CANMORE – Two of Canmore’s most influential boards will now have their public meetings live streamed and video recorded to improve accuracy and transparency.
Council unanimously approved two separate bylaws to implement the new practice for the Subdivision and Development Appeal Board (SDAB) and the Canmore Planning Commission (CPC) on Tuesday (Jan. 8).
The change is consistent with the Town’s council meetings, which have been live streamed for several years. The Town of Banff recently approved live streaming its council meetings as well.
According to a staff report, administration decided to expand the practice for both boards because they are public meetings, often deal with contentious issues and operate within the parametres of the Municipal Government Act (MGA).
“There has been a lot of discussion around the amount of information captured in the minutes,” said Alaric Fish, manager of planning and development.
“It’s not a stenographer recording the meeting, however the technology allowing the video streaming and the recording of the meeting provides a solid and complete review of what was presented at the meeting.”
Coun. Vi Sandford, who is a member of both the current and previous SDAB board, raised concerns board members may not be comfortable with the meetings being recorded.
Fish acknowledged that it’s possible some board members may balk at the idea and even resign over it, adding the previous SDAB board had indicated they didn’t want the meetings recorded.
Mayor John Borrowman said he struggled to understand why board members wouldn’t want to have the meetings recorded.
“I’m having a hard time distinguishing the difference between sitting here in the public and having it live streamed to the public. It’s simply a public meeting that you can attend either physically or online,” said Borrowman.
“All of our meetings, including those meetings that are not in-camera, should be as public and transparent as possible, that’s why we live stream our council meetings.”
CAO Lisa de Soto reminded council the SDAB and CPC meetings have always been public and each board has an opportunity to go in-camera when required.
She said it’s also important to note the video recording does not form the actual approved record of the meeting. Only the minutes of the meeting are considered the approved record.
Michael Fark, general manager of infrastructure, added the video recordings are also not admissible in court.
“What the court will look at is the official record and video is essentially considered hearsay unless accompanied by a sworn affidavit and it’s the sworn affidavit that in fact carries weight with the court, not the video itself,” said Fark.
He also told council it is up to their discretion to set out the procedures and processes for SDAB and CPC meetings, similar to how the MGA sets out procedures and processes for council meetings.
The new bylaws passed by council also include compensation for volunteer members on both boards by offering members a per diem of $125 for meetings that are four hours or less. The maximum a board member can earn is $350 for a meeting that is over eight hours in length.
Fish said it will cost the Town approximately $5,000 per year to compensate members on both boards and it has already been included in the 2019-20 operating budget. The Town of Banff has also started to compensate members on its development appeal board.
During his closing remarks, Borrowman questioned why the Town was only going to compensate members on the SDAB and planning commission and not other boards like the Canmore Community Housing Corporation.
“When it comes to compensating members of the SDAB, I recognize there’s a lot of work and it’s not a simple volunteer position, but I recognize there’s other boards that we appoint that are equally onerous,” said Borrowman.
“The rationale to allow for compensation on the SDAB and not other publically appointed committees is something I struggle with.”
