Surrey council has voted to institute a five-minute cap for speakers at public hearings, but some are crying foul.
The move is an attempt for public hearings to be “conducted in a more consistent, fair and equitable manner, and for the benefit of all participants of the meeting,” according to a report penned by General Manager of Corporate Services Rob Costanzo that Surrey City Council approved Monday night.
Costanzo’s report materialized less than two weeks after a marathon public hearing that stretched approximately eight hours over two nights for a controversial Anthem development at Eaglequest Coyote Creek golf course. Approximately 80 people spoke at the hearing over the course of two days, several longer than five minutes.
“In the interest of procedural fairness and efficiency, a structured time limit will prompt speakers to present their views to council in a succinct and timely fashion,” Costanzo wrote. “In turn, this will reduce the overall amount of time required for each public hearing item, ensuring that subsequent public hearing items can be considered without undue delays for those in attendance.”
Richard Landale, a regular at Surrey council meetings, says council is “destroying open consultations and transparency” by passing the five-minute rule.
Landale, who attended the lengthy Anthem hearing, said “we live in a free democratic society here in Surrey, where we welcome peoples from all walks of live, but council will not allow us to be heard.”
“Shame, shame on council,” he added.
Costanzo noted in his report to city council that several municipalities have adopted five-minute limits, including Coquitlam, Delta, North Vancouver, Vancouver, West Vancouver and White Rock. The City of Richmond, meantime, has adopted a 10-minute cap.
The Now-Leader reached out to some other Fraser Valley municipalities to find out their limits.
In Langley City, people are “given a reasonable opportunity to be heard” and city hall reports people typically speak for five minutes at most.
The Township of Langley has a five-minute cap, with a chance to speak a second time once everyone else has spoken.
However, if there are many people in attendance wanting to speak the mayor may at the beginning of the meeting establish a five-minute time limit and once everyone has spoken will ask if there is anyone who wants to speak a second time with a five-minute limit.
The City of Chilliwack has a 10-minute limit, and once everyone has spoken, there is a chance to speak a second time for five minutes.
But that’s of little comfort to Landale.
“Surrey joints the silent minority, as council approves this report,” he said.
Costanzo wrote: “If adopted by Council, staff will communicate this requirement to the public through its public hearing information brochure and the City of Surrey website, along with suggestions on how to concisely convey comments to Council regarding a bylaw that is the subject of a public hearing.”
The City of Surrey’s current bylaw limits each council member to speak a maximum of two times on each motion for no longer than four minutes, or except as granted permission by council.
