Officials with the Town of Port Hawkesbury are giving their thumbs up to proposed changes to the Municipal Government Act.
Minister of Municipal Affairs, John A. MacDonald, wrote council about legislative amendments approved in the House of Assembly relating to municipal governance. These changes were a part of Bill 212 which are meant to clarify the oversight relationship between councils and Chief Administrative Officers, providing councils with discretion to exclude the CAOs from meetings related to CAO performance.
Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre
The changes also enable councils to delegate CAO performance oversight to a committee, clarify council’s authority to approve a CAO’s participation in external organizations,delegate responsibilities during a CAO’s absence, and introduce mandatory training for newly elected councillors .
In the coming months, the minister said the Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities will be seeking input from municipalities.
During last night’s combined committee-of-the-whole and monthly public meeting, Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton said the amendments are in-line with what the town has already been doing.