The City of Burnaby is expecting to hold its first public hearing since the onset of the COVID-19 public health emergency on June 9.
Currently, a meeting is scheduled for May 26, but staff is asking council to defer the meeting to June 9 while the city implements and tests the necessary technology to host a virtual public hearing.
On May 1, the provincial government issued an order that would allow cities to host public hearings on virtual platforms, rather than in-person meetings to avoid potentially large congregations of people in which it would be a challenge to ensure proper physical distancing.
Mayor Mike Hurley recently noted the City of Surrey has held at least one public hearing over the phone, but he told the NOW earlier this month that Burnaby’s council wasn’t interested in limiting participation to the phone. He also praised the province for approving virtual meetings online.
The city is expecting to hold its public hearings over Zoom, a virtual conferencing platform that met the pandemic with a sudden surge in popularity, beyond its typical use in the business world.
“Through the Zoom webinar platform, the public will be able to provide oral comments to council live during the electronic/virtual public hearing,” staff wrote in a report to council, to be considered in Monday’s regular meeting.
The city will continue to accept written submissions, including by fax, mail and email, and it will also allow people to participate over the phone, acknowledging that not everyone has adequate internet access.
Hurley told the NOW on May 1 that the city has plenty of items teed up for the public hearings part of the process, meaning there won’t be any shortage of proposals to look at in the upcoming meeting.
“We’re very anxious to get it going. But it’ll be one that we have to do in consultation with the province,” Hurley said.
What’s still unclear is how the Zoom application can be made widely available for use during public hearings without opening the meetings up to potential “zoombombers” – trolls who seek to disrupt meetings with graphic or disturbing content.
The issue is set to go before council for a vote Monday evening.
