June 15, 2009 - District of Mission

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committees. There is a mixture of the roles of councillors who are appointed to
these groups.
In some cases the councillor is the chair of the committee while in other cases
council members simply participate as committee members. With one exception
council members can vote on any question that the committee is discussing. The
exception is the Economic Development Select Committee where the councillors
and the staff are "ex-officio" members with no voting privileges (1) .
If there is any confusion arising from the role of "liaison" it is in relation to
commissions, because these are the only committees to which council has
appointed a "liaison". The proposed policy is intended to clarify that role as well.
Alternate Appointees as Liaisons
Council appoints alternates for all liaisons. I am recommending that this practice
be reconsidered (except for other governmental boards or committees) based on
some simple assumptions:
(a)
(b)
it is difficult for an alternate to be familiar with the issues being discussed
unless they have attended previous meetings;
the minutes of the meeting will provide the information to council; if there is
any clarity required, the liaison can obtain the information at the next
board/committee meeting; and
(c) it is rare that the liaison is unable to attend their committee or board
meetings.
The exception to this might be if a liaison is expected to be absent for an extended
period of time
Fee-For-Service Organizations
Finally, council inquired whether a council liaison should be appointed to
organizations that receive fee-for-service grants. I do not believe that would be a
good practice for the following reasons:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Council approves funding on the basis of proposed services to be provided by
the organization.
The organization that receives the funds must provide an annual report to
verify delivery the services.
Council has no control over the operation of the fee-for-service organizations,
and that is appropriate.
There are other grants provided by council that include fairly similar amounts.
It would be impractical to require a council liaison to all organizations that
receive grants.
(1) It should be noted that it is not inherent that ex-officio members cannot vote, in fact it is usually the opposite. If voting
privileges are not extended then it must be based on a formal decision that this is the case.
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