How council works
No councillor, and not even the mayor, can make anything happen alone. Council decides as a group, and some things need the Province or others too. So we judge each person on how they voted and what they proposed.
Council decides as a group
The mayor and six councillors make decisions together, by voting at a council meeting. A decision needs a majority of the members who are there, and at least four of the seven must be there for a meeting to go ahead. [Community Charter, section 123] [Community Charter, section 129]
No single member can make anything happen alone. That’s why we judge each member on their own part: how they voted and what they proposed.
A member who is in the room and doesn’t vote is counted as voting yes. [Community Charter, section 123]
What the mayor can and can’t do
The mayor chairs council meetings, speaks for council, and has one vote like everyone else. There is no veto. [Community Charter, section 116]
The mayor sets up standing committees and picks who sits on them. [Community Charter, section 141] Within 30 days of a vote, the mayor can send it back to council once to be voted on again; council then decides. [Community Charter, section 131]
Bylaws and the three readings
A bylaw is a local law. It gets a first, second and third reading, which are votes to move it forward, and then a final vote to adopt it. A bylaw can’t be adopted on the same day as its third reading. [Community Charter, section 135]
A yes at first reading usually means “let this go forward”, not “I support it”. We count the final vote when we check a promise.
The consent agenda
Routine items, like receiving reports and minutes, are approved together in one vote. Any member who wants to debate an item or vote against it can ask for it to be taken out and voted on by itself. [agendas]
Closed meetings, and why they’re allowed
Council can meet privately only for reasons the law lists, and has to say which reason in an open meeting first. The main ones, in plain words: buying or selling land, legal advice, staff and hiring matters, contract talks that would be hurt if public, and someone’s personal information. [Community Charter, section 90]
When a closed decision is later made public, it’s called “rise and report”.
Conflicts of interest
A member who has a money interest in a decision, or another interest that could sway them, must say so, leave the room, and not vote or talk about it. Minutes record this. We show it as “stepped out”, never as a missed vote. [Community Charter, section 100] [Community Charter, section 101]
Council workshops and Special meetings
At a council workshop (official name: Committee of the Whole), the whole council talks an issue through. It can only recommend; nothing is decided until council confirms it at a later council meeting. Special meetings are extra council meetings called with notice. In Squamish they are frequent and can include big decisions, like budget meetings. [Community Charter, section 127]
The new council’s first 100 days
What usually happens after the November 3 swearing in. Dates after November are the usual pattern, not fixed.
- Swearing in November 3, 2026
The mayor and councillors take their oath of office at the first meeting. [agenda] Council usually also sets the acting mayor schedule and names members to the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District board and to committees around this time. [Community Charter, section 130] - Getting started November to December
Orientation for new members, committee and liaison appointments, and the meeting schedule for the year. Most early votes are routine. Expect very few promise checks before the budget. - The 2027 budget From November
The new council works through the budget, mostly at Special meetings. Staff's draft for 2027 starts at a 10.4% increase (about $342 for the average home) before any new items, driven mostly by costs already committed such as RCMP contracts, wages and reserves. [source] - Budget adopted Likely January 2027
The financial plan bylaw gets its readings and is adopted. Last year's plan got three readings January 6 and was adopted January 13. [source] - BC Assessment notices arrive Early January 2027
Your property’s assessed value for 2027 comes in the mail. It doesn’t set your tax bill by itself: council’s tax rates do. What your assessment means. - A new strategic plan Winter to spring 2027
Councils usually set a plan for their term in their first months. The last council’s 2023 to 2026 plan is done. - Code of conduct By about May 2027
The law says a new council must consider a code of conduct for its members within six months of its first regular meeting. [Community Charter, section 113.1] - Tax rates set Before May 15, 2027
The tax rates bylaw has to be adopted after the financial plan and before May 15. Rates are set in the spring; in 2026 this was May 5. [Community Charter, section 197] [Community Charter, section 165]
From the Community Charter (B.C.’s law for municipalities) and the District of Squamish. Something out of date? Email squamishvoters@gmail.com.
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