After a call for greater transparency and access to information, the City of Brampton is now making all city council meetings and some committee meetings more accessible to the public by putting them online.

City Council meets at 9 a.m. every Wednesday, but due to the time frame, it’s often a challenge for the regular citizen to sit in.

So, for the past few months the city has been making council meetings and a number of committee meetings available on YouTube.

Before that council meetings could be seen in person or via live stream on Rogers TV, as well as on the Rogers website afterwards. Of course people go to YouTube before they go to Rogers, so the cable company’s website hadn’t gotten much traction.

Brampton residents don’t have the best voting track record. It’s hoped the YouTube access will stimulate growth in a city which saw a scant 36 per cent of the city’s eligible voters at the polls in the last municipal election.

Access to council meetings could prove a useful tool for residents as they try to decide who to vote for in 2018, and could result in greater engagement and an improved voter turnout. (Like most municipalities in Canada, the city sees greater voter turnout at the provincial and federal levels.)

You can now binge watch council meetings as far back as April on the city’s YouTube Channel. Check it out here.

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