The Thompson-Nicola Regional District will hold its regular board meeting on Thursday via conference call due to the COVID-19 pandemic, without access by the public or media.
TNRD chair Ken Gillis said the regional district has had difficulty with technology, but needs to hold its March 26 meeting, as per legislation, to pass its budget.
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He said he is “quite concerned” about the lack of media access.
“We don’t really have much choice, other than to go ahead with this one,” he said.
Gillis said the regional district will issue a news release after the meeting, at which time questions can be called in. Asked if the media could not be included in the teleconference, Gillis said: “No, we can’t because there’s only so many lines and that’s what we talked about. We talked about, what if they ask questions? It would be impossible to dial in and ask questions without interrupting the meeting.”
Asked whether a question period could be held at the end of the meeting, Gillis replied: “If we’re going to do it at the end, we might as well just talk to you at the end.”
The City of Kamloops has said it is working with the province on how the public will play into digital meetings, should council meetings go virtual. The Kamloops-Thompson school district is also looking into whether it can include the media and public in its video-conference meetings.
