Prince George City Council discussed potentially moving their public meetings to earlier in the day.
At Monday’s meeting, City Council set their meeting schedule for 2025, which prompted the discussion on the times of their meetings.
Meetings currently start at 6:00 pm on Mondays.
“A lot of our meetings go really, really late and it’s hard on everybody,” said Councillor Trudy Klassen.
“I’ve had several people come to me and say it makes it really hard for the average person because we only start at 6:00 to log in and watch, and so in terms of accessibility, they were saying it’s a bit of a problem.”
Klassen noted some other cities start their meetings at 3:00 pm.
Manager of Legislative Services Ethan Anderson noted the 6:00 pm start is part of the city’s Council Procedures bylaw, and staff intends to bring that back to the council table for some housekeeping items.
Klassen put a motion on the floor requesting staff come back with options on times, seconded by Councillor Ron Polillo.
“For some of us that have another day job that might be challenging,” Polillo said.
“Usually we’re here meeting before a public meeting, but in terms of exactly that point, some of our meetings go fairly late and we’re here at 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, I think sometimes even after 11:00, I’m concerned about us fatigued quite frankly and whether we’re making the best decisions.”
Councillor Susan Scott said the time needs to be re-examined, and what ever is decided would have to be communicated before the next election.
“People stepping into the role deserve to know what they’re going into.”
Councillor Kyle Sampson said he wasn’t keen on having the discussion.
“If folks can’t tune into the live feed, the video is there in perpetuity on the website,” he said.
“It may not be live, but you can watch it that middle of the night, first thing in the morning, middle of the day, you can watch it 23 times if you like, I think it’s accessible.”
Sampson added meeting after business hours provides more opportunity for those who work typical working hours to attend.
“I think this meets the greater population,” he continued.
“This is the timeframe that was set out when putting our names forward. I have a day job, this job does not pay enough to not work an additional job at this point in my life, and I have responsibilities outside of this. I got into this knowing when the meetings would be, I made a commitment to my employer that this would be when our regular meetings would be.”
Councillor Cori Ramsay shared a similar view.
“When the timing and schedule is set at the beginning of the term, I think it is done with the Councillors in mind,” Ramsay said.
“A lot of us do have work commitments, last term I had to take 104 unpaid days off work a year just to come to council meetings. I think it’s not just about us specifically, it’s also about our employers in a lot of instances in what they’re going to and what they’re willing to accommodate.”
Councillor Tim Bennett said the night time meetings allow more people to run for elected positions as well.
“As much as it is probably inconvenient to us at times, I think it sets the city up the best it can to ensure that we are allowing those who want the opportunity to run in the future, the opportunity to run and hopefully recruit diverse candidates.”
Klassen’s motion was carried 4-3, with Councillors Bennett, Ramsay, and Sampson opposed.
Mayor Simon Yu and Councillor Brian Skakun were absent from the meeting.
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