Kingston city councillors are proposing a review of advisory committees, with the aim of ensuring their effectiveness and meaningful contributions to municipal politics.
Historically, these committees have provided citizens a platform to share ideas with city staff and council members, but some councillors believe it’s time to reassess their value.
“I don’t want advisory committees that are just checking a box. Let’s actually make sure we’re doing good, substantial work,” said Coun. Brandon Tozzo.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, a motion was introduced to review the mandates and efficiency of existing committees.
“It is about creating efficiencies, respecting people’s time, respecting staff time, and ultimately seeing if we can reorient committees and advisory groups,” Tozzo added.
Coun. Wendy Stephen echoed the importance of making committee work meaningful for participants.
“People really want to feel like the work they do is valued and important, and meaningful,” Stephen said. “I think that a review of the committee mandates is one way that council can really make sure that the input we’re soliciting is what we’re looking for and the feedback is helpful.”
However, Coun. Conny Glenn expressed concerns about the emphasis on efficiency. “When the community hears that we feel this is a matter of time and efficiency, what they’re hearing is, ‘We don’t want to be patient enough to listen to you,’” Glenn said.
Tozzo countered, noting that some committees accomplish little, wasting time and resources.
“We had an administrative policies meeting last night—it lasted 35 minutes,” he said, adding that such short meetings are common.
Stephen highlighted the need for an updated approach to reflect societal changes. “The way in which we do business and the way we work has changed since COVID, so it would follow that city staff and city council needs from the community to do the good work might have changed too,” she said.
The proposed review would assess which committees should continue in 2025, aiming to align them with the city’s current needs and priorities.