Mock Council

We recognized the endless potential in providing students with a more fulsome experience when they attend a mock council, incorporating the important role of administration that tells a more complete story of municipal government. The following information was designed to assist you and your class prepare for your visit and facilitate a richer, more enjoyable experience.

Have your students elect or appoint a mayor and six councilors, either through classroom elections, selecting volunteers for the role, or other methods to choose “elected members.” Chosen students should be enthusiastic about their roles and confident in speaking out and articulating their ideas. We suggest that classes have two sets of students role-play. This provides an opportunity for all students to participate and will allow for more engagement.

Students sitting as administrative staff have a better understanding of the administration’s role and can participate fully with their mock council classmates by presenting reports and answering the council’s questions.

Feedback from our participating councillors, staff, students, and teachers has been tremendous. Everyone has been enthusiastic about this greater level of student participation.

We suggest your class come up with two or three items for debate. Proposals should be in the form of a specific request to council for a particular action and be comprehensive enough to fill 15 minutes of debate. This will help students engage in healthy debate and ensure the meeting does not lose momentum.

Once you have the two to three items, a fun project might be for the class to prepare reports on those items (setting out the pros and cons and budget concerns). Generally in a council meeting, the Administration team will present reports to members of Council to debate and vote on. Students who are chosen as members of the Administrative team present their reports to the mock council for debate and an eventual vote by council.

The remaining students will sit in the gallery and have an opportunity to ask questions. You may also wish to have a student or two participate as a media member and write a “news article” about their Mock Council experience.

Meetings must be conducted in an orderly manner and be open so that the public can attend in most cases. The meeting procedures ensure that all council members have the same opportunity to participate in the debate and have their views heard.

The Municipal Government Act and Robert’s Rules of Order have specific requirements regarding how meetings are conducted and there is a bylaw, which must also be followed. The Act allows some flexibility, so the procedures listed below may not be the same for all councils. Councils must follow the Code of Conduct Bylaw.

1. The mayor presides over the meeting (if the mayor is not present, the “deputy” mayor assumes this role).
2. A meeting cannot be held unless there is a “quorum” — this means that there must be at least four members of council present at the meeting
3. An agenda is prepared and sent to all council members three days before each meeting. The agenda describes the items that will be discussed at the meeting.
4. The mayor will indicate when an issue is ready to be discussed.
5. Once a motion has been moved, the council member can “talk to the motion” — this means they can discuss what the motion means and any issues around the topic (they cannot be interrupted during this limited time).
6. Other council members then have an opportunity to ask questions or to speak to the motion and present their views on the matter. They can support the motion, speak against it, or suggest alternative views or actions.
7. The mayor will then call for a vote and every member must either vote in favour or against the motion.
8. A motion is passed when the majority of those present vote in favour of the motion.  If a vote is tied, the motion has been defeated
9. Once a motion is moved, a council member can move a motion which in effect can change the original motion. This is called an amendment and is governed by a process of its own.

Meetings are set annually at the organizational meeting of the council. The City of Leduc holds their organizational meeting in October of each year. Meetings must be publicly advertised. This is done by putting a notice of the meeting and a copy of the agenda in the main council office.

Residents seeking to speak at a council meeting must request to do so in writing before the meeting. The City of Leduc holds a public commentary where the public can speak to anything that is NOT on the agenda for that night. Minutes of a meeting must be kept.

The Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (FOIP) lists a number of matters that the council is able to discuss in-camera and in these circumstances, a council may exclude the public from that part of the meeting where the item is considered.

• At all times, the student who is the mayor is addressed by the council, staff members, and members of the general public as “Mister Mayor,” “Madame Mayor,” or “Your Worship”, highlighting the importance of the position.
• Participants are to be reminded that they are no longer students but elected officials who represent the community and must represent the needs and concerns of all residents.
• Those taking the part of ratepayers are encouraged to represent different members of the community.
• The mayor chairs the meeting and controls the discussion.
• All discussions must go through the mayor as the chair of the meeting.
• The mayor calls for order, if necessary, using the gavel.
• When the mayor feels there has been enough discussion, they call for a motion.
• Mayor: “There has been enough discussion. I would like to call for a motion.”
• A councillor puts forward a motion by saying, “I put forward the motion that we…”
• Mayor: “All in favour of the motion raise your hand…Those against. The motion is carried/lost.