South Algonquin removes online meeting recordings from its YouTube page

By Mike Riley

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

At their May 22 HR/Admin/PR committee meeting, South Algonquin Township council discussed the removal of their council and committee meeting videos from their YouTube page in lieu of the official meeting minutes after only two days. In fact, this decision was made with very little notice to their constituents, the media and any other interested parties. By May 24, the May 22 meeting and all other council and committee meetings had been scrubbed from their YouTube channel, once the draft minutes from said meeting had been posted.

While these minutes are considered the official record of these meetings under the Municipal Act, they do not capture the fulsome discussion and nuances that are inherently present in the meeting videos that were on display on the township YouTube page until May 24, when they were taken down. Having online options for council meetings was of course started during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person meetings were impossible due to health reasons, but the corresponding increase in transparency and accountability was a welcome side effect and allowed more people than ever to attend these council meetings and keep apprised of what was going on in their municipalities.

This move, arguably an assault on democracy, transparency and accountability, is not new for South Algonquin unfortunately. Last fall, they discussed and had a vote to stop live streaming council and committee meetings totally. It was only after a very public outcry from residents, the media, SABA, and a grassroots campaign that was on change.org, organized by local resident Andrew Michel, that garnered 125 signatures in opposition to council's move to end online meetings that council conceded that it was not a good idea to move forward with this plan and acquiesced. However, the idea was brought back to the table last week and they decided to do away with having these online meetings available for public consumption in favour of the meeting minutes.

While council conceded that the transparency that online meetings afforded was a good idea a couple of years ago, and decided to maintain the status quo at that time, it has now it has been brought back to the table to be reconsidered for a second time. The big question is why? Indeed, the optics of council reconsidering this again are appalling and would seem to suggest that at least some of the councillors do not want that transparency and the accountability that comes along with having their meetings posted online for any length of time (more than two days).

For some people with work commitments, health reasons, mobility issues, those who are aged and cannot make the trip, and disabilities, attending meetings in person is not an option and even viewing and listening to these meetings within that very tight two-day period is problematic at best. For one Bancroft This Week reporter, the South Algonquin Township council meeting each month is the same day and time as another township's council meeting that they also cover, the latter providing no online option (due to inadequate Internet connectivity), so if that meeting is missed, it is truly missed. It cannot be seen later online on Facebook or YouTube. While The Bancroft Times strives to view these meetings as soon as possible after they are conducted, sometimes by necessity it is after two days and may be reported on the following week. Now, with the meeting videos gone from the platform within two days, that will no longer be possible, and it will be a lot more difficult to cover the township's council and committee meetings as a result. Even The Valley Gazette's Robert Fisher, who also covers South Algonquin, conceded that this move by council would make covering the township “much more difficult if not impossible,” and urged them to reconsider removing the YouTube video content.

In the case of the May 22 meeting, so little notice was given of council's impending decision to remove the meeting videos, that we were unable to go back and listen and/or tape the discussion to convey it here in this article verbatim unfortunately. When we asked the CAO Bryan Martin for the audio, we were denied, with the township saying they had no audio of the meetings. If true, this lack of audio content to share after the fact with media outlets is ample reason more notice of this move should have been given to the media covering the township and their constituents in general. Even requests to the mayor and councillors for a more fulsome commentary on what was discussed and their rationale for voting the way they did were not replied to in any expansive or satisfactory way, in the opinion this Bancroft Times reporter, with them just stating that the discussion on this had taken place and that they'd voted to remove the video meetings after two days in favour of the meeting minutes.

According to LaValley, South Algonquin council was to have discussed this more at their June 4 meeting and voted to make this situation permanent. On May 24, she confirmed that council agreed to have YouTube video meetings posted until the draft minutes were posted at their May 22 meeting.

“The minutes were put on. On Friday afternoon. A resolution will be discussed and most likely passed at our Regular Council Meeting on June 4 at 9:00 a.m.,” she says.

However, according to Martin after the June 4 meeting (which The Bancroft Times watched in real time on YouTube) when the issue was not discussed, he said that “staff received administrative direction at our HR, PR, Admin committee meeting as recorded in the minutes. We are not required to have any further discussion or vote on this matter.” So, this move to remove online meetings after two days was a fait d'accompli back on May 22 and not June 4, further emphasizing the rapidity and secrecy of this decision by council, in my opinion.

So, make your voices heard South Algonquin. Hopefully pushback from the community, media and other interested parties after the fact will make council reconsider and replace the video meeting content to their YouTube page, for viewing at any time for as long as possible, for anyone who wishes to view it. Do you agree with council's decision to remove its online video meetings from the township YouTube page? If not, contact Mayor Ethel LaValley or any of the councillors by email or by phone, whose contact information is available on the township website at www.southalgonquin.ca ¹, or CAO/clerk/treasurer Bryan Martin at clerk@southalgonquin.ca ². Or contact the provincial ombudsman at www.ombudsman.on.ca ³.

1. http://www.southalgonquin.ca
2. mailto:clerk@southalgonquin.ca
3. http://www.ombudsman.on.ca