Better idea achieved: Council videos are now live!

"We should increase the accessibility of City Council webcasts. While webcasts are currently available for all Council meetings, these can only be viewed live. We can create a webcast archive which would allow citizens to follow meetings at a time convenient for them."

- Mayor Nenshi
Better Idea #8, August 2010

Last year at this time, that idea was just that: an idea. Today, it's reality.

Back in the day, if citizens wanted to know the nature of a debate or what their alderman said or even how they voted, they had no way to learn that information first hand except for being at the debate itself.

But, thanks to the work of two engaged citizens that showed it could be done and the action of the City Clerk's Office to put the plan into action, Calgary City Council meetings are now all video archived. The earliest available meeting is the May 5, 2011 Standing Policy Meeting on Community and Protective Services.

Upon taking office, Mayor Nenshi asked for a report on the feasibility of video archives considering issues such as online hosting, functionality, and privacy. With a report from the City Clerk, Council agreed in February to start archiving Council videos and keep them online for at least three years so that citizens can view them whenever they want.

To view an archived video, just go to the Council Agenda and Minutes page on the City of Calgary website and click on the video option. Once there, you can click on any of the main items from the agenda and be taken directly to that part in the video where that agenda item started. You'll also have access to the reports presented to Council for that discussion.

This is just part of Mayor Nenshi's plan to make City Council more accessible to everyone.

Now here's my question: how long does it take for people to start Auto-Tuning City Council?

- Daorcey from Mayor Nenshi's team