A bylaw that has been in place for more than a decade in Loyalist Township is getting another look. Since 2003, council has banned cameras and audio recordings from their regular meetings, which has meant a lack of media coverage. Now with a new mayor in the seat and a number of new councillors, that could change.
“We need to do a better job of reaching out and not just making the information available, but pushing the information out,” says Mayor Ric Bresee.
The mayor, along with his council, are looking at new ways they can be more open to the public, by looking into live-streaming their council meetings and allowing cameras, for the first time in several years.
“Council cannot work in a vacuum,” Bresee says. “We need the input from our residents.”
As it stands now, council prohibits the use of cameras while in meetings. This means for important debates and votes like this week’s approval for cannabis shops, cameras were not allowed in council chambers.
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Bresee joins three new councillors on town council, bringing a new look to how things are done. He says while himself and councillors were out on the campaign trail in last year’s election, it was obvious to them that transparency was the No. 1 concern for constituents in Loyalist Township.
“We heard a number of times that people weren’t aware of what was going on and that can be perceived as a lack of transparency,” says Bresee.
The strict rules have been in place since 2003, not allowing any media inside with a camera.
Mayor Bresee says it all stems from a boisterous council meeting. The topic was a controversial one — adult entertainment venues and how they were monitored in the region.
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But at the time, it was believed by the citizens that they were debating whether to allow these venues in the township, which garnered a lot of attention.
Following that meeting, the council passed a bylaw limiting media access.
Nathan Townend, who is new on town council, says with the technology available today, there’s no excuse for their meetings to be inaccessible to the public.
“It only makes sense that audio-video recording and live-streaming is something that we would want to proceed with.”
Council will look at a number of options and will be getting a report from staff to figure out the cost involved in video streaming.
When it comes to cameras in council, Mayor Bresee says the next step will be to hold a committee of the whole meeting when they will discuss how they will approach the change.
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