Gaslighting by a Niagara Councillor and Our Access to Meetings

The chair of Niagara Regional Council's DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Advisory Committee made a statement about the vile Zoom disruption of their recent special meeting on anti-Palestinian racism. The disruption was deeply disgusting to me and so many others, but that's the only thing I agree with the Councillor on.

The Councillor blamed it on the Zoom link being shared publicly instead of directing people to the Clerk. I am the only one who shared the Zoom link publicly and the Clerk specifically told me “you may share the link with others” (see screenshot) without sending people to the Clerk. 

Why did I ask if I could give others the link instead of sending people to the Clerk? Because just before the previous meeting of this committee, which had a presentation on anti-Palestinian racism, a resident asked me for the link as it wasn't on the Region's website. I could have given the link then (nothing saying otherwise!), but out of extra caution I sent this person to the Clerk. To avoid a repeat of people scrambling last minute to get the Zoom link, I specifically asked the Clerk this time if I need to send people to them or if I could give the link out myself.

There is no way to know how the disruptor(s) got the Zoom link. Before sharing the link publicly I had given it to many people who wanted to watch who could have unknowingly given it to the disruptors. But even if everyone went through the Clerk, anyone can give a fake a email to get the link. Zoom has well-known vulnerabilities. 

The disgusting disruption has nothing to do with Palestinians and those in solidarity with them. It is purely the Region's IT department that has to fix this.

Worse, the chair misrepresented why these meetings are only on Zoom and not YouTube, saying it's to protect non-Councillor advisory committee members, when it's also done for committees with only Councillors. This makes it difficult to watch meetings legally required to be public. The chair and the other Councillor on the DEI Advisory Committee know this: they are on one of these other Zoom-only committees which I had presented at just the week before, about how it's difficult for the public to participate in their meetings (ironic?).

All of Council's meetings should be easily accessible to anyone, and the Vice Chair of the DEI Advisory Committee, a non-Councillor, even said so at the end of the meeting.

Our access to Council's meetings is the bigger issue. It should be easy to watch and present at meetings affecting our lives. Many residents watched this special meeting of the DEI Advisory Committee, which even the chair recognized and appreciated, but some couldn't get in as they came late and staff are too busy during the meeting to let them in. Many residents don't even know many committee meetings are not on YouTube, the opposite of what the chair wrote.

Maybe after some reflection the chair will recognize their blame-game for this disgusting disruption falls short of “integrity,” which this Councillor campaigned on. And also that the current system falls short of “transparency,” the other part of this Councillor's campaign slogan.