Royal city residents will soon be able to tune in to city council meetings at any time of the day or night.
The City of New Westminster's legislative services department has been working on an initiative to introduce video streaming of council meetings. The initiative, which would provide video streaming of regular council meetings and committee of the whole meetings, is expected to get underway in the near future.
"We have been working on a videostreaming initiative for some time now," said Blair Fryer, the city's communications manager. "We have been doing some test runs over the last few meetings."
Those test runs have been done to ensure the video streaming works the way it's supposed to. People will be able to watch the council meetings from the comfort of their own computer.
"We are almost there," Fryer said. "We look forward to making an announcement very soon about introducing this new service in the city."
WELCOMING WORKS IN THE CITY
The Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces imitative is proving to be a success in the Royal City.
In collaboration with nonprofit agencies, the city has accessed nearly $500,000 in grant funding to develop five projects that are aimed at creating a more welcoming and inclusive community. A recent survey of participants found that the program has made a difference in the lives of newcomers.
To date, the projects have included an ambassador project where volunteers greet and welcome newcomers, a newcomers guide that provides information to help people integrate into the community, an immigrant mentorship project, a youth theatre project and a public outreach campaign to find out what can be done to create a more welcoming and inclusive community.
Coun. Bill Harper said the Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces program has had many benefits, including the creation of a newcomers guide.
"There's a whole series of things that are available," he said.
Coun. Betty McIntosh said the guide may have been designed for newcomers to New Westminster but she believes it has information that will help many people, including people looking for rental accommodations for the first time.
"I really feel this is a valuable too. . It's not just for newcomers to Canada - it's valuable for everyone."
Council will write to Welcome B.C. to thank it for the funding that New Westminster has received to date for the program, and to request that it consider sustainable funding for the community gateway, immigrant mentorship and Nu Yu popular theater projects.
