SUNDRE – Council has initiated a process to review the Town of Sundre's social media policy that was last revised in the spring of 2024.
Mayor Richard Warnock sought to bring up the matter for initial discussion at the Jan. 20 meeting in light of a recent delegation that had outlined recommendations to improve communication with the public.
Touching on a few points brought to council’s attention regarding residents’ preferred avenues for obtaining information, Warnock mentioned word of mouth, the Sundre on the Go newsletter and social media.
While he agreed the newsletter prepared by Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society is an ideal publication to promote events and activities, the mayor added there’s no way to pack into a small notice all of the information included in the municipality’s own newsletter that is distributed with monthly utility bills.
As for online communication, he asserted the town’s website features a wealth of easy-to-find information accessible with a few clicks, and added the Town of Sundre mobile app also contains regularly updated notices.
However, he also recognized that despite the accessibility of information on the town website and app, those options are not as popular as some pages on social media platforms.
“This needs to be looked at,” he said.
Even though the municipality advertises on its website well in advance on a yearly calendar upcoming open houses and regularly scheduled council meetings with reminder notices in the local newspaper as well as the town’s newsletter that most residents receive, “There are those that follow social media that could be left out.”
So even though the mayor felt the municipality is doing a good job putting out information to the public, he suggested taking additional steps such as weekly updates and reminders on the town website’s events calendar.
“For those that use social media, we need to improve our two-way communication,” he added.
Coun. Owen Petersen was the first to speak in favour of the review.
“Social media policy is – I think – a tricky one, with social media being so new in our world,” said Petersen. “I welcome the opportunity to reopen this document and take a look at it.”
Acknowledging the debate will ultimately take place after the review committee has outlined recommendations for council’s consideration, the councillor said, “I do not feel it appropriate that we need to be better at social media.
“I know that there might be a lot of residents who disagree with me. But again, I do not trust these social media platforms to have the best interest of the communication of Sundre in their minds,” he said.
“I just don’t believe we need to trust them more to communicate what the town is (already) doing.”
Coun. Chris Vardas said that while he felt the town is already doing a good job, it never hurts to review and tweak policies as trends and technology change.
“I think every couple of years it’s something that should be done,” said Vardas.
Coun. Paul Isaac agreed that communications strategies should regularly be revisited to consider not only technological but also legislative changes.
Without further discussion, council unanimously carried a motion directing administration to bring the existing policy to the review committee.
Originally approved on Jan. 21, 2013, the current five-page policy was last revised March 25, 2024. It establishes guidelines and protocols that the municipality, including council and all employees, are expected to follow primarily in the use of its official social media profiles, with additional guidance on the use of personal accounts.
While individual members of council and employees may use personal social media accounts, the bylaw stipulates they must include “a disclaimer stating that the opinions presented are their own and do not reflect the official position of the town” with the understanding that “this policy does not relieve councillors of their legal obligations under the Municipal Government Act, the Council Code of Conduct Bylaw, or any other applicable legislation.”
Additionally, the policy states that social media messages of any kind will not be considered official correspondence nor official records of public opinion and will not be recorded as such although “in some cases, comments may be forwarded to administration for information purposes.”
The policy also strives to strike a balance between allowing free conversation while maintaining decorum by prohibiting abusive, rude or offensive behaviour.
To that end, the municipality “reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable law.”
That includes but is not limited to comments and posts containing:
• Slanderous or defamatory remarks, obscene language or sexual content;
• Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, colour, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation;
• Misinformation;
• Comments in support of or opposition to political campaigns;
• Promotion of illegal activities.
Comments or posts deemed in contravention will be copied for the record and subsequently deleted from the town’s page and the offending user may be blocked from the social media channels at the discretion of administration.
The policy can be found in full by visiting the town’s website, and clicking on Policies and Bylaws under the Your Government tab.
