Public Participation at a Meeting

• Open forum is an opportunity for a person, on their own behalf, or as a spokesperson for a group, to ask questions of Council on any item, or to provide their comments on an item listed on the current agenda without the requirement to pre-register.

• Only residents, taxpayers, service providers or members speaking on behalf of an association or organization that serves the Town of Orangeville, are permitted to speak during open forum. 

As per the Town of Orangeville's Procedure By-law:

• The microphone at the delegate stand shall be turned off immediately after the allocated three (3) minutes are complete.
• No person shall be permitted to speak at the same meeting for which they are a registered delegate on that topic.
• No person shall speak to a repeat topic that they had spoken to during a delegation or open forum in the pervious three (3) months.

• Participants addressing Council during open forum shall be allocated a maximum of three (3) minutes as per the Town of Orangeville's Procedure By-law.

• The Mayor/Chair will invite questions or comments from the gallery, at which time members of the public connected via telephone, may press *9 to raise their hand followed by *6 to unmute.
• Members of the public connected via Microsoft Teams, may utilize the raise hand feature when the Mayor/Chair announces the open forum section. Once the Mayor/Chair calls upon you, you may unmute at that time.

• Delegations are typically requested by residents or local community groups wishing to speak to, or make a request to, Council.
• Delegates must register and provide all information at least seven (7) days before the meeting and may only delegate after consultation with relevant staff. Should the subject matter of the delegation fall within the scope of a Town Committee, delegates are encouraged to schedule their delegation with the relevant Committee. If you are unsure, please contact the Clerks Division for more information.
• To register to delegate at the Committee level, please visit the Boards and Committees webpage.

• Only residents, taxpayers, service providers or members speaking on behalf of an association or organization that serves the Town of Orangeville, are permitted to register as a delegate, subject to limited exceptions if approved by the CAO or Council.

• No member of the public shall be permitted to delegate to Council for the purposes of solicitation of services or other such endeavors.
• No delegation will be approved for any member of the public who has previously spoken about the matter at a public meeting held for the same topic with same information. Please be sure to provide as much information as possible in your request.
• No delegations shall be permitted on any item that is deemed to be outside of the authority of Council.
• No person shall speak to a repeat topic that they had spoken to during a delegation or open forum in the previous three (3) months.

• As per the Town of Orangeville's Procedure By-law, you must consult relevant Town staff before submitting a request to delegate. If you do not know who you should speak with, call 519-941-0440 and a Customer Service Representative can assist you.
• Some matters may not need a decision by Council and may be one which can be resolved at the staff level.

• To ensure your name will be listed on the agenda, requests to delegate to Council must be received at least seven (7) days prior to the scheduled meeting.
• Delegation requests received after the deadline will be given the option to be included at the following regular Council meeting or alternately many attend and speak during open forum.

The delegation request form, must include the following:

• the requester's name,
• delegate's mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address,
• nature of business to be discussed and the specific action being requested (please be as specific as possible),
• whether you discussed this with Town staff before requesting a delegation. Please provide the staff member's name, if known,
• presentation materials, notes or handouts related to the delegation for circulation to Council.

• Registered delegates shall be allocated five (5) minutes of time as per the Town of Orangeville's Procedure By-law.

• When you check-in before the meeting, staff will show you how to access your delegation materials (if submitted) on the delegation laptop.
• When you are called upon by the Mayor/Chair, please make your way to the delegation table and verify that the microphone is on, and the camera is angled appropriately.
• Using the delegation laptop, bring up your presentation located on the Desktop to share your materials using Teams, Staff will be able to assist, if needed.
• Prior to commencing your delegation, please state your name and address (and the name of the organization you are representing, if applicable).
• Keep your introduction brief and move onto your main point(s) as quickly as you can.
• If you are asked a question, address your response through the Chair or Mayor by starting your answer with "Through you, Mayor...".
• Please refrain from speaking after your allotted time unless you are called on by the Mayor/Chair.
• Please be mindful of the time limit. A countdown clock will be within view of the delegate table for your reference.
• You may return to your seat in the gallery or vacate the meeting at the end of your delegation.

• Please log into the meeting 2-5 minutes before the start of the meeting and be sure to test your audio and sound.
• Make sure both your camera and microphone are turned off until you are called on by the Mayor/Chair.
• If connected via telephone, please press *6 to mute and unmute and *9 to raise your hand.
• If connected via Microsoft Teams, please utilize the raise hand feature when the Mayor/Chair announces the delegation section.
• Prior to commencing your delegation, please state your name and address (and the name of the organization you are representing, if applicable).
• Keep your introduction brief and move onto your main point(s)as quickly as you can.
• If you are asked a question, address your response through the Chair or Mayor by starting your answer with "Through you, Mayor ...".
• Please refrain from speaking after your allotted time unless you are called on by the Mayor/Chair.
• Please be mindful of the time limit. You may ask for an update if you are not sure how much time you have left.
• You may turn off your camera and microphone or vacate the meeting at the end of your delegation.

• Staff, consultants, or organizations presenting on behalf of, or upon request from the Town, will be considered a presentation. 

• Presenters or the relevant staff member shall notify the Clerk's Division of the intent to present and provide all supporting documents at least seven (7) days before the meeting.
• Presenters shall provide the Clerk's Division with the time needed for the presentation, which shall not exceed thirty (30) minutes, expect with the leave of Council.

• Council-Public Meetings are held, as required, to seek feedback from members of the public on matters relating to specific Provincial legislation (i.e. Development Charges Act, 1997, Planning Act, etc) or other such matters as may be deemed to be required.

• As per the Town of Orangeville's Procedure By-law, any member of the public may provide their comments at a statutory public meeting held pursuant to regulations included in the legislation requiring such meeting, however, only residents, taxpayers, service providers, or members speaking on behalf of an association or organization that serves the Town of Orangeville are permitted to speak during a Council-Public meeting on items that do not fall within the scope of a Statutory Public Meeting, subject to limited exceptions if approved by the CAO or Council.
• If you are unsure, please contact the Clerks Division.

• If you wish to speak at a Council-Public meeting, registration is not required.
• The meeting Chair will invite questions or comments from the gallery immediately following the presentation on the matter. At which time, members of the public may attend the delegate stand or press *6 to unmute if connected via telephone.
• All comments made during a Council-Public Meeting must relate directly to the matter under consideration at the meeting.