This was posted April 7, 2011 on OpenFile Vancouver
While many city councillors currently text or tweet during Vancouver city council’s regular meetings, they could soon replace themselves with a computer screen.
The use of teleconferencing technologies may not be on the table for this year’s council, but advances with the tool in other municipalities means Vancouver could be left in the dust of other councils.
Last Jan. 25, the District of Tofino adopted a policy amendment allowing a council member to attend a public council or council committee meeting electronically up two times a year. The small town joined other public bodies within the region that had already adopted similar policies.
Vancouver councillor Ellen Woodsworth says the technology could be worth a try if it’s set with clear limits. “It seems to me that it should be something we should be taking a look at,” she says. “I think it’s something that could work and could help, particularly the mayor who has so many obligations.”
But she points out that council may be reluctant to allow enhanced internet coverage on city hall’s third floor. “We don’t even have access to the internet for people to come and sit in the council chambers,” she says. “We’re hooked up. But if you just came in and were a student, you can’t get access when you’re in the council chambers or anywhere on the third floor.”
She says there’s a number of things that need to be done to bring Vancouver’s government “into the modern age.” But on the flip side, says she has received complaints from the public doubting the attention span of fellow councillors who are heavy internet users.
“Some councillors use Twitter, some people go up on their computers, some people are using their iPhones or their Blackberries,” she explains. “I think the public notices and cares that they’re not paying attention.”
Woodsworth says if electronic attendance is investigated by staff and given set limitations, such as only being allowed when passing an uncontroversial bylaw or staff report, or when there are no speakers present, it would prove useful.
“I will be interested to follow what they’re doing in Tofino and see how it works,” she says. “Whether it would work for us in a situation where it’s pretty straightforward [and] there have not been any controversies.”
Frances Bula is a Vancouver journalist who has covered the city’s civic affairs and urban issues for more than 20 years. She says council should deliberate extensively on the pros and cons of electronic attendance.
“Being able to participate in meetings by Skype, if there’s a really crucial vote where it’s fairly important to get everyone on the record and not have something skewed just because some people had not been able to be there [is a plus],” she says. But, she adds, “there’s a reason why things are done in person.”
She stresses that convenience does not always translate into efficacy. “I think we all need to understand what being present really is.”
