Thompson city council abolished the standing committee structure that had been in place since 2008 when they passed a new organizational and procedural bylaw at their Jan. 31 meeting.
Both second and third reading of the bylaw were approved in 5-3 votes.
Mayor Colleen Smook, deputy mayor Brian Lundmark and councillors Kathy Valentino, Braden McMurdo and Andre Proulx voted in favour of both readings, while councillors Duncan Wong, Les Ellsworth and Jeff Fountain were opposed.
The new bylaw replaces two previous bylaws – one organizational and one procedural – that were in effect since 2020. The main change in the new bylaw is that standing committees on public works, recreation, finance and other topics have been replaced by a committee of the whole which includes all members of council and meets at 7 p.m. on the first and third Mondays of the month at council chambers in City Hall. The meetings are live-streamed and recordings of them uploaded to the city’s social media accounts.
Valentino said the new structure would improve communication transparency for the public, as they can easily watch committee meetings, and be more efficient, with no more than six hours of committee meetings per month, compared to an average of nine for the five standing committees in place before. She also said it will help councillors stay in the loop and feel better informed.
“I feel like as a council we work better together,” she said.
Evening meetings are more convenient for people who work day shifts, said McMurdo.
“That might help further down the road drawing candidates from our community that maybe wouldn’t run otherwise,” he said.
The councillors who opposed the new bylaw had different reasons for voting no.
Wong said he wasn’t necessarily against the new committee system but believed it was a result of a bad relationship between council and city administration staff. He also questioned why it was being done less than a year before the next general election.
“My concern is timing,” he said.
For Ellsworth, getting rid of standing committees, which had citizen representatives, is a step backwards for engagement.
“Viewers listening to you is not input,” he said. “This mayor and council is nowhere near as engaged with the public as it should be. What you really said to the people of Thompson is they’re not important.”
The fact that the new bylaw doesn’t include a treaty recognition within its text like the ones it replaces disappointed Fountain, who was also unhappy with the elimination of the community comments and feedback portion of council meetings.
“We’re losing the ability for the public to come in unscripted or without registration,” he said.
At one time, council meetings had two opportunities for impromptu public participation: a general inquiries section near the beginning of the meeting, later renamed community comments and feedback, and a question period following the mayor’s report at the tail end of meetings. The general inquiries section was added to give people an opportunity to ask council questions without having to sit through a whole meeting. After it was introduced, the question period was removed from council meeting agendas.
Fountain also dislikes that the new debate procedure restricts councillors to directing questions, via the chair, to the city manager, the previous speaker or the mover of the resolution only.
The mayor said she supported the new bylaw because if paves the way for committee work to resume. The first committee of the whole meeting was held Feb. 7.
“I really do believe we have to get back to meeting,” she said.
