To stream or not to stream? The pros and cons for N.S. municipalities

The vast majority of Nova Scotia municipalities offer some kind of video access to their council meetings, but new technology and the rise of online hate have some councils turning off the camera.

Of the 49 municipalities in Nova Scotia, only six — about 12 per cent — do not have video at all. 

The 43 who do have video range from livestreaming, to a more secure option like allowing people to join meetings via platforms like Zoom, but not posting the recordings afterward.

“I’m surprised because … there’s no requirement that this happen,” Alex Marland, a political science professor at Acadia University, said about the high number of municipalities offering video.

The Town of Annapolis Royal and District of St. Mary’s are among the six who do not share video, but are the only ones who post audio recordings of their meetings.

Last month, Annapolis Royal’s all-female council voted to end video streaming after some councillors brought up concerns about their image being available online.

Coun. Heather Sadkowski said some online tools allow video to be manipulated and widely shared to amplify harassment against local councillors. She said there are various recent examples of politicians across Canada, especially women, facing increasingly personal attacks.

Annapolis Royal Mayor Amery Boyer said this is a preventive move, as their council has not experienced any specific incidents. Boyer said she knows many residents appreciated the convenience of being able to watch council videos on their own time, but it did not make sense to ignore safety concerns.

“I guess somebody’s got to lead, even if to some it appears to be a backward move,” said Boyer.

The Town of Mahone Bay video streams its meetings, but Mayor Suzanne Lohnes-Croft said she understands Annapolis Royal’s decision. She said the rise of artificial intelligence, especially, is concerning for all women.

A former provincial MLA, Lohnes-Croft said she’s been harassed throughout her own career and also hacked.

“Until you’ve been a victim of it, you have no idea how it interferes with you. Your family, your friends, are often targets as well,” Lohnes-Croft said.

Legislation requires all councils in Nova Scotia to have their meetings open to the public, so people can always attend in person. Minutes of meetings must also be posted, but they are often very limited, and only state who voted for what motion, without detailing the discussion.

Marland said while video is the highest accessible standard, it does often put more pressure on women, clips can be taken out of context, and some politicians may do things purposely for an online audience.

“The key point here is, is there a measure of transparency? And as long as you’re getting what people are saying, I don’t know why you have to be able to visually watch them say it,” Marland said.

Audio recordings or transcripts of debates would be the 21st-century minimum to make sure residents can follow what their council is doing and hold them accountable, Marland said, but video may not be the answer for every municipality.

However, while no one should have to put up with attacks in their role, Marland said anyone in politics should be prepared to have their likeness in the public realm.

“There may be some people who are going to sit out running for office and that’s just the way life is going to be. If you’re not comfortable being in the public eye, you shouldn’t be a politician,” Marland said.

Marland said with the erosion of local journalism and fewer outlets covering council meetings, the onus is now on municipalities to share as much as possible about how local governance is being done.

While Marland said he doesn’t think the province should mandate a new technology standard for meetings, the Municipal Affairs Department should keep track of which councils aren’t sharing recordings at all, and make sure they have the resources they need to be transparent.

If people don’t know what’s going on with their local councils and are not discussing municipal issues home or online — even if it’s to complain — Marland said that can turn into apathy, and lead to low voter turnout or few people running for office.

The District of Guysborough on the Eastern Shore is one of the four municipalities who don’t video stream meetings, or post audio recordings or transcripts. The others include the South Shore towns of Lockeport and Clark’s Harbour, and the County of Inverness in Cape Breton.

In the last 2024 municipal election, Guysborough had only one race for a council seat because incumbent councillors were acclaimed in seven of the eight districts.

But Guysborough Warden Paul Long said that lack of interest from candidates likely has more to do with people not wanting to open themselves up to threats, than not offering video.

Long said it seems Guysborough’s 4,500 residents are content with the current situation, because the municipality has never gotten requests for video or audio recordings.

“There’s nothing saying that that would never happen. But at this point in time, we’re comfortable doing what we’re doing,” Long said.

He said the municipality has a newsletter, they are now sharing more updates through Facebook, and they are lucky to be among the few rural councils that are still regularly covered by a local newspaper, the Guysborough-Antigonish Journal.

If council was to explore a way to share meetings online, Long said they would get a staff report.

The Town of Oxford has just over 1,100 people, and Mayor Greg Henley said he believes their video streaming helps residents stay engaged.

While Henley said every community should be allowed to make their own decisions, he likes that videos of town meetings can set the record straight for any “keyboard warriors” who post misleading things.

“Through open broadcast … trying to be as transparent as possible, you try to combat that type of silliness,” Henley said.

When asked if the province has an ideal standard for councils to share their meetings, a spokesperson for the Municipal Affairs Department said municipalities “know their communities and are best positioned to decide how their meetings are conducted and shared.”

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