Bonfield’s council proceedings will ensure space for public question period.
Last June, council decided to bring back question period to its meetings. Resident Dave Hodges suggested the idea after a meeting in May raised the ire of a few residents. At that time, a large group wanted to discuss proposed building fees, but as nobody was listed as a delegate, nobody was allowed to speak.
That didn’t go over very well, so in the wake of that incident, council decided to bring back question period, while also maintaining room for delegations. This began in July as a trial run, but recently, council decided to make question period a permanent fixture on the agenda.
However, there was much discussion on the topic, particularly, where question period should fall on the agenda.
See: Bonfield council bringing back question period
Councillor Dan MacInnis was concerned the question period would be redundant, as the spot for delegations offered the same opportunity for residents to speak their mind.
MacInnis said, “In my mind, this is no different than a delegation. So why not just leave it as a delegation? It’s doing the same thing.”
Indeed, there are restrictions placed on what can be asked during question period, similar to those imposed upon delegations. For example, questions must be submitted in advance, by Monday prior to the meeting, and questions must be seeking information and not making a statement.
Further, each question has a maximum of two minutes per question to be asked, up to five questions in the allotted 10 minutes given per questioner. This is the same time allowed for delegations.
MacInnis emphasized, “For me it serves no purpose.”
Councillor Donna Clark was for a separate question period, “For me, it gives the residents another avenue to come before council.” Also, delegations are usually germane to the day’s agenda, whereas question period can be more open.
Clark noted, “We want to promote respectful conversation and dialogue with constituents.”
That was the consensus at the council table. Mayor Narry Paquette recalled that May meeting which inspired the return of question period. She said, “When we put this in place, we must have had 25 or 30 people all wanting to speak, so we said we’re going to do something and you’re going to be able to speak.”
“But they can’t speak,” the mayor continued, “They can’t make a statement, but they can ask a question. So, my thoughts on it are if I had to sit in council and wait for two and a half hours to have a two-minute question, I wouldn’t bother.”
So began the quest to decide where to place the question period – near the meeting’s end, or at the beginning? As is, the question period was slated at the end, but the mayor thought it would be better near the beginning, where the delegations are.
The mayor added, “They can come in, they can ask their question, and if they don’t want to stay, they don’t have to stay for the full meeting.”
Some wanted to keep it at the end, because after all, what if the question somebody had concerned an item slated later in the agenda, and council hadn’t discussed it yet? In that situation, it would be difficult to provide an accurate answer to the resident.
In the end, council decided the beginning was best. Councillors passed a motion to make question period a permanent fixture on Bonfield’s council agenda, near the start of each meeting.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.