By Dominic Abassi

Nanaimo Council ends City practice of not broadcasting meetings during campaign

Sep 20, 2018 | 5:39 PM

NANAIMO — With some likening it to censorship, Nanaimo councillors struck down a City practice of not broadcasting meetings during an election campaign.

By a narrow 5-4 vote, councillors endorsed a motion introduced by coun. Gord Fuller calling for three meetings between now and Oct. 20 to be live streamed on the City’s website and posted as archives the following day.

The discussion came about after staff brought forward a report reminding Council and the public of the meeting blackouts. The practice was in effect during the 2011 and 2014 elections, designed to avoid electioneering during meetings from incumbents or new candidates and also to remove any appearance of an unfair advantage to those getting free air time.

In the past, the City would still record the meetings and then post archive versions online following election day.

“I don’t have a clue why we do this,” Fuller said. “We’ll get shenanigans whether we record or not.”

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Coun. Bill Yoachim, who supported Fuller’s motion to carry on broadcasting, said he tends to agree with criticism against this Council for spending too much time meeting behind closed doors.

“I don’t know how you can not call it censorship,” Yoachim said. “People have to know the work that’s happening. It’s a month, not a day, that’s a long time.”

Councillors running for re-election were split in their opinions on the matter. Fuller and coun. Sheryl Armstrong supported ending the blackout, while councillors Ian Thorpe and Jerry Hong did not.

“I think the intent of the past practice was valid and I don’t see it as censorship. I think it does, to some extent, level the playing field in terms of exposure,” Thorpe said.

Hong said he would prefer to leave the decision to the future Council. “We still have business to do and somebody is going to live stream it on Facebook and share it.”

The City’s practice does not appear to be necessary according to any election rules or legislation. Elections BC confirmed to NanaimoNewsNOW there was nothing in their acts regulating whether a council meeting could or could not be broadcast during a campaign period.

Meanwhile, staff with Shaw TV, which carries the live cable broadcast of regular Nanaimo council meetings, said they were not aware of any regulations impacting their ability to air the meetings.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi