All municipalities are required to have a bylaw that outlines their meeting procedures, that must include (but are not limited to):
- Rules for the conduct of council members.
- Rules respecting delegations, presentations and submissions.
- Rules and procedures respecting the closing of all or part of a meeting.
All council meetings are open to the public and no person shall be excluded except for improper conduct. This includes regularly scheduled meetings and any special meetings. All council decisions must be made during an open meeting and recorded in the meeting minutes. At every regular meeting, council approves the minutes of any previous regular or special meeting.
A council may close all or part of their meetings to the public (called "in camera") to discuss sensitive items such as those within Part III of The Local Authority Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act or matters concerning long-range or strategic planning. A council cannot make any decisions when in camera. In order to pass any motions or resolutions, council must close the in camera portion of the meeting and return to an open meeting.
The approved minutes and bylaws of a municipality may be read or inspected by any person at any time during regular business hours. Any person may obtain a copy of the approved minutes for a fee set by council that shall not exceed the reasonable cost incurred by the municipality to produce the copies.
For more information about this and the options available to those who want to be involved in the municipal governance process, check out A Citizen's Guide to Shaping Council Decisions.