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Coun. Dan McLean was sanctioned in December for tuning into a public hearing from a golf course last summer
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Calgary city councillors will consider a staff recommendation next week that would limit their ability to participate in meetings remotely.
At Wednesday’s executive committee meeting, council will deliberate amending the language in their procedure bylaw and code of conduct bylaw, impacting how often and under what circumstances members can tune into meetings virtually.
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The recommendation comes after Ward 13 Coun. Dan McLean was sanctioned in December, after a probe by the city’s integrity commissioner revealed he had tuned into a public hearing from a golf course last summer.
Councillors’ ability to attend meetings remotely has been a provision of their procedure bylaw since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly four years ago.
Staff is now recommending to amend the provision to state that members may “on occasion” participate remotely in council or committee meetings, provided they “are in an appropriate and secure location free from distractions with their camera on and no background used.”
The amended provision, which would apply to both public and closed-session meetings, would also encourage councillors to employ their best efforts to attend those discussions in person.
And while remote participation would still be permitted, it should only occur “in exceptional circumstances,” where in-person attendance is impossible or impractical, the staff report said. These circumstances could include urgent personal or medical matters, or when out of town for the purpose of city business.
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Councillors would also be required to keep a record of their reasons for attending meetings remotely, which must be disclosed to the integrity commissioner upon request.
The city’s integrity and ethics office would oversee councillors’ compliance with the provisions, according to the staff report.
![Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot](https://i0.wp.com/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/calgaryherald/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/chabot.jpg?resize=1000%2C740&ssl=1)
Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot said there are benefits to meeting in-person, such as the ability to “read the room” better.
Now that COVID-19 is in the rearview mirror, Chabot thinks council should revert back to the old rules, which stipulated that if councillors are not in their seat, they aren’t allowed to vote.
“It’s one thing to listen to people and see their reactions. It’s a whole other story when you’re trying to make that determination when working remotely,” he said.
“There’s something about that in-person connection — even the little sidebar conversations that occur sometimes during a council meeting can lead to differences of opinion being resolved in an informal fashion.”
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One councillor said she intends to bring forward an amendment to next week’s meeting to accommodate her personal circumstances.
Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian has regularly attended meetings virtually since giving birth last summer and said the rules should provide flexibility in her case.
“Of course, a role like this is best done in person and I’m there as much as I can be, but our meetings are often over 12 hours each day,” Mian said. “If you have a newborn like I do, you need a bit of remote work flexibility. Otherwise, the baby is going to have to come into council chambers and that’s going to be disruptive for everyone.”
Mian also took a shot at McLean, suggesting his sanctioning is what led to the need for a “course correction.”
![Coun. Jasmine Mian](https://i0.wp.com/smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/calgaryherald/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/mian.jpg?resize=1000%2C750&ssl=1)
“I was back to work within two weeks of having a child, so I’m a bit annoyed that I have to bring an amendment to ask for flexibility as a new mom simply because a member of council decided to golf during work,” she said.
“Let’s keep the right amount of flexibility so the job remains accessible to people of all walks of life, but have the right guardrails to prevent the abuse of it that we have seen.”
Asked for comment on staff’s recommendation, McLean responded he has one of the best in-person attendance records among council and that he’s been pushing for rules to prohibit remote attendance for the last two years.
Councillors should always attend meetings in person unless they’re sick or conducting business on behalf of their city, McLean said.
If the executive committee endorses staff’s recommendation next week, council would still need to approve the changes at a future regular meeting.
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