By Pepper Parr
July 9th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
In her A Better Burlington newsletter Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said: “We received great news from the Province today giving municipal councils the ability to meet electronically and allow proxy votes, allowing court proceedings to be conducted electronically and other measures that will now be permanent post-COVID-19.”
Meeting virtually has limited public participation in the proceedings of council significantly which seems to be acceptable to the current council.
The balance of her newsletter is set out below.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward at a Council meeting.
“I had the privilege today of joining mayors across Ontario on a conference call with Premier Doug Ford and the Hon. Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, to hear directly from them about the changes, and additional measures outlined in the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act.
“These were also outlined in a letter sent to heads of council (Minister’s Letter – COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act – 8 July 2020), and a media release available here.
“Last week, the Halton Regional Chair, on behalf of the four mayors and municipalities of Halton, wrote to the Premier to ask for these changes to be made permanent. To read that letter, click here: Halton Region Chair Letter to Premier re Virtual Meetings – June 29 2020.
“Halton municipalities have been holding virtual meetings throughout the pandemic with great success to conduct the business of our municipalities while continuing to serve our residents and provide opportunities for important public input.
“The Province heard us.
“We are still going through the legislation that covers a range of matters on development, economic recovery, and changes to the community benefits charges. Some of these include changes to the existing Minister’s zoning order to provide more certainty when fast-tracking the development of transit-oriented communities; making it faster to update and harmonize the Building Code so that we can break down interprovincial trade barriers; and permanently establishing the office of the Provincial Land and Development Facilitator to help solve complex land-use issues.
“My team and city staff are still going through the legislation and we’ll provide more details in the coming days, but what we’ve reviewed so far shows the Province has listened to mayors and municipal councils and made positive steps forward.
“This is great news, and I would personally like to thank Premier Ford and Minister Clark for consulting with us, listening and making changes.
“Today’s announcement is important in ensuring the safety of members of Councils, staff and the public while we continue our business of serving our communities.”
Maybe a hybrid version combining both in-person and virtual meeting can be developed allowing councilors and public to participate either at City Hall or via Zoom. Let’s not be Luddites !