By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
City of Martensville councillors voted during their September 15 meeting to adopt a new Public Engagement Framework that outlines when consultation with residents is needed prior to the start of a major project and how it should be handled.
The Public Engagement Framework, which was previously presented to councillors at the September 8 committee of the whole meeting, should not be confused with the public engagement plan developed by ISL Engineering for the Transportation Master Plan, though they obviously deal with similar subjects.
As noted in an administration report, the framework began development earlier this year and has been refined through research, input from leadership and management, and resources from outside organizations like the Canadian Association of Municipal Communicators and the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2).
For instance, the IAP2’s Spectrum of Public Participation and its five levels of engagement (Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate and Empower) has itself been incorporated into the framework.
Recognizing that the city is undertaking increasingly complex projects and infrastructure initiatives, the report states it is becoming increasingly clear there is value of establishing a consistent approach to determining when and how the public should be engaged.
“The Public Engagement Framework has been developed to provide staff and our overall organization with a practical and consistent process for planning public engagement,” the administration report states, adding that the framework is intended to complement any legislative, regulatory, or project-specific engagement requirements, not replace them.
The administration report says the framework also highlights the importance of involving Communications early in project planning.
Economic Development Manager Dillon Shewchuk, who was involved in the document’s creation and answered questions from council at the September 8 meeting, said the framework also contains a work plan that helps city staff be mindful of who they’re targeting, the tools that they use, timeframes and the reporting of results.
The administration report itself acknowledges that public engagement may not be needed for every project undertaken by the city, or that they all require the same level of public participation.
Shewchuk admitted there was some difficulty in trying to find a framework “that would fit most contexts and most projects that we do.” With that in mind, this is meant to be a dynamic document that can be adjusted in the future.
“We think this is a fairly good basis to build off of,” Shewchuk noted.
Council’s reaction to the framework at the September 8 meeting was generally positive, particularly regarding the inclusion of IADP2’s spectrum for public participation.