Uxbridge looks at making GPA meetings more efficient

DAN CEARNS The Standard

UXBRIDGE: Uxbridge council recently discussed how they can run their General Purpose and Administration meetings more efficiently.

The Township of Uxbridge has a two meeting style format: the General Purpose and Administration (GPA) meetings and Council meetings. In GPA meetings, reports, correspondence and unfinished business are placed in one of seven sub-committee portions of the meeting. These include the Finance and Emergency Services Committee, Heritage, Arts and Community Programs Committee, Parks, Facilities and Tourism Committee, Environment and Sustainability Committee, Public Works and Active Transportation Committee, Planning and Economic Development Committee, and Administration and Special Projects Committee.

At a meeting on Monday, November 4th, Regional Councillor Bruce Garrod raised a Point of Order on the system.

“We’ve got four or five committees with no items. And it’s unusual to have this many. I think it reflects some of the enhancements [which] have been done through [the clerks department],” he said. “I just wanted to encourage a conversation to say, ‘is there a better way of doing this?’”

He noted opening and closing each individual sub committee when there is nothing on the agenda “seems unnecessary.”

At the end of each sub-committee portion, reporters get a chance to ask questions. But Councillor Garrod said he feels “if there are no agenda items, there should be no questions.”

“Why do we open and close Committee meetings when there is nothing to talk about?” he asked.

Mayor Dave Barton agreed, calling the opening and closing of each sub committee when they have nothing on the agenda “certainly a waste of council’s time, staff’s time, etcetera.”

Clerk Debbie Leroux suggested instead of a “standing committee” system, staff could look at amending the procedural bylaw to go to a more “Committee of the Whole” style.

Ward 5 Councillor Todd Snooks stated he feels changing the system permanently could take away opportunities for questions on unfinished business.

Council later approved a motion to combine all of the empty sub-committee portions into one singular item for unfinished and other business and then held discussions on the sub-committees with items in their portion of the agenda.