It takes a lot more than a printed handout to become an Ottawa city councillor, but for 11 newbies it signified their first steps towards being officially sworn into office.
All this week, Ottawa’s newly elected councillors will attend an orientation session run by Rick O’Connor, city clerk and solicitor from the city manager’s office.
The session began Tuesday and will wrap up on Thursday afternoon.
“We’re hoping to get the councillors up to speed with regards to various procedures, rules and regulations that they have to know in order to make decisions for city council,” O’Connor explained.
It may sound like a challenging task considering that the new councillors are scheduled to take over their respective wards in less than a month.
“It does take a long time but there are certain rules that they are going to have to be comfortable with right away,” O’Connor said.
“We want them to understand finance and planning loss so on Dec. 1, they can effectively hit the ground running.”
In order to be ready for their first day O’Connor suggests that the rookie politicians read their materials, do a lot of listening and contact their colleagues and peers and see what experiences they can share.
