Council’s move to shorten committee meetings accused of silencing minority voices

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis speaks during a city council meeting in this undated image. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

A controversial change intended to reduce the number of marathon committee meetings at city hall has sparked warnings that elected leaders could be blocked from fully participating in local decision-making.

Half-way through the council term, meetings have grown longer, debates have become less focused, and chippy comments between councillors have fueled a sense that decorum is slipping.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, a motion by four councillors sought several changes to the Council Policies and Procedures By-Law to clarify processes and ensure efficient meetings.

However, there was pushback against a proposal to start allowing ‘Put the Question’ motions during meetings of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee and Budget Committee.

A council member can interrupt debate with a motion to Put the Question’ seeking to halt debate and move the issue directly to a vote — even if others councillors are still waiting to speak.

“Committee is the place where we're supposed to have the discussion and the debate,” argued Coun. Susan Stevenson.

She’s worried that expanding the motion to the committee meetings could silence the opinions of neighbourhoods or stakeholder groups represented by a councillor, whose speaking opportunity is shut down by the proposed motion.

“We will have the minority voice silenced because either side could use this Put the Question to avoid listening to the minority voices,” Stevenson warned.

In response, Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis highlighted the numerous times that council gets tied up in long debates despite the result being a landslide.

“I don't feel that that is a really efficient use of time when we have one person speaking in favor and then we just spend the next 40 minutes with 11 people speaking against,” Lewis said.

The deputy mayor suggested that the motion is a tool to prevent needless filibustering.

“Putting the question is an opportunity to end a procedural attempt at delaying getting to a vote on something,” he explained.

Council was reminded by Mayor Josh Morgan that a motion to Put the Question would still require support from a two-thirds majority of the committee and cannot be used on spending decisions valued at more than one million dollars.

“So significant budget items you cannot slow down or end debates,” Morgan emphasized. “So, it's a very high democratic threshold to even invoke.”

Council voted 8 to 6 in favour of expanding Put the Question motions to committees where all council members have seats.

Voting in favour were Morgan, Rahman, Peloza, Cuddy, VanMeerbergen, Franke, Hillier, and Lewis.

The opposed votes were by Hopkins, Ferreira, McAlister, Pribil, Lehman, and Stevenson — Coun. Sam Trosow was absent.

“This is not something that should be used commonplace,” Morgan told CTV News after the meeting. “This is something, like it has been over the last ten years, that should be used just a handful of times over a decade. And I expect it to continue to go that way.”

Meanwhile, the mayor has recently asked council members to use the upcoming holiday break in December to reflect on the language they’re using during debates in hopes of rebuilding decorum.

“There is a really easy and efficient way to elevate the decorum,” he said. “Don’t take things personally, and get as much information as you can ahead of time to come to meetings prepared to respectfully listen to your colleagues.”