After a vote of 5-2, the M.D. of Bonnyville will continue to record and post regular council meetings online for residents to view later.
Recently, council voted on a recommendation from the committee of the whole to stop streaming their regular council meetings.
Councillor Darcy Skarsen said it would be a step in the wrong direction during the council meeting.
“I’m still opposed to it,” said Skarsen
“I don’t know why we need to shut it down for people viewing at home. I have nothing to hide, and its transparency.”
Engaging with the M.D. of Bonnyville’s content has become more limited to residents. Now, only certain individuals can comment on the municipality’s Facebook posts.
The Town of Bonnyville, City of Cold Lake, Town of St. Paul, and Lac La Biche County record their council meetings, making them accessible for viewing after the meetings conclude. On the other hand, the County of St. Paul streams meetings live but does not retain recordings for later viewing.
Councillor Don Slipchuk disagreed with Councillor Skarsen, favouring instead to take the videos away from the public.
“We’ve been transparent by being on YouTube, and we still get accused of 15-minute cities and other things, so I’m okay with taking the recordings off,” said Slipchuk
During the meeting, Josh Crick also disagreed with Skarsen and said he didn’t think it would be a big deal to people.
“We had it on the table for three weeks, and I never had a single call about it,” said Crick.
“There’s potential to get into legal issues, and I think there’s cost savings to the M.D. as well as we can speak a little more freely, not worrying about costs for a lawsuit or anything coming up.”
Councillor Mike Krywiak responded to Crick and said what’s the difference between having them recorded and not.
“Regards to legal issues, you can have those whether people are watching YouTube or they’re here, or right in council chambers,” Said Krywiak during the meeting.
“They’re still hearing everything, so I agree with councillor Skarsen to be more transparent to keep the meetings on Youtube.”
The M.D. regular council meetings will still be available for the public on their YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@mdbonnyville87/featured.