In anticipation to returning to in-person meetings later this month, Woodlands County councillors unanimously voted at their July 6 meeting to adopt a new policy outlining the rules for recording and broadcasting council meetings.
In November, council approved the purchase and installation of videoconferencing equipment at the Whitecourt administration office and Fort Assiniboine regional office in order to facilitate the broadcasting of future council and committee meetings.
The project was funded for using the Municipal Operating Support Transfer (MOST) federal/provincial grant, which was provided to municipalities suffering significant operating impacts as a result of COVID-19.
For the past year, Woodlands County council meetings have been streamed over Youtube and the reception from the public has mostly been positive. However, council’s next meeting on Tuesday, July 20, will be conducted in-person.
Chief administrative officer Gordon Frank said the Meeting Broadcast Policy was developed in anticipation of council wishing to continue recording and broadcasting their meetings.
The policy states that Woodlands County will make every effort to ensure live streaming and video recordings are available to the public, though technical difficulties may result in occasions where live streaming is not possible and recordings cannot be made.
It states that recordings of meetings will be available for viewing for up to 72 hours after the meeting on the county’s website.
From there on, recordings will be archived on the website for up to two years, though Frank suggested council may wish to lengthen or shorten that amount of time.
Because live meetings carry the potential for libelous, defamatory or criminal statements to be made, the policy also gives the chair of a meeting to cease a recording or live streaming.
As well, council will have the power to vote on potentially removing recordings (or portions of recordings) from their website. Of course, this will require some manpower, Frank said.
Coun. Dave Kusch, who put forward the motion to approve the policy as presented, said that he was “definitely” in favour of livestreaming and recording their meetings, noting that it was important from a transparency perspective.
That said, he said he recognized that recordings might need to be edited if meetings get out of hand and don’t get stopped in time.
Coun. Dale Kluin asked if the ability to livestream and record meetings will be limited to the Whitecourt and Fort Assiniboine offices or if they could do so with, say, a town hall meeting hosted at the Fort Assiniboine meeting.
“Unfortunately, at this point of time it is fixed equipment,” Frank said, adding that there is the possibility of setting up portable streaming but “we don’t have that capability at this time.”
