Image: Huron County Courthouse
Huron County council defeated a motion for a staff report regarding posting council meetings on YouTube and the threat of someone manipulating footage.
Past warden Jim Ginn raised the concern during the council’s meeting on November 20th, saying that he was concerned that the notice of posting meeting footage becoming a part of the public record for viewing and manipulation.
He said that he was worried that if in the wrong hands, it could spell disaster for those who sat on council.
Councillor Trevor Bazinet would put forward a motion asking for a staff report if there was a different way to make meeting footage available where that wouldn’t be an issue.
Director of Legislative Services Susan Cronin said that the chance of someone changing video footage was simply a part of the world that we now live in, with other members of council agreeing.
She explained that the only version of public record that mattered from a legal sense is the minutes of the meeting, which were transcribed into print.
The motion was defeated, citing that county staff had already investigated different avenues for posting the video footage of meetings, and YouTube was the best choice when staff and council agreed to start posting online.