The seal for the City of Grande Prairie, displayed in the Council Chambers

By Liam Verster

City Council Meeting

Grande Prairie City Council reconvenes for in-person meetings starting Tuesday

Sep 7, 2020 | 6:00 AM

After months of working from home and calling in to Council and Committee meetings via Zoom, Grande Prairie City Council Members will once again be meeting in the Chambers for in-person meetings.

City Staff have been working with Alberta Health Services (AHS) to ensure that the return to in-person meetings will be done following COVID-19 guidelines, mainly in regards to physical distancing and limited capacity.

“Our staff are able to accommodate all of Council, and so every Councillor will be able to attend in person” says Councillor Dylan Bressey. “Where we might not be able to have everybody, is we might not be able to have all the members of our corporate leadership team, which are usually also in Council, in the chambers.”

Those individuals will be able to participate in the meetings by calling in via Zoom, and Councillors will also have the option of not attending in person but instead calling in online.

City Staff is still working out ways to have the public engage with Council during the meetings, as members of the public will also not be allowed to attend meetings in person.

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Despite the difficulties with holding the meetings online, there have been some positives to come out of it, mainly with more access to the goings-on of the City for the public. Prior to the lockdowns forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, just Council meetings were live-streamed through the City’s Youtube channel.

“What I’ve really been appreciating though, since COVID-19 hit, is our Committee meetings have also been video streamed, and I know that I’ll be pushing to keep those Committee meetings going online as well,” says Bressey. “That was an initiative I was already advocating for, even before COVID hit.”

Bressey adds that, since the City’s meeting have been more accessible, and more information has been able to reach the public, they have seen an increase in public engagement, and discuss of municipal politics, which he hopes to continue into the future.

“I really appreciate how much members of the public have been watching and participating in council meetings lately, and I hope that’s something that carries into the future. Especially over the next year as we’re heading into municipal elections, I hope people will be paying more and more attention to City Council, so they can make informed choices next September.”

Councillors will reconvene in the City’s Council Chambers, for their first in-person meeting in months, at 3 p.m on Tuesday, September 8.