As senior governments impose stricter controls on public gatherings to try to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Burnaby city council meetings will go ahead – albeit likely in a digital format.
Mayor Mike Hurley said it’s unlikely the public will be able to attend council meetings in person (council meetings are streamed online and archived afterward), and even councillors may be interacting remotely, though nothing has been confirmed. The lack of public participation means a public hearing planned for next week will likely be cancelled.
“(That’s) not confirmed, yet, but we’re leaning in that direction,” Hurley said in a phone interview.
As for how the regular council meeting will work, Hurley said he doesn’t yet have details.
“We’re looking into the possibility of doing a virtual council meeting for Monday night. We’re looking into seeing how that could work and if we could even do it under the Community Charter,” Hurley said, referring to the provincial law that regulates municipalities.
That said, the city is looking to follow the most up-to-date protocols being put forth by the provincial and federal governments, which Hurley said are practically updated “by the hour.”
Still, the city does need to hold council meetings to address critical issues, Hurley said, but that could mean items planned for the next meeting – and potentially future meetings – could be dropped.
“Likely we would just stick to the very most important issues that really have to be dealt with,” Hurley said.
As for other city operations, Hurley said building inspections are “still going ahead now.”
“Especially anything that would have life safety attached to it, certainly those are going ahead. But most building inspections are going ahead as normal right now. For now,” he said.
“Could that change in the next two hours? Yes.”
In terms of seniors’ residences, Hurley said inspectors would only be attending in matters where there is a life-risk involved.
The City of Toronto announced Wednesday it will be suspending non-emergency building, bylaw, and health inspections, along with enforcement of expired business licences.
“I’m sure most of us will likely get there at some point, but at this point that hasn’t happened in Burnaby,” Hurley said. “Everything’s changing by the hour. It’s a whirlwind, what’s been going on.”
Hurley said he’s been to the city’s emergency operations centre, set up to deal with the emergent situation around COVID-19, a number of times and said it’s been a busy place.
“It’s a hub of action and many, many people putting in many hours just planning and logistics and, if we have to wind things down, how are we going to do that,” he said.
“Morale is good. Our people are top notch, and everyone’s giving their very best to ensure that we’re doing all the right things and staying on top of things. Unfortunately, I don’t see this coming to an end anytime soon. It looks like this is going to be a long haul.”
This information is current as of Wednesday afternoon. The NOW will update with more information when it's available.
