The elements of the exercise of authority were on full display last Thursday when Niagara Regional Council discussed council’s Procedural By-law and Code of Conduct for Members of Council. The meeting made it clear for all to see that council have defined themselves as having a superior level of competence, responsibility, and importance.
While it is common for organizations to set up and keep a sort of equilibrium between the organization (control) and the people (inclusion), this equilibrium is now off at Niagara Region, in favour of too much control at expense of inclusion.
It is hard to imagine a more fraught situation than going before council to address formal measures designed to obviously control your actions and words from an earlier occasion. Many presenters wanted to include a justification, for context, of their actions but this opportunity was denied. This is where several presenters found themselves last week. It became quickly obvious that council had predetermined the outcome, which gave the proceedings a strange aura of dominance and impatience.
The presenters, on both sides of the issue, had obviously prepared and rehearsed and nobody was quarrelsome or threatening but they were persistent. Rather than engage with the presenters, council persistently raised overly exacting procedural points which derailed the presenters' thoughts and watered down their messages. A better use of time would have been to show and support a feeling of mutual respect for the competence and responsibility of the presenters.
The staff report that went with the bylaw went to great lengths to include several sensible measures to welcome inclusion, but it had an unfortunate exclusionary clause banning placards within the council chamber. Some will not feel comfortable with the now-prescribed method of communicating.
Emotions are important. On the level of feelings, the need for inclusion is the need to build and keep a feeling of mutual interest with other people. It would have meant listening for the commitment of the presenters and engaging in an exploration of the value and possibilities for them and a real understanding of what it is ‘like’ for them.
Behaviours related to belonging and togetherness are primarily inclusion conceptions. The essential aspect of inclusion is identity and our choice of a way to communicate sets us apart from all others. Many people would not be comfortable in appearing before council. Not everybody wants to engage in debate especially with the overburden of excessive decorum.
What is wrong then with placards? They are only words.
It does not necessarily mean that decorum will be lost nor do they pose a threat to the deliberations of council. It is much more important to allow people to be heard and understood.
I am proud to note that Mayor Junkin and Councillor Bateman voted in opposition to the motion and believed more in our fellow citizens.
Councillor Wayne Olson represents Ward 1 on Pelham Town Council.
