Saugeen Shores council opened it's first meeting of 2026 defending a decision from last year to do away with Committee of the Whole.
On Monday, council received a delegation from resident Brian Putnam asking for Committee of the Whole meetings to return after they were phased out in late 2024.
"Since the dissolution of the Committee of the Whole... council meets every second and fourth Monday of wach month, with the agenda for each posted wach Thursday at 4:30 p.m. the week prior," he said. "These changes mean that stakeholders are given less than two full business days to review agenda items, seek clarification, undertake research and communitcate their point of view. In short, this change has stifled community input and allowed council to, excuse the expression, steamroll issues, projects, policies and processes through."
Members of council took exception with that framing, with Councillor Rachel Stack saying the move was made to improve efficiency and that public feedback is still a key factor in decision making.
"Now, rather than having the fullsome discussion and then coming back and formally voting it into a by-law, we just do that in one session," she said. "I understand that's a concern and I think that's a worthwhile discussion point... from my perspective, I think I take great pains to assess the feedback from the community, and to suggest that there was any nefarious intent or there was an intent to steamroll, warrants a discussion."
Stack noted that materials are posted, but that they could explore ways to make the website more accessible for residents.
Councillor Cheryl Grace also said they needed to make an effort to provide better education on how the process has changed.
"Since our 2026 Business Plan has devoted funds to be used for civic engagement, I would ask for us to directly address this issue," she said. "Obviously it's really important for members of the public to understand our council procedure, so I would ask that staff think about that and ideally come back to us with a plan for how they're going to communicate that."
The changes implmented in 2025 can be found in a backround report to council.
