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The Niagara Region Culture Committee's purpose is to provide advice and recommendations through the Integrated Community Planning Committee, to help Council implement the Niagara Culture Plan.
Attaining a sustainable community requires consideration for the economy, social development, cultural vitality and the environment. The Culture Committee can assist Regional Council in fostering partnerships, innovation, and commitment for developing a creative economy, creative places, creative people, and creative identity.
As recognized in the Niagara Culture Plan, culture includes:
To advise Regional Council via the Integrated Community Planning Committee, ways and means to:
To fulfill the mandate of the Culture Committee, the membership will be comprised of voting and non-voting members. The Culture Committee should strive for representation from diverse sectors who will actively fulfill the directions set out in the mission.
Voting Members
The Culture Committee shall be comprised of the following voting members, to a maximum of eighteen:
Representative Members
General Public Members
Organizations with representatives appointed to the Culture Committee shall have a single vote; and any individual appointed to the Culture Committee who has multiple affiliations shall also only be entitled to one vote.
Non-Voting Members
Non-voting members of the Culture Committee include Regional staff, agency representatives, and/or a representative from the Province who act as resource support, offer expertise and assistance on matters under consideration by the Committee, and/or for information sharing purposes.
The meetings of the Culture Committee are public. Members should be aware that their names will be in the public realm and a list of membership may be provided when requested.
Member information other than name or municipality, will be kept confidential in accordance with Provincial legislation.
All Culture Committee members have the responsibility to help achieve the Committee's Mandate and Mission. The following roles and responsibilities are assigned to specific Culture Committee member positions:
To provide leadership to the Culture Committee, two Co-Chairs should be elected from the Committee membership. An election of the Co-Chairs should happen at the beginning of each year.
Individual duties of the Co-Chairs can be decided upon at their election. The two Co-Chairs should be one each of:
The role of the Co-Chairs on the Committee is as follows:
From time to time working groups may be established to work on a specific project.
All working groups are of a time-limited nature that is clearly outlined in their formation and the groups shall cease at the completion of the assigned project.
It is expected that prior to creating a working group the Culture Committee shall clearly outline the scope and purpose of the working group.
Members that form the working group shall generally be Culture Committee members, however consideration may be given to seeking additional advice and assistance.
The term of membership of the Committee shall be four years coinciding with Regional Council's elected term of office, save and except for the term of membership for those members representing Niagara's youth which shall be for a one-year term. The membership shall be approved by Regional Council.
It is important to have numbers of committee members relatively consistent. The following shall be done based on the type of members.
Unless absolutely necessary, calls or requests for membership replacements should be limited to once per year to limit disruption.
Members who miss three unauthorized consecutive meetings, shall be deemed to have resigned from the Committee and will be notified of this in writing by the Committee Chair.
Staff shall solicit membership applications from the representative members and general public members through traditional and non-traditional media sources, and may specifically request membership submissions from identified representative groups.
Applicants shall be required to provide a:
Members will be evaluated and appointed on the basis of experience; how their knowledge and skills complement the expertise of the Culture Committee; diversity representative of our community; availability; and their ability to think broadly and work collaboratively. The membership will be approved by Regional Council.
Meetings shall be held at least four times a year and may be more frequent as necessary or at the call of the Co-Chairs. Meetings are open to the public.
Voting members of the Culture Committee will be asked to declare any pecuniary conflict of interest at the start of each meeting, or prior to discussion occurring.
If any such conflicts, either actual or perceived are declared, the member will not take part in voting related to the item(s) identified, and may be asked to leave the meeting for any related debate/discussion.
The staff appointed to provide support to the Culture Committee shall record meeting notes of the meetings and circulate them to the membership prior to the next meeting of the Culture Committee.
Meeting notes of Culture Committee meetings shall be included on the Integrated Community Planning Committee meeting agendas with notations for motions or approval.
Committee meetings will be governed by Regional Council's by-law for governing the proceedings of Regional Council and its Committees, the conduct of its members and the calling of meetings as amended.
The Culture Committee shall receive technical support from staff for tasks and projects initiated by the Committee. It is recognized, however, that staff time and level of participation will be dependent on other departmental priorities and budgeting.
Administrative support shall be provided and shall include the organization of meetings; booking meeting rooms; preparation and distribution of agendas, meeting notes, other background information and similar administrative functions.
The Terms of Reference for the Culture Committee should be reviewed in tandem with the Niagara Culture Plan at minimum every four years, or at the change of Regional Council. Changes to the Terms of Reference shall be approved by Regional Council.