How a small-town B.C. council meeting became a source of COVID-19 disinformation worldwide

The city of Dawson Creek, B.C., home to about 12,000 people near the B.C.-Alberta border, has removed a previously published portion of a recent city council meeting video after it began circulating in COVID-19 disinformation groups worldwide.

The incident illustrates why everyone — including small communities — need to think more deeply about who they give a platform to, says a disinformation expert.

The portion of the video that was removed featured several speakers at the council meeting making false or misleading statements about COVID-19 vaccines and their effectiveness.

The speakers arrived at city hall ahead of the council meeting to protest the B.C. government's recent announcement of a vaccine card program, which limits access to non-essential recreational and social activities to people who could provide proof of vaccination.

The meeting, held Sept. 2, was called to clarify how the program would impact city facilities such as the pool and curling rink, said Mayor Dale Bumstead, not to debate the merits of the vaccine card or the vaccination itself.

But outside city hall, about 100 people angry about the vaccine card held placards and demanded a chance to speak.

So council decided to let some of them make short presentations ahead of the regular meeting. Bumstead said it was not an effort to endorse their ideas, but to allow them to be heard as members of the community he was elected to represent.