Speak Before Council, Committee or Transit Executive Committee

View our Committees page for information on our various Committees. For a schedule of upcoming meetings, view our Council and Committee Meeting Calendar.

Delegates can speak for up to five minutes. A delegation of more than five people can have two speakers, each speaking for up to five minutes.

You should be prepared to answer questions. Committee and Council members will have the chance to ask questions after your delegation.

Electronic Presentations

If you want to use an electronic presentation, email us a copy at least 24 hours before the meeting so that we can load it onto our audio-visual equipment. If you submit your presentation late, it might not be available for the meeting.

Please number your pages/slides to make it easier for the members of Council to reference during question period. Remember, you want to use your time effectively.

Before the Committee meeting, email us a written copy of your delegation.  Delegations appearing before Regional Council must submit their written copy or outline at least 24 hours prior to the meeting or a 2/3rds majority vote will be required to be heard.

If you are appearing in-person and want a copy handed out at the meeting, please bring the right number of copies with you and give them to Legislative Services staff before the meeting starts. For Standing Committee meetings we need 25 copies, for Committee of the Whole and Durham Regional Council meetings we need 50 copies, and for Transit Executive Committee meetings we need 25 copies.

• Participating in the meeting electronically:
  1. Delegates will join the meeting by phone only. You will be contacted by phone just prior to the start of the meeting. Once you answer your phone you will be part of the live meeting and anything you say while your microphone is on, will be heard by all participants and those viewing the meeting via live stream.
  2. You can view the Council or Committee meeting via live streaming if you wish to follow along with the meeting. The Agenda for the meeting is also available from our Council and Committee Meeting Calendar.
  3. The Chair of the meeting will advise when it is your turn to speak. You will then have five (5) minutes to speak.
     • If you can, put your phone on Mute when you are finished speaking but stay on the line. If members of Council wish to ask you questions following your delegation, your phone should be muted until you are ready to answer. Take your phone off “mute” to answer any questions and then put it back on “mute” when members of Council are speaking. If you cannot mute your phone, then please ensure there is no background noise.
  4. If you sent an electronic presentation to RegionalAV@durham.ca at least 24 hours prior to the meeting, it will be displayed to those participating in the meeting via Microsoft Teams and in the Council Chambers. Please number your slides and have a copy of your slides with you when you are speaking as you will need to instruct the Region's IT team when to advance the slides and what slide they should be displaying.
  5. Once your delegation is done you will be “removed” from the meeting. At that point you can continue to view the meeting via live stream if you choose.
  6. Please note: You must provide your speaking notes at least 24 hours prior to the meeting so that they may be shared with members of Council if there are any technical difficulties and you are unable to “join” the meeting for some reason.

Should you wish to appear at the meeting in-person, please email us or call 905-668-7711 to speak with a staff member in Legislative Services.