THUNDER BAY – To lighten the workload of city council, administration will be presenting council with a recommendation to change their governance structure from a committee of the whole to a standing committee.
Krista Power, director of legislative services with the City of Thunder Bay, said a standing committee allows for a smaller number of councillors to better engage with agenda items before they become recommendations to city council.
“Generally, it's not all members of council. So, members are able to become a bit more connected to topics. What we've recommended is three standing committees, one on growth, one on finance and administration, and one on quality of life,” Power said.
“The reports that currently come to committee of the whole fit all of those areas, but specific reports would come to those specific standing committees. Members of council would be able to become a bit more connected to those areas of the city prior to those final decisions coming to city council,” she said.
Power noted every councillor will still need to be knowledgeable regarding city business to be able to make an informed decision when they vote on a recommendation in a city council meeting.
However, Power said a standing committee with four members of council plus the mayor “allows them to hone a specific skill set and to provide stakeholder engagement on a specific area of the city's work.”
“The other thing it does is it allows for them potentially to have a greater connection to the community. Asking someone to come and make a deputation to city council with all 13 members and all members of administration can be intimidating to the public. So, standing committee structures often break down barriers for individuals to become more engaged in local government,” Power said.
If passed, the standing committees and regular city council meetings will be divided into a six-week rotation with the standing committees on weeks one, three, and five and a regular city council meeting on weeks two, four, and six.
Power notes that there will still be a committee of the whole structure for closed sessions or large-scale development projects such as the multi-use indoor sports facility.
“There are financial implications, there's quality of life implications, there's growth implications there. Potentially that would be a file that would need to go to all three standing committee meetings. So, for efficiency, a special committee of the whole meeting on that topic may be of best use,” said Power.
She stated that one of the benefits of switching to a standing committee structure is it takes some of the workload off of councillors, some of which have full-time employment on top of their civic duties.
Currently, city council has 20 advisory committees and three local boards which are required to have appointed council members.
As part of this recommendation, administration would review the current advisory committee structure and see what committees can be dissolved or changed where some advisory committees would act in an advisory role to standing committees.
For example, Power said the anti-racism and equity committee may remain with an updated term of reference to act in an advisory capacity to the standing committee on quality of life.
“There are some synergies there where we think we could manage workload, and provide better and more quality engagement,” said Power.
If council accepts the recommendation, administration proposes that the new structure of council meetings launch in September 2025.
