The number of hours city council and committees met in private has decreased over the last three years, according to a report presented to the city’s governance and priorities committee Thursday.
The report tracked the number of hours city council and committees met for and how many of those hours were in public or private. It reviewed the hours of meetings of city council, the governance and priorities committee and the four standing policy committees each year from Aug. 1, 2014 to July 31, 2017. The city started tracking hours after it changed its governance model in 2014.
“It’s important for transparency and accountability for the public,” the city’s director of policy and government relations Mike Jordan said.
The report looked at meeting hours in public versus private or “in-camera” hours. On average, 71 per cent of the meeting hours per year were open to the public.
The number of in-camera items discussed by the governance and priorities committee fell by 70 per cent in 2016/2017 compared to the previous two years.
The report shows in 2014/2015 there were 36 items about city council business that were heard in-camera compared to zero in 2015/2016 and 2016/2017. Similarly, there were 29 labour and personnel items heard in-camera in 2014/2015 compared to 17 and 11 in the next two timeframes.
“The decisions council makes are in public for everyone to see and to be accountable for,” Jordan told CTV News. “But there are items where they have to go in and discuss privately and get the nuances of and things that are private in nature.”
It found city council and all committees meet for a total average of 252 hours per year.
While city council meets for 71 hours a year on average, the governance and priorities committee meets for 92 hours.
Ward 7 councillor Mairin Loewen said the data is helpful to explain to those who are interested in running for council and inquire about what the role entails.
The statistics will be documented and made public around this time each year going forward, according to Jordan.
