WATERLOO REGION — The days of rushing home from work, fixing dinner, and calling a babysitter so you can go to a municipal council meeting are probably over.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted municipal councils to host public meetings virtually. Councils now meet over Zoom or Cisco Webex and invite the public to join them to speak.
This new format has drastically changed how the public engages with municipal decision-making, and many think the perks of virtual meetings are here to stay.
Retired political science professor Robert Williams thinks virtual meetings made municipal council more convenient for the general public, as long as you have internet access and a device.
“What we’re seeing now is, I suspect, going to be the norm. We will just need to learn to adapt to it,” Williams said.
Yes, phone calls are less frequent, face-to-face interactions are limited and public health protocols will not allow packed council chambers when there is a hot topic on the agenda, but Williams said the absence of these interactions didn’t stop the public from participating in local politics.
In fact, city clerks across Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge have seen public participation in council meetings at levels only slightly lower than what they saw before the pandemic began.
Many think a hybrid model — where municipal councils can meet in person but allow people to delegate virtually — could become a post-pandemic reality.
“A lot of people have told us they really like the virtual meetings,” said Christine Tarling, city clerk for the City of Kitchener.
Tarling also speculates a hybrid model of virtual and in-person meetings could stay after the pandemic ends, as long as provincial legislation allows it.
She thinks a hybrid model can capture the best of both worlds — in-person meetings and virtual delegations — and provide the greatest access for everyone involved.
“It’s definitely a lot more convenient for a lot of people,” she said.
Tarling’s main objective is to make meetings of council as accessible as possible for city staff, council members and the public.
‘What we have tried as much as possible is try to mimic what would have been if we were to meet in council chambers so there was a sense of familiarity for everyone,” Tarling said.
People who want to comment on an agenda item at a council or committee meeting in Kitchener have the option to join the Zoom meeting, call in to the meeting, or submit written comments.
When the pandemic began, Kitchener council held special council meetings and temporarily suspended standing committees. Those committees were reinstated in August.
“By that point we had a better handle of what was happening in the pandemic,” she said. “We needed to get back to council business as much as possible.”
Tarling said she hasn’t received any complaints from the public about the way virtual meetings are held, or about access to meetings or council information.
The great equalizer?
Cambridge council changed its council meeting times during the pandemic from evening meetings to afternoon and morning meetings. It didn’t sit well with everyone.
Cambridge resident Karen Gordon told council in July its decision to hold meetings during the daytime made it difficult for working people like herself to participate. The meeting began at 4 p.m. instead of the pre-pandemic 7 p.m. start time.
Gordon said council had many important planning decisions on its plate in the coming year.
“During this time, city council meetings have been restricted from public attendance and have been scheduled during the day which prohibits participation for many working people who will be impacted by these decisions,” she told them.
She also noted Ward 4 Coun. Jan Liggett couldn’t attend the early meetings either because of her full-time job.
Mayor Kathryn McGarry said she thinks Cambridge’s chosen times, based on the decision of the majority of council, are more accessible to those who work odd hours.
“It has been an equalizer for shift workers,” she said. “As a former shift worker, there were many council meetings I could not attend.”
Instead of waiting for hours sitting in council chambers to wait for your turn to speak, delegates are able to spend shorter amounts of time watching the meeting and can wait to receive a phone call from the city clerk when it’s their turn to speak to council, McGarry explained.
“You get a phone call and boom, you’re in the meeting.”
McGarry acknowledges the city’s new council meeting times have been controversial, and not everyone agrees they are accessible.
Liggett noted in an email that not everyone can take personal calls at work.
While Kitchener has reinstated its standing committees, Cambridge has not. Cambridge council meets every two weeks to discuss every issue at hand which is why some meetings now begin at 10 a.m.
“Some of our meetings have been 11 hours long,” McGarry said. “Are we really at our best making decisions at midnight?”
She said council’s start times are in line with some other area municipalities, like Waterloo, where 2 p.m. council meetings have been the norm since before the pandemic.
Liggett had requested Cambridge council to return to 7 p.m. start times, but her motions were dismissed or voted down last year.
“It weighs heavily on me that I am unable to attend meetings that start at 10 a.m. and go on all day and that I have been placed in a position that I miss the first hour of those that start at 5 p.m.,” she said in an email.
“My voice is not heard in the earlier debates and my vote representing my constituents is not registered.”
Technical difficulties
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For Kitchener councillor Kelly Galloway-Sealock, being able to participate in council meetings from home has had its perks as well as its stressors.
“It’s been helpful as a parent that I’ve been able to parent while being on council.” Galloway-Sealock said.
On the other hand, trying to connect to a Zoom meeting with three kids learning virtually, and a husband who is also working from home, has been a bit of a nightmare.
“The nerves and stress I have is more about that rather than the content of the actual meetings,” she said.
She recalls one council meeting when she was booted out of the Zoom meeting due to her poor internet connection and couldn’t get back in to register her vote. It hasn’t happened often, but even one technical mishap can be detrimental when you have important decisions to make as a local politician.
Galloway-Sealock said she is grateful to have the ability to participate in council meetings from the safety of her home, but she can’t wait for the return of in-person meetings.
“I think meetings run smoother in person. I also think that relationships and social interactions with others are not happening,” the Kitchener city councillor said.
Over in Waterloo, virtual council meetings run with fewer technical mishaps because city council does not use Zoom video conferencing to host electronic meetings and uses audio only through Cisco Webex.
City councillor Diane Freeman said she prefers it over video conferencing. There are fewer distractions, more clarity and fewer technical problems, she said.
“Video doesn’t add value in my opinion,” Freeman said. City council is able to make decisions and get business done with fewer connection issues for everyone involved.
While Freeman, like other local politicians, said virtual council meetings have worked well this past year, she is eager to get back into council chambers.
The conversations and debate is just not the same, Freeman explained.
“Body language associated with conversation brings value to that conversation,” she said.
Freeman said public access to council is crucial, and virtual meetings have shown that those who wish to speak to council have been able to voice their concerns despite not being able to meet in person.
“I think most people have seen this as a necessary step,” she said.
New voices
Elizabeth Clarke, Region of Waterloo councillor, said the ability to attend a short meeting from home has cut down on commute times and allows her to dedicate time to her other job as well.
She thinks it will also free up time for the public who often show up for a 9 a.m. committee meeting and have to wait until 2 p.m. to speak to regional council.
“It does put people off for people to sit in council chambers for hours,” Clarke said.
Regional council has held many meetings on hot topics this past year: From the Waterloo Regional Police budget to anti-racism town halls and meetings about the region’s child care centres. These virtual meetings drew dozens of people who signed up to speak.
“I think we have seen a bit more from people we hadn’t before,” Clarke said of delegates who have spoken to regional council this past year. “While we’re gaining some new tech-savvy people, we have heard from some who don’t feel as comfortable attending virtually.”
Those people tend to be ones who are intimidated by the virtual format, don’t feel as comfortable using technology or perhaps prefer in-person meetings instead.
He said municipal councils have done remarkably well given the ever-changing public health protocols, technical challenges of virtual meetings, and trying to keep in touch with the public.
“Council has been able to get business done,” Williams said. “People have been able to be heard.”
