Whereas Section 220 of the Local Government Act requires that notice of a special board meeting must be mailed to each director at least 5 days before the date of the meeting, and the Interpretation Act specifies that such mail must be delivered by Canada Post; And whereas this requirement, which applies to regional districts and not municipalities, creates unnecessary time delays for holding special board meetings and is not in keeping with technological advances of recent years: Therefore be it resolved that the Province be urged to amend the legislation to permit such notices to be provided by other means, including electronic mediums.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing Regional district boards must meet regularly and provide advance public notice of these meetings in accordance with the procedures established in their procedure bylaw. Special board meetings are only held when an item cannot wait for a regularly scheduled board meeting. For these meetings there is a special requirement to provide written notice of the meeting to each board member to ensure they all receive the information. Mail is the traditional delivery system available to all, recognizing that reliable internet may not be readily available in all areas of the province. In addition to speed, considerations of certainty, reliability and accessibility are all important in relation to notice provisions. While the default is for notice to be mailed to each Director five days before the date of a special general meeting, there is flexibility built in to alter these requirements if needed. Section 2203 allows for mailed notice to be waived by a unanimous vote of the board. Section 2204 allows for notice to be given less than five days before the date of the meeting if it is an emergency, and that notice does not have to be provided in writing. Where the requirement to mail notice has been waived, notice can be provided to board members through whichever means is most appropriate including by email. Additionally, local governments can always provide notice of meetings to Directors through whichever means they prefer in addition to the requirements of the legislation. The Province recognizes that with rapid technological change, there may be value in a more general review of legislated requirements that require mail delivery. In spring 2013, Government enacted legislation to allow for electronic delivery of municipal property tax notices. At that time it was determined that electronic delivery of tax notices would achieve the greatest cost-saving and efficiencies, as most other statutorily prescribed mail notices are only for a few residents or individuals. A more thorough review of statutorily prescribed mail notices would be a significant undertaking, would depend on a clearer understanding of how big the problem is and would need to be weighed against other legislative priorities.