Do you follow city council members on social media? If so, you may soon notice changes to how those accounts are managed and the posts made.
Following a review of governance policies, city staff recommends a number of alterations, including when it comes to social media use during elections and blocking commenters.
“The practice of conducting governance reviews twice-per-term of city council continues to be an effective method for ensuring that Guelph’s governance-related policies, procedures and bylaws remain up-to-date and relevant,” states the report, which will be presented to council’s committee of the whole for consideration on March 4.
Currently, council's code of conduce doesn't include any rules regarding social media. Here’s a look brief look at what's proposed:
Use during an election
City council members would either be required to maintain "separate and distinct” accounts for re-election purposes, or a single account with restricted use. If opting for the latter, the member must remove any references to the City of Guelph, including logos, titles, email addresses, etc. They must also notify followers/friends the account will be used for re-election purposes and provide an alternative source of information for constituency services.
Blocking social media commenters
Though there is no legal requirement preventing council members from blocking social media commenters, staff note it is considered a public forum and may violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – specifically the right to freedom of expression.
“Members should avoid blocking users from official/public social media accounts except in serious cases involving bullying, harassment, or hate propagation. These accounts should remain open to ensure public engagement and information dissemination,” the report states, noting personal accounts can be managed at the member’s discretion, provided the account is for private content only. “If a personal account is used for municipal affairs, it becomes a public platform, raising transparency and accountability concerns.”
Personal accounts versus corporate accounts
Council’s code of conduct would cover members’ social media behaviour regardless of whether they consider an account to be “personal” or “private.”
Though several of the recommendations focus on social media use, the review was more comprehensive than that. Among the other staff-drafted policy revisions are procedural changes that allow members of council or committees to be removed from meetings due to inappropriate behaviour.
“Across the province, many municipalities are experiencing an increase in disruptive behaviour, bullying, and poor decorum from elected officials. Fortunately, Guelph has not faced these issues,” the report notes. “These procedures are designed to be used only in the most extreme cases where an individual's behaviour prevents the holding of an efficient meeting and violates everyone's right to be treated with respect and courtesy.
“The removal of an elected official from a city council or committee meeting is a last resort.”
Under the proposed new rules, a meeting chair can order a council or committee member to be removed if they violate the rules of procedure after twice being warned about their behaviour. As a result, the removed individual loses their right to participate in the rest of the meeting, including discussions and voting.
Should a member of council disagree with the chair’s decree, they may challenge it as a regular point of order. In order to overturn the removal order, a simple majority vote is needed.
As it stands now, the process of removing a council or committee member requires a majority vote by council.
The deadline to register as a delegate or make a written submission for the March 4 committee of the whole meeting is Feb. 28 at 10 a.m. To register, visit guelph.ca/delegation, call 519-837-5603 or email [email protected].