Elections
Many observers argue that Council meetings could be more respectful and professional. Do you agree? If so, what will you do to change this?
Responses to the question: "Many observers argue that Council meetings could be more respectful and professional. Do you agree? If so, what will you do to change this?"
In This Page:
5 Candidate Responses (top)
| Ward 06 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Behrens, Chris | Yes | I agree that council meetings should be more respectful and professional. Councillors constantly come and go during the meetings. This is unavoidable at the moment, because there are no structured breaks. When they get back from their breaks, they waste time by asking for the information to be repeated to them. We all have needs for breaks; we should look at the way the meeting is structured to eliminate this from happening. I believe that a 40 minute on, and a 10 minute off structure would serve council much better. The media, who have to stay with their equipment, would appreciate this as well. I feel that this would be a significant first step to bringing about a more professional council meeting.
I feel that if a councillor misses a meeting and does not have a legitimate excuse, then they should be docked pay. As for the characters, personalities, and their behaviours, well that is clearly up to the electorate who elect them in. As a Certified Teacher, you just need to deal with those situations as they come. |
| Jackson, Tom | Maybe | In my many years on Council I have always respected the integrity of the Council Chambers. I will continue to maintain a high level of decorum and respect the rules of behavior expected of our elected officials. I would use my experience and my personal behaviour to influence my Council colleagues. |
| Knowles, Steven | No | I don't agree. Often times things are done in a certain way because they need to be. If my constituents need me to be a little rough to get the point across then I have to be prepared to do that. I understand that professionalism and respect go hand in hand but they shouldn't take a back seat to real issues. |
| Pecyna, Ed | Yes | I agree that Council meetings could be more respectful and professional. To change this, the best I can do is lead by example. It is pretty straight forward: follow the Rules of Order, listen when others have the floor, prepare, speak when I can improve the silence, be on point and concise. |
| Yan, Nathalie Xian Yi | Yes | It is true that the council meetings are lack of control. In most case, people just broke the rules of decorum without intentions, as they might mistakenly believe they have to play rough to make themselves be heard by others. This is not the case in most meetings. Just imagine an intersection without stop signs or traffic lights, and every car rushes to drive through. In fact, this is a wide acknowledged problem in all levels of parliamentary meetings throughout Canada.
To elevate decorum, I would suppose that we first take another look at the applicable rules. In my opinion, the rules of decorum are verbose yet dysfunctional. We should make it concise and operational. The bottom line is it should maintain the balance between the fairness (i.e. rights to be heard) and efficiency. We could enhance the efficiency through many measures. For example, we could have people stand up and speak from a podium, which help them project their voice and act more prudently. We may also try to announce the rules in a clear and brief way at the very beginning of each meeting. This way, even for those people who do not bother to read the rules could become familiar with them. We need to foster a fair and efficient procedural practice progressively. On the other hand, the speakers could be more skillful and concise. Sometimes, when you talk too much, your audience begins to lose focus. The listeners may show more respect and patience in listening. Let the speaker finish before you begin to talk. I do agree that the person chairing the meeting is essential in that she or he should not only exercise the rules of decorum but also control the pace of the meeting process, such as time limitation. |
Response Summary (top)
| Brief Response | Count | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 3 | 60.0% |
| No | 1 | 20.0% |
| Maybe | 1 | 20.0% |
1 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)
| Ward 06 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Febers, Michelle | ||
