Responsibilities of Councillors Part 2

Policy-making role​

Council’s role in policy-making is important to providing direction for municipal operations. Policy-making is another key council responsibility identified in section 224 of the Act.

Many council decisions are routine, dealing with the ongoing administration of the municipality, but others establish the principles and direction that may determine the municipality’s future actions. These are often considered to be policy decisions. Some policies can be specific, such as a by-law requiring dogs to be kept on leashes in public areas, and others can be broader and more general, such as approval of an official plan.

participating in debates and making decisions regarding by-laws, policies and proposed projects in council and committee meetings;

Policy-making may involve a number of steps and requires council to:

• identify an issue that needs to be dealt with
• reach agreement on the facts of the issue, making sure the objectives are met
• give direction to staff to research the issue, identify the available options and report back to council with recommendations
• engage members of the public on the issue and consider their feedback
• consider the information provided by staff, taking into account demands on time, funding and other issues
• make a decision based on the best course of action available and adopt a policy
• direct staff to implement the policy
• work with staff to evaluate the policy and to update or amend it as required

In many cases, council refers a policy issue to a committee of council to take advantage of the committee’s expertise in a particular area or to reduce council’s workload. A committee of council may follow the same steps outlined above in making policy or making recommendations back to council.

In practice, however, policy-making is sometimes less orderly because of:

• a rapidly changing environment, the complexity of issues facing local government, and the difficulty in singling out problems that require more immediate attention
• differing and sometimes strongly held views by stakeholders and members of the public
• the lack of time to identify all possible alternatives and to conduct detailed research and analysis
• the legal and financial limits on what council may do
• the complexity of implementing policies and developing ways to monitor and evaluate them

Council is the municipality’s primary policy-making body. Staff can provide information and advice to help inform council’s policy decisions.

Municipal staff are responsible for implementing policies approved by council. As a result, your council may wish to develop appropriate reporting mechanisms so that council can follow implementation progress.