As one of the first acts as new Port Hardy mayor and council, representatives hesitated to formalize question periods for media and public.
The initial motion was to adopt a question period at the end of each meeting. Council, however, decided to refer it to a committee of the whole for discussion.
On behalf of the public, Tyson Whitney, submitted a request to formalize processes for question periods. Currently, question periods are typically held informally at the end of each council meeting.
In his letter to council, Whitney stated that he was writing to council as a resident of Port Hardy. He added, “I would like council to change its procedure bylaw and add a question and answer period to the agenda so that it is not forgotten about/ignored anymore.” He also referenced Port McNeill’s current council procedure bylaw, which includes a section for “questions from the public and media” in every agenda.
“The way that we have been doing it in the past, it’s been done informally,” said Director of Corporate Services Heather Nelson-Smith. “The question period is usually at the end of the meeting, so people can ask questions. If we were to amend the council procedure bylaw, it does require us to publish a notice for two weeks to allow for public comment.”
One other method, “option three” in the staff report, Nelson-Smith noted was “to hold more of a lunch box option for people to come in to meet one on one with the mayor and certain councillors.” Question periods would not be tied to agendas and could be considered a formal forum, Nelson-Smith mentioned.
Nelson-Smith’s staff report on the request included examples from three cities, Duncan, Penticton, and North Vancouver, and one district, Stewart.
North Vancouver, for example, holds their question period at the start of meetings. The question period is for 30 minutes but only allows residents to speak for three minutes and can only speak once.
Council ready to formalize, but hesitant to quickly adopt
Councillor Leightan Wishart was quick to make a motion to adopt “option 2” provided in the staff report, which was similar to the City of Penticton’s bylaw. The city’s bylaw allows questions relating to agendas but is limited to two minutes.
“I would like to see us adopt the City of Penticton’s option,” Wishart said. “I would like it (question period) to be recorded in the minutes.” Following Wishart’s motion, councillor John Tidbury was willing to second it, which pushed it to a vote, but was later defeated.
Councillor Janet Dorward offered an alternative - to refer it to a committee - but did not make the motion to do so. “I like the idea of adding in a formal time, like option two, but I’d like to refer it to a committee for hashing out exactly what the content of that bylaw amendment would be.” She also posed a question, “do we or could we have a bylaws committee so it doesn’t go to staff without our input first?”
“I really like the idea of option two or three, but I agree with councillor Dorward,” councillor Treena Smith said.
Councillor Fred Robertson was also initially in favour of open question periods: “I’m absolutely OK with that,” he said, but was more inclined to move it to a committee after having discussions.
The five councillors - Tidbury, Dorward, Smith, Corbett-Labatt, and Robertson - voted to defeat Wishart’s motion to adopt a question period similar to Penticton’s.
The motion of referral was made so that staff can provide further input, which would then be brought to the committee of the whole for discussion. After the committee’s feedback, the issue will then be brought back to council for a decision.
Similar districts formalized question periods already
Village of Cumberland, which has a population of 3,753 according to the 2016 census, has formalized their question period. Cumberland stated in “Council Procedure Bylaw No. 964, 2012,” that a “member of the public may only inquire about items included on the agenda for that meeting during a question period,” but did not specify any details.
The municipality of Sparwood, a population of 3,784, also has a council procedure bylaw amended in 2009, which stated the question period “is limited to 10 minutes and each person speaking shall be given up to 2 minutes to discuss any item of business that has already been considered by Council at the meeting.”
District of Hope, which has a population hovering around 6,000, also included a section for question period in council agendas.