Guidelines to Drafting Resolutions

The wording should be clear and brief. Generalization should be avoided. It should be noted that if your Council has background information, such as a Council report, it should be provided to the Advocacy Committee. When a resolution is not self-explanatory and when adequate information is not attached, the MNL Advocacy Committee may return a resolution to the sponsor with a request for additional information or clarification before it is considered. 

All members are urged to observe the following format when preparing resolutions for submission to MNL:  

• The title should be short and refer to the key intent of the resolution.  
• The Descriptive Clause (Whereas...) should clearly and briefly set out the reasons for a resolution. If the sponsor believes that the rationale cannot be explained in a few preliminary clauses, the problem should be stated more fully in supporting documentation provided to the Advocacy Committee.  
• The Operative Clause (Be It Resolved...) must clearly set out the intent of the resolution and state a specific proposal for any action, which the sponsor wishes MNL to take (i.e., Be It Resolved that MNL urge/endorse/petition/write...).  

When developing your resolutions, you should also keep in mind the following:  

• Resolutions should be Regional, Provincial or National in scope.  
• Resolutions that would have a negative impact on any region are not accepted.  
• Resolutions put forward for the benefit of a single municipality or councillor will not be accepted.  
• Ensure that the resolution is properly worded and is logical and clearly stated.  
• Resolutions will not be accepted if they have been considered at the MNL Annual General Meeting within the past two years.  
• Resolutions developed from MNL regional meetings are encouraged and acceptable.  
• Resolutions are deemed to be moved and seconded by a member municipality.  

Keep in mind that it often takes longer than a year to realize the desired ends of a given resolution. The Advocacy Committee will coordinate MNL staff and other internal committees to obtain the best possible outcomes, however, its advocacy activities must be balanced with other MNL projects and arising priorities. To this end, the Committee reserves the right to decide the appropriate level of effort for each active resolution and may on occasion recommend the suspension or closure of advocacy files no longer progressing for reasons determined to be outside the control of MNL.  

Please remember that the Resolutions Session is a forum to address and support the concerns of member councils at the provincial level. The Resolutions session is not a forum for addressing concerns of individual councillors, therefore local resolutions are not accepted.  

Late resolutions and resolutions resulting from MNL Conference sessions SHALL NOT be considered. An EMERGENCY RESOLUTION will only be considered with the approval of the Board of Directors. Resolutions which do not meet these criteria will be returned to sponsoring municipalities for clarification and/or re-writing.  

The MNL Board will determine which resolutions are put forward at the Resolution Session. The decision of the MNL Board to include or exclude resolutions is final.  

If you require assistance drafting your resolutions, please contact the MNL office at info@municipalnl.ca. Resolutions can be submitted by email at info@municipalnl.ca or fax at 709-738-0071 on or before the deadline.