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Saturday’s invitation-only meeting included groups both for and against the project, including citizen lobby group Ready to Engage — a vocal opponent of the project.

Farkas said he secured permission from city staff to broadcast the meeting and informed tablemates of his intentions. He said it wasn’t until participants began breaking into discussion groups that he was asked to discontinue the broadcast.

Not everybody shared Farkas’ enthusiasm for making the proceedings public, including attendee Jesse Salus, who said he wasn’t aware of the live broadcast.

“I went to the table he was at because that’s where my first discussion was,” Salus said.

“He may have asked the people sitting there during the introduction, but not once we started moving around the room for the breakout sessions — I can’t speak for his intentions, but he didn’t tell the people at the breakout session that he was doing it.”

Fellow attendee Christopher Doyle shared the sentiment, accusing Farkas of using the meeting to further his political campaign.

“He wasn’t there to help or participate in the process,” he said.

“I think it was definitely the wrong way to approach it.”

Photo by Erika Stark / Calgary Herald

Farkas dismissed claims he sneaked into the meeting under false pretences, saying he attended as a member of Palliser’s neighbourhood community association.

Backlash prompted Farkas to temporarily take down the video Sunday to remove discussions captured during the breakout session.