Members of the Township of Southgate council in southwestern Ontario firmly rejected a hand-out of $75 per day in advance of a conference as a meal allowance.
Staff said they based the new draft conference policy on rules in other municipalities. But an up-front allowance still got a firm ‘no’ from most members.
The final direction from council was to bring the policy back with the same procedure as in place now. Council members will submit receipts for reimbursement.
Coun. Jason Rice commented that you have to eat anyway, whether you’re at a convention or at home.
At least some conventions include meals in registration fees, Coun. Martin Shipston and others pointed out.
Coun. Monica Singh Soares commented that because of dietary restrictions, convention menus might not be suitable for everyone, and she supported the policy presented.
The main reason the policy came forward was to lower the number of conventions each member is allowed to attend to save money.
The draft policy also was changed to remove a section on the number of staff and firefighter conferences, training and education.
Rather than being part of a public bylaw, that information will now be in an internal Human Resources manual, the report said.
Coun. Rice asked what the limit was for staff. CAO Dina Lundy said she did not remember the number off-hand, but the conferences would be budgeted by department heads.
The number proposed for members of council was three conferences for the Mayor and two for all other members of council. The number had been three for councillors under the old policy.
The Mayor and Deputy Mayor can also attend a conference as Grey County councillors funded by the county, as well. (The Warden, which title the Mayor holds in 2024, can attend more.)
Coun. Monica Singh Soares questioned whether that arrangement was equitable, but no one else spoke to share that concern.
Another change made in the policy was to add that each member of council also can be funded to attend a one-day educational seminar.
A mini-debate followed around whether writing reports after conventions (published as part of the agenda) should be required, and what reminder or incentive (like a hold-back on reimbursement) might be appropriate.
In the end, councillors decided to continue to madate the report, without adding any enforcement.
The Mayor can attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference wherever it is hosted, while other members of council can only attend in Ontario.
Council will no longer have to approve attendance by motion as long as it is within the policy.
The new policy was sparked by what happened last November, when staff presented a report showing that all the requested conferences totalled more than $40,000 in budget.
That raised some eyebrows around the table, and council later went ahead with trimming choices back, to $25,850.
The policy then allowed up to three conferences per year. Both council and staff said that there is knowledge to be gained, and a chance to lobby for local issues with provincial ministry reps.
But several councillors added that they were re-thinking their choices, and later that month, the reductions were made voluntarily.
Coun. Jason Rice also asked last November about the estimated cost for staff attendance, but that was not available.
By M.T. Fernandes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
