By Pepper Parr
February 13th, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
It’s Friday afternoon. The city is heading into a long weekend – Family Day on Monday.
The agenda for the Council meeting is on line. Some people make a point of checking it out.
There are several reasons to at least glance at it.
There is an item on the agenda that, if passed, would have the city not collecting development charges.
At 4:00 pm there isn’t a link in place that people can use to get the agenda. The practice is to post the agenda before the end of the day. By that time, it will be too late to register as a delegate and City Hall is closed Monday.
The meeting agenda for this coming Tuesday’s Regular Meeting of Council has not been made available to the public.
People who want to delegate have to register by noon on the business day before the meeting. I
City Hall will close at the end of the day.
Quite why the City Clerk would let something happen is beyond understanding.
One would have thought that at least one Council member would have seen the problem and taken corrective action.
A decision not to collect Development Charges has the very real risk of costing the city a big bundle of money. And that money will eventually come out of the pockets of the taxpayers.
It didn’t have to be this way.
We will have a detailed report on just what the issues are.
It is complex.
With a bit of luck Council might decide to defer a decision until there is more in the way of a public understanding
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I hope somebody can explain why it is necessary to wave development charges for two years. Yes it should lower the cost of new housing, but at the same time will reduce the selling price of the the house you are currently living in. Why do I have to subsidize the cost of a house for a perfect stranger? How much more will I need to pay in taxes to pay for this largess to a new home buyer? How much more traffic congestion will be created by this proposed decision? It seems a lot of work needs to be done.
The issue raised in this article goes directly to the heart of transparency and accountability in municipal governance.
Section 21.2 of By-law 59-2024 is not a minor administrative detail – it is a safeguard. The requirement that agendas be posted at least seventy-two hours before a regular Council meeting exists so that members of the public can review the business before Council, assess its implications, and decide whether to delegate. Without that notice, meaningful public participation becomes practically impossible. What is not known is when the 72 hour clock starts ticking. As this is a long weekend, the 72 hour notice requirement is technically attainable.
The Clerk’s role under section 7.1 includes ensuring notice of meetings is provided as set out in the by-law.
However Section 21.6 states that lack of receipt of notice does not invalidate a meeting. That clause should not be interpreted as a licence to dilute transparency. It protects the City from technical challenges – it does not excuse avoidable failures in providing proper notice.
In a matter as significant as potentially foregoing Development Charges – with real financial consequences for taxpayers – the public deserves clear, timely disclosure. Seventy-two hours is not excessive; it is the minimum standard set by Council itself.
If the agenda was not posted within the prescribed timeframe, that raises legitimate questions about the City’s procedural rules. More importantly, it undermines public confidence. Deferral, as suggested, may well be the prudent course – not only to clarify the financial implications, but to restore public trust in the process.
Transparency is not a courtesy. It is a condition of accountable government.
This wasn’t “planned and intentional”.
It is merely incompetence in the Legislative Services department.
They have been aware of the problem with the Procedure Bylaw for a couple of years but haven’t made the required changes.
I have been watching for this Agenda to be posted on the City Meeting Calendar on the COB Website re the “Regular Meeting of Council scheduled for February 17th, 2026” on and off for most of today and this past week.
The Agenda was not posted until about 4:00 p.m. today (Friday). (The City is closed on Monday for Family Day).
There is a very important item coming up on Tuesday, Feb. 17th RE: to Freeze all Development Charges for a period of 2 years. (Item #13 N on the Agenda).
If this is approved by our mayor and council, Burlington Property Taxpayers will be on the hook to pay for these development charges instead of the developers and raise our property taxes.
It appears that posting the above noted Agenda late today on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend was both planned and intentional.
(The rules state that anyone wanting to delegate before council must send their delegation materials or notice etc. to the city clerks at COB by 12:00 noon the day before the scheduled meeting).
This Agendas was posted around 4 p.m. February 13th, so there was no time to submit a delegation to council as the time of 12:00 noon had already passed.
This is why there are rules and procedures; as well as notice periods, that all municipalities are required to follow.
What good are rules if our COB mayor and council don’t follow them??
This item should immediately be adjourned to a future council meeting date so that anyone who wishes to attend or delegate be given the opportunity to do so! Without exception.
See the attached article for more detail and a cost scenario for this Item re freezing development charges:
https://www.burlingtontoday.com/local-news/burlington-councillors-vote-to-freeze-development-charges-for-two-years-11862688