To the editor:
I was fortunate enough to make it to the first county council meeting of 2020. They meet the first Monday of every month. Unfortunately, most nights there’s not many in the gallery. This is fixable.
Municipal government is apparently the level of government closest to the people. But in the Municipality of Pictou County, it’s the only level of government without recorded meetings. Our council passed a motion to bring cameras to council back in 2016. But nothing has happened. A few years ago, the Town of Stellarton began live-streaming their council meetings on YouTube. If Chase the Ace was important enough to be live-streamed at the firehall, surely municipal matters deserve that same platform.
Full accountability is impossible without transparency. Council is accountable to the people it serves. With our current level of transparency, who can hold our council responsible? Certainly not the single mom in Salt Springs who hasn't got the time to get to Pictou for a 7 p.m. meeting at the beginning of each month. Nor the senior in River John, who is unable to make the one-hour round-trip on a dark and snowy winter night. Meetings should be watchable from home. That way everyone can stay informed. Studies prove that people are more likely to participate when they are informed. Isn’t that the goal?
The municipality is currently embarking on an internet plan that will cost millions of taxpayer dollars. This without much public debate. Public policy debates should be open to the entire public. Let’s stop alienating people, and let’s be inclusive.
Bring cameras to the county council.
Erinn Wright
Salt Springs
