As the decisions made by Regional Council so closely affect the lives of Halton's citizens, your participation in the decision-making process is encouraged.

Regional Council is the final decision-making body for Halton Region and meets Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. on a 3 week cycle. Council is composed of the Regional Chair and elected representatives from each of the Region's 4 municipalities.  

The Standing Committees meet as follow: 

• Health & Social Services Committee meets Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. on a 3 week cycle
• Planning & Public Works Committee meets Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. on a 3 week cycle
• Administration & Finance Committee meets Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. on a 3 week cycle 

"Delegate" means any person, group of persons, firm or organization that is neither a Member of the Committee or Council concerned nor an appointed official of the Region, wishing to address Committee or Council upon a request to the Clerk; and a "Delegation" means the communication of a position by a Delegate.

Delegates are encouraged to bring their concerns to the appropriate Standing Committee rather than to the full Council. This procedure allows Committee members to weigh all arguments before making a recommendation to Regional Council. 

Before you decide to appear before Committee, you may want to discuss your concerns with a member of Regional staff and/or your Regional Ward Councillor. Some issues may be resolved at the staff level or, at the very least, staff can advise you of the next step toward resolving your concerns.

• Registering as a Delegate
• Standing Committee Meeting Agendas
• Format for Standing Committee Meetings
• Appearing Before Regional Council
• Presentations
• Audio/Visual Guide for Council and Committee Delegates
• Registration

Registering as a Delegate

For matters appearing on the agenda:

If, after speaking with staff, you decide to appear before Committee to present your concerns, you may register in writing, by e-mail or by fax by the close of the business day prior to the date of the meeting. The request should also set out the particulars of the matter to be addressed.

For matters not appearing on the agenda: 

If, after speaking with staff, you decide to appear before Committee to present your concerns, please contact the Office of the Regional Clerk in writing, by e-mailing regionalclerk@halton.ca or by fax. The request must also set out the particulars of the matter to be addressed. Your delegation will be scheduled for the most appropriate upcoming meeting – please note that this may not necessarily be the next scheduled meeting. In addition, staff may wish to prepare a report for Committee members regarding your concerns prior to your appearance.

Groups

If a group of individuals wishes to jointly address a Committee/Council, the group should designate one individual as spokesperson for the group. However, if a group of citizens all wish to address the Committee/Council on a similar issue, the second, third, fourth, etc., individuals should attempt not to repeat what has already been said but may provide new information.

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Standing Committee Meeting Agendas

As the Committees deal with a considerable volume of information, a background report to brief the Committee will be prepared by staff to enable the Committee members to have the information available to them prior to your presentation. Regional staff will advise you of the date that your issue will be considered by the Standing Committee. .

An agenda for each Standing Committee meeting is prepared a week prior to the meeting.

If you have any written material that you wish included in the agenda, it should be given to the Regional Clerk well in advance of the preparation of the agenda. If, however, the written material is not available for the preparation of the agenda, 25 copies should be brought to the Standing Committee meeting (50 copies for Council meetings). If you are unable to provide the copies, please bring the material to the Clerk's Division 20 minutes before the meeting in order that staff may make copies.

Your written material provides members and staff with a better understanding of your concerns and recommendations. You should be aware that it IS MADE PUBLIC as it is not only distributed to the members of the Standing Committees, but to the whole of Council, Regional staff, and the media.

You may obtain a copy of the agenda or the staff report prior to the meeting by either contacting the Regional Clerk's Office or follow the link above.

NOTE: Meeting dates are subject to change. Contact the Regional Clerk's Office.

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Format for Standing Committee Meetings

• Delegations are heard by Standing Committees at the beginning of the meeting.
• The Chair will invite you, as a delegate, to sit at the end of the Committee table to make your delegation.
• Your delegation is limited to ten minutes at Standing Committees. If you need more time, please tell the Committee Clerk before the meeting. The Committee determines if it will extend your time.
• Please direct your delegation to the Chair and members of the Committee.
• After your delegation, you should remain at the table to answer questions from the Committee members.
• Following questions, Committee does not entertain comments, and you will be asked to return to the gallery.
• Committee members may then debate the issue or deal with it in the order in which it appears in the agenda.
• The Committee's recommendations will then be forwarded to Regional Council, which meets a week later.
• Decisions made by a Standing Committee are not final until consideration and approval has been granted by Regional Council.

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Appearing Before Regional Council

If, after the Committee meeting, you would like to speak further on the item, you may appear before Council at its next regular meeting but you must register with the Regional Clerk's Office. Delegations at Regional Council are allowed five minutes, and your presentation is addressed to the Regional Chair and members of Council. All delegations must be listed in the Council agenda and are heard at the beginning of the meeting. Recommendations from Standing Committees are debated, sometimes amended, voted on, and then become the final decision of Council.

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Presentations

"Presentation" means a presentation given by an agency, board, committee or staff, including award presentations to acknowledge an achievement by an individual or group, community announcements, and status reports on Regional agencies, boards or committees for informational purposes only; and "Presenter" means the individual(s) making a Presentation.

Presentations are limited to 10 minutes at both Committee and Council.

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Audio/Visual Guide for Council and Committee Delegates

Audio visual equipment, including a computer with audio capabilities and an LCD Projector, is available for use in each Regional Council and Standing Committee meeting. Also available in Council Chambers is a document camera. Please note that you will be required to use this equipment, as non-Regional computers are not configured for use with our audio visual equipment.

In order to ensure that electronic presentations are properly tested on Halton Region systems it is strongly recommended that they be submitted to regionalclerk@halton.ca or delivered to the Regional Clerk at the address below at least 24 hours in advance. If access to a website is required, it is also recommended that the web address be provided at least 24 hours in advance to ensure that it can be properly viewed on Halton Region systems. Staff will be available 30 minutes prior to the meeting and will make every effort to assist, but cannot guarantee the functionality of items that have not been received in advance.

Please be advised presentations need to be smaller then 5MB to be sent through e-mail. If the presentation is larger please submit via CD, DVD or USB storage device to:

Office of the Regional Clerk
1151 Bronte Rd, Level 3
Oakville On L6M 3L1

Halton Region uses Windows XP and currently supports the following file formats with this operating system:

• Microsoft Office 2003 (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, Project, Visio)
• Windows Media Player
• Real Player
• Adobe Acrobat 8
• QuickTime

Please note that Halton Region does not currently support Microsoft Office 2007 programs. Therefore, documents should be saved in the lower 2003 version before being submitted.

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Registration

To register as a delegate or to obtain advice, please contact the Regional Clerk at:

The Regional Municipality of Halton
1151 Bronte Road
Oakville ON L6M 3L1

Phone: 905-825-6000
Fax: 905-825-8838
Toll Free: 1-866-4Halton (1-866-442-5866)
E-Mail: regionalclerk@halton.ca

Office Hours: Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

NOTE: Please contact the Regional Clerk's Office concerning Standing Committee and Council meeting dates, as these dates may change without notice.

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