You have the right to appear as a delegation at a Municipal Council meeting if you need a decision from Council or are concerned about a specific matter. Our Council welcomes members of the public to comment as delegations on matters that interest them. The purpose of a delegation is to help Council make informed decisions.

Step 1: Contact a Municipal staff member

Sometimes a member of our Municipal staff or a Member of Council can address your request or concern directly so you do not have to appear at the Council Meeting as a delegation. Before you register to appear as a delegation, contact us at the Municipality to go over your concern.

Some issues may be outside this level of control and are best reviewed in a Council Meeting. In these cases we will advise you to request to be a delegation.

Step 2: Request to be a delegation

To request to be a delegation you must fill out the Delegation Request Form and send it to the Clerk's Office. You must make sure the Clerk's Office gets this form by 12:00pm the Tuesday two weeks before the next Council Meeting.

If the issue you want to address Council about is already on the next agenda, usually you will be able to appear at the next meeting. If your issue is not on the next agenda, we will review your request and, if approved, will include you on the agenda as a delegation, or put you on the next suitable Council agenda.

The Clerk's Office will contact you at the contact information you provided to let you know when you will appear. There is no guarantee you will be able to appear as a delegation. The Municipality has the right to allow or deny your request.

Once we confirm that you will appear as a delegation at a Council meeting we will request that you provide us with a copy of your presentation or remarks, which will be distributed to Council.  Please note that this information then becomes public.

Step 3: Make your presentation

You will have 10 minutes to make your presentation. If you are appearing with a group, we encourage you to choose only one spokesperson to present your ideas since time is limited. You should prepare what you want to say with written notes; Council members and staff may ask you questions.

Presentation guidelines

When you address Council, follow these guidelines:

  • Always follow directions of the Mayor or Presiding Officer
  • Do not enter into debate with other delegations, staff or Council
  • Do not speak disrespectfully to anyone
  • Do not use offensive words
  • Only speak about the subject you received approval to talk about
  • Only speak for the 10 minutes allotted (unless the Mayor or Presiding Officer extends the time limit)
  • Your name and comments will be publicly available/recorded in a general way in the meeting minutes

Step 4: The Municipality makes a decision

After hearing your presentation and asking questions, Council may decide to:

  • Refer the matter to Municipal staff to gather more information or create a report
  • Make a motion recommending action on your issue

If Council makes a motion it does not necessarily mean they have made a final decision. The motion may be referred to another meeting before it is finally approves or comes into effect and could take several weeks or months.

To find the decision for your issue you can check our meeting agendas and minutes posted in our Council Calendar.