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Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian introduced a motion designed to accommodate those who have not previously considered running for public office, given their personal circumstances
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The ability for Calgary city councillors to participate in meetings remotely was put under the microscope on Tuesday.
After an hour of debate, members of the executive committee voted 12-1 to accept a staff recommendation to change council’s code of conduct and procedure bylaws to limit councillors’ ability to tune in to meetings virtually, with Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot providing the sole vote in opposition.
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However, the motion included an amendment from Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian to add a provision that allows councillors to continue working remotely, provided their circumstance falls under the protected grounds of the Alberta Human Rights Act.
These could include having a physical disability or on the basis of familial status — as is the case for Mian, who gave birth last summer and has regularly attended meetings remotely as a result.
“I appreciate we need more guardrails around remote work for councillors, but the way these bylaws have been written is too restrictive — or at least, the public interpretation of them is quite restrictive,” she said.
“I can use my own situation as an example, but this isn’t a Coun. Mian clause. This is recognizing there are many situations where reasonable access to remote work should be allowed.”
Amendment would allow for remote participation ‘in exceptional circumstances’
Council’s procedure and code of conduct bylaws have allowed elected officials to attend meetings remotely since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The amendments to the bylaws would only allow councillors to participate virtually “on occasion,” and in an appropriate and secure location that is free of distractions, with their camera turned on and no background used.
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Under the amended bylaw, remote participation should only occur “in exceptional circumstances” when attending in-person is impossible or impractical, according to city staff.
Addressing the committee on Tuesday, city ethics adviser Dr. Emily Laidlaw said the amended language was not in response to any singular incident.
She said the amendments were “mostly logistical,” and are intended to clarify that remote participation at meetings should be the exception rather than the norm.
“The operative criteria here is a best-efforts basis,” she said, adding the city’s ethics and integrity office “didn’t take lightly” the decision to amend the code of conduct.
Necessary to balance equity, need to ‘show up’: councillor
Mian said her motion, introduced partway through council’s discussion, was designed to accommodate those who have not previously considered running for public office, given their personal circumstances.
“I think we owe it to moms, dads, society and the future to allow for care dynamics to be a little more equitable,” she said.
“I’m the first woman to have a baby in office for a reason. I’m OK with being the first, but I’m not OK with being the only.”
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While he said he supported Mian’s intent, Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra introduced a referral motion to send the bylaw back to the ethics and integrity office to review with the city’s internal and external anti-racism bodies and the social well-being advisory committee.
Those groups should have the opportunity to weigh in on whether the amended language is equitable enough, Carra said.
“I’m deeply concerned that not only is the bylaw as currently written gameable by people less interested in issues of equity, but I’m also concerned we’re not doing everything we could and should do,” he said.
“Things are not as equitable as we think we’d like them to be.”
Carra’s referral motion failed 3-10, with he, Richard Pootmans and Chabot voting in favour.
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Ward 1 Coun. Sonya Sharp said she supported Mian’s amendment but not Carra’s, adding that council has to balance equity with the need to “show up” to serve Calgarians.
“I really don’t think that’s a high bar to set,” she said. “What Calgarians are hearing right now is us debating whether we should bother to show up.”
The motion will still require approval at a future regular city council meeting.
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