Must motion for Committee of the Whole be within a meeting of the assembly?

[Janis Arnold]

Can a meeting be scheduled to start with a Committee of the Whole meeting ?  In other words, does a board have to start in a regular meeting (call to order etc) and then resolve itself into Committee of the Whole or can a board immediately call the meeting to order, as the Committee of the Whole?  We have an upcoming scenario that would be:

- start immediately with an Exec. session and Committee of the Whole (discussion of confidential issue is the first thing to deal with)

- then rise and report in order to have a vote of the board in a public meeting.  

What is the proper sequence of motions to take this board through commencing the "in camera" meeting at the beginning and then ending in a public meeting for the vote?

Thanks

 

[Atul Kapur]

Hi @Janis Arnold. In a neighbouring province, we often have the CotW convene its own regular meeting, one half hour before the regular meeting of the board. This works within the legislative framework for those boards, so you will likely want to check yours, first.

[J. J.]

Only the assembly may adopt a motion to send something to a committee.  It would have be in a meeting in order to refer the matter to committee of the whole. 

[Josh Martin]

On 5/14/2023 at 5:15 PM, Janis Arnold said:

Can a meeting be scheduled to start with a Committee of the Whole meeting ?

No, I don't think so, at least not under RONR.

I do see this a fair amount in local legislative assemblies (City Councils and the like), but that's because it's provided for in their rules.

On 5/14/2023 at 5:15 PM, Janis Arnold said:

What is the proper sequence of motions to take this board through commencing the "in camera" meeting at the beginning and then ending in a public meeting for the vote?

I'm somewhat unclear on what the purpose is here of entering Committee of the Whole anyway, but it seems to me the proper procedure, so far as RONR is concerned, would be:

• The meeting is called to order.
• The board votes to enter Executive Session. (It has to be done in this order, because the motions in order in Executive Session are very limited.)
• The board votes to enter Committee of the Whole.
• The Committee of the Whole votes to rise and report.
• The board votes to exit executive session. (In the alternative, the motion to enter executive session could specify that the executive session automatically ends under certain conditions.)
• The board proceeds to a vote on the matter.

I am getting the impression, however, that this may be some sort of public body, so I would also double-check the board's rules and applicable law.

[J. J.]

On 5/15/2023 at 8:18 AM, Josh Martin said:

I am getting the impression, however, that this may be some sort of public body, so I would also double-check the board's rules and applicable law.

While I am in complete agreement, I will note that any organization, public or not, may establish a committee of the whole process in their special rules that differs from RONR.  We are limited here, generally, to the RONR standard. 

[Janis Arnold]

Thanks all for weighing in.  It's a school board (public). They are governed by legislation but it doesn't go into the detail needed for this (process steps).  After the legislation, they'd turn to their procedural by-law. It spells out some of the process but again it's not spelled out therefore they need to rely on their parliamentary authority, i.e. Robert's Rules. 

They need to be in executive session (in camera) to debate a confidential matter and then come out for the vote because legislation does say all votes MUST in public meetings.  I read through Robert's Rules on Committee of the Whole and I wasn't clear if they had to start in a regular meeting but from what you've written above, it appears they must.  

Thank you

[puzzling]

Puzzling if going into the committee of the whole is the right thing to do here.

The committee of the whole is for large meetings (more than around 100 members, if I remember correctly) for smaller meetings going into informal consideration is maybe a better option.

Edited May 15, 2023 at 03:43 PM by puzzling

[Atul Kapur]

If I recall correctly, under the legislative framework in operation here the Committee of the Whole is allowed to meet in executive session while the assembly itself is not.