Do you want to share your opinion or ideas with Council?  City Council is accessible to the public and opportunities are provided to participate in Regular Council meetings and Committee of the Whole meetings. Meetings are held in City Hall, Council Chambers and the public is welcome to attend in person or via online participation. Find more information about public participation in Council meetings here.

Opportunities to communicate with Council include:

Contact Council Members Directly

Council members are interested in what you have to say.  Your opinions and input assist Council in making informed decisions on services, bylaws and overall municipal operations. Council members do not have set hours at City Hall; therefore residents are welcome to contact them at the provided Council Contact Information.  

Write a Letter or Email

All correspondence addressed to the Mayor and Council becomes a public record and is provided for consideration of Council. Correspondence addressed to the Mayor and Council where there is a specific request may be included on an agenda. Correspondence regarding personnel matters, legal action and/or items of a confidential nature will not be included. Correspondence addressed to Council that is administrative or operational in nature will be circulated to Council weekly and referred to the appropriate department for review and follow-up where necessary.

It is important to distinguish your intent – are you providing information only, do you have a suggestion or are you asking a specific question or proposing  a specific action?  Please make it clear in your correspondence what you expect from Council.

Letters

Mayor and Council
City of Port Alberni 
4850 Argyle Street
Port Alberni BC  V9Y 1V8

Emails

To send an e-mail to Council for consideration direct your email to the Corporate Officer. The sender must include their full name.

Speak to Council

Delegation

If you wish to speak to Council as a Delegation you should be aware of the following:

The purpose of Delegations is to provide a forum for input on matters of relevance to civic affairs.  It is not intended to be a forum for issues that are not the responsibility for the City (i.e. provincial or federal policy).

Each Delegation is provided a maximum of ten minutes.

Delegations are generally limited to no more than three at each meetings and are signed up on a first come basis.

To speak as a Delegation you must submit complete a delegation application form to be submitted to the Corporate Officer at corp_serv@portalberni.ca.  Requests to be a delegation must be received before 12:00 pm the Wednesday before the meeting. 

Materials to be handed out to Council at the meeting should be copied a minimum of fifteen times for Council, staff and the media.

Click here to open the Delegation Application form, please fill out the form completely providing the following information:

The topic of discussion.  

If you are requesting that an action be taken by Council it must be specified in your written request.

Background materials are appreciated and are circulated to the Mayor and Council with the agenda. 

Audio visual equipment is available, but these arrangements must be made in advance of the meeting and are the responsibility of the Delegation.

As a Delegation you should be aware of Council procedures.  The Mayor is the chair of the meeting and all comments are to be directed to the Mayor, including questions that Council members may have of you.

Public Input Period

During a Committee of the Whole meeting, members of the public may address the Committee [Council] on a matter of interest for a maximum of five minutes during the Public Input Period. This occurs at the beginning of the meeting following the adoption of the agenda. Six speakers will be accommodated in total. Speakers must identify themselves for the public record and may not address items that refer to concluded Public Hearings or to Public Hearings progressing through a public participation process. 

Question Period

At the conclusion of the proceedings of Regular Council and Committee of the Whole meetings, the Mayor or presiding member shall provide time for the public to ask questions of Council or Committee on decisions or recommendations made during the course of the meeting.

A maximum of three [3] questions will be permitted per speaker at Regular Council meetings. If an answer cannot be readily provided, the Mayor or presiding member may refer the public to the appropriate department or committee for response.