EDITORIAL – Democracy by videoconference – ‘Can you hear me now?’
Council during Tuesday’s videoconference.
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
DEMOCRACY IS A FRAGILE THING, a fact being demonstrated during this COVID-19 pandemic.
Governments at all levels — federal, provincial and local — struggle with how much information to trust us with, and how to be transparent in their proceedings while practicing social distancing.
Public meetings of elected bodies aren’t as open as they are in normal times, and they’re definitely a work in progress.
Take Tuesday’s Kamloops City council meeting. Please. It was, let’s face it, a bit of a gong show.
Sitting in on council meeting via videoconference.
School board meeting Monday night.
Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He writes five commentaries a week for CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
The importance to be prepared. It is their responsibility to be prepared. It is imperative to be prepared. Shall we talk about food security now? Should we talk essential versus “bells and whistles”?