Call upon on the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to bring forward amendments to the Municipal Elections Act that would remove the requirement for street…

4:38:53The motion to call on the government of Ontario

4:38:56to amend the Municipal Elections Act.

4:38:58Councillor O'Rourke has brought this to our attention.

4:39:01And at this time, as I normally do,

4:39:04I would like to give the floor to the mover.

4:39:09Pardon?

4:39:12OK, sure.

4:39:13So it looks like it's going to be moved by Councillor O'Rourke.

4:39:16I think it's going to be moved by Councillor O'Rourke.

4:39:19But I would love it for it to come up on the screen,

4:39:22if you don't mind.

4:39:28And I'm going to turn the floor over to Councillor O'Rourke.

4:39:34And I just could allow her a few minutes just

4:39:37to give some context to why it's here, why she thinks

4:39:40it's important.

4:39:42And then we can get into any questions if necessary

4:39:44and call the vote.

4:39:45OK, Councillor O'Rourke, over to you.

4:39:47Thank you, Mayor Guthrie.

4:39:48So there is a gap between the privacy protections

4:39:53for people who donate to a municipal campaign

4:39:56and those who donate provincially or federally.

4:39:59And so this motion seeks to provide

4:40:02the same privacy considerations with respect

4:40:05to a donor's home address.

4:40:07So the Municipal Elections Act requires all candidates

4:40:10who filed nomination paperwork with the municipal clerk

4:40:13to file their financial statement.

4:40:15And that statutory form requires candidates

4:40:19to list the name and home address of any donor

4:40:22contributing over $100.

4:40:24The Municipal Elections Act further specifies

4:40:28that these documents are public records

4:40:30and requires the municipal clerk to make that form for available

4:40:34on the website without modification.

4:40:37So whatever we fill out on that form

4:40:40must be available online without any sort of editing.

4:40:45However, Elections Canada and Elections Ontario amend

4:40:50or remove the person's street address.

4:40:56And Elections Canada says under the Privacy Act,

4:40:59the information provided on the website

4:41:01is reduced to include just the city, province, and postal

4:41:04code, so the person's home address is not listed.

4:41:07It can meet all the residency requirements.

4:41:11The clerks can verify all the limitations

4:41:14and the constraints, but the person's home address

4:41:16is not available online.

4:41:18In Ontario, the Election Finances Act

4:41:22prohibits the publication of the addresses of contributors

4:41:25on the internet, but it's still possible to view the full address

4:41:29in person at Elections Ontario.

4:41:32And so there's a disconnect between the publication

4:41:34of a donor's home address at the municipal and school board

4:41:37level and at the federal and provincial levels.

4:41:41So there are reasons why people may then not

4:41:44want to donate to a municipal campaign, which

4:41:47is a really important form of local democracy.

4:41:49It's helpful to pay for the signs and the brochures

4:41:52and all those important things.

4:41:54But people may want to protect their privacy.

4:41:56They may have a concern for their personal safety

4:41:58based on their occupation, so somebody in law enforcement

4:42:01or counseling or any other occupations.

4:42:05And there could also be personal safety in cases

4:42:08where people are estranged.

4:42:09So a friend made a donation, but they're estranged

4:42:11from their partner.

4:42:12They may not want their home address listed there.

4:42:15So we are also seeing all kinds of harassment

4:42:20of elected officials, and it's not

4:42:22a stretch to imagine that it could extend to your supporters.

4:42:26And there is an ever-hardening tone out there in the community.

4:42:31We have all seen the news reports about that.

4:42:34There are currently no tax deductions for donations

4:42:36to municipal and school board candidates.

4:42:38In Ontario, this level of government

4:42:40is the only one where donors are required

4:42:42to have their home address published and searchable

4:42:44on the internet.

4:42:46So the intent of the motion is to strengthen participation

4:42:48in municipal and school board election processes

4:42:51by just removing that potential disincentive.

4:42:54It's to align municipal election privacy protections

4:42:56for donors with those available at the provincial and federal

4:43:00levels.

4:43:01And as is the case for provincial elections,

4:43:04we still maintain the transparency.

4:43:07We still validate the donor's residency requirement

4:43:09and their maximum contribution.

4:43:11And in alignment with elections on Ontario,

4:43:14there can be a process to view the unredacted version,

4:43:17including home address in person at City Hall.

4:43:21So I have consulted with the City Clerk's Office.

4:43:23They believe it's possible to create a process that would not

4:43:26create an undue administrative burden that

4:43:28would allow them to verify all those requirements

4:43:31and still provide the additional transparency upon request.

4:43:36In fact, our Clerk's Office already

4:43:37redacts the home address of people

4:43:39who submit any correspondence to council on any agenda item.

4:43:43So I will skip all of the details around what

4:43:48other municipalities are doing in terms of home security

4:43:51for people who are elected and that type of thing.

4:43:54I will let you know that I have consulted or have reached out

4:43:58to the four school boards.

4:43:59And I know that all of the three have responded.

4:44:02All of them were supportive of the motion.

4:44:04And I appreciate the recommendation

4:44:06that I do that because the school boards are included

4:44:09in our municipal election process.

4:44:12So that is the rationale for the motion.

4:44:15And I appreciate that Councillor Goller has seconded.

4:44:19Questions at Councillor Busuttil then Koran.

4:44:23Thank you very much.

4:44:25And through the mayor, and I did speak to clerks earlier today.

4:44:28My understanding is that this information,

4:44:30personal information on donors would not be published

4:44:33on the website.

4:44:35However, it would be available in the Clerk's Office.

4:44:37And so my question is, if I'm the media or I am an individual who

4:44:42wants access to that information,

4:44:44are there any repercussions or barriers

4:44:48to sharing that publicly, whether it's a developer

4:44:54or whoever, that information?

4:44:57Through you, Mr. Mayor, to Councillor Busuttil.

4:44:58Just to be clear, the change here would require a change

4:45:01to the municipal elections act.

4:45:02So if that change were made, I think

4:45:05there's a number of ways that we could communicate to the public

4:45:08how to access those forms in person at City Hall

4:45:10if they needed to.

4:45:11We don't have a set process for that in place right now.

4:45:13But I think there's a number of ways

4:45:14that we could do it, accessibility and transparently.

4:45:18And the second question is, if I come,

4:45:20if I were to come to City Clerk's Office,

4:45:22my assumption would be that there would be some kind of controls

4:45:25in there that says this is not for you to take photos

4:45:28and circulate on your social media.

4:45:31Or like there has to be still some accountability

4:45:35to the media and to everyone else about where my donors, which

4:45:39I didn't get any donors, come from.

4:45:43Through you, Mr. Mayor, to Councillor Busuttil.

4:45:45Absolutely, I agree in principle.

4:45:47We would be beholden to whatever was updated or amended

4:45:50in the municipal elections act.

4:45:52But if it were up to us, I think what you've described

4:45:54is reasonable.

4:45:55Thank you very much.

4:45:58Thank you, Koran.

4:45:59Please.

4:46:00Yes, thank you.

4:46:01And thank you to Councillor Orwork.

4:46:02I have not thought about this gap in policy

4:46:06until this past election.

4:46:07And as you have mentioned, the heightened political climate

4:46:11that we live in, I think this is both timely

4:46:15for the safety and security of members of those who are elected,

4:46:18but also their supporters.

4:46:21And I really think I'm really proud that Guelph

4:46:24is taking a leadership role and that you've brought this forward.

4:46:27My question is whether or not AMCTO, I guess

4:46:31it's for the clerk's office, has this

4:46:35been talked about in professional associations?

4:46:39We can't be alone in calling for this legislative change.

4:46:45Through you, Mr. Mayor, to Councillor Caron,

4:46:48to the best of my knowledge, this

4:46:50has not come up in any AMCTO municipal election act requests.

4:46:54Of course, I'm not there for all of those discussions.

4:46:57It's not an issue that I've heard raised

4:46:59through the association to date.

4:47:01And that's a surprise.

4:47:02So I'm so glad Guelph is taking leadership role.

4:47:06Thank you.

4:47:06Is there anything further other than I'll just go back

4:47:09to the mover one more time?

4:47:12OK.

4:47:12Did you want to have some closing comments?

4:47:15Well, I would just follow up, Mayor Guthrie,

4:47:17to Mr. McMahon's comment.

4:47:21So when I worked on the original draft of the motion

4:47:25and the backgrounder, the city clerk

4:47:28did confirm that there had been some conversations about this,

4:47:31that there was a lot that needed to be updated

4:47:33in the Municipal Elections Act, and that there

4:47:35had been conversation about this.

4:47:37And while I appreciate the tag of leader,

4:47:40the Waterloo Regional Council passed a similar motion

4:47:43in April of last year.

4:47:45But I think it is something that municipalities

4:47:47need to be talking about.

4:47:51Thank you.

4:47:53Well, with that, we can still give credit

4:47:55to you for the leadership of you bringing it forward.

4:47:57So that's fine.

4:47:58We'll do that.

4:47:59I think it's great, and it makes sense.

4:48:01So it's easy.

4:48:04I'll call the vote then, everybody.

4:48:05Is anyone against?

4:48:07Nobody.

4:48:08Congratulations.

4:48:09It's good to have unanimous vote on that.

4:48:10Perfect.

4:48:12OK.

4:48:13Announcements.

4:48:15Is there any staff announcements first from anybody?

4:48:19No?

4:48:20OK.

4:48:21I only have one announcement.

4:48:22It's probably the most important announcement

4:48:24I've ever made in my life.

4:48:26Council wants to congratulate Councillor Chew

4:48:30on getting married.

4:48:33Is it next week?

4:48:35Turn on your mic.

4:48:36Tell everybody.

4:48:37Oh, well, I didn't know we were making a public announcement.

4:48:41Tell everyone where your GIF registry is.

4:48:43Yeah.

4:48:44Well, I mean, under $100, right?

4:48:50Hey, we just passed a lobbyist registry.

4:48:53300.

4:48:54Yeah, yeah, yeah.

4:48:56Nova, I think just on that note, thank you so much

4:48:58for your friendship and continued support.

4:49:03It's been a blast being on council so far,

4:49:04and I think I'm very encouraged by the tenor of our conversation

4:49:08so far, and I hope we can keep it up.

4:49:12OK.

4:49:12Great.

4:49:13Thank you.

4:49:14Well, we want to wish you all the best, OK?

4:49:17And if you want to have a really great time,

4:49:20go far away and don't come back to council on your Honeymans.

4:49:24I'm sure it'll be great.

4:49:27Dylan, did you have something to say?

4:49:28Are you marrying?

4:49:30No?

4:49:30Through you, Mr. Mayor, this is not about marriage.

4:49:32All right, go ahead.

4:49:33I want to set the record straight on my previous answer

4:49:35because I've pulled up some documentation from AMCTO

4:49:39from earlier this year, and there