Jess McDiarmid
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, December 19, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - City administrator Max Hall asked councillors if they would approve a $8,000 increase to the meal budget for feeding staff and council at meetings since changes to the schedule meant more meal-time meetings.

Councillor Dave McCann suggested switching to vegetarian meals to lower the cost of food.

"Switch to vegetarian to balance the budget," he said, laughing.

But Mayor Gord Van Tighem said the meal budget has increased by about a third since last term because there are more vegetarians on council.

It was unclear how many councillors practice vegetarianism at press time.

Gifts for sober drivers

Coun. Dave McCann suggested during budget deliberations giving presents to motorists who are stopped during holiday checks for drinking and driving as a token of appreciation for their co-operation.

"I know there's a number of citizens who are stopped and they're just being good citizens going through the routine," said McCann.

He also suggested similar rewards for people who municipal enforcement see doing good deeds such as picking up garbage on the street or other "random acts of community cleanliness."

Audio webcasts of council meetings proposed

The city will look into having its council and committee meetings webcast so residents could listen to the meetings online. The motion during Tuesday night budget deliberations passed unanimously.

Some councillors were concerned about the cost of installing a system for audio webcasting, while others felt it would be negligible.

"It seems almost trivial," said Coun. Kevin Kennedy. "It seems like the kind of thing I could do with a quick trip to Radio Shack."

There is $30,000 in the information and technology fund that could probably cover it, city officials told councillors.