New Ottawa police board pressured to bring back virtual meeting option

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Metropolis council members poised to take seats on the Ottawa Police Companies Board, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe included, are being pushed to contemplate bringing again an choice for digital public participation, to permit extra group enter — and critique — at conferences which might be among the many most scrutinized at metropolis corridor.

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Progressive activist group Horizon Ottawa launched a name on Monday for the board, which is charged with overseeing the Ottawa Police Service, and which Sutcliffe has promised to take a seat on, to carry again a digital choice for showing earlier than it with the beginning of a brand new council time period.

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That pandemic-era choice was eliminated final spring, following a significant shake-up in board membership throughout the “Freedom Convoy” occupation.

Members of the general public have since been required to indicate up in particular person in the event that they need to ship a stay presentation to the police board, whereas each different committee and board tied to Ottawa metropolis council, from these overseeing planning to the Ottawa Public Library, has been assembly solely on-line or utilizing a hybrid mannequin with in-person and digital participation.

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In a press launch, Horizon charged that the police board’s choice was undemocratic and supposed to “silence dissent over Ottawa Police inaction throughout the occupation.”

Now-former police board chair, Eli El-Chantiry, in addition to interim chair Suzanne Valiquet, shared a special rationalization Monday: that the board’s procedural bylaw made it essential to revert to in-person-only conferences after pandemic measures had been eased.

These procedural guidelines can change however it could have taken a number of board conferences to take action, stated El-Chantiry. Between the convoy and ensuing public inquiry, preparation for Canada Day and the hiring of a brand new chief, El-Chantiry stated the thought was to go away any additional choice about assembly format to the subsequent board, post-municipal election.

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Valiquet beforehand spent years on the Ottawa police board and returned to it in February on the invitation of then-Mayor Jim Watson, changing former vice-chair Sandy Smallwood, who resigned throughout the occupation. Valiquet stated going with a hybrid mannequin for his or her conferences would require assets — monetary and staffing — that the board and its two workers don’t have at current.

Horizon Ottawa, in the meantime, pointed to the chance of catching COVID-19 and different respiratory diseases as an argument in favour of giving individuals a digital choice to take part when the board gathers. 

A vocal critic of the police service, Horizon board member Sam Hersh said within the launch that “persevering with to carry conferences solely in-person excludes those that can’t attend for well being causes, or who don’t really feel snug doing so, and hinders makes an attempt to boost accountability.”

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Horizon isn’t the one group searching for this to alter. Robin Browne, co-lead of 613-819 Black Hub and a fixture on the police board’s public delegates checklist, stated the in-person-only requirement was an “elitist barrier,” difficult participation by individuals who can’t take day without work work or journey to metropolis corridor, and instantly reduce down the variety of individuals coming to the board to current after it was introduced again within the spring.

Valiquet, the founding father of Momentum Planning and Communications and longtime Quartier Vanier Enterprise Enchancment Space govt director, stated there are execs and cons related to each of the choices — staying in-person-only or going solely digital — that wouldn’t require resourcing past the board’s present capability.

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“And proper now we don’t have a alternative as a result of our procedural bylaw says that we’ve to satisfy in particular person. So we’ve to work with what we’ve obtained.”

She later emailed the part of procedural bylaw that addresses the difficulty: “The Board shall maintain its common conferences on the hour of 16:00 hours within the Champlain Room at Ottawa Metropolis Corridor in response to the schedule set yearly and authorized by the Board, or at such different locations or time as could also be decided by the Board now and again.”

Valiquet added that not like the Metropolis of Ottawa’s process bylaw, which explicitly permits it, “the easy truth is that the (bylaw) doesn’t ponder digital conferences.”

Ottawa’s police board contains three council members. Sutcliffe stated throughout the marketing campaign he would take a type of seats, and different councillor appointments to committee and boards are anticipated to be formalized at a council assembly on Dec. 14.

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The board additionally has three provincial appointees, who just lately started three-year phrases, and one civilian council appointee, at the moment Valiquet. Sutcliffe’s marketing campaign platform included a dedication to “recruit a powerful impartial group member who’s certified not solely to serve on the police providers board but additionally step into the position of chair.” 

An interim spokesperson for Sutcliffe offered a press release Monday afternoon stating that it will likely be as much as the board “to collectively decide the foundations for digital public participation.”