The last time Vancouver changed its council schedule was back in the 80s, when Gordon Campbell decided that evening council meetings were a blight, keeping everyone around until beyond midnight.

He moved council meetings to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and introduced a new rule that only allowed speakers at committee meetings (held on Thursdays during the day). There was a lot of carrying on about that, with people saying he was destroying democracy by holding meetings during the day when fewer people could get time off work to observe the proceedings or hang around forever waiting to speak.

Now, a new change. Council meetings will be at 9:30 on Tuesdays. Presumably not the same problem observing, as we can all watch on our electronic gadgets now. Committee meetings (the previous three committees now consolidated to two) will now be held Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday mornings.

This is apparently all being done so that councillors can get to Metro Van meetings, usually held Thursdays and Fridays, without having to miss a city meeting or be hung over from the previous day’s debate festivities. As well, it will allegedly reduce the time senior staff have to spend waiting around at the end of the day to see if they’ll be called on to answer questions.

Any thoughts on whether this will improve or worsen your life?