REGINA — As multimillion-dollar industrial projects set up in rural Saskatchewan, ratepayers are packing local rural municipality council chambers to find out exactly what is happening in their backyards. But if they want to hit "record" on their smartphones, they are out of luck.
Across the province, several rural municipalities are strictly enforcing bylaws that prohibit the public from recording audio or video during open council meetings.
The ban isn't just for disgruntled residents. It applies to the working media, too.
The push for local transparency has reached a boiling point in recent months. Near the capital, the RM of Sherwood is dealing with the approval of an AI data centre. In the Rural Municipality of Weyburn, debates over the proposed Seven Stars Energy Project have deeply divided the community.
With high stakes and heightened public interest, the restriction on recording proceedings has drawn sharp criticism online from taxpayers, accusing local governments of operating in the shadows.
However, municipal officials say the rules are based on provincial guidance.
A provincial blueprint
The restriction stems from a Council Procedures Bylaw template issued by the Ministry of Government Relations in August 2021. Section 37 of the document directs attendees to "refrain from making audio or video recordings of council proceedings."
While the ministry said the template is intentionally broad and meant to be modified to suit individual municipal needs, a majority of rural municipalities in the province have adopted it verbatim, in particular Section 37.
In the RM of Weyburn, administration confirmed both recording and photography are strictly prohibited, with no exemptions granted to journalists.
Other municipalities defend the media blackout as a cornerstone of orderly governance.
Lynette Herauf, chief administrative officer for the RM of Lajord, said her council opted to ban recordings in 2024 to "encourage open discussion, prevent misrepresentation, and maintain an orderly and respectful meeting environment".
In the RM of Cana, administrator Kali Apps said the primary goal is simply to "eliminate distractions" in the chamber, noting their bylaw applies to all persons present, including journalists.
The Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) is standing by the right of local councils to govern their own chambers. Amy Roettger, SARM's manager of strategic communications, said decisions about recording fall squarely within local authority.
"Councils are accountable to their ratepayers for the choices they make in this regard," Roettger said.
An unenforceable rule?
Not every municipality is willing to police smartphones in a modern public gallery.
"It's just no longer a practical statement to say or enforce in this day and age of devices," said Eileen Prosser with the RM of Corman Park.
The RM of Corman Park, which surrounds Saskatoon, stands out as an outlier. When the municipality reviewed its procedures bylaw in 2025, administration struck the province's restrictive language from its books entirely.
Prosser, a legislation officer with Corman Park, said attempting to ban personal recordings today is a losing battle.
"Rather than create a rule that cannot be reasonably upheld, the RM has taken a clear and workable approach: members of the public may record meetings, provided it does not disrupt proceedings," Prosser said, adding the RM also provides its own audio recordings to ensure consistency.
The road to modernization
The Ministry of Government Relations said it actively encourages municipalities to be accessible, suggesting that councils live stream proceedings or move to larger venues to accommodate crowds when live streaming isn't an option.
The provincial government is also preparing to force a degree of modernization. Under Bill 43, the Municipalities Modernization and Red Tape Reduction Act, all municipalities will be required to post approved minutes online starting Sept. 1, 2027. Furthermore, all current bylaws will be mandated to be accessible online by Sept. 1, 2028.
Until then, in many RM council chambers, the official minutes, as accepted by the council, remain the only public record allowed, and the cameras must stay off.
