Municipal Government 101: What is a Special Council Meeting?

You may hear that Council has called a “Special Council Meeting” and wonder what makes it different from a regular Council meeting.

A Special Council Meeting is simply a meeting that is held outside of Council’s regular meeting schedule to deal with specific matters that require attention. It doesn’t mean there’s an emergency or that something is being done in secret. It means the issue is important enough that it can’t, or shouldn’t, wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting.

Why are Special Council Meetings called?

There are many reasons a municipality may hold a Special Council Meeting, including:

• Time-sensitive decisions that can’t wait until the next regular meeting.
• Matters that require additional discussion or debate.
• Budget deliberations or strategic planning sessions.
• Public meetings required under legislation, such as the Planning Act.
• Issues that may have significant financial, legal, or community impacts.
• To allow Council to focus on one major issue without the time constraints of a regular agenda.

In my experience working for the Town of Whitby, Legal Services would often have to request that the Mayor call a Special Council meeting to deal with Ontario Land Tribunal or litigation settlement offers.  Settlement offers are extremely time sensitive and could result in financial repercussions if not addressed by the deadlines imposed by the appellant, Tribunal or Court.

Who can call a Special Council Meeting?

The rules for calling a Special Council Meeting are set out in each municipality’s Procedural By-law.

In Scugog, a Special Council Meeting may be called:

• by the Mayor at any time; or,
• upon receipt of a petition from a majority of the Members of Council, the Clerk shall call a Special Meeting for the purpose and at the time mentioned in the petition.

Those rules are in place to ensure transparency and that all members of Council receive proper notice of the meeting and the matters to be discussed.

What happens at a Special Council Meeting?

The meeting follows many of the same procedures as a regular Council meeting. Council will:

• Receive the agenda and any reports.
• Hear presentations or delegations if permitted.
• Debate the matter before them.
• Ask questions of staff through the Chair.
• Make motions and amendments.
• Vote on any decisions before Council.

The key difference is that a Special Council Meeting is usually limited to the specific items listed on the agenda. Council cannot simply begin discussing unrelated matters that weren’t included in the notice of the meeting.

Municipal Government 101 Takeaway

A Special Council Meeting isn’t more or less important than a regular Council meeting - it’s simply another tool that allows municipalities to deal with important matters in a timely and transparent way.

Understanding how and why these meetings are called helps residents follow the decisions that shape their community and appreciate the processes that exist to ensure those decisions are made openly and fairly.