Speaking at a Council or Committee Meeting

Loyalist Township welcomes members of the public to speak at Council or committee meetings. Individuals can address Council or committees as a Delegation, by participating in the Open Forum or at a Public Meeting.

Council and Committee meetings are held at the Municipal Office located at 263 Main Street, Odessa, Ontario. Meetings are streamed live on YouTube on the Loyalist Township's YouTube Channel.  The meeting agenda is published five (5) days in advance of the regular meeting date.  To find out when meetings are scheduled, visit the Township's Council and committee meeting listings on the CivicWeb portal and for 2025 Council and committee meeting dates please refer to the 2025 Council and Committee meeting schedule. Please complete our Alternative Document Request Form to request the 2025 Council and Committee meeting schedule in an alternative format.

View our Procedural By-law 2024-11 for full guidelines about meetings for Council and Committees.

Members of the public can participate in a meeting in the following ways:

Requesting to be a delegate

To be a delegation at a meeting, please submit your request at least seven (7) days in advance of the meeting at which you wish to speak, the reasons for the delegation and a brief written summary or presentation of your comments for inclusion on the agenda to the Clerk at clerk@loyalist.ca or by mail Loyalist Township, 263 Main Street, Odessa, Ontario, K0H 2H0. 

The Clerk or Deputy Clerk will contact you to confirm that you have been registered as a delegation and to provide you with the meeting details. The Clerk may suggest that you attend a future Council or Committee meeting.

To find a list of scheduled meetings, please visit the Loyalist Township Council and Committee Portal

As a delegation, you will have ten (10) minutes to address Council or Committee. 

Participating in the open forum

During Open Forum, any person may address Council on any matter that is listed on the agenda except items that will be subject to a statutory public meeting pursuant to the Planning Act on the same agenda.

Open Forum participants will have three (3) minutes to address Council.

Statutory public meeting

Members of the public who wish to make oral submissions with respect to an application that is the subject of the statutory public meeting shall be limited to speaking not more than three minutes per person, per application. 

Rules of conduct at meetings

The Township's Procedural By-law has established rules for procedures for all participants to ensure a safe and secure environment for Council and Committee meetings. A member of the public shall not:

• speak disrespectfully of any person;
• use offensive language;
• address Council without being recognized by the Chair;
• speak on any subject other than the subject for which they have received approval to address Council;
• bring signage, placards, or banners to Meetings;
• interfere with the conduct of a Meeting in any way; or
• disobey the rules of procedure or any decision of the Chair on any other procedural matters.

Please note: Information discussed by Delegation and Open Forum participants does become part of the public record and is recorded in the minutes for that meeting.