Changes are coming to council meetings in South Glengarry as the live-streaming of sessions will be ending in the near future.
At their last meeting, council members agreed to stop the live-streaming which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, concluding that few residents were watching the live stream feed. Yet they agreed that meetings could still be recorded.
Mayor Lachlan McDonald estimates that less than one per cent of the township population tunes in. Councillor Sam McDonell commented that if residents are concerned about an issue, they can attend meetings in person. However, Councillor Stephanie Jaworski argued for the status quo. “I have a lot of folks who watch,” she commented, adding that the ability for ratepayers to observe decision-making is an “important piece of democracy.”
Since the township does not have permanent council chambers to hold meetings, the setup of the recording equipment, cameras, microphones and computers is very time consuming, Kelli Campeau, GM of Corporate Services/Clerk noted in her report to council. If the technology fails at a meeting that has been advertised as being live streamed, by law, the meeting must be adjourned until the live stream is corrected and becomes available again.
McDonald and Deputy Mayor Martin Lang felt that live-streaming could lead to misunderstandings, saying that spontaneous comments by members could later be taken out of context.
It was also decided that no further virtual attendance by consultants would be permitted.
Permanent chamber
Members concurred that the search for a permanent council chamber should begin.
While the township office is located in Lancaster, sessions are now held at the Char-Lan Recreation Centre in Williamstown. Lang suggested the Celtic Music Hall of Fame in Williamstown could meet the township’s needs.
Changes in meeting dates were also put forward by Campeau. If approved at an upcoming meeting, regular sessions will be held on the second and fourth Monday of the month and meetings would start at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
