Councillor Zoe Royer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE COVID-19 update #2: Port Moody to suspend walk-in service at City Hall to protect the public and staff 5:51 PM, March 18, 2020...Continue reading

Over the weekend, and at council last night, I urged council to move to electronic/virtual meetings for the time being, so that all members of council and staff... can participate fully and avoid any potential of harm to themselves or others. Last night in closed, when I stated the above, the Mayor told me, repeatedly, to hold my comments as we would be discussing it in open. When I brought it up in open and made the motion THAT, until further notice, all meetings of Council be held as Electronic Meetings, the Mayor said we had already debated and decided it in closed and called my motion out of order. For the record, I am not breaking the code of silence as to what was shared in closed. The Mayor said in open last night, this was debated and decided already in closed. This was the reason he gave for refusing to allow my motion. The city of Port Moody already has the agility and technology in place to allow for electronic meetings right now, today, but it requires 100% of attendees to participate in this manner or it doesn’t work. The difficulty is when 1 or 2 participate remotely, there are technical and efficiency challenges. Port Moody has quite a history of agenda reports and debate on this very issue, over the past five years. Under Mayor Don Iveson’s leadership, Edmonton has reinvented itself from being an oil town to a tech and innovation center. And although Alberta has far fewer confirmed cases of Covid 19 than BC, Edmonton council made the decision four days ago to suspend all civic meetings until March 30 to focus solely on Covid 19. And as their Mayor added, at which time those may well be virtual meetings. This is an example of inclusive, calm and well considered leadership, without political posturing, heroics or pretense. Many other councils, governments at all levels, boards, businesses and other groups across Canada and the world have made similar decisions, making yesterday a world record in virtual meetings. Last night, despite my pleas, my motion to do the same thing was called out of order by Mayor Vagramov, even though I was assisted by the City Clerk in writing it. This means that members of our council that want to follow the urging of our Prime Minister and BC’s Minister of Health to self isolate will not be allowed to do the work they were elected to do. Which is: have their voices heard at the council table. Members of our council that choose to self isolate will be excluded and as I have experienced, chastised for speaking out about it. If we as elected officials want to continue to participate in making the important decisions we were elected for, we better show up in person or we are disallowed; unless a Councillor wants to use their one and only telephone access pass for the year, and you need to make sure you are first in the queue. As only one telephone participant will be allowed into the meeting. Given the rapidly escalating circumstances, I feel strongly that this is undemocratic and a violation of our rights to a safe and inclusive workplace, where we in turn model the behavior and approach for our residents that our PM is urging all Canadians to follow. Why is it more important to some members of council that they continue their politics in the theatre, which also pulls resources away from our critical Emergency Operations procedures. Rather than ensuring every member of council’s voice is valued and heard, it is with a saddened heart that theatrical politics prevail. Thankfully as of 3:30 today, City of Port Moody announced the closure of city hall and when council reconvenes next to discuss Covid 19, it will be 100% electronic/virtual by everyone attending the meeting.

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My thoughts and prayers are with our residents, our local businesses and folks around the globe as we navigate this time of great fear and uncertainty together. I thought I would share my thoughts about social distancing because if you are like me, generally love people and considered "a hugger", you may have struggled too. The elbump felt unnatural last week, but seemed like a doable alternative. Now, health authorities say social distancing is the only way we can help to s...low this pandemic. Even if you or I feel fine, we can still be carriers. If social distancing means people in our community who are immunocompromised or elderly have a better chance of surviving this, then we must all do this. And we must look out for one another; by checking in on our neighbours and elderly folks living on their own. While embracing social distancing, without judgement, and finding a way to support our local businesses and their employees in the process. This is not easy for anyone, but together we are stronger. Yesterday, Canada's MP's voted to postpone parliament until April 20th or later. Council will discuss a way forward this Tuesday. Already, two of my Port Moody council colleagues have taken a leave of absence. The article below seemed strangely encouraging, but by no means am I suggesting sunlight and fresh air are a cure for Covid-19. It is very serious and if you have symptoms, call your health care provider to see if you should be tested. Marts Musa-Birchmore is a local RN who suggested visiting this BC health site for comprehensive information: http://www.bccdc.ca//diseases-c/covid-19/common-questions Be safe and be well. Zoë