LAC LA BICHE - Lac La Biche County council has been holding virtual council meetings that are available to the public by livestream video and an archive library since August of last year. Like many other events and public hearings, speakers and municipal staff have been joining council meetings through digital software.
Lac La Biche County's elected members have also taken advantage of the option to work from home. Last Tuesday, councillors Jason Stedman, Charlyn Moore, and Lorin Tkachuk connected virtually to their regular council meeting. Over the last year, all councillors have bounced between in-person and online attendance.
Tkachuk's move to online in recent weeks is related to his family’s health and well-being as the Lac La Biche region is now beginning to see a reduction in COVID-19 active cases after peaking in early May.
“I am participating virtually, and while difficult, it is because I have a newborn son. His safety is the number-one priority for me at this time,” said Tkachuk. “Once my family is fully vaccinated or the R factor in the County lowers, I will return to meetings.”
Since May 4 and in some cases earlier, most senior municipal staff and speakers have been engaging with council digitally into order to maintain social distancing. The municipality's CAO Ken VanBuul has maintained an in-council presence througout the pandemic. Over the course of the last year, the virtual council meetings have had their share of issues, ranging from connectivity between council members or transmission to those who are watching the event to some open-microphone statements being broadcast and many reminders that speakers are muted.
At the last meeting, councillor Stedman, who is a full-time paramedic, was having some difficulties with his virtual link. The Mission-area councillor attempted to stay connected to the meeting several times. Background vehicle noise could be heard on several of his attempts to re-connect to the meeting. In other instances, council members have reported they have missed portions of online conferences due to connection difficulties from their rural locations. In many cases, Mayor Omer Moghrabi has offered up his municipal offices at McArthur Place to council members in rural areas with poor Internet connectivity who have wanted to link into virtual conferences or workshops.
With that many people working remotely, the issues are expected, says Tkachuk, who knows a little something about connectivity, being a former area manager for the Telus communications company. His experience and interest in the subject has put him on local, regional and national committees focusing on connectivity and broadband concerns in rural communities. Like the majority of council, he is a supporter of a new partnership with his former employer to bring fibre-optic service to the entire community. The Telus fibre-optic project is being cost shared by the municipality and Telus, with Lac La Biche County paying $6 million over the next three years to secure the infrastructure. Until that fibre-optic option is ready, however, the availability of current virtual options — despite some failings — is the best way to do things for Tkachuk.
“It’s usually not too difficult, but as of late it has been with Internet issues and E-scribe issues — our internal system for voting,” Tkachuk says. “It is limiting and the conversation in the room is sometimes missed, but at the end of the day I have to keep safety in mind.”
Back to work
The most recent COVID-19 announcement by provincial officials shows plans to remove the 'work-from-home' option for Albertans in the coming weeks if case numbers of the global virus continue to drop. Calling all municipal officials back to the council table has yet to be a topic discussed in the virtual meetings. In many instances, workplaces are finding the work-from-home scenario has created many cost-cutting measures, but does create unique challenges.
The next virtual Lac La Biche County Council meeting is this week on June 1.
