Speaking Before Council

If you would like to publicly present a subject matter to the Municipality of Greenstone Council, you can present a deputation. A deputation is a written or verbal presentation that is given during a council meeting.

Request for deputation

People wishing to appear before Council to present information related to a governance or Council Matter shall complete a Deputation Request Form, which shall include all documentation to be presented at the Meeting, including a written transcript of the Deputation. This information will form the Deputation Package and be printed on the Agenda, which will become part of the public record. 

The deadline to submit a deputation package is at noon (12 p.m.) on the Tuesday prior to the Meeting which the presenter wishes to appear. The submission of a request does not guarantee the request will be approved or heard at the requested Meeting. The Municipality reserves the right to reschedule a Deputation to a time which is more appropriate.

For matters which are administrative or operational, or already addressed by Policy, the matter will not appear on the Agenda and the request will be forwarded to the appropriate department.  A Deputation will not be listed on the Agenda until staff has had the opportunity to address the matter. If the presenter is not satisfied with the response, an appeal may be made to the Mayor. Deputations including complaints are not subject to the appeal and will be addressed through the Complaints Policy. A maximum of 4 deputations will be heard at a Meeting. For complete rules and more information about Deputations, refer to Part 8 of the Procedure By-Law.

Request for Deputation Form  

Guidelines for speaking at a meeting

To help make your deputation as effective as possible, please adhere to the following:

• You should state your name and organizational affiliation before you address Council
• You should speak through the Mayor when answering any Council Member questions
• You should address the Mayor as “your worship”, for example “through you, your worship, I would like to answer Councillor ABC's question…”
• Your presentation is to be addressed to Council as a whole and not to individual Council Members
• Council Members may interrupt you if they need more information
• Make your presentation short, clear and to the point
• Deputations will not be longer than 10 minutes
• Do not interrupt the Mayor or a Member of Council
• It is expected that speakers will observe the Rules of Order which include, no presenter shall:
  • Speak without first being recognized by the Chair;
  • Speak disrespectfully of any person;
  • Use offensive words or gestures, or make abusive comments;
  • Speak on any subject other than the subject stated on the request;
  • Disobey Rules of Procedures or a decision of Council or the Chair;
  • Interrupt, speak-over, or continue to speak when advised by the Chair not to, or otherwise disrupt the Chair.

 Submit a letter

Residents and local organizations are welcome submit letters to Mayor and Council. Letters that do not pertain to Agenda items, will be individually sent to Council Members via email. Council Members will then have the opportunity to correspond directly with the author to obtain more information on the matter.

If a letter is relating to an Agenda item (i.e. a service level change), it will be added to the Agenda. This letter will form part of the public record.

All letters received that are operational in nature or governed within a Municipal Policy or By-Law shall be addressed in accordance with the established Policy or By-Law. Anonymous correspondence will not be considered or forwarded.

Individuals who submit letters and other information to Council should be aware that any personal information contained within their communication may become part of the public record and may be made available to the Public through the Council Agenda process. The letter can be dropped off at the Greenstone Administration Office or submitted to the Clerk. All subject matter that would be considered operational or governed within a Municipality Policy or By-law will be responded to in accordance with the established practice.

Submitting a Petition to Council

If a resident or owner or tenant of land would like to present a Petition to Council on a particular matter that is within the authority of Council, the Petition will be presented through a Deputation to Council. The Petition will form part of the public Agenda package and will be filed for public record. Residents should be aware that when signing a Petition, they are consenting to releasing the information contained in the Petition to the public through the Council Agenda process. Each page of the Petition shall contain the following:

• Addressed to the Municipality of Greenstone Council;
• Request a particular action within the authority of Council, printed at the top of each page;
• Be printed in a format with sufficient space for the names of the petitioner, including address and signature;
• Individually completed by each petitioner, in ink, including name, address, and signature;
• Appropriate and respectful language, and not containing improper or offensive language or defamatory allegations or information;
• Contain a disclosure on each page that it will be considered a public document and that the information contained in it may be subject to the scrutiny of the Municipality and other members of the public.

Create your Petition on our fillable and printable Petition form. Once petitioners have completed, the form may be submitted through a Deputation Request to the Clerk.