Your City Hall keeps it behind closed doors
You know, there's a certain charm to the predictable. Like how the Oilers will always find a way to make you believe, even when the odds are stacked against them. Or how the River Valley is still there, beautiful and sprawling, no matter how many times you drive past it on the Groat Road. And then there’s City Hall, sometimes, just giving you a little peek into the mechanics of governance.
The Agenda Review Committee, for instance, met this week, and it seems they had a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde moment. According to the June 2, 2026, meeting minutes, Councillor J. Wright moved that the committee "meet in public," and that motion carried 3 to 0. All three members present – A. Knack, A. Stevenson, and J. Wright – voted yes. Great. Transparency, right? Then, almost immediately after, Councillor A. Stevenson moved that they "meet in private pursuant to section 29 (advice from officials) of the *Access to Information Act* for the discussion of item 2.1." That also carried 3 to 0.
So, they voted to meet in public, and then immediately voted to meet in private to discuss a specific item. You gotta appreciate the efficiency of it, I guess. It’s like saying, "We're open for business! Just not *that* business." What exactly was in Item 2.1 that required such immediate, enthusiastic privacy? One can only wonder. Honestly though, it makes you pause.
This kind of thing isn't exactly new, but it's always worth noting when the public and private spheres of city business do this little dance. We'll be keeping an eye on what emerges from these private discussions, if anything.
Darren Fedoruk (@deepnorth_yeg)
The morning crew at MiTL dives into this kind of thing every day — catch them live at mornings.live.