By A. Gortan, Citizen Journalist

Two years after first considering the idea of videotaping council meetings, the cameras in Central Saanich are finally rolling.

The move followed a wave of controversy in 2011, when residents discovered that council was no longer recording their votes in the Minutes. The lack of record keeping became a significant issue during the last general election, resulting in promises from candidates to increase transparency.

Councillor Zeb King believes webcasting council meetings is the beginning of fulfilling this commitment. “Today’s Council needs to be commended for taking Central Saanich out of the dark ages and opening up the proceedings to the 21st century with webcasting.”

North Saanich was the first municipality in the CRD to webcast meetings and has offered this service for over two years. Sooke began webcasting last year and is presently the only District that webcasts meetings live, while they are in session.

Central Saanich is now the third municipality to webcast meetings and Colwood will begin in the coming weeks. The City of Victoria plans to start in September.

The addition of microphones has also benefited members of the audience who now say they can hear much better. In addition, a speaker has been installed in the lobby, for those rare occasions when attendance exceeds chamber capacity and people are standing outside the chamber doors.

Central Saanich Manager of Information Technology Tony Bousquet is “thrilled” with the new system. The move to webcast meetings has been an exciting development in his eight year career with the District. He believes the two year wait prior to implementing the technology, “actually helped us.”  Bousquet explains that the last two years allowed Central Saanich to avoid mistakes and find the best system for their budget. “You’re dealing with the public and transparency – you want to get it right”,said Bousquet.

The recording system being used is developed by Granicus, which provides streaming for government agencies and is the same system used by North Saanich council. The cost to operate the system is about 10,000 per year, which Bousquet feels is money well spent. So far, there have been 83 public views in the last 30 days.

Central Saanich Councillor Carl Jensen is also pleased with the new technology. “I believe this is a great investment for the District, as it will bring Central Saanich Council meetings to its residents and businesses, wherever they can access the Internet.”

To view council meeting webcasts visit the Central Saanich Municipal Hall website.