Council

The Inaugural Meeting of Council, after a regular election, shall be held in Council Chambers no later than the 2nd Monday in December and shall meet, after that, on the first Tuesday of every month, at 7:00 p.m., unless such day is a legal, public or civic holiday, in which case, the Council shall meet at the same hour the next day which is not a holiday or any other time as determined by Council. The Chair shall be permitted to begin any meeting earlier to meet time restraints.

The Council Chambers at the Township Office is located at 31 William Street, Sprucedale.

Members of the public are welcome to attend and watch council meetings however only pre-registered delegates are permitted to speak or address council when it’s in session.

Delegations

Anyone wishing to speak to Council at one of the meetings must indicate in writing using the Delegation Request Form (Fillable), with all supporting material to the Municipal office no later than noon, on the Monday, being at least one week prior to the Council meeting. You may be scheduled for a 10 minute delegation before Council.

Closed Meetings

The Province of Ontario has established rules for a Council, local board or a committee to go into a closed meeting through the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c.25, as amended. Any person or corporation may request that an investigation be undertaken respecting whether the closed meeting legislation has been contravened.

Why are some meetings closed to the public?
Municipal Councils, local boards and their committees must meet behind closed doors on occasion to deal with certain matters. For example, if a municipality is being sued or if Council is considering purchasing a piece of land or if Council must deal with a labour relations issue then it is appropriate that it be able to do so at a closed meeting. The purpose of such a closed meeting is to receive information or give direction.

Legality 

Local government in Ontario must be transparent and accountable. To this end, the Municipal Act states that all meetings of Council shall be open to the public except where the subject matter being considered falls within one of the categories expressly set out in the statute. The permitted reasons for going into a closed meeting are as follows:



• The security of property of the property of the municipality or local board;
• Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees;
• A proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board;
• Labour relations or employee negotiations;
• Litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board;
• Advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose;
• A matter authorized by another provincial statute;
• If the subject matter relates to a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act;
• The meeting is held for educating and training and no member discusses or deals with a matter in a way that materially advances the business or decision making of the Council, local board or committee.