THUNDER BAY – The business of municipal government must go on.
But in the face of a global COVID-19 pandemic, it's not business as usual.
Thunder Bay city council, however, has found a way to keep the mechanisms of government moving, despite self-isolation strategies and some elected officials concerned about being in a room with more than a dozen other people.
Mayor Bill Mauro confirmed on Friday that council will meet on Monday night, though not all councillors will be physically in place in council chambers.
Mauro said with acceptable crowd numbers rapidly changing, they've had to put past practices on the shelf, for the time being.
“We need to continue to govern. There have been a number of councillors who have expressed a concern that did not want to attend council meetings, and that's understandable. Everybody is concerned with their health,with their family's health and doing everything they can to maintain,” Mauro said.
“Just yesterday the province changed and amended provincial legislation that will now allow for electronic participation of councillors.”
The province passed the legislation under Bill 187, The Municipal Emergency Measures Act 2020.
Mauro said the set-up is something he's been actively pursuing through the city clerk's office for at least the past week.
“Previous to this change yesterday, you could not as a councillor participate electronically to count to quorum or to vote,” Mauro said.
“It's my understanding, and I'm 90 per cent sure, that you can now participate electronically to both count to quorum and vote. Up until yeterday's changes, both of those were prohibited.”
City clerk Krista Power said councillors should be able to be full participants, if that's their wish.
"Members will have the option to participate by teleconference if they choose, it will be linked into our council chambers system and live-streamed as a regular meeting. Those who choose to attend in person will be social distanced. If the media chooses to attend in person I have moved the tables to the back of the room because the gallery will be closed to the public," she said.
Monday's agenda is fairly light, the biggest item other than approving electronic attendance being the awarding of the recylcing collection and processing project.
