Stop Recording A Meeting? Don’t Let Them

09/02/2024

You would think by now that the tall foreheads at Ottawa City Hall would be just remotely aware that putting untoward restrictions on public meetings is not proper in a democracy.

People want to record these city zoning sessions (see below) so they can be accurately covered. Nothing wrong with that. From the looks of things, city hall is not just against fiscal responsibility, competence, honesty and doing what’s best for the community but also accuracy. They won’t let you record. You hate to see that.

But here’s a strategy I used when covering city hall. If someone told you not to do something … and that request was improper or stupid … I didn’t listen to them. For example if a meeting was closed that I thought should be open, I’d just get to the room long before the participants and sit down. As the principals came into the room, you could see a puzzled look on their faces. But I’d just smile and say hi and talk them up, being as nice as possible, which is a stretch for me.

No one would have the guts to tell you to leave. So you got the story. Now sometimes the story was dull but you made your point. That meeting should be open.

So here’s some civil disobedience 101. If someone tells you not to record, just keep recording. If they say they will throw you out of the meeting, shrug your shoulders and smile. Oh yeah and keep recording.

What are they going to do? Pick you up and throw you out? Naw. Bring some friends along with recorders. Are they going to physically pick up three people and throw them out? Naw. Just smile and be nice and don’t even address the request. There’s nothing in it except keeping live quotes off the internet. This isn’t for residents. It is to restrict the broadcast of information and city hall controlling the message.

And this is where women have an advantage. Men aren’t about to pick you up and throw you out of a meeting. Picking up a woman and dragging her out the door just ain’t gonna happen. Just keep recording. If they ask you why you are breaking their rules, just smile and don’t answer. You don’t have to answer.

Banning recording is a way of controlling the message by Ottawa City Hall. That’s not democracy, that’s just public relations and not very good public relations. Banning recording is a rule without authority. Well, unless a judge tells you stop recording during a case, There the reporter can be cited for contempt. You try to avoid that.

City hall is hoping that you will follow its rules. Follow what you think is right and be right. There’s no reason to ban recording. City hall wants to control the message. You control the message instead of them. You DO control the message. You’ve got the website, or X or even paper presses. They don’t.

Kinda like a sit-in with chairs. Just record. If they try to stop you, don’t. Tell them they’re interfering with your property if they try to take the recorder away. If you are a woman, scream. That’ll scare the authorities away. No man wants a woman screaming because he is offending her. Plus the scream makes for good radio. Can’t beat that for fun.

Through the whole thing, just smile. Be nice. But if you think a rule is wrong, don’t follow it. Put the onus on them. Don’t argue with them. Don’t talk to them. You don’t have to.

Oh yeah, one other thing. If the official is persistent, ask the person for their name, position and what authority they have. Then record them telling you to leave. Use it. TV journalist Mike Wallace made a career out of recording officials telling him to get lost. That’s got to be better than a dull story on zoning. Then keep recording the meeting.

Then find an expert who will tell you the city is violating your charter rights.

Headline:

City Hall Tries To Muzzle The Media

Underline:

Charter rights violated, expert says.

If they do try to bodily remove you, take a picture and get someone else to take a shot of you being carried out. Run it.

That’s better than a day at the park. But do it because your rights are being violated or the rule is stupid. Don’t be a jerk. Jerk? That’s how your agent would do it. I’m not a good example.

If they want you to register, don’t register. Why? You don’t need to register. It’s a public meeting. That’s the city trying to control the message. Be independent. Journalists should be independent.

Get to the room early and sit down. That’s your spot. They’ll have to pick you up to throw you out. They won’t.

Ken Gray

Below is a story from the city-wide community group Your Applewood Acres (And Beyond) Neighbours.

See below for the schedule of upcoming meetings about new zoning bylaws, including one dealing with Ward 18 (Applewood Acres and Beyond) this Wednesday.

The hope is that as many people as possible will attend, so please share this information with others who may not be on this email list, and if you cannot attend, feel free to share any questions you have with us beforehand and we will see if we can get any answers.

And now a head up: No recordings of meetings are allowed!

Efforts will continue to be made to share detailed factual information after the meetings, as we have before, but note that previous shared information relied on shorthand notes AND recordings of the opening sessions and the breakout sessions.

However, at the Aug 27th meeting, which had breakout sessions for Ward 2 and Ward 11, the City said that no recording of the meetings are allowed, which we were stunned to hear as we assumed these City Hall meetings are ‘public’ events and had used recordings to ensure accuracy in the information shared here — including the long detailed report shared on this list on Aug. 5th about the July 31st meeting, that included covering the City Hall staff overview and the Ward 14 (Councillor Ariel Troster) breakout session.

Last week, shorthand was used during the Aug. 27th meeting, and for the Ward 11 — Councillor Tim Tierey’s ward — breakout session and work is underway to transcribe that information (and have it fact checked), but this will take a bit of time. One point that was raised that might be of interest, is that Ward 18 and Ward 11 were briefly mentioned as ridings that are expected to face some of the biggest changes in the City related to new zoning bylaws aimed at increasing density.

Again, please consider attending the Ward 18 meeting this week, and if you can or can’t, please share your questions here so we can all be as prepared as possible for the meeting.

And as always, know that you are free to share this information with anyone who might be interested.

Upcoming Ward-specific zoning info sessions schedule: