Public inquires at Kamloops council meetings will be on a two month hiatus.
The idea of pressing pause on the process was first brought forward by Councillor Bill Sarai in the fall.
The suggestion came on the heels of someone “Zoom-bombing” the session, using the online feed to project pornographic images to the council chambers and those observing online.
Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson argued the issue had already been resolved, saying the step was unnecessary.
“This was pretty much sparked with something that’s already been resolved with the Zoom bombing, and I just don’t know why we’re going to all this, all this work to try to limit our citizens from speaking,” argued Hamer-Jackson. “We manage our agenda better [now].”
Councillor Kelly Hall, Deputy Mayor for the month of January, argued the process has been abused by some.
“I’ve also sat here and listened to disruptors, grand standers, that regularly attend these meetings that continually challenge us to do the City business,” said Hall. “This is why we’re at the crossroads that we were at.”
There were three members of the public took time to speak out on the issue.
“When you vote to suspend such a critical part of a representative democracy, citing concerns about safety from harsh words or gestures, I urge you to remember the thousands of Canadians who fought for our democracy,” said Gary Davies.
Council did direct staff to come up with further recommendations to allow Public Inquiries to be brought back into the agenda.
These would be on top of a wider list of suggestions that were previously put Council’s Governnance Committee.
• removing Public Inquiries
• removing the Reading, which opens regular Council meetings
• removing Approval of the Agenda
• simplifying language regarding Public Submissions in the order of proceedings
• removing Calendar of Committee meetings from the Order of Proceedings and Business and adding provisions for Notice of Committee Meetings to Part 5 – Committees and Committee Proceedings
• modifying the descriptor of Community Engagement updates in the Order of Proceedings and Business
• limiting the number of Delegations to two per Council meeting
• articulating in the bylaw that delegations are not permitted to make requests for funding and/or other municipal resources
• adding a provision for Council to permit electronic participation in closed meetings by those out of country
• removing the requirement for the Mayor to sign meeting minutes
• simplifying bylaw language regarding the availability of meeting minutes
Other alternatives put to the Committee have included:
• Limiting Public Inquiries to one opportunity per meeting rather than the current two. If Council wishes to pursue this option, Administration would request that Council provide direction as to when on the agenda that opportunity would take place
• Further limiting the length of Public Inquiries to less than five minutes per speaker. Administration would request that Council specify the time limit(s)
• Instituting a pre-registration process for those who wish to speak under Public Inquiries
• Limiting Public Submissions. This has a range of options, including further limiting speaking times, limiting submissions to written only, and limiting the range of matters for which public submissions are considered in Council meetings.
“Since the start of the current Council’s term, Council interactions have made national news multiple times, unfortunately for all the wrong reasons,” suggested a report put to Council’s Governance and Service Excellence Select Committee on November 21, 2024. “Council proceedings reached a new low at the September 24, 2024, regular Council meeting with the broadcast of disturbing pornographic images by a Zoom participant and ensuing laughter and comments in Council Chambers that minimized what had happened.”
