INNISFAIL – A comprehensive new social media section has been approved for the Town of Innisfail’s Council Code of Conduct Bylaw.
Last January, Innisfail council unanimously passed a motion to direct administration to start research into adding a social media component to the Council Code of Conduct Bylaw.
At council’s regular meeting on March 11, town council unanimously approved three readings to add a “Use of Social Media” section to the bylaw.
“I stated before, and I will say that again, I certainly have no issues with anything on social media that any council (member) was participating in,” said Innisfail mayor Jean Barclay. “This wasn't done because of anything that we're seeing. It was done more so because of a breakout session that we attended at an Alberta Municipalities conference.
“The presenter was a lawyer, and she spoke quite a bit about social media and making sure that it’s in your Council Code of Conduct policy,” she added. “I think in this day and age it is wise, and the Code of Conduct Bylaw will be there long past my time.”
The issue of proper social media usage by regional municipal councillors was underscored last year when a Town of Sylvan Lake town councillor was investigated and then subsequently sanctioned for violating a section of the town’s Council of Conduct Bylaw for an objectionable social media post.
The specific point of the bylaw council relied on for its probe did not come from a specific social media section.
However, the Town of Sundre does have a specific section devoted to social media guidelines in its Council Code of Conduct Bylaw.
The section for social media, which is also called “Use of Social Media”, is broken into three parts.
“Councillors should exercise caution when engaging in debate or making comments on contentious matters, as feelings and emotions can become enflamed very quickly,” states part 1 of the social media guidelines.
Part 2 goes on to say councillors “shall not attempt to disguise or mislead as to their identity or status as an elected representative of the town when using social media.”
Meanwhile, other municipalities in the region, including Innisfail and Mountain View County, have now added social media guidelines into their Council Code of Conduct bylaws.
Last October, Mountain View County added three social media parts to a new section in the bylaw called “Communicating on behalf of the Municipality and Use of Social Media.”
“As with any other activity, Councillors must ensure that their use of social media complies with the law, requirements of this Bylaw and any related bylaws, policies or procedures,” says one part of the county’s new section. “This Bylaw applies to all communications a Councillor makes, regardless of the social media account or device from which the communication is made.”
The Town of Innisfail goes into greater detail with its new social media rules for members of town council.
The new seven-paragraph social media section says in its opening paragraph that council members are entitled to express their personal opinions on social media, including disagreement, but they must clearly distinguish between their personal opinions and the position of council.
But Innisfail’s new social media rules for members of town council also emphasizes strict accountability.
“As public figures and representatives of the Town, Councillor Members must exercise sound judgment and be prudent in what material they post on social media,” says the new social media policy in paragraph 5, which then continues in paragraph 6 with additional strict guidelines. “Councillor Members must ensure their comments and posts are factually accurate, and should not repost or recirculate third-party material that is inaccurate, incomplete, defamatory, offensive, constitutes harassment or is misleading in any way.”
And elected officials with municipal governments in the region are not the only ones targeted about the potential dangers with social media.
Trustees with the Chinook’s Edge School Division recently approved its own “Use of Social Media” to its Code of Conduct Policy.
“The Code of Conduct applies to all communications a trustee makes, regardless of the social media account or device from which the communication is made,” states the policy.
The Albertan contacted Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) about its current social media policy, especially in light of the recent Monique LaGrange controversy of posting a meme on social media comparing children waving Pride flags to children waving Nazi flags.
However, a response from RDCRS’s communications department was not immediately received.
- With files from Dan Singleton and Simon Ducatel
