County council rejects recommendation to cut delegation times in half

GUELPH – Delegations will continue to have 10 minutes to address Wellington County council and its committees, after council rejected a staff recommendation to cut that time in half.

A report outlining updates to the county's procedural bylaw and policies was initially presented to council in November and deferred to gain council feedback.

Before returning to county council on Jan. 29, the administration, finance and human resources committee recommended council approve the report, including a new five-minute limit for public delegations.

The change caught the attention of Erin county councillor Jeff Duncan, who lobbied to retain the original limit of 10 minutes.

"I've been a member of county council for seven years now and I have not seen the need for this change," Duncan said on Jan. 29.

He noted multiple councils in the surrounding area allow 10-minute delegations, including Simcoe, Bruce, Grey and Dufferin counties.

He then listed the county's seven lower-tier municipalities, noting all of them except Guelph/Eramosa follow the 10-minute rule.

"I don't think it's really the right message or the right change to try to implement now," Duncan said, adding there has been an erosion in public trust over the last decade.

He acknowledged shorter delegations would make meetings a "bit smoother," but ultimately it's a balance between council's time and the public's time.

Duncan noted cutting back delegation time is unfair as it "conservatively takes two and a half to three hours" of work for a delegation to speak to council.

That includes notifying the clerk by 3pm the Monday preceding the council meeting, providing in advance written details of their delegation as well as travelling to the meeting.

Councillor Campbell Cork agreed with Duncan, stating it is council's job to listen "and frankly anybody that can manage to get to this city and find parking ... deserves to be listened to as long as it takes them to make their point."

Councillor Michael Dehn asked if there is currently a "hard stop" at the five-minute mark for delegations.

Clerk Jennifer Adams replied, "The [committee/council] chair always has discretion. The procedural bylaw is provided as a framework."

"At the end of that 10 minutes, with the will of the committee or the will of the council, you could extend it," Warden Chris White said. "In my experience I haven't seen anybody get shut down."

Councillor Doug Breen said he is more concerned about the decision to offer delegations more time.

"How do we make sure that people don't get cut off because the chair is in a bad mood?" Breen asked, noting the procedure is vaguely written.

Adams clarified the decision to extend a delegation's time would come down to a general majority vote.

Duncan's request to retain the 10-minute limit for delegations was approved by council.