Council

The role of Council

In Ontario, a council is required to have a minimum of five members, one of whom is the Head of Council. The role of council is outlined in section 224 of the Municipal Act:

• To represent the public and to consider the well-being and interests of the municipality;
• To develop and evaluate the policies and programs of the municipality;
• To determine which services the municipality provides;
• To ensure that administrative policies, practices and procedures and controllership policies, practices and procedures are in place to implement the decisions of council;
• To ensure the accountability and transparency of the operations of the municipality, including the activities of the senior management of the municipality;
• To maintain the financial integrity of the municipality; and
• To carry out the duties of council under this or any other Act.

In other words, the key responsibilities as a Councillor are to support the municipality and its operations while ensuring that the public and municipality’s well-being and interests are maintained.

Municipal councils have a broad range of responsibilities and may choose to organize their work using committee structures. At the Municipality of Port Hope, we use a Committee of the Whole structure as well as advisory committees made up of a mix of councillors and members of the public. These committees carry out the work of council and then report back to council with recommendations. Visit our Boards and Committees page for more information. 

A committee of council is often subject to similar legislative requirements as council under the Act, such as having open meetings.

The role of Mayor 

The Municipal Act, 2001, Section 225, identifies the Mayor’s responsibilities as follows:

• To be head of the municipal council and to act as Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation.
• To preside over council meetings.
• To provide leadership to council.
• To represent the municipality at official functions.
• To carry out the duties of the Head of Council under this or any other Act.
• To perform duties of a member of council as outlined in the Municipal Act, 2001, Section 224.

The Mayor also serves as a member of Northumberland County Council and is required to attend all regular and special meetings of County Council as well as any standing committees to which the Mayor is appointed.

In all decision-making the Mayor has, like all the other members of Council, one vote.

The role of Deputy Mayor