Edmonton city council has rejected an administration proposal to extend the standard times for council and committee meetings for the next council by 30 minutes.
Administration prepared a draft calendar for the next council's term, which included the additional meeting time proposal and a number of other suggested changes. The current council was invited to share its feedback at a meeting on Aug. 19, though it will be the next council, elected in October, which will give the draft calendar its final approval.
Administration proposed ending city meetings at 5:30pm, 30 minutes later than they currently end, though it also proposed meetings to start at 9:30am and have a 90-minute lunch break at noon, as they currently do. Administration said it proposed the end at 5:30pm because council meetings occasionally extend past 5pm as it is, and this change would make the schedule more predictable.
But at the Aug. 19 meeting, several councillors said a later end time would be challenging for both councillors and city staff who have children.
"I think there is a life balance impact there with childcare," said Ward O'day-min Coun. Anne Stevenson. "For me, it seems like going past 5pm is the exception rather than the norm."
Many childcare operators levy a "significant financial penalty" to caregivers who pick up children late, Ward papastew Coun. Michael Janz said.
"There's a serious financial equity consideration here around the closure time," he said. "If we have to go to 5:30pm, that's incredibly challenging. I already, this term, have had to miss the end of (many) meetings to get (to childcare pickup) on time."
To increase the meeting time without going past 5pm, councillors also debated starting meetings at 9am, and ending their lunch break at 1pm instead of 1:30pm.
But admin officials flagged that an earlier start could create problems for city staff, who must arrive before meetings to prepare. Administration officials also said shortening the lunch break might create challenges, because staff require a lunch break that's at least 30 minutes long, and often use the rest of the 90 minutes for off-site meetings to draft motions, and to perform other tasks that help council meetings run smoothly.
Council voted unanimously to keep the daily schedule at the status quo for end times, and Janz alone voted to start earlier and reduce the lunch break.
Some councillors criticized the idea of extending meetings at all. "Would not the easier approach be to have everyone prepared, everyone having read the reports, and understand when their questions are redundant, and have the chair maybe point that out?" Ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette asked. "A council that prepares well and debates efficiently will serve Edmonton better, and that's a standard worth striving for."
Edmonton city council rejected a proposal on Aug. 19 that would have seen its successors meet past 5pm. (Mack Male/Flickr)
Ward Nakota Isga Coun. Andrew Knack, who's also running for mayor, agreed. "When we give ourselves more time, we fill the time," he said.
Administration proposed the changes to address a growing workload and an increase in the number of residents voicing their opinion at council meetings, a report said. (Here is a list of administration- and council-driven reports and bylaws that are still due to council and committees in the coming months.)
Council approved, in principle, the other changes that administration proposed, which would mean that future councils would get a summer break of four weeks instead of five and there would be an extra day added to public hearing meetings, among other adjustments. "The number of public hearing items requiring postponement in 2025 indicates additional meeting days are required," reads a report about the proposed changes. There have been public hearings that saw more than 100 Edmontonians attend in this council term, especially those for rezoning applications, as backlash against infill development grows.