By Gazette Staff
February 18th, 2026
BURLINGTON, ON
Yesterday Mayor Meed Ward sternly reminded people attending the meeting that clapping was not permitted.
The Mayor demurred on answering that question.
Councillor Kearns asked where in the Procedural Bylaw did it say clapping was not permitted. The Mayor demurred on answering that question.
The public tended to agree with Councillor Kearns.
Eve St. Clair, a frequent, pungent Gazette commentator, suggested: “We all band together and attend the next council meeting and clap every 10 minutes. Show the Mayor how silly her condemnation is.
Right on Sister!
Seconds after this photograph was taken everyone clapped to honour Heather Howell , a Special Education Resource Teacher at M. M. Robinson High School (MMR) in Burlington, Ontario, who was named a recipient of the 2025 Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching.
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typical MMW ….. whaaa whaaa whaaa
If managing a little clapping is this disruptive, imagine her trying to manage traffic, development, or accountability.
Maybe the real ‘respect campaign’ should start with respecting the people who show up.
Mayor Meed Ward has been pushing and advertising her “Elect Respect Campaign” ad nauseam. And yet she shows absolutely “No Respect” for her constituents.
Aside from the silly clapping issue, this photo was a bit appalling as the Mayor held the award rather than the recipient. Anything for a photo opp.
I think I could clap to that, even if hand-cuffed by the Officer in Chambers!
One other comment: we also wondered why the mayor was the one holding the award in the photos, rather than … the recipient of the award! A citizen asked the photographer this question afterwards: the photographer then ran out to take a new photo of the recipient holding the award with her supporters as they left city hall.
Some of us have known for a while that the rule against clapping was omitted (probably mistakenly) from recent changes to the procedure bylaws. Yesterday, when someone clapped (oh, the horror!) and was immediately admonished by the Mayor, finally I think everyone had had enough of this ridiculous supposed rule — mentioned at the start of every council meeting — and councillor Kearns asked where it says one cannot clap. Alas, the answer was given by the Clerk that it doesn’t say so in the procedure bylaws.
Despite the attempts to claim that vague rules against being “disruptive” exist, those of us in the gallery took full advantage of this newly recognized power and took it upon ourselves to clap several times. When I finished my delegation — after sitting through several hours of utter farcical nonsense, I have to say it felt very good to hear myself receive some claps from the small gallery.
Will they edit the bylaws to stop this outrageous behaviour? I wouldn’t put it past the mayor to try. Regardless, I think clapping is back.
I believe that Jim Thomson pointed out some time ago that there was nothing in the blessed Procedural Bylaw that prevented clapping or generally supportive actions. I believe that the Mayor has known this for quite some time yet has continued to insist that the council chamber emulate the silence of a Benedictine monastery during compline. It is one of the reasons, and there are many, that Council meetings are more like the Court of the Star Chamber than an engaged and interactive forum promoting discussion of the issues of the day. The reason, presumably, is that true public engagement, which encourages all forms of positive participation, also involves some transfer of control to the citizen participants. I don’t believe that Meed Ward with all her procedural constipations has the self-confidence to allow this to happen. It’s not about respect. It never has been. It’s all about the need to anticipate and manage the message. How ironic that the more of “the proverbial element” that is shovelled and flung, the more “bunged up” the proceedings become.
The Mayor failed in her duty as chair. She should have consulted the Clerk for advice. She should not have trusted her faulty memory.