322. The sittings of the council shall be public.
A sitting of the council includes a period during which the persons attending may put oral questions to the members of the council.
The council may, by by-law, prescribe the length of the period, the time at which it is held and the procedure to be followed in putting a question.
In a municipality whose council is made up of more than 20 councillors, the council may, however, order by by-law that the period of oral questions by the persons attending be replaced by the procedure described in the following paragraphs.
Every question must be filed in writing with the clerk of the municipality. The latter shall, upon receiving it, enter the question in a register which forms part of the records and which may, furthermore, be examined during the sittings of the council.
The Mayor or the chairman of the executive committee shall answer the question at a sitting of the council, either orally or by filing with the council a reply in writing which is entered in the record.
The by-law of the council mentioned in the fourth paragraph may limit the number of questions that the same person may file with the clerk.
This section applies to all city or town municipalities, by whatever law governed, even to those which are not contemplated by section 1.
R. S. 1964, c. 193, s. 349; 1968, c. 55, s. 96; 1980, c. 16, s. 77; 1982, c. 18, s. 145.