Not all Cornwall councilors were able to get the procurement report

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The adoption of a revised procurement policy was deferred by Cornwall council Tuesday after some councilors said they had not procured the necessary reports.

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“Regrettably I didn’t get a copy of the report in my (paper) agenda,” Coun. Dean Hollingsworth said. “I’m kind of flying blind a little bit. . . to the clerk, I’m assuming there’s an electronic version of the report somewhere that I can actually read at some point?”

Clerk Manon Levesque replied there was an addendum to the agenda she could print for Hollingsworth. But when Mayor Justin Towndale canvassed the room and found out Couns. Fred Ngoundjo and Syd Gardiner also hadn’t read the report, he said he’d be open to a deferral.

The reports, and a delegation from Borden Ladner Gervais LLP’s David Sheriff-Scott, were added to the council agenda after the copies printed for councilors who prefer paper copies of the agenda were sent to them. Cornwall moved to a primarily electronic agenda system several years ago, but the council directed the clerk’s office to continue printing copies because some members of the council prefer to read them on paper instead of on their screens.

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General manager of financial services and treasurer Tracey Bailey reminded council members the addendum did go out as an email on June 27, which was nearly two weeks before the meeting; Hollingsworth said he appreciated what she was saying, but that for him it was part of an issue that had arisen previously.

“A majority of council said we want paper,” Hollingsworth said. “The governing body said we would like paper documents. . . when I get a paper agenda I assume, I guess incorrectly, that this is the agenda we are operating from.”

The issue percolated to the surface Tuesday, but there has been some grumbling among council members when something is added to a meeting after initial distribution of the agenda and not printed for those who prefer paper reports.

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Gardiner said he’s retired and has all the time in the world to read every word of sometimes hundreds of pages of an agenda, but it’s no fun being in the dark at the council table on important matters like procurement policy.

“I start to panic when I don’t have a report (that most others have), when I’m trying to make a decision,” Gardiner said.

Coun. Maurice Dupelle said he was happy to support deferring the matter, because “here we are faced with half of us using paper, and some not.”

Cornwall lagged behind some other municipalities in moving to an electronic agenda— most members of the public access these documents via the city’s website, and if anyone wants a paper copy they have to request it in-person at the front desk at city hall.

Sherriff-Scott said he would appear virtually when the revised policy comes back to council for approval on Aug. 13, but won’t be able to attend in person.

The procurement policy is intended to govern the manner in which the municipality purchases goods and services. It outlines the financial guidelines, practices, and procedures for the purchase of goods and services to ensure the integrity and accountability for all financial transactions by
the corporation.

The policy was last reviewed in 2019. The policy is to be reviewed and updated every five years.

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