Leslie

Bill Sarai

I strongly feel that all items except the ones the staff flag as confidential should be held in open council. The Tom Galardi issue is the one I always bring forward and was only brought to the public by a media 5 months after the closed door meeting. Totally unacceptable.

Jennifer Adams

Yes, the Community Charter allows many decisions to be made in camera behind closed doors with little to no public or council consultation. A new policy was adopted at the eleventh hour of our current council - Policy No. GGA-40, Procurement, effective September 18, 2018. Unfortunately I believe this policy change will lead to even less transparency and public consultation, not more. I feel very strongly that procurement policy and practice should become more transparent to encourage accountability and fairness and believe it would go a long way to calm the water around residents who feel they are kept in the dark and have no control over the spending of THIER money. If a company bids on a publicly funded project instead of protecting the bid process from public eyes those bidding would have to be comfortable with the public process. The Organization is spending public money whether the funds are coming from municipal coffers, provincial taxation or federal tax dollars - it is the people who are paying and they deserve full disclosure and much more effective open and transparent process, not less. I was very disappointed that this policy decision was not put off until a new council was brought in. Rolling it back now will be much more difficult.

William James Turnbull

Only items / issues that must be in camera. The rest need to be in public.

Jimmy Johal

I think far too many bad decisions end up being made behind closed doors, away from the public and media, especially when it comes to land deals. I understand that certain topics need to be kept confidential, but there's way too much leeway. For example, city council decided to purchase the land on Tranquille Road for supportive housing, borrowing funds to do so, and at that meeting also discussed selling other city-owned properties to pay back the loans. This is why they decided to turn the former Thrupp Manor site into 5 single-family lots, and this is also why they're selling the Raleigh properties now. Why did we go to a public hearing on the Thrupp Manor site without this being disclosed? I've can give a lot more examples.

Arjun Singh

I am comfortable with the items discussed in closed session at council. I think the guiding philosophy here is protection of the interests of the municipality. Will it cost more money to discuss a land deal in public? Could we get sued?

I am not sure what specific issues and decisions you are asking about. I'm happy to provide more info on rationale.

I think its a good idea for any new council, early in the term, to discuss in camera sessions to ensure our practices are as transparent as possible.

Dale Bass

Lack of transparency is an issue I have heard from so many people. You are right, Leslie, council needs to be more open than it is now. They need to remember the public service part of the job.

Denis Walsh

I believe we need to foster an environment for authentic public participation that is inclusive, engaged and meaningful. Groups such as neighbourhood associations should be treated as stakeholders, not observers.

Gerald Watson

But for Land, Labour and Legal issues, council business should be conducted in public.

Stephen Karpuk

I believe we need more transparency to have more accountability in our government. I think that many people feel disconnected to their local government because of the lack of transparency and accountability, and this is a reason I feel that might explain voter apathy. I support more public discussion. I have begun to re-read the Community Charter to make sure I know my role, procedures, and I will make sure I pay close attention to the "in camera" portion. Thank you for your question.

Caroline King

Accountability and transparency are important but I would think that there would times where closed doors meetings would be equally as important in order to sort out information and facts.

Alison Klie

One of my main platform points is transparency in government and community engagement. I believe that information on what is going on in council and around the city should be easily accessed and understood. If there is a two hundred page plan or agenda there should be an accurate summarized version so that citizens can quickly learn what it is about. There should be short recaps of council meetings available with important dates and information released weekly. I would also like to see the council meetings moved to a time of day where the average working person can actually make it out to voice their opinion or listen to what is being spoken about. I also believe a better job can be done in informing the rest of the public when important meetings are taking place to hopefully improve public turn out.