VIEWPOINTS A night and day difference

As a person who has had to stifle a yawn at the threehour mark of a night meeting, I can fully appreciate Bowen Island council being open to the idea of switching to meetings during the day

It’s not boredom that makes you crave an extra hit of oxygen at 9:30 p m , with three or four items still on the council agenda Your brain is simply too tired to keep absorbing all the new information Everyone in that council chamber staff, council members, people making a delegation, reporters has had a full day of activities and responsibilities leading up to the meeting. Often, the councillors have had meetings before the council meeting, or have just grabbed something to eat after putting in eight hours at their day job. Sitting at a table for that long, not able to go for a refreshing five-minute walk, just makes things worse.

And are the best decisions made at the end of a long day when really all you want is to be able to go home and get some well-deserved sleep?

Traditionally there have been two barriers to day meetings. First, it might discourage young people from running for council because they have to fit their work schedule around the meetings. The alternative is a council full of retirees who, while they bring many strengths to the table, might not have full awareness of the challenges and expectations of younger residents

However, it could be argued that the prospect of having to attend long night meetings after work is just as daunting as fitting in one afternoon every other week for a day meeting

The second barrier is for those wishing to make a delegation before council It can be hard enough to tell your boss that you need an hour off because there’s an important zoning issue you have to attend to, but many residents work off the island That requires serious time off

While it’s impossible to know how many working people would be discouraged from running to council if there are day meetings, the pandemic has made it easy to address the second concern The introduction of Zoom has made it possible to attend a meeting virtually, from anywhere, not just your office computer Council continues to embrace the technology that helped keep the municipality running as smoothly as possible when no one could gather together in the council chambers

Is a switch to day meetings a serious impediment to your ability to be fully engaged in island democracy? Are there ways to make sure everyone can be fully involved? There’s an “informal” feedback form on the BIM website State your case

Martha Perkins