Running effective virtual meetings for municipalities: register now for our April 17 webinar

We are in extraordinary times. Our current circumstances have required us to shift a variety of practices to support physical distancing recommendations from Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. One of the more impactful shifts for Alberta’s local governments relates to how Council, committee, and board meetings occur.

The COVID-19 health emergency has prompted revisions to the Municipal Government Act (MGA) and its regulations, enabling Council meetings to be held entirely by electronic means. For many municipalities, this is uncharted territory and raises questions, such as:

• How do we align electronic meetings with our Procedure Bylaw?
• How can we still involve the public?
• How might this new practice impact our other policies?
• What are the most effective practices for chairing the meeting and ensuring that everyone who wants to speak has a chance to?
• How do we continue to support transparency and demonstrate accountability?
• How do we ensure we can securely have in-camera discussions?

In collaboration with our friends from Emerge Solutions, Inc. and Strategic Steps, AUMA is pleased to invite members to participate in a one-hour webinar on Friday, April 17 at 2:15 p.m. to support the municipal transition to electronic meetings.

During this webinar our presenters, Maria deBruijn and Ian McCormack will:

• identify what’s changed with the revisions to the MGA regulations;
• share a framework for effective virtual meetings;
• describe key considerations in preparing for virtual meetings;
• outline roles and responsibilities in the virtual realm;
• describe good practice when conducing virtual meetings; and
• offer recommendations to support transparency and accountability during and after the meeting.

To ensure that the information shared is as relevant as possible, municipalities are invited to submit any questions you may have in advance. We will share these with our presenters so they can consider them in the context of the webinar and/or prepare resource materials to share with you after the session. Please send your questions to ksantarossa [at] auma.ca (ksantarossa[at]auma[dot]ca).

Register now to secure your spot in the webinar.