Resolutions Deadlines
Annual Meeting of Council
To facilitate the preparation of resolutions, and to provide you with a reasonable length of time to study and discuss the resolutions, a deadline is set prior to Annual Meeting of Council meeting for the submission of resolutions. Resolutions must be received at the STF office by 5:00 p.m. on the day specified in the deadline.
For the Annual Meeting of Council, the resolutions deadline is set in policy and is the same each year. It is February 15. Resolutions received by this date are published in the Elections and Resolutions Information booklet with commentary from the mover(s) and background information from the STF.
At times it is appropriate for resolutions to be submitted after the resolutions deadline. STF Bylaw 2.5.3 gives the Resolutions Committee responsibility for ruling on the acceptability of a resolution received after the deadline. If the Committee believes that the subject matter in a late resolution is of an urgent nature or could not have been anticipated prior to the deadline, it may accept the resolution for consideration by Council. If the resolution is received in time, it will be included for debate in the small group sessions and may be included in the blocs of resolutions that are approved or defeated en bloc. However, there is no written Commentary from the Mover(s) or Background Information from the STF provided to councillors.
If a councillor does not agree with a ruling by the Resolutions Committee that a late resolution is not acceptable, the councillor may make a motion to the Council in plenary that the resolution be considered. This motion requires a seconder. If 80 per cent of those present and voting support the motion to consider the resolution, the ruling of the Resolutions Committee is set aside and the resolution is considered along with the other resolutions that have come to the floor of the Council in plenary.
Any councillor may also introduce a resolution on the floor of the Council in plenary. Such a resolution may arise as a result of the debate taking place. However, before such an emergent resolution can be considered, the councillor must ask leave of Council to put forward the resolution, providing the resolution in writing and naming the individual(s) or organization(s) submitting it. The motion to grant leave requires a seconder and must be passed by 80 per cent of those councillors present and voting. If leave is granted, the emergent resolution is then debated and decided by Council.
The chair determines the point in the meeting that is most appropriate for dealing with late and emergent resolutions. Generally these resolutions are decided after Council has voted on all other resolutions before it.
Special Meeting of Council
Bylaw 2.4 requires the Executive to determine the agenda items for any Special Meeting of Council; therefore, resolutions must be related to the agenda.
The Executive annually will determine a date by which resolutions should be submitted for purposes of publication and the preparing of background information. However, there is no deadline for the submission of resolutions to be debated at a Special Meeting of Council. Policy 4.3.3(5)(b)(ii) on Council Resolutions allows resolutions to be submitted to a Special Meeting of Council at any time. Resolutions arising from debate on the floor shall be accepted by a simple majority vote of the meeting.