Publishing municipal council meeting minutes shows a “commitment to act with transparency”. And while the Municipal Code of Quebec may not “specifically state” that council minutes must be uploaded to the municipal website, the minutes are recorded for municipal records, so why not publish them?
Routinely updated bilingual websites allow all citizens to equally access services and eliminates bothersome requests to town hall that may or may not be responded to. Since citizens are already paying the salaries of French and English-speaking employees and Google Translate is free, can there not be a collaboration with more fluently bilingual municipalities to exchange translation services rather than pay an outside entity or simply not translate at all?
When council makes statements that “nobody shows up to meetings” and that they “rarely get visitors”, do they consider the costs incurred by residents in money and time?
Further, why would citizens want to participate if publicly chastised and if fact-based criticisms are not permitted. How is any council to be held accountable for its own actions or inaction? Or is that the point?
Amy Taylor
Chichester
