Queens looks at livestreaming council meetings

A screengrab from the Region of Queens YouTube channel.

The Region of Queens is considering livestreaming its council meetings. 

Councillors are expected to vote on a motion at their April 9 meeting for simultaneous YouTube and Facebook broadcasts.

All public meetings in council chambers are currently recorded and uploaded to the region’s YouTube channel the day after the meeting.

In February 2023, councillors asked about the possibility of livestreaming their meetings once a new audio-video system was installed. That new system was installed last April.

Councillors meet four times in other communities around the municipality. In a report to council on Tuesday evening, communications co-ordinator Heather Cooke and IT manager Steve Whynacht said offsite livestreaming would be difficult without new equipment, since the setup at council chambers is not portable.

Cook and Whynacht said that they contacted other Nova Scotia municipalities to find out if they livestream meetings. They said that 17 of those contacted said they livestream meetings in some form.

Streaming on YouTube and Facebook is free, so showing meetings live would not cost any more. But if council decides to livestream offsite meetings as well, the region would have to invest in more equipment.

Councillors voted to consider their options at their April 9 meeting.

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com