the Deputant wishes to distribute additional documents as information at the meeting, a copy of the documents submitted must be retained by the Clerk as part of the record of the council meeting. If a written petition is being submitted, it must be legibly written or printed, must not contain any obscene or improper matter or language, and must be signed by at least one person, and filed with the Clerk.

Where more than one person has requested to address Council on the same subject matter, the Presiding Officer may request that deputations subsequent to each preceding deputation only bring forward new information.

Rules while at the meeting

When making the deputation, the following conduct and decorum rules must be respected:

• Electronic devices must be put to silent or vibrate.
• No recording of proceedings is permitted without the authorization of the Assembly (this does not restrict the taking of notes).
• Deputants shall not speak out of turn.
• Deputants shall not address the Assembly without being recognized by the Presiding Officer.
• Deputants shall refrain from arguing or shouting.
• Deputants shall follow the directions or sanctions of the Presiding Officer
• Foul or offensive language is prohibited.
• Disrespect, insults and/or name-calling is prohibited.
• Deputants are not permitted to approach members of Council – they must remain at the deputation table (or in the audience seating area). If a Deputant has an information handout that he or she wishes to pass to Council, it must be given to the Clerk – not directly to Council members.

Where a Deputant disregards any one or more of the rules, the Presiding Officer shall advise the person of his or her error, remind him or her of the rules, and request that he or she adhere to the rules. If the person repeatedly ignores the rules, the Presiding Officer may call an end to the deputation and/or ask the person to leave the premises. Where a person refuses to leave the premises, he or she may be escorted from the building. Council may, at its discretion, prohibit one or more persons from being eligible to request deputations for a period of time.