Belleville’s deputation deadline closes before agenda is published, contents must be approved by Mayor and CAO, unlike other municipalities

Many municipalities accept applications to speak before council (known as a deputation or delegation) as a form of public engagement to allow individuals or organizations to speak publicly to members of council on the record about a topic of interest or an item on the meeting’s agenda before a decision is made.

The process to do so is laid out in the Procedural Bylaw, which every municipality must have and governs the calling, place and proceedings of meetings.

In Belleville, both open and closed council agendas are developed by the Mayor and CAO and the Clerk compiles and publishes the agenda. Councillors are not involved in the agenda setting process and must submit a formal written Notice of Motion to have a motion added to a future council meeting.

Deputations must be submitted 6 days before a council meeting

Residents may request to appear before City Council or committee, but must do so no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Tuesday before the next regular Council meeting.

Belleville’s Regular Council meetings are held on Mondays at 4:00 PM every two weeks at City Hall in the council chambers, so for the June 22, 2026 council meeting, the deadline to submit a deputation was Tuesday June 16, 2026 at 4:30PM.

Belleville’s Procedural Bylaw requires deputation applications to be submitted on the Tuesday before the next meeting:

Persons desiring to be included on the meeting agenda as a Deputation shall contact the office of the Clerk no later than 4:30 p.m. on the Tuesday preceding the date of the next Regular Council Meeting to request to be listed on the meeting agenda as a Deputation, but the Mayor may authorize a Deputation be added to the meeting agenda any time prior to finalization of the meeting agenda.

Section 7.6

Deputation presentation contents must be approved by Mayor and CAO

In 2024, Belleville Council tightened the requirements for deputation applications, giving the Mayor and CAO the power to approve the contents of a deputation’s presentation, giving them the power to gatekeep deputations from being heard by all of council:

The Mayor and CAO will review all deputations, including materials and presentations, as part of the Agenda setting process. Failure for a person to provide such materials by the deadline in this section or prior to the finalization of the agenda will not be authorized to make a Deputation to Council.

Section 7.6

Belleville regularly posts meeting agendas 1 business day before the meeting

Belleville generally posts council meeting agendas on the Friday before Monday meetings, giving residents less than 1 business day advanced notice of upcoming decisions:

• The Transit Operations Advisory Committee meeting Monday, June 15 posted the agenda 1 business day prior on Friday, June 12.
• The Grant Committee meeting June 16 posted its agenda the day before on June 15.

The Regular Council meeting Monday, June 22 at 4:00PM posted its agenda 1 business day prior on Friday June 19th. The agenda was amended on Friday afternoon to add the receipt of the Integrity Commissioner’s Closed Meeting Investigator Report that found Council broke provincial law with a secret vote, less than 1 business day before the item would be discussed – giving residents only the weekend to learn of the decision, provide feedback, and plan to attend the meeting.

Unscheduled deputations: residents can speak during a meeting with majority support

Persons wishing to appear as a Deputation and who are not listed on the meeting agenda may appear as a Deputation with support from the majority of the Members present.

Section 7.6(3) of the Procedural Bylaw

If you are not listed on the agenda, you may still request to appear as a deputation during the meeting.

Approval requires a majority vote of Council members present.

Website

Rules include:

• Maximum of 3 people
• Maximum of 10 minutes combined
• Members may ask specific questions

Presenting a deputation to council regarding an agenda item is logically and procedurally impossible

If the deadline to request a deputation is the Tuesday before the Monday meeting, but the agenda isn’t posted until Friday, it is logically and procedurally impossible for a citizen to apply to speak on an agenda item they haven’t seen yet. Therefore, formal delegations, can only be on general topics of concern or interest and are unlikely to be related to those being discussed at a given meeting, unless given special approval by the Mayor and CAO.

Examples

Contacting the Clerk’s Office to find out when a topic will be on the agenda is a logical next step to determining the deadline to submit a delegation application. However, in practice, Belleville’s responses to these requests does not resolve the procedural impossibility.

Closed Meeting Investigator Report added to agenda as an amendment less than 1 business day before the decision

An Integrity Commissioner’s Closed Meeting Investigator Report that found Council broke provincial law with a secret vote was released on June 18.

The complainant emailed the Clerk’s Office on the morning of June 19 to ask when the report would be addressed by Council as required by law:

Please let me know the date of the council meeting that IC Report CMI-2026-01 will be on the agenda once it has been set.

June 19 at 7:16AM

Their response recommended signing up for “E-Updates” by email:

sign up to receive E-Updates regarding Council meetings and their minutes …

If you are subscribed already, you should receive notice once a council meeting has been scheduled and the agenda is published.

Clerk’s Office at June 19 at 9:37AM

Another way of wording this response is: “just wait for the agenda to be published”, which leaves applying for a deputation on the subject as a procedural impossibility.

The agenda for the Regular Council meeting Monday, June 22 at 4:00PM was posted sometime during the day on Friday June 19th. On Friday afternoon, the agenda was amended to add the Integrity Commissioner’s Closed Meeting Investigator Report, giving residents the weekend to respond and making a formal deputation impossible:

Lack of response regarding Jane Forrester Green Space giveaway report didn’t provide enough time

We had hoped to make a deputation regarding this issue. I made a number of phone calls requesting a timeline for when the report would be brought back to council so we could plan for it. Each call I had to leave a voice message, with no return calls, until 2 days ago.  Unfortunately due to the short timeline, 3 days, regarding notification of the completion of the report to be presented at Monday’s agenda, it has not allowed for that.

Belleville resident regarding Jane Forrester Green Space giveaway

Other municipalities accept applications the day before and the CAO and Mayor are not involved

Belleville is unusual on two counts: its deputation deadline, and who decides whether a deputation is heard.

Many of the municipalities below set their application deadline at or near the meeting itself, after the agenda is public, so a resident can apply to speak on an item they have actually seen and the City Clerk – an appointed administrative official – reviews deputation requests.

Peterborough takes requests until 11:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting. Brockville, Kingston, and Toronto accept them until late afternoon the day before. Others set earlier deadlines but pair them with earlier agenda publication, or accept written material after the agenda is posted. Peterborough takes requests until 11:00 a.m. on the day of the meeting. Brockville, Kingston, and Toronto accept them until late afternoon the day before. In each case, the review sits with the Clerk, not with the officials who built the agenda.

In Belleville, the Mayor and CAO, the same two officials who set the agenda, have final approval.

Peterborough: 11:00 on day of the meeting, reviewed by Clerk

A Delegate must submit to the City Clerk an application that:

a) is complete, legible, in a form acceptable to the City Clerk and includes:

i) if the Delegate is an individual, the Delegate’s residential address;
ii) if the Delegation is solely on behalf of a corporation as Delegate, the corporation’s full legal name, the address of the corporation’s head office and the presenter’s relationship to the Delegate;
iii) the Delegate’s telephone number; and
iv) the Delegate’s e-mail address;
b) concerns a matter that is on an Agenda;
c) indicates whether the Delegate is in support of or opposes the proposed course
of action for the matter;
d) outlines the proposed Delegation;
e) includes an electronic copy of any proposed presentation to accompany the Delegation;
f) does not include inappropriate or offensive language;
g) indicates whether the Delegate wishes to present in person or by Electronic Means at the Meeting; and that
h) is given to the City Clerk no later than 11:00 a.m. on the day of the Meeting.

Procedure By-law

Brockville: 4:00PM the day before, reviewed by the Clerk

(1) A maximum of three delegations or presentations may address Council or a Committee without the consensus of members present, except during Public Planning Meetings, Town Hall Meetings and Public Information Sessions.

(2) Any person wishing to present materials, either in hard copy or electronically, shall submit a copy of the material to the Clerk no
later than 4:00 pm on the day before the agenda is to be distributed.

Procedure Bylaw

Kingston: 4:00PM the day before, reviewed by the Clerk

12.7 All Delegations shall self-register by completing the Delegation Request Form on the City’s webpage and submitting it to the Clerk before 4:00 p.m. on the day prior to the Meeting at which the Delegation desires to be heard. The Clerk will not accept a request received after the deadline. Delegations may not be registered by a third party.

12.8 A Delegation shall only address a Meeting with respect to a Report or New Motion on the Agenda or Addendum and shall confine their remarks to such item.

Procedural Bylaw

Quinte West: 7 days, reviewed by the Clerk

Any person desiring to be heard by Council or a Committee shall register as a Delegate by completing and submitting the prescribed form to the Clerk no later than seven (7) days prior to the Meeting. The prescribed form must be completed by the individual requesting to be a Delegate. Delegates who register prior to the publication of the Agenda will be listed under the “Delegation” section of the Agenda.

Petitions presented to Council shall be legibly written or printed and signed by at least one person and filed with the Clerk during or prior
to the Council Meeting. The person or persons presenting the Petition may speak on the matter before Council, in which case it shall be limited to a maximum of ten (10) minutes.

Procedural Bylaw

Prince Edward County: 5 working days before, reviewed by the Clerk

(1) Any person may, by notice to the Clerk, request an opportunity to address the members of the Council or Committee on any matter within the jurisdiction of the County. Deputations may participate in-person, or electronically.

(2) Every request to be listed on an agenda as a deputation shall be received by the Clerk five (5) working days prior to a meeting and shall include:

(i) the complete name of the person requesting the opportunity to be a deputation;
(ii) the reasons for the deputation; and
(iii) a brief summary of their comments or presentation to the Clerk prior to making a deputation four (4) working days prior to the meeting by noon for inclusion on the agenda.

(3) Any material submitted from a deputation, received post-agenda publication, related to a public meeting of Council or Committee be circulated to Members of Council and staff as applicable.

Procedural Bylaw

Hastings County: 10 business days, reviewed by Clerk, deferrals in consultation with the CAO and Warden

A delegation request can be submitted by completing the online form located on the County website www.hastingscounty.com or via email to the County Clerk.

Such requests must be submitted to the Clerk no later than (10) business days prior to the regular meeting, and the Clerk, in consultation with the CAO and Warden may decide as to deferral of delegations to subsequent meetings or referral to the appropriate Committee or Department Head. Delegations may be followed by questions to the delegation from members.

Toronto: 4:30PM the day before, the meeting, reviewed by Clerk

The Clerk prepares the agenda for all Council Committee meetings.

The Clerk establishes agenda deadlines for all Council Committees meetings.

If the Clerk receives the following matters by the agenda deadline and the matters are within the Council Committee’s mandate, the Clerk places them on the agenda for the next regular Council Committee meeting:

(1) Communications from Council to a Council Committee;
(2) Communications from another Council Committee or a public advisory body;
(3) Reports from City officials;
(4) Reports and communications from an agency;
(5) Communications from members; and
(6) Communications from the public related to a matter on the agenda.

Council Procedures

Ottawa: timeline varies by committee, reviewed by Clerk

Committees may receive representations (delegations) from the public.  No person, without leave of the Committee, shall speak for longer than five minutes on the item.

1. delegates shall register with the Office of the City Clerk in accordance with the timelines set out on the Agenda.
2. Where a matter within the mandate of an Advisory Committee is being presented to a Committee, either the Chair or Vice-Chair of the Advisory Committee or a Member designated by the Advisory Committee, but not more than one of them, may address the Committee on behalf of the Advisory Committee for up to five minutes on any one item.
3. Where a matter within the mandate of a local board is being presented to a Committee, either the Chair, Vice-Chair, or a representative designated by the board, but not more than one of them, may address the committee on behalf of the local board for up to five minutes on any one item.

Procedure By-law