Report “Smart Cities Update – Our Food Future and Circular Opportunity Launchpad” dated June 6, 2023…

4:25:24Okay, everyone, this is the one to two minute warning.

4:26:29Okay, everyone, I'm going to call the meeting back to order.

4:26:31We do have quorum.

4:26:32So thank you so much for that little break.

4:26:36I think necessary just to continue on

4:26:38with the agenda in front of us here.

4:26:41And that is the smart cities update our food future

4:26:46and the circular opportunity launch pad.

4:26:49We're going to have a presentation from David Messer,

4:26:51the executive director of the smart cities office.

4:26:54And we've got three delegations after that.

4:26:58And then it'll be back to us.

4:26:59So thank you so much for coming to do the presentation today.

4:27:03David, welcome to you.

4:27:06And I will turn it over to you now.

4:27:13Am I on now?

4:27:14All right.

4:27:15Thank you again, Mayor Guthrie and members of council.

4:27:18It's a pleasure to be here again.

4:27:20As you may recall from our update in December,

4:27:23we informed the committee that smart cities core funding

4:27:26from infrastructure Canada was set to be fully expended

4:27:29by December.

4:27:30We committed at that time to come back today

4:27:32to tell you about next steps for smart cities

4:27:35after December, 2023.

4:27:38But before we go into that,

4:27:40I want to spend a brief moment discussing where smart,

4:27:42what smart cities was tasked to do

4:27:45and what we have achieved.

4:27:46In 2019, we received city and county council direction

4:27:50to work towards these goals by 2025.

4:27:53So a 50% increase in access to affordable nutritious food,

4:27:56supporting 50 new circular economy, business and collaborations

4:28:00and increasing the economic benefits

4:28:02by unlocking the value of waste all by 2025.

4:28:06I'm very happy to report that by December, 2023,

4:28:10all requirements from the original smart cities vision

4:28:13will be achieved and in most cases exceeded.

4:28:16We're two years ahead of schedule.

4:28:18As a community, we set very ambitious goals

4:28:20and we've done what we said we would do.

4:28:24Back in February, I showed you a slide like this.

4:28:26These numbers are a little updated,

4:28:29but I think we have some pretty impressive KPIs,

4:28:32but I'd love to run through some of the impacts

4:28:35of this program beyond just the numbers.

4:28:38So thinking about what we've done in the community,

4:28:41we can point to almost 8,000 residents reporting

4:28:44increased access to affordable nutritious food.

4:28:47And with partners, we've grown that initial $10 million

4:28:50to bring in an additional $17 million

4:28:53in project funding to this region.

4:28:55We've supported over 50 community food projects,

4:28:58many of which are amazing social enterprises

4:29:00like Guelph CHC's Grocers from the Seed program

4:29:04and Community Food from the Guelph Neighborhood Support

4:29:07Coalition, both of which are fighting food waste

4:29:10and delivering self-sustaining benefits to community members

4:29:13that are experiencing food insecurity.

4:29:15We've also created new forums to discuss the resiliency

4:29:18of our local food sector and we're helping more

4:29:20healthcare providers use food as medicine.

4:29:25On the business side, we started with a goal

4:29:27of supporting 50 businesses.

4:29:28And at this point, we have worked with over 300,

4:29:32helping them join the circular economy

4:29:34and create new circular products.

4:29:36As of last month, the COIL program has supported

4:29:38131 circular economy jobs.

4:29:42And we've helped commercialize over 80 circular products

4:29:44and services.

4:29:46Some of the businesses we started supporting

4:29:47with a micro grant in 2020 now have multimillion dollar

4:29:51valuations in just a few short years.

4:29:53Our COIL program really filled a unique gap

4:29:56in the innovation landscape by helping businesses

4:29:58turn waste into an economic value

4:30:01and start driving approaches that we think will make

4:30:03circular transformation in the next decade,

4:30:05what digital transformation was in the last decade.

4:30:09Smart cities has also been about systems change

4:30:13and understanding the systems we work with

4:30:16and trying to find new ways to deliver more resources

4:30:19or more value from the resources we take from the earth.

4:30:23And we've done this by developing unique data

4:30:25and technology models, including the first in Canada

4:30:28food flow study, which we won the award for

4:30:31back in February.

4:30:33We've also created pilots with partners

4:30:35to fill new systems gaps, like our construction

4:30:38small site source separation pilot,

4:30:41which is now helping divert waste

4:30:42from three new housing build sites in East Guelph,

4:30:44as well as now at the farmer's market

4:30:46with a sign explaining some of what that does.

4:30:49This spring, we're hoping to expand that pilot

4:30:52to 40 more sites across Guelph and Wellington County.

4:30:55And just on this, we have some new data

4:30:57from a builder in Ontario that shows that

4:31:00for every five houses they build,

4:31:02they waste enough wood to build a sixth house.

4:31:06If you think that Ontario is on track now

4:31:07to build 1.5 million new homes,

4:31:09that's potentially 300,000 homes worth of wood

4:31:13ending up in landfill,

4:31:14mostly because it's all going in one dumpster.

4:31:17This pilot is the only place that we found inside Canada,

4:31:20aside from one pilot in, or one program in Vancouver

4:31:24that is trying to separate wood and drywall

4:31:27and other things at these construction sites.

4:31:29It really shows some of the potential power

4:31:32that these interventions had to take that waste wood

4:31:35and turn it into whole new industries.

4:31:41And for many of us, the real goal of this work

4:31:43was climate action.

4:31:45And we've made big strides here too.

4:31:46We're helping divert and upcycle thousands of tons

4:31:49of food waste and helping manufacturers and food producers

4:31:52figure out new sustainable practices

4:31:54that'll support their future growth in a climate safe world.

4:31:58Our current tally for what we've been able to prevent

4:32:00is almost 167,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions,

4:32:04which is the equivalent of taking 36,300 cars

4:32:07off the road for a year.

4:32:11And while this has been a primarily place-based project,

4:32:14we have received significant international attention

4:32:17for what we're doing here as a region.

4:32:21We have received wards from around the world.

4:32:25And a couple of weeks ago, we worked with FCM

4:32:28to release a guide for municipalities across Canada

4:32:31on how to catalyze a circular economy in your community.

4:32:35They're along with this, they're looking at creating

4:32:37a new stream of the Green Municipal Fund

4:32:40thinking about circular food systems.

4:32:42It's not finalized yet, but I think that shows

4:32:45a lot of the impact some of this work has had.

4:32:47The Ellen MacArthur Foundation,

4:32:49a leading global circular economy think tank,

4:32:51recently invited us to join an elite club

4:32:53of 50 global cities that meet bi-monthly

4:32:56that are leading on the circular economy.

4:32:59We're one of only three cities in Canada

4:33:00invited to join this group.

4:33:02And last week, I spoke at an event

4:33:04called Circular Economy Hotspot.

4:33:06This is an event series started by the Dutch government

4:33:08in 2016.

4:33:10Initially, the event rotated between large European cities.

4:33:14This year, along with Dublin,

4:33:15they began holding events in Santiago and Lagos.

4:33:19In 2024, the organizing committee was looking to plan

4:33:24their first ever hotspot event in North America.

4:33:27And they could have gone anywhere,

4:33:30but I'm very happy to announce that in June 2024,

4:33:33the organizing committee selected Guelph Wellington

4:33:35as the host location for the first North American

4:33:38Circular Hotspot Conference.

4:33:41This event will bring 500 leaders from around the world

4:33:43to our region to share learnings

4:33:46and tour some of the amazing things our collaborators

4:33:48and local businesses are doing in the circular economy.

4:33:52Bringing this event here was a joint push

4:33:53between city solid waste, economic development

4:33:56and tourism and smart cities.

4:33:58And I think it's a huge recognition of the work done

4:34:00across this region over the past few years

4:34:03that really stands out at a global level.

4:34:06And a quick note that all of this is only possible

4:34:09because of our amazing community collaborators

4:34:11and delivery partners.

4:34:12The smart cities team gets lots of sunlight

4:34:15and we have been incredibly fortunate

4:34:17that this has been our full-time jobs.

4:34:19However, for most of the organizations on the screen

4:34:22contributed far more hours to this project

4:34:24than they were ever compensated for.

4:34:26We relied on these collaborators to bring their research,

4:34:28insights and ideas to the table

4:34:31and then design and deliver the programs

4:34:33and interventions that have been essential

4:34:35to meet that 50, 50, 50 target.

4:34:37From the start of the program through the pandemic to now,

4:34:40they've attended monthly meetings, workshops,

4:34:42participating in review committees,

4:34:44volunteering thousands of hours

4:34:46towards this shared community vision.

4:34:48So from the whole smart city team,

4:34:50I honestly can't thank our community collaborators enough

4:34:53or give them enough credit

4:34:55for the success of this project.

4:34:59So looking forward, as I mentioned,

4:35:03our current funding will be expended by December 2023.

4:35:07So I wanted to run through what happens now

4:35:09and what we see as some of the legacy of smart cities.

4:35:14So with the conclusion of the federal grants,

4:35:16the smart cities office will be closing in December 2023.

4:35:20We're working now to transition programs

4:35:22where it makes sense to community collaborators,

4:35:25but where it doesn't, some programs will be wound down.

4:35:28We're still in the process of figuring out

4:35:29exactly where some of those sit.

4:35:32We're also developing a final report with lessons learned,

4:35:34which we will publish by December 2023.

4:35:38We are also going to be planning a celebration event

4:35:40in October, which all members of council, of course,

4:35:42will be invited to attend.

4:35:46In our February update, I mentioned how in the fall of 2022,

4:35:51we developed action plans for each of our core work streams.

4:35:56And over the past year, we've been,

4:35:58or the past six months, we've been working

4:35:59with our community collaborators

4:36:00to stand up governance around these plans.

4:36:03So hopefully that they can continue collaboration

4:36:06and work on the priorities we explored in food future

4:36:09over the next three to five years

4:36:11with community leadership.

4:36:13We're also working where it makes sense

4:36:14to pull in different city service areas

4:36:17to participate in some of these programs.

4:36:20I will also note that solid waste resource

4:36:22is playing a leadership role

4:36:24in the Waste as a Resource Action Plan,

4:36:26which is a proposed priority in the strategic plan

4:36:29subject to budget considerations.

4:36:34For the COIL program, which of course,

4:36:37is a circular economy business and innovation accelerator,

4:36:41this will continue through the shared leadership

4:36:43of Innovation Guelph and 10C.

4:36:46Innovation Guelph is currently in the process

4:36:48of being the lead for a Fed Dev application

4:36:51to receive additional funding for the next three years.

4:36:54The city and county will be supporting this application

4:36:56for the second phase of COIL

4:36:58and will be supporting future projects,

4:37:00including potentially pilots around circular procurements,

4:37:04infrastructure and rural innovation.

4:37:09I can also say that the smart cities legacy

4:37:12will be reflected in other communities

4:37:14that are building on our work.

4:37:16We're currently supporting the National Zero Waste Council

4:37:18and on an environment Canada funded project

4:37:21to replicate our circular food economy recipe

4:37:24in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

4:37:26Right now, they're building a food waste flow analysis

4:37:29exactly like we did using the same methodology

4:37:32three years ago here.

4:37:33And just last month, they convened over 100 stakeholders

4:37:36to develop a shared vision,

4:37:37just like Guelph Wellington was doing back in 2018.

4:37:41Vancouver Economic Commission and Halifax Partnership

4:37:43are also pursuing funding to launch COIL Atlantic

4:37:46and COIL Pacific, which we hope will build on the strategies

4:37:50and methodologies we've used here

4:37:52to support over 150 businesses.

4:37:55This national network we think will be a significant legacy

4:37:58that we hope will bring changes across the country

4:38:00in the coming decades to meet the climate crisis.

4:38:06And as a municipality, Guelph is also continuing leadership

4:38:10on the circular economy.

4:38:12Solid Waste Resources is presently developing

4:38:14a circular economy framework in alignment

4:38:16with the Solid Waste Management Master Plan.

4:38:18As proposed in the strategic plan, Solid Waste Resources

4:38:21is also looking at building on the collaborative

4:38:24innovation approaches by continuing

4:38:26the Zero Waste Economic Transformation Lab model

4:38:28that was developed through the Smart Cities Office,

4:38:31subject of course to budget considerations and approvals.

4:38:36With respect to our other core public sector collaborators,

4:38:40Wellington County will maintain its staff resources

4:38:43to support the amazing work that they've been doing

4:38:45on regenerative agriculture and rural circularity.

4:38:48And County Solid Waste will continue

4:38:50to advance the circular economy as well.

4:38:53On the public health side,

4:38:54they have been an amazing contributor

4:38:56as the driving force behind our nutritious food work stream.

4:39:00As they too return to their regular business,

4:39:02staff from the city is recommending council

4:39:04encourage public health to incorporate the lessons learned

4:39:07from our food future into their ongoing food access

4:39:10and health promotion activities.

4:39:14In closing, this has been an incredible project

4:39:17to be involved in.

4:39:18And everyone involved is very sad to see it ends.

4:39:21But I think we can all be incredibly proud

4:39:23of the work that was done, which met and in many cases

4:39:27far exceeded what we thought we could do

4:39:29as a community when this project began.

4:39:31Hopefully this will leave inspiration and legacy

4:39:34that'll move this region and Canada

4:39:35towards a more sustainable, equitable,

4:39:37and prosperous future.

4:39:39Thank you.

4:39:40Great, and thank you so much for the presentation

4:39:42and the overview of all the highlights

4:39:45of what was accomplished.

4:39:48Is there any questions at this time at all?

4:39:52I have, I know I have one, but councillor Downer,

4:39:54go ahead, you first.

4:39:56So I'm just,

4:40:00so I don't know whether this will be better

4:40:01after the delegations questions,

4:40:04but you, did you author the report?

4:40:07I did.

4:40:08Mr. Esson, okay.

4:40:10So, so I just, I just have a number of questions.

4:40:14Like, this seems to be, I guess that would be coming,

4:40:18more information would be coming in the final report.

4:40:21But first I want to say congratulations.

4:40:23This is pretty amazing.

4:40:25You're not aware, can I remember the excitement

4:40:26of the city when we were awarded this

4:40:29and we got ourselves on the global map.

4:40:31And so then, so that, that leads me to the question.

4:40:34Now we're dropping it type thing.

4:40:37I just wonder about, I'm wondering about the wisdom

4:40:41of putting this here, there, and everywhere,

4:40:45as opposed to the catalyst and leverage we had

4:40:50with the,

4:40:52the circular food economy office.

4:40:58So I sort of, it feels like, you know,

4:41:01we try to get away from siloing.

4:41:03And it feels like we've created a nice niche here.

4:41:06We've got the, you've been able to leverage

4:41:09all kinds of great things.

4:41:10And now we're going to go into little silos,

4:41:13which is not, maybe not, which we might lose

4:41:16a lot of the good lessons that we've learned.

4:41:18And one of the lessons may be that,

4:41:20collaborating together with community partners

4:41:24is the best way to go.

4:41:25So I'm just sort of, I'm just sort of thinking

4:41:27off the top of my head here around that.

4:41:28So I'm just, and you may not be in a position

4:41:31to answer that question, right?

4:41:33So I don't want to put you on a hot spot,

4:41:34but so when I hear that in the report,

4:41:37that it is possible that a scaled down elements

4:41:40of the programs could be extended

4:41:42through the multi-year budget at a lower cost.

4:41:45Like what would that, what would that look like?

4:41:46We haven't been offered any options here.

4:41:48All we've been said is that staff have decided

4:41:51this is going to be closed down

4:41:53and things are going to be moved out.

4:41:54So council hasn't had the opportunity

4:41:56to look at options or costing or anything really

4:41:59of what it would look like to do a scaled down effort here.

4:42:03And I just want to hear a bit more about that option.

4:42:06And if you have your, you know, thoughts about this.

4:42:08So I don't know, you may not be in a position.

4:42:09It may be a question for the, for the CAO.

4:42:15Well, if it, okay.

4:42:18I don't usually allow sort of staff and presentations

4:42:21to go back and forth, but I'll allow at this time.

4:42:25Go ahead.

4:42:26Well, through you, Mr. Mayor,

4:42:27and it might be something that we have to spend more time in

4:42:30than just sort of here.

4:42:31And then maybe it would be wise to move through the delegations

4:42:35and then you can spend time and some detail on the report

4:42:37and the presentation from Mr. Messer.

4:42:40Then we can answer lots of questions, I think.

4:42:43So that's what I said, Amanda.

4:42:44I wasn't sure it may be because it's, you know,

4:42:47Mr. Messer here is like a, it's like a staff

4:42:49and we usually hold the questions still later.

4:42:51And it may be better to hear the delegations first

4:42:53and then, and then maybe you could get back to me

4:42:56after we get to the questions.

4:42:58Cause I'm just curious about,

4:43:00about the move, the next steps on this project.

4:43:04Yeah, I think I'll even take the CAO

4:43:07and Councillor Downer's advice

4:43:09and I'll even save my question to after the delegations to,

4:43:12it just has to do with the jobs around the coil.

4:43:14So there's a little heads up, okay.

4:43:16All right, so thank you.

4:43:17We'll come back to you for sure.

4:43:19Okay. I'm sure there'll be some questions.

4:43:20So let's go to our delegations then.

4:43:23Julia's here.

4:43:25Yes, come on up.

4:43:28Julia Grady is here.

4:43:29And we're gonna have Barb and Fee on the phone.

4:43:32And then Kate Vestula, Kate, where's Kate?

4:43:36Kate, you're gonna be in the wings after that.

4:43:41Julia, thanks for coming.

4:43:42I'll start my timer whenever you start speaking.

4:43:45We have up to five minutes. Okay. Go for it.

4:43:47Awesome. Good afternoon, Mayor Guthrie,

4:43:49City Councilors, Guelph City staff

4:43:51and fellow members of the Guelph community.

4:43:54I'm Julia Grady and I'm the co-founder

4:43:55and executive director of TenC Shared Space,

4:43:58Guelph's social innovation lab.

4:44:00TenC is one of our future and coils delivery partners

4:44:04and also co-chairs,

4:44:05the business nutritious food work streams.

4:44:08Given the fact that the smart cities

4:44:09circular economy initiatives over the past four years

4:44:12have been so successful.

4:44:14I would like to advocate that we now take time

4:44:16to enable transition plan to knit in

4:44:18and strengthen this work across the city of Guelph

4:44:21and community partners moving forward.

4:44:23I'm also here to celebrate all of the work

4:44:25that has been done in the past.

4:44:28Your dinner this evening was brought to you

4:44:29by Community Food, I believe,

4:44:31a social enterprise that received funding

4:44:34through our Food Future.

4:44:35Launched just one year ago,

4:44:36Community Food has served over 18,000 meals

4:44:39and diverted eight tons of usable wasted food from landfill.

4:44:43Community Food is a chef led mobile food program

4:44:46that works within current food security networks

4:44:49to fill in the food system flaws

4:44:51that allow mass quantities of high quality foods

4:44:53to end up as landfill.

4:44:55Chef Yazzy produces nutritious gourmet meals,

4:44:59offered using an equitable and dignified model

4:45:01and provides jobs, educational opportunities

4:45:04and philanthropic catering.

4:45:06Community Food is just one of the hundreds of projects

4:45:09emerging from Guelph Wellington's

4:45:11Smart City's circular economy work.

4:45:14David Messer's presentation demonstrates

4:45:16the successes of our Food Future, Coil

4:45:19and all of the interconnected circular systems change work.

4:45:22The economic impacts are tangible.

4:45:25Over the past two years,

4:45:26Coil, a key project of the business work stream,

4:45:28received 260 applications from all across Southern Ontario.

4:45:33A total of 92 projects were funded,

4:45:35representing $60.7 million in revenues

4:45:39from the combined companies.

4:45:4112% of these are based in Guelph

4:45:44and all are businesses eager to invent

4:45:46and embed new circular practices.

4:45:49And at the beginning of this project,

4:45:50we were defining what the circular economy was.

4:45:53They're clearly our businesses that understand it now.

4:45:56One of the first and now leading projects is Friendly,

4:45:59our Canada's fastest growing reusable packaging solutions.

4:46:03Since being sparked through our Food Future in 2020,

4:46:06Friendly has cleaned and recirculated

4:46:09500,000 plastic containers.

4:46:11And did you know that each of those friendly blue containers

4:46:14is used an average of 100 times?

4:46:16And this has kept 29 tons of plastic waste out of landfills.

4:46:20Friendlyers founders, Jack and Kaylee,

4:46:22have also made Forbes 30 under 30 lists.

4:46:25They've received $500,000 in follow-on funding

4:46:28from FedDev, Southern Ontario.

4:46:30And most recently, Friendly are attracted $2.3 million

4:46:33in venture capital,

4:46:35enabling this made in Guelph business

4:46:37to expand across Canada.

4:46:39There is incredible momentum around this work here

4:46:43and as well as internationally.

4:46:45The city of Guelph signed onto the Milan Urban Food Policy

4:46:48pact with other cities from all over the world

4:46:50who are committed to making progress on the common goal

4:46:53of sustainable, inclusive and resilient food,

4:46:56urban food systems.

4:46:58City of Guelph has accepted many awards

4:47:00for its circular economy leadership.

4:47:02We've also been, as David noted,

4:47:04selected to host the Circular Economy Hotspot Conference,

4:47:07bringing 500 leaders from around the world

4:47:10to Guelph in the year of 2024.

4:47:12My question is simple.

4:47:14What will we be showcasing if this project has ended?

4:47:17Back in 2018, you asked us to participate

4:47:20in the Smart Cities Challenge to create our food future

4:47:24and the community responded with a resounding yes.

4:47:27You asked us to think and work like a network and we did.

4:47:32As a network with a mix of strong and nimble partners,

4:47:34we were successful in leveraging federal, provincial,

4:47:36private foundation, corporate and educational funding.

4:47:39This enabled over the $27 million in resources

4:47:43to flow into our region.

4:47:45Much of this would not have happened

4:47:46without our collective response to the core question,

4:47:49should the circular economy be at the heart of the future

4:47:52for the city of Guelph?

4:47:54The key in this collaboration was the Smart Cities Office

4:47:58and this team had provided us with visionary leadership

4:48:01and without them, these community outcomes

4:48:03would not have been possible.

4:48:04As partners, we would like to see continued municipal buy-in

4:48:08for circular food system work from both the city of Guelph

4:48:11and the county of Wellington.

4:48:13Our request today is that there be a process now

4:48:16to allow Smart City staff and community partners

4:48:18to work together to bring a transition plan forward

4:48:22for this fall for consideration

4:48:23within the city multi-year budget process.

4:48:26A circular food economy can achieve climate,

4:48:30economic, social and health benefits

4:48:31that will make Guelph an innovative, prosperous

4:48:34and healthy community.

4:48:35Thank you.

4:48:37Thank you so much.

4:48:38Any questions for this delegation at this time?

4:48:42Nope, I don't hear any, but thank you very much for coming.

4:48:45On the phone now is Barb McPhee and just wait to see Barb.

4:48:51It's Mayor Guthrie, can you hear me okay?

4:48:59I'll try one more time.

4:49:00Hey Barb, it's Mayor Guthrie, can you hear me okay?

4:49:04I can hear you great, yep.

4:49:06And you're coming through very clear as well.

4:49:08Thank you very much for joining us.

4:49:10And I'll start the timer for you.

4:49:13I have up to five minutes.

4:49:14I'll start the timer as soon as you start.

4:49:15You go right ahead.

4:49:17Thanks.

4:49:19Hey folks, Barb McPhee here.

4:49:21I am the manager of the North End Highways Market

4:49:23and I'm a lived experience peer advocate.

4:49:26I am here today to lend my support

4:49:28for the Smart Cities program.

4:49:30I am not here looking at the big picture.

4:49:32I am leaving that to all you professionals

4:49:35and smart city people.

4:49:36Here is the little story that made a huge impact.

4:49:40The North End Highways Market was lucky

4:49:41to be part of the CoLab project,

4:49:43which offered some community organizations

4:49:46opportunities to create and build on projects

4:49:49that would beneficial to the food security

4:49:52of their neighborhoods.

4:49:54Who would have thought $100,000

4:49:56would bring seven groups together

4:49:58to create a lasting bond and a way to distribute dollars

4:50:01not equally, but equibly.

4:50:04Each organization put through a proposal

4:50:06for the amount of money they would need

4:50:08to make their project successful

4:50:10and the outcome was amazing.

4:50:12There was actually one group who refused money

4:50:15but put forward the opportunity for space and places,

4:50:19especially kitchen space for cooking

4:50:21and garden space for growing.

4:50:23The North End Highways Market asked for 10,000,

4:50:26excuse me, which would cover the market cost

4:50:29of produce for seven weeks.

4:50:31$10,000 for the Silver Creek Community Market

4:50:34to cover 12 weeks of market cost of produce.

4:50:37And the North End Highways Market also requested $10,000

4:50:40to run a community builders program.

4:50:44The 30,000 was approved and there was so much support

4:50:47from the granting staff that helped to make

4:50:50everything go smoothly.

4:50:52The community builders program sponsored

4:50:54eight lived experience community members

4:50:56to take a six week course to help them become

4:50:59community leaders through the art of storytelling,

4:51:02through words and song.

4:51:04A community leader was hired to coordinate this project

4:51:08and each person was paid a living wage.

4:51:10Nails and snacks were covered,

4:51:12as well as home care and travel costs.

4:51:14The result of this program was way beyond

4:51:17anyone's expectation.

4:51:19Eight brilliant community leaders evolved

4:51:21with two of them becoming leaders of Hope House

4:51:24and North End Highways Market boards.

4:51:26Three of them becoming volunteers

4:51:29in the community organizations

4:51:31and others lending their leadership supports

4:51:33in the best ways they could.

4:51:35Then the Sparks Grant came along

4:51:37and the North End Highways Market was awarded $2,000

4:51:41to run an amazing grant program,

4:51:44granting program for eight participants.

4:51:47And we were able to hire one of the community builders

4:51:50graduates to coordinate and run this project.

4:51:53The original seven co-lab projects to this day meet

4:51:57and connect and share.

4:51:59I'm not sure how the big money works,

4:52:01but I think there can be lessons learned

4:52:04on how the big money can work best for all

4:52:06by using the little money ways and means.

4:52:09What's next is taking the little story

4:52:11with such a huge impact into consideration

4:52:14as to how we need to hold onto things that work

4:52:17such as the smart cities dollars and staffing supports

4:52:20and take some time to make them work better

4:52:23by listening to the community and focusing more

4:52:25on the little success stories

4:52:27that are helpful to build a great wealth people.

4:52:32Thank you.

4:52:35Thanks, Barb.

4:52:36Appreciate you joining us too.

4:52:38And let me see if there's any follow up for you.

4:52:40Any questions?

4:52:42Okay, not at this time.

4:52:43So thank you again for calling in.

4:52:47Thank you.

4:52:47All right, take care.

4:52:49And yep, Kate's coming down already.

4:52:52So thank you for timing.

4:52:59I just set my clock back here.

4:53:04There we go.

4:53:06Thank you.

4:53:07Take your time.

4:53:08Whenever you actually start,

4:53:09I'll start the clock for you, Kate.

4:53:10Go right ahead.

4:53:12Okay, thank you.

4:53:13Can you hear me okay?

4:53:15Okay.

4:53:16Good evening, Mayor, City Council,

4:53:18City staff and citizens.

4:53:20I stand here today as a representative

4:53:22of the Guelph Community Health Center.

4:53:24I'm the Director of Community Programs and Development

4:53:27and also an engaged citizen for many years

4:53:30in the realm of food.

4:53:32I've been deeply engaged and invested

4:53:34in our Food Futures Initiative since the early days

4:53:37of planning our application

4:53:38and being awarded an incredible opportunity.

4:53:43The Smart Cities Office has facilitated

4:53:46the implementation of innovative programs

4:53:48and collaborations aimed at ensuring access

4:53:50to affordable and nutritious foods,

4:53:52fostering circular businesses

4:53:54and harnessing waste as a valuable resource.

4:53:56Truly an incredible amount of work has been done

4:53:59in a short period of time

4:54:01that would not have been made possible

4:54:03without the amazing support of the Smart Cities Office

4:54:07in our community and a curve ball

4:54:10of a pandemic thrown in the mix of it all.

4:54:13These efforts have not only strengthened our local economy

4:54:16but have inspired many other communities to follow suit,

4:54:19which is really exciting

4:54:20and have been awarded ceremony in our success.

4:54:26I wanna share a few of the successes we see

4:54:28from the Guelph Community Health Center

4:54:29and then talk about next steps.

4:54:32One of our successes is harvest impact

4:54:35fund development strategies that has allowed us

4:54:37to open up new avenues of donors and funders,

4:54:42direct investment of Smart Cities funding

4:54:46to programming specifically to reduce barriers

4:54:48to food access, including co-lab and coil funding,

4:54:51which streamlined our systems of distribution.

4:54:55This funding also was leveraged to receive other funding

4:54:58at provincial, federal foundation

4:55:00and other levels of opportunity.

4:55:04New connections and support,

4:55:05which would not have happened without this initiative

4:55:08and the glue that has made it come together.

4:55:11Specific example is the 30,000 foot warehouse

4:55:14that we have been offered to run our programming out of

4:55:18along with other community partners.

4:55:20The development of a strategy for a community food hub

4:55:23and some of the research that's gone into next steps on that

4:55:27and collective action around that.

4:55:29And the addition of a food system resiliency table

4:55:32in our community, which is one of the legacy projects

4:55:35and has engaged many experts, citizens and partners

4:55:39related to food policy and generated some excellent outcomes

4:55:42in early days.

4:55:44As I shared in my last delegation,

4:55:46we've seen many successes well beyond our center,

4:55:48but I'm not gonna go into over time this time,

4:55:51trying to talk about some of those.

4:55:52What I do wanna discuss is our next collective steps.

4:55:55As a dedicated partner,

4:55:57our food futures remarkable successes,

4:55:59we firmly believe that addressing the sustaining

4:56:02of this work is a matter of importance

4:56:04for long-term and wellbeing of the resilience

4:56:07of this community.

4:56:08We see this as a collective next step

4:56:10and this work would align perfectly

4:56:12with the vision outlined in the Guelph community plan,

4:56:16which serves as a roadmap

4:56:17for the city's growth and development.

4:56:19It emphasizes the need for sustainable

4:56:21and resilient solutions that address interconnected challenges

4:56:25that our community faces.

4:56:26Our future, our food future initiative embodies

4:56:29the principles set forth in the community plan

4:56:32and a transition plan for this work is crucial.

4:56:36We need to see municipalities seeing food as their arena

4:56:40and we're seeing that globally take shape

4:56:43and I'd like to see that happen in our community.

4:56:46The success of our food futures has played a pivotal role

4:56:49in positioning our region as a global leader

4:56:51in the circular food economy

4:56:52and we have an opportunity here

4:56:54that we don't want to let go of.

4:56:56That being said, it's important to recognize

4:56:58the challenges faced by our community

4:57:00extend well beyond food access.

4:57:02As we know, we have issues that we need to address

4:57:05related to housing, mental health, addiction,

4:57:07income security and all of these are deeply intertwined.

4:57:11As a community health center,

4:57:12we're acutely aware of the negative impacts

4:57:14that food insecurity can have

4:57:16at an individual and community level.

4:57:19And by addressing food insecurity,

4:57:21we are tackling a critical aspect

4:57:24that contributes to the overall health of wealth.

4:57:27With the conclusion of this funding approaching this year,

4:57:30we want to look at a transition plan.

4:57:33This plan will ensure the continuation

4:57:35of the incredible outcomes we have witnessed thus far

4:57:37and solidify Guelph's position as a leader.

4:57:40The Guelph CHC would like to be part of this transition

4:57:42planning with the smart cities office,

4:57:44which would be presented back to council later this year.

4:57:48Well, there's much to celebrate as highlighted

4:57:50by the smart city staff report to council

4:57:53and tonight's presentation.

4:57:56Our work is far from being done

4:57:57and we cannot afford to lose the gains we've made,

4:57:59especially in the face of the COVID recovery

4:58:02we are in the midst of.

4:58:04I want to extend a deep gratitude for the leadership

4:58:07the city's taken in this work,

4:58:08including the smart cities office staff.

4:58:10We trust your commitment to the wellbeing of this city

4:58:14and look forward to our continued partnership.

4:58:16Together, let's ensure a vibrant and resilient future

4:58:19for our beloved Guelph.

4:58:21Thank you.

4:58:23Great, and thank you very much.

4:58:24Any questions for this delegation at all?

4:58:28Yes, Councillor Coller.

4:58:30Thank you, Your Worship.

4:58:31Thank you for that presentation.

4:58:34When you talk about a transition plan,

4:58:35what might that look like?

4:58:37Just wanted to be clear on what it is

4:58:39that you're asking of us today.

4:58:41Yes, that's a great question.

4:58:43Through you, Mayor, to Councillor Coller.

4:58:46I don't want to suggest

4:58:49that we're going to ask for millions of dollars.

4:58:52We don't actually have a well thought out transition plan

4:58:55and so we need time to build that.

4:58:57I think there's lots of opportunities to explore.

4:59:00There's some really great work being done internationally

4:59:03in this realm at the municipal level

4:59:05with community partners.

4:59:06And we want to look at those

4:59:08and see which makes strategic sense for this community.

4:59:14I do believe there would be an investment

4:59:16of city funding.

4:59:18I think that's really important,

4:59:19but I'm not going to ballpark what that looks like.

4:59:22What I know, what I've seen in 25 years of this work

4:59:26is without a coordinated effort, the bottom falls out.

4:59:32There are many organizations doing great work

4:59:34and the work needs to be coordinated.

4:59:37And so that's what we would look to.

4:59:40Yeah, and also one other piece

4:59:42is really unlocking other funding.

4:59:45So when we have a municipal partner at the table,

4:59:48we can unlock more funding

4:59:50and that needs some dedicated support.

4:59:53Okay, thank you for that.

4:59:54So I've seen in the staff report

4:59:56that there's still going to be staff time allocated

4:59:59from our economic development team

5:00:00and other teams within the city.

5:00:03So we might be hearing back from the working group

5:00:06in the next couple of weeks, couple of months

5:00:08with a more solid ask.

5:00:10Is that what I'm hearing?

5:00:14Is that a question for me?

5:00:16Maybe not.

5:00:17Okay, I think Councillor Gulliver is asking

5:00:20if you know when the transition plan make becoming like,

5:00:24is that what you're asking?

5:00:25That's what I heard.

5:00:26Okay, so if you're working on a transition plan

5:00:28or a proposal, like, is that coming at some point?

5:00:33So through you, Mayor,

5:00:35I think that transition plan would be presented in the fall.

5:00:39Okay, thank you very much for that.

5:00:41Thank you, worship.

5:00:43Oh, and Councillor Bustintil as well.

5:00:45Thank you very much for the presentation.

5:00:47You mentioned early on that you were part

5:00:49of the original kind of proposal in the application.

5:00:52And my experience is that when you get government funding,

5:00:56there's an end date to that.

5:00:57Can you tell me a little bit or speak to the exit plan

5:01:00that was developed concurrently

5:01:01while you were doing the project?

5:01:03And also the kind of financial monitoring,

5:01:05I monitor finances daily around the trend line,

5:01:09cash flow projects and so on.

5:01:11It seems shocking to me that you're here today saying,

5:01:15the money's out in December

5:01:16and there's not a parallel exit strategy and plan

5:01:21that, yes, has had to be moved up.

5:01:23It just seems like a bit of a help, you know,

5:01:26the house is on fire.

5:01:27I feel very uncomfortable with that.

5:01:29So if you can speak to that, okay.

5:01:32So through you, Mayor, to Councillor Bustintil,

5:01:34thank you for the question.

5:01:35It's a great question.

5:01:36I don't think I'm well positioned to fully answer it.

5:01:39What I can tell you is that there has been a lot of work

5:01:43to create action tables and work groups

5:01:46that would move the work forward in all of the streams.

5:01:49There's been a lot of thoughtful consideration and strategy

5:01:53to pull the community together,

5:01:54to think about what's needed to sustain some of this work.

5:02:00Monitoring the budget, looking at long range planning,

5:02:04I would say the Smart City staff would be better positioned

5:02:07to answer those questions.

5:02:10And there has been oversight of this project

5:02:15with community collaboration,

5:02:17but those would be their questions to answer.

5:02:20Yes.

5:02:23Great, I don't see anything more.

5:02:24So thanks for answering those questions.

5:02:26I appreciate the presentation.

5:02:27Thank you.

5:02:28Thank you.

5:02:29Okay, so it is back to us,

5:02:32and there was some correspondence attached as well.

5:02:36Let me go to Councillor Downer, I think.

5:02:39If you don't want to go first, that's fine,

5:02:40but we kind of left off with kind of waiting

5:02:43for the delegations, and then I was going to go back to you.

5:02:45Do you want to go right now with questions?

5:02:47Sure, so it sort of goes back to my...

5:02:51So I guess it's why this,

5:02:53and I'm just trying to search for the wisdom

5:02:56and spreading this out rather than having,

5:03:00maintaining some sort of catalyst within our organization,

5:03:04as was suggested, that might,

5:03:06could happen at a scaled down element,

5:03:09and maybe even part of what is being asked for,

5:03:11like as a transition, do we need longer, that type of thing.

5:03:15I just, I'm concerned about it going back into silos

5:03:20rather than staying together in a coordinated effort.

5:03:25So thank you, Mr. Mayor.

5:03:26Why don't we go back again,

5:03:27and I'll certainly look for David to step into some

5:03:30of the spaces that I just might leave behind.

5:03:34And I'm going to answer some of the stuff

5:03:39that's come up through the delegations as well,

5:03:41as someone that was here in 2019,

5:03:43and actually part of the submissions.

5:03:48The goals were clear, and they're in the report,

5:03:51and you've heard David say, we're on track,

5:03:54or we're exceeding all of them,

5:03:55the 50, 50, 50 by 2025.

5:03:58And 25 has come up in advance

5:04:00because we did some additional things through COVID

5:04:02to move some things up, and that was part of that work.

5:04:05But always the goal was Fed Dev and others

5:04:09gave us money to come in, spend the money,

5:04:12and the pilot is over, and they've been super clear with us.

5:04:17Both the executive directors,

5:04:19Barb Sports and Trooper last summer and David as well,

5:04:21have been asked, is there another way to do this?

5:04:23Is there more funding?

5:04:25And there isn't a door that hasn't been knocked on,

5:04:27and there isn't a door that hasn't been answered.

5:04:29So, Fed Dev, this is wonderful work.

5:04:33Is it still a priority for you to fund?

5:04:35The answer to that is no.

5:04:37That's why you see infrastructure of Canada.

5:04:41That's why you see in the report,

5:04:42a million dollars to keep the thing moving.

5:04:45So the transition plan is actually

5:04:47what's here in front of you tonight.

5:04:48It has to wind down because there is no money to fund it,

5:04:52but we've hit all the goals, and part of the goals were,

5:04:55and that's why I maybe want to speak to Councillor Dowder

5:04:57and the silos.

5:04:58I think it's more in our DNA,

5:05:00that it becomes regular business.

5:05:02So it's not like it's a silo and solid waste

5:05:05to deal with the work that's happening.

5:05:07That natural fit between our corporate waste division

5:05:10and our zero waste economic transformation lab.

5:05:13Also, the goals was to enable community partners

5:05:16and community organizations to step into the space,

5:05:20grow into the space.

5:05:21You didn't exist before, but now you do now.

5:05:24For those folks, we will always be there

5:05:26because that's what our economic development folks do

5:05:28through their plan.

5:05:30So it sits in there as well.

5:05:32So it's not siloed, it's just in our DNA

5:05:34across the organization here.

5:05:36But we also see great partners.

5:05:38COILs are good at addition.

5:05:40So if you get to 2021, 2019 with our food future,

5:05:45those goals were identified

5:05:46and those objectives have been hit.

5:05:48And it wasn't always, it has to be in government.

5:05:51That's a key piece here.

5:05:52It doesn't have to be in government.

5:05:54We were able to do that early

5:05:56because that's what it needed

5:05:57because it was just disjoint.

5:05:59Today it's not.

5:06:01There's still folks that are working on things

5:06:03that might feel a little bit like that, but it isn't.

5:06:05So COIL is a great example.

5:06:07And that popped up in 2021.

5:06:10Innovation Guelph has said we got this.

5:06:13Also with our economic development people.

5:06:15So the transition isn't at all grounds to a halt.

5:06:19There might be bits and pieces, as David mentioned,

5:06:21and David could certainly give us some further details on that.

5:06:24But set timeline, set dollars.

5:06:27There is no more federal dollars.

5:06:30The other transition that we've got quite honestly

5:06:32is we've got, this is a group of staff

5:06:35that are in contract positions until the end of the year.

5:06:38And as you can imagine, people are loyal

5:06:39and they want to do this work,

5:06:41but they're also looking elsewhere.

5:06:43So it can't just be, well, come back with a transition.

5:06:46The clock is ticking.

5:06:49And yes, the county will keep,

5:06:51Justine happens to be here this evening,

5:06:53the county will keep because there was a home position for that.

5:06:56These didn't have home positions.

5:06:57These were created at the city level

5:06:59and temporary contract positions.

5:07:02So I think there's a reference for public health

5:07:05because they've always been in this area of food deserts

5:07:09and those sort of things.

5:07:09We've worked well with, excuse me,

5:07:12I think Kyle Wilson has been our lead executive.

5:07:16Kyle Wilson, public health should still be our lead executive

5:07:19on some of this stuff.

5:07:20And that's a lane that they plan on a regular basis.

5:07:23So that's sort of my circling on all these things.

5:07:27We are, part of the goals was to empower organizations

5:07:30to take this from us.

5:07:32This wasn't always a goal that it should be in our hands.

5:07:35It can be, you saw in there, it's a million dollars,

5:07:38but what could it be in terms of something else?

5:07:41I think the discussion tonight could be, should be,

5:07:44if you want something else, what is that

5:07:46so that we can move on that fast

5:07:48and bring that back to you sort of from a budget in perspective.

5:07:52We're telling you tonight, the task is done.

5:07:55If you think the task isn't done, help us with that.

5:07:58And then we could get to, let us put that in context

5:08:01for you with a multi-year budget

5:08:02and all the other content that you'll have to deal with

5:08:06and then not too distant future for us as well.

5:08:08So that was a bit rambly, Mr. Mayor.

5:08:11But, and then this work has been at play

5:08:14since the summer of 2022.

5:08:16It's not, it's new here tonight for you, of course,

5:08:19but it hasn't been new in terms of both the executive directors

5:08:23working on, is there another way to do this?

5:08:25Is there a holding company that can be created?

5:08:27Is there another place that it could all move to?

5:08:29And that result is what you've got here this evening

5:08:32with, as you heard earlier, David's report of it.

5:08:35But I'll look to David if I missed anything,

5:08:37because I don't want to miss anything.

5:08:41Okay.

5:08:43So I guess, then I don't understand

5:08:45why this statement's in here.

5:08:46Yeah, you certainly mentioned that there's a million dollar

5:08:49annually to maintain the current operation.

5:08:53But then, so I thank you for what you've said,

5:08:55that makes sense.

5:08:57But it says in the report,

5:08:58it is possible that a scaled down element of the program

5:09:01could be extended through the multi-year budget at a lower cost.

5:09:07So, but you just said to me,

5:09:09but you'll have to tell us what that is.

5:09:12Well, I'm asking you because you put it in the report,

5:09:15what did you have in mind as a scaled down

5:09:20element to the program?

5:09:21So I don't know what that is.

5:09:24So what would that look like?

5:09:26So through you, Mr. Mayor, I'm going to give you,

5:09:27I think we're going to give you two answers.

5:09:29I'm going to give you a direct answer.

5:09:30I think the work is done.

5:09:32I'm going to get David as the author to establish,

5:09:34because he was working with some feedback

5:09:36he was getting from some folks that might delegate.

5:09:39So maybe David could get you to that.

5:09:40What is there a scaled back piece?

5:09:42So I'll look to David to fill in that gap.

5:09:45Well, I mean, when you look at all the things

5:09:48that we've been doing in smart cities,

5:09:50from on the waste side, I think if you look in the,

5:09:53in the strat plan,

5:09:54solid waste resources has a very clear plan

5:09:56on the circular economy, including advancing things

5:09:59like the zero waste economic transformation lab.

5:10:01So I think that is more or less covered off

5:10:04on the business side.

5:10:06As the CAO mentioned,

5:10:10certainly innovation, wealth and tenancy

5:10:11are continuing work on that along with

5:10:15solid waste as well,

5:10:16and economic development in the county.

5:10:21There is, you know, some convening in the food sector

5:10:24potentially where there could be a gap.

5:10:27It's an interesting space when you get very close to it

5:10:30because it's a bit of a black hole

5:10:32in terms of responsibilities.

5:10:33It's not our responsibility.

5:10:35I think if you saw from the county's presentation today,

5:10:38they don't touch on food and public health does,

5:10:41which is why we included this in our report.

5:10:43They're perhaps the closest to it,

5:10:46but I think smart cities was successful partly

5:10:49because it filled a gap somewhat in that space.

5:10:52So, I mean, if we think about gap reports,

5:10:56that that would be one that we, I think, have identified.

5:11:03So that's what you were referring to when you, sorry.

5:11:10Okay.

5:11:11So three, Mr. Mayor.

5:11:12So that is what you're referring to when you talked

5:11:16about the possibility of scaled down elements

5:11:19was it the food part?

5:11:20I'm still trying to wrap my head around

5:11:22what was sort of offered up as an option,

5:11:24but I don't really know.

5:11:26I might take this conversation off

5:11:28and have a conversation with the CEO.

5:11:30Between now and the next,

5:11:33between now and the end of the month.

5:11:35Could I just jump in on this for a second?

5:11:37Is there any correlation between what councillor Downer

5:11:41is identifying in the report

5:11:43to what is being presented as a transition plan?

5:11:46Like, in other words, is there some kind of opportunities

5:11:50that we just are unaware of

5:11:52that this supposed transition plan opportunities

5:11:55would as a proposal would be coming back?

5:11:58Is that what the transition plan is?

5:12:01Because we're hearing from a delegation,

5:12:02there's some kind of a transition plan

5:12:03that might come in the fall,

5:12:05but then they also coincides with the wrap up

5:12:07of the whole thing in fall too, right?

5:12:09So it's kind of like two different messages.

5:12:12Through you, Mr. Mayor, or to you, Mr. Mayor.

5:12:15Yep.

5:12:16I believe the transition plan is more a concept

5:12:19of working through a discussion with community partners,

5:12:23as opposed to the staff report,

5:12:24which was developed largely with leadership

5:12:27in the city and county.

5:12:28I think that's where the transition plan would sit,

5:12:30would be take this back and reconsider some of the gaps

5:12:34where community collaborators who've been involved

5:12:38in this work could see some sort of future municipal role.

5:12:41Okay. Yeah, you answered that very well.

5:12:42Thank you very much.

5:12:44I'm going to go to Councillor Boosenthal and then Claeson.

5:12:48Thank you.

5:12:49I just want to piggyback a bit

5:12:50on what my colleague Councillor Downer has talked about.

5:12:53I thank you very much to the CAO

5:12:55because that was very clear to me.

5:12:58The project's over, the pilot's done, there's no more money.

5:13:01And I feel very comfortable and come from a world

5:13:05where there is lessons and best practices are diffused,

5:13:10that mutual learning, everything happens.

5:13:12Whether it's a conference at the end of this project

5:13:14where partners come and there's case studies,

5:13:17that learning is solidified in some way.

5:13:19I am very comfortable with the notion of a transition

5:13:22of embedding in our municipality.

5:13:25Those learnings and those expectations

5:13:27and those goals and so on.

5:13:28So I'm very comfortable with that in terms of transition.

5:13:32Similar to my colleague,

5:13:33I'm not sure if a transition plan is a conference,

5:13:35is it that knowledge transfer mechanism that needs to happen?

5:13:39I am feeling very uncomfortable with a coordinated,

5:13:42going back to a centralized, coordinated approach

5:13:46because it's in perpetuity.

5:13:49There's never an end.

5:13:50And you were speaking about filling a gap.

5:13:53And to me, that requires another report.

5:13:56What is the gap?

5:13:57Where is the city already funding the gap?

5:13:59Is this duplicating the funding of the gap?

5:14:01So to me, that's a bit of a blank check

5:14:02and I feel very uncomfortable with that.

5:14:04But if the transition is about knowledge transfer

5:14:07to ensure that the capacity exists to carry that forward,

5:14:11very time specific, very clear,

5:14:14then I can live with that because it's got a start end

5:14:16and it's got objectives and people pointed out

5:14:19and things like that.

5:14:20But in perpetuity, filling a gap, I just can't do that.

5:14:26Okay, thank you.

5:14:27And to Councillor Cossum, please.

5:14:30Hey there, thanks for the presentations

5:14:33and the delegations tonight.

5:14:36I have a couple of questions.

5:14:38So I think one of our KPIs from the report

5:14:41we received earlier tonight had to do

5:14:43with the circular economy.

5:14:44And so I just have a question with regard,

5:14:46like would that drop then off?

5:14:48Like if the work doesn't continue,

5:14:50like will we stop monitoring that as a KPI

5:14:52looking forward into the future?

5:14:56So through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor,

5:14:59not having all of that memorized, let me say this way,

5:15:04there will be things that might continue in the community

5:15:08that show up in our strategic plan,

5:15:10but not necessarily done by us.

5:15:12And I think you heard some of the staff talk about that today.

5:15:14So sometimes it's one of your boards.

5:15:17You might, you did ask them earlier today,

5:15:20will you give us some statistical information?

5:15:23Sometimes you get it from others.

5:15:25The transportation world is a great example of that.

5:15:27We might have stats that help us from

5:15:31Ministry of Transportation.

5:15:33You might have some stats from Metrolinx.

5:15:35That's important to us in terms of it feeds something locally.

5:15:41And then the work, I think in solid waste

5:15:45is an example of work that we will continue to work on.

5:15:48So I'm trying to answer it as best I can,

5:15:50because I'm not 100% sure of the KPI that you talk of,

5:15:54but the solid waste one is reflected

5:15:56in our next strategic plan.

5:15:58There might be other pieces of that

5:15:59that are interesting community plan pieces

5:16:02in where we've reflected in there,

5:16:05being upheld by members of the community,

5:16:06not necessarily the city of Guelph

5:16:09who participates also in the community plan.

5:16:12I think, yeah, thank you.

5:16:13I think I, through you there,

5:16:15would just be curious to know, you know, going forward,

5:16:17because I think when we look at our strategic plan,

5:16:19one of those big pillars is, you know, climate.

5:16:22And for me, a lot of this work kind of fell under that.

5:16:24So it was kind of part of those like potential KPIs.

5:16:27But again, that's not my work.

5:16:28That's, you know, that's, I'm a few steps back.

5:16:33I'm not sure if this is a,

5:16:36maybe this is a question for Mr. Messer.

5:16:39I've followed a little bit the work

5:16:41of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

5:16:43And I know that they have a lot of private sector partners

5:16:47and university partners and municipal partners,

5:16:51I think two cities.

5:16:52How would that structure,

5:16:55could that kind of structure fall into play here,

5:16:58looking forward?

5:16:59I know that it's like a very, very different perspective.

5:17:02And maybe requires a separate conversation.

5:17:04I just wanted to put that out there.

5:17:06It's just something that came up.

5:17:09Through you, Mr. Mayor.

5:17:10Yes, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation,

5:17:13they're a not-for-profit foundational type company.

5:17:17They receive considerable amount of grants and investment

5:17:21out of the UK, as well as corporate funders, of course.

5:17:23And we actually worked very closely with them.

5:17:25I, they invited my colleague, Ashley,

5:17:28to speak on stage with them

5:17:29at the World Circuit Economy Forum last week

5:17:31in front of an audience of 6,000 people in Helsinki.

5:17:34And yeah, we're also speaking at their forum next week

5:17:37with 50 other cities.

5:17:40But they're a not-for-profit.

5:17:43So there are other Canadian not-for-profits

5:17:45in the circular economy space who we do work with.

5:17:47So circular innovation council is,

5:17:49would somewhat be a Canadian equivalent

5:17:53who's been a very close partner of ours.

5:17:55There's also circular economy leadership,

5:17:56Canada and many others.

5:17:58We've been great partners with all of them,

5:18:01I think because we've had this sort of place-based

5:18:03living lab thing, which has been a bit different.

5:18:06So conceivably, yes, you could create a not-for-profit,

5:18:13but those things need startup funding

5:18:15and all those other things that go with it.

5:18:18And from all of our hunt for additional funding,

5:18:23the challenge has never been finding project funding

5:18:26for this because I think we're doing stuff that's unique

5:18:28and really appeals to a lot of government funders

5:18:30and corporate funders.

5:18:31The challenge is finding baseline funding

5:18:34that you can use to build all that stuff on.

5:18:37And that's really the gift that infrastructure Canada gave us.

5:18:42But when that's kind of expanded,

5:18:43it's something that's quite challenging to replace.

5:18:50Okay, thank you.

5:18:52Thank you.

5:18:54I'm gonna go to O'Rourke and then back to Downer for us.

5:18:57Okay, thank you.

5:18:58Thanks, Marta, through you too, staff.

5:19:00I'm just curious, I heard that Waste Management

5:19:04or Waste Resource Innovation Center

5:19:06is going to be tracking some circular initiatives.

5:19:10I heard that economic development at the county

5:19:12is going to be tracking some of that.

5:19:15Can you just give me a flavor

5:19:16of what our own active is going to be doing?

5:19:18I heard that not 10C,

5:19:21Innovation Guelph is going to take a piece in lead.

5:19:23So will our own active also be making those connections

5:19:27for businesses encouraging and tracking those successes?

5:19:34Thank you.

5:19:35So through the mayor to councillor Wark,

5:19:37so our environmental, sorry,

5:19:40our economic development team has been working side by side

5:19:43with our smart cities team.

5:19:45Of course, they are very interested

5:19:46in all types of businesses,

5:19:48but in this case, they have been working

5:19:50with those businesses that are involved

5:19:53in the circular economy and food future.

5:19:55So they have been doing that already in partnership

5:19:59and will continue to do so in the path going forward.

5:20:04That's great, thanks.

5:20:06Thanks and then right back to councillor Downer.

5:20:09Yeah, just one more question to you, Mr. Mayor.

5:20:11So the sustainability master plan that we're doing,

5:20:16would any of this carry into that?

5:20:20The sustainability master plan,

5:20:22is that just a corporate one

5:20:24or is that for the whole community?

5:20:26Or so I'm just sort of trying to sense

5:20:29how this kind of connects or can connect,

5:20:33or will it connect or what does that do?

5:20:36We've been hearing about it, so I don't know.

5:20:42Sorry, through the mayor to councillor Downer,

5:20:44are you referring to the sustainability report

5:20:47that's coming out?

5:20:48You mentioned the master plan.

5:20:51Well, I know there's,

5:20:52I've seen our sustainability master plan referred to

5:20:56in some work, no?

5:20:59I'll have to find it for you, because I saw it recently,

5:21:02I just saw it the other day.

5:21:03I'll have to go back and find it, I'll send it to you.

5:21:06I thought we were doing some sustainability master planning.

5:21:12I know the mitigation one, or is that the one that?

5:21:17Yeah, through the mayor, yes,

5:21:19it's slightly different wording story.

5:21:20It's at the sustainable city master plan,

5:21:24I think you're talking about.

5:21:25So that's the plan that gets worked on

5:21:27after we have completed our climate adaptation plan,

5:21:31that is coming to you in the fall.

5:21:33So will the sustainable city master plan incorporate,

5:21:38is that just a corporate document?

5:21:40Or is it for the whole community?

5:21:42Will it be incorporating,

5:21:44what kind of sustainability cities initiatives

5:21:48will it be looking at, or would it be considering?

5:21:52It hasn't been started yet, Councillor Downer,

5:21:54because we are going to be leveraging

5:21:55what we find in our,

5:21:57what we're gonna be presenting to you

5:21:58as part of our climate adaptation plan,

5:22:01but it will be the community as opposed to corporate.

5:22:09Thank you.

5:22:10Oh, okay, I'm starting to circle twice now.

5:22:13It's okay, go ahead, one more time, there you go.

5:22:15Just one short question,

5:22:17and just as far as next steps go.

5:22:20So we've received this report,

5:22:22I think you've mentioned a few other dates in the future.

5:22:24Is there another, are you going to come

5:22:27to report something else to us,

5:22:28or is the celebration planned, the funding stops,

5:22:32and that's it, goodbye,

5:22:33is there something planned

5:22:37as another opportunity to come and speak to us?

5:22:42Through you, Mr. Mayor, at this point, no.

5:22:45Our plan would be that this would probably be the last

5:22:48in-person update to Council.

5:22:49We will, of course, we're planning this event in October,

5:22:54and we will have a final report

5:22:56in November, December timeframe,

5:22:58which I imagine will be submitted as an information item,

5:23:01but there could be a presentation as well.

5:23:10Or potentially to budget time.

5:23:14Right, anybody can comment.

5:23:18Oh, but not.

5:23:24All right, so I'm looking then for a motion

5:23:26to the two motions there to receive,

5:23:29and the encouragement to Wellington Dufferin

5:23:30and Guelph Public Health.

5:23:32Would someone be willing to move that?

5:23:33Thank you, Councillor Boussadil,

5:23:35seconded by, okay, Councillor Richardson.

5:23:38Thank you, is there anything further on that?

5:23:41Okay, I'll call the vote anyone against those two motions.

5:23:45Okay, so that passes unanimously.

5:23:47Thank you very much, and we're gonna,

5:23:48Councillor Kerron, can you hear me okay

5:23:51and join us on camera there, if you can?

5:24:01Can you hear me okay?

5:24:02My camera's on.

5:24:04I don't see you, but we can hear you fine.

5:24:06If you wanna just start with audio and...

5:24:09Okay, that is a strange button.

5:24:11Let me just try again.

5:24:14Yeah, no problem, wait a second.

5:24:25I don't know if you can see my screen yet, but...

5:24:28No, audio's perfect though.

5:24:31While you just start with audio.

5:24:32Okay, well let's go with audio only then.

5:24:37I'll turn it over to you.

5:24:39Just, I'll just try to find a seconder

5:24:41as quickly as possible,