Committee of the Whole

10:49All right, good afternoon everyone.

10:50I'd like to call the meeting to order.

10:51It is Tuesday, June the 6th, 2023, just after 1.30 PM.

10:57And right off the top, is there any disclosure,

10:59pecuniary interest, or any general nature thereof

11:02or the closed item that's ahead of us?

11:06Hearing and seeing none, thank you.

11:10And we only have one item for us to consider

11:13to go into closed session.

11:15And the title on the open agenda is,

11:18excuse me, Water Services Updated Operational Plan

11:21Endorsement.

11:23That's under section 2392A of the Municipal Act

11:26relating to the security of the property,

11:28of the municipality, or local board.

11:31Could I look to a member of council

11:33to please move that to have a conversation?

11:36Or RORC and ALT, thank you.

11:39Is there anything on that item before I call the vote?

11:42Hearing and seeing none, is anyone against that?

11:46Again, hearing and seeing none, that's unanimous.

11:49So for the public watching, we are gonna have

11:52a quick conversation in camera or private about that matter.

11:56And as soon as we are done, we will come right back out

11:58and I'll give a high level summary at that time

12:01and continue with our open session agenda.

12:03Thank you.

48:52Okay, thanks everybody for allowing us that time there

48:54for an in camera discussion.

48:57And as is displayed on the agenda,

48:59under the title, Water Services Updated Operational Plan

49:03and Endorsement.

49:05And for my summary on that,

49:07we just had a discussion with staff

49:09in regards to that matter, with some questions and answers.

49:12And there was only a receiving of information back there.

49:16Nothing, no direction given at all.

49:19But with that, we do, as part of the summary,

49:22we're gonna bring out this issue to the open session.

49:26So at this time, I'd look to Council Richardson,

49:29please to consider moving the motion

49:31that's on the open agenda.

49:34Yes, thank you, through you, Mary Guthrie.

49:36I'd like to move the motion that's on screen.

49:38Great, thank you.

49:39And Councillor Downer, you're okay to second that.

49:43Thank you so much.

49:45Before I call the vote, anything further on this item?

49:48Seeing and hearing none,

49:49is anyone against the operational plan for water services?

49:54Okay, seeing and hearing none, that's unanimous.

49:57Thank you so much.

49:57That wraps up the in-camera portion.

50:02So we're gonna head right into the open session now, officially.

50:07We've taken care of that first item,

50:09which was the water operational plan.

50:12And this is always a fun part.

50:13This is the staff recognitions, a lot in attendance here.

50:18And so thank you very much for joining us today

50:20for our committee, the whole,

50:22to hear about these recognitions.

50:24The first one is Masters in Public Administration.

50:30And so I would, I have the honor on this one.

50:34So I'd like to recognize Kimberly Krochek,

50:38Manager Policy and Intergovernmental Relations

50:42for earning her Master of Public Administration designation

50:46from the University of Victoria.

50:49The Master of Public Administration degree

50:51is a tremendous achievement that prepares recipients

50:53to serve in executive level government positions

50:57and gives them exposure and understanding

50:59to diverse and unique public sector issues.

51:03Topics of focus include governance, policy,

51:06management, research, economics, finance,

51:10human resources and communications.

51:13Now, Kim joined the City of Guelph

51:15just in January of last year, 2022.

51:18She began her career here as an advisor,

51:21strategy and performance management

51:23in the strategy, innovation

51:26and Intergovernmental Services Department.

51:29But then in January of 2023,

51:31Kim was promoted to Manager of Policy

51:34and Intergovernmental Relations

51:35where she spearheads our advocacy

51:38and relationship building with other levels of government

51:41while also looking out for a lot of grant opportunities

51:45and partnerships with others.

51:48So please join me in congratulating Kim

51:51for earning her Master's of Public Administration designation.

51:55Congratulations to you and may I say,

51:57it's been absolute pleasure.

51:58You're doing an awesome job in that role,

52:00especially around the advocacy.

52:03You helped me out a lot.

52:04So you should clap even more for her

52:06because she has to work with me.

52:07So thank you, Kim, for all you do.

52:15Got a few more here

52:16and I'm gonna just transfer the mic on

52:18over to Chair O'Rourke, please.

52:22Thank you, Mayor Guthrie.

52:23Wow, this is one of my favorite parts of council.

52:27We get to recognize people today

52:29and you can see the great work

52:30that we're gonna talk about for the next couple of hours.

52:32So I'm just always thrilled to do this.

52:35So on behalf of council,

52:36it's my pleasure to recognize a number of city staff and teams

52:39for their recent designation, certification,

52:41and award achievements.

52:43I'd like to start by recognizing

52:45the Food Material Flow Study,

52:47which is Canada's first regional analysis

52:49that quantifies the flow of food

52:52through the Guelph Wellington Food System

52:53from production to end of life management.

52:56This study was awarded

52:57the Federation of Canadian Municipalities 2022

53:00Sustainable Communities Award in the Waste Category.

53:05Congratulations to city staff members, Vivian DiGiovanni,

53:08Heather Connell, David Messer,

53:10as well as Betsy Vargas of Dillon Consulting,

53:14Tamara Strieflin of Metabolic NL,

53:17and Dr. Mike Von Masso of the University of Guelph.

53:19Karen Chisholm from Wellington County,

53:21along with collaborators at Innovation Guelph

53:24and the Provision Coalition.

53:26It's terrific.

53:28Next, we are congratulating Kyle Gibson, Jackie Kay,

53:31and the project team that includes Nicholas Gatto,

53:33Adam Wilczek, Adam Geldhart, and Phil McIntyre

53:37on the Howett Creek Sanitary Sewer Encacement

53:40and Erosion Protection Project.

53:43This work received the Ontario Public Works Association's

53:46Project of the Year Award in the Disaster,

53:49Emergency Construction, or Repair Category,

53:52less than $2 million division.

53:55The award was presented during National Public Works Week

53:57in May.

53:58If you didn't read up about it, do it.

54:00It's really interesting.

54:02Congratulations, Kyle, Jackie, Nicholas, Adam, Adam,

54:06and Phil on your award-winning Emergency Repair Work.

54:10We appreciate it.

54:12Next, I would like to recognize

54:13Kevin Nelson's achievement of his P&N designation.

54:17In Canada, the Professional Engineer designation

54:19represents the highest standards of engineering knowledge

54:22experience and professionalism in the country.

54:25Professional engineers Ontario, the licensing

54:27and regulating body for professional engineering

54:29in the province requires four sequential stages

54:33for the P&N application process.

54:36These include meeting the academic requirement,

54:38passing the national professional practice exam,

54:41satisfying the experience requirement,

54:43and then the license review and approval.

54:46Individuals may only call themselves a professional engineer

54:49or a P&N if they possess a P&N license

54:53from the Canadian province or territory in which they reside.

54:57Congratulations, Kevin, on this career milestone.

55:01I'm gonna have a nice light summer now, I think.

55:04Up next, someone who is also going to enjoy

55:06a little bit of a more personal time.

55:08We are recognizing Matthew Walden for achieving both

55:12his maintenance management, professional certification,

55:15and his certified technician known as C-Tech designation.

55:19The Plant Engineering and Maintenance Association

55:21of Canada's Maintenance Management Professional Certification

55:24Program focuses on the tools, techniques, strategies,

55:28and skills necessary for effective management

55:31of a business's existing physical assets.

55:34The Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians

55:37and Technologists is a non-profit,

55:40self-governing professional association

55:42that is an independent certifying body for engineering

55:45and applied science technicians and technologists.

55:48The C-Tech designation is recognized across Canada

55:51by employers and other engineering professionals.

55:54Matthew, congratulations on all of your hard work

55:57achieving this designation and certification, both of them.

56:01Congratulations are also in order

56:03for Wastewater Operations team members.

56:06Andre Charlebois, Leah Kane, Michael Whitwell,

56:10Peter Baturka, led by coach, Sumant Patel, on winning

56:15the Royal Sludge Pump Maintenance Operation Challenge

56:19at the 2023 Water Environment Association

56:22of Ontario Conference.

56:23This team was tested on its diverse skills of operations

56:27and maintenance of wastewater treatment

56:29and was victorious against several other highly competitive

56:32teams from across Ontario.

56:35Thank you so much for representing Guelph so well

56:37in this competition, Andre, Leah, Michael, Peter, and Sumant.

56:43Lastly, what a great group of people here, fantastic.

56:48We are recognizing also the staff leading Guelph

56:50Single Use Items Reduction Strategy,

56:53which received the Municipal Waste Association's

56:552023 Gold Promotion and Education Award.

56:59This award celebrates the creativity and ingenuity

57:02of promotion and education efforts that inform, educate,

57:06and motivate residents to take waste reduction action.

57:10Congratulations, Nicole Davidson, Heather Connell,

57:14Kelly Guthrie, Allison Graf, and Shelley Reid

57:17on this well-deserved award.

57:19Now it can clap.

57:29So we will do photos in order of the presentation,

57:34starting with Mayor Guthrie, and we'd like the DCAO

57:37and our CAO to join us as well.

57:44And we'll do it in front of the Guelph backdrop, okay?

1:05:23Okay, well, that was great.

1:05:24Thank you so much, everyone, and again, to our staff.

1:05:27We really appreciate it, all the work that you do,

1:05:30and all that you do just translates right to the frontlines

1:05:35to the people that we serve

1:05:36and to the colleagues we work with.

1:05:38So thank you again for all that you do.

1:05:41Moving right along, we're gonna enter

1:05:43the governance section of the agenda.

1:05:46Now, just a little bit of a preamble here.

1:05:49The second item was about the community engagement framework,

1:05:53and there was originally going to be a presentation

1:05:55that maybe many thought was gonna happen.

1:05:57That's not happening, because we had the workshop.

1:06:00We had the dedicated workshop on that,

1:06:02and so there's nothing new at this time

1:06:05to have a discussion on, unless you have questions,

1:06:09if you would like to do that.

1:06:11So that's why both are on consent,

1:06:14because we had the dedicated workshop,

1:06:15which was a really, in a way, a massive presentation.

1:06:18So there's the Ontario Health Multisectoral Accountability

1:06:22Agreement, the Declaration of Compliance,

1:06:25and then the components

1:06:26of the new community engagement framework.

1:06:28Does anyone wanna pull either of those?

1:06:33Yeah, yes, you do.

1:06:35Sorry, the community engagement framework, please.

1:06:37Okay, would you be,

1:06:39it looks like everyone is okay with the first one, though.

1:06:42So would you be willing to move that

1:06:44accounts servers until for consent?

1:06:46And counter-gullery, okay, for seconding the first one?

1:06:49Yeah, okay.

1:06:51Anything on that matter?

1:06:53No, I'll call the vote.

1:06:54Anyone against that?

1:06:57Hearing and seeing none, that's unanimous, thank you.

1:06:59So we're gonna have to hold back

1:07:02the community engagement framework issue until later.

1:07:06May I just ask members of council who wanted that pulled?

1:07:09Is it in regards to questions or only comments

1:07:13before the vote?

1:07:14I had questions to work.

1:07:15Questions?

1:07:16Questions, okay, good.

1:07:17Just wanted to make sure,

1:07:18just so I'm respecting staff's time too.

1:07:22We're gonna continue then,

1:07:23and we're going into a presentation that we have for

1:07:31our governance, yeah, are you ready?

1:07:33Sales, are you ready?

1:07:35Yeah, okay, perfect.

1:07:37Okay, so we have the 2022 Guelph Future Ready

1:07:42progress report, and we do have a presentation on this.

1:07:48And there's several of our staff,

1:07:50I'm sure they'll kind of introduce themselves

1:07:51as they keep going,

1:07:53but it is gonna start off with our CAO Scott Stewart.

1:07:57And then after that, we will be moving into another

1:08:00presentation from the county of Wellington,

1:08:02social services, and see you here.

1:08:04So thank you very much for being here.

1:08:06But right now, we'll go to the Future Ready

1:08:10progress report.

1:08:11All right, you Scott.

1:08:11Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor and members of council.

1:08:14Today I'm joined obviously by members of the executive team

1:08:17to present to council and the community

1:08:20the Guelph Future Ready 2022 progress report.

1:08:24Throughout the presentation,

1:08:25members of the executive team will walk you through

1:08:27this report displayed online,

1:08:30so that you can see what's on track

1:08:32and where we need to refocus and address any gaps

1:08:34as we work towards our goals in Guelph,

1:08:36our Future Ready strategic plan,

1:08:38which is, as you know, well underway.

1:08:42We would certainly like to keep the discussion today

1:08:43at the strategic plan level with you

1:08:46as our board of governors.

1:08:47You'll remember that our current strategic plan

1:08:49includes our priorities from 2019 until the end of 2023.

1:08:54And you're also aware we're all already looking ahead

1:08:58as to the work towards a refreshed 24 to 20 27

1:09:01strategic plan and a new multi-year budget,

1:09:04which will guide us through the next four years.

1:09:07This year's progress report will be the second

1:09:10last report for the Future Ready plan

1:09:11with the next year being the transition year

1:09:14as we close off a previous strategic plan,

1:09:15KPI's and begin that new conversation

1:09:18with council about the KPIs

1:09:20and outcomes for the 24 to 27 strategic plan.

1:09:24You will have noticed a few changes

1:09:26since the last year's report.

1:09:28Now that we have three years of data,

1:09:29we can show trends and compare 22 to 21 and 2020.

1:09:34Insights gained from looking at these trends

1:09:36can drive action and improvements

1:09:37on key performance indicators

1:09:39and strategic initiatives throughout 2023.

1:09:43We have embedded power, the BI tables into the website

1:09:47and these visual tables allow us to better visualize

1:09:51the data and highlight performance.

1:09:53It also sets us up well for the future

1:09:55reporting by creating links to the data services

1:09:58or data sources rather,

1:10:00which will provide more useful insights

1:10:02into the city's performance

1:10:04as we continue to mature in our data journey.

1:10:07We will use the opportunity today

1:10:09to walk you through the report website,

1:10:11highlight successes and of course areas for improvement.

1:10:15It is because of this progressive and flexible approach

1:10:18that the city of Guam has been recognized as a leader

1:10:20in the public sector for developing performance

1:10:23and data driven culture.

1:10:25Performance report is our way to report back to council

1:10:28and of course the community on the status of KPIs

1:10:30and the strategic initiatives and their outcomes.

1:10:34We've identified these matters

1:10:37during the creation of the strategic plan.

1:10:39So that's a link for you as we create it,

1:10:41how do we report back and this is that future look.

1:10:44So think about that in terms of the work

1:10:46that you're also doing for the 24 27.

1:10:49You've got lots of questions,

1:10:50but this is where some of the questions come home.

1:10:53What are the KPIs?

1:10:54What does the budget actually look like?

1:10:56You get to see some of these pieces

1:10:58and of course it increases accountability

1:11:00and trust in local government.

1:11:02And that's an important result of the work

1:11:03when we can be in front of you like this

1:11:05and by default we're in front of the community like this

1:11:08expressing these things.

1:11:10And I think folks will see good news

1:11:12in both the areas that are working well

1:11:14and perhaps they'll see I think good news

1:11:16in some of the areas we're noting areas of improvement.

1:11:21This report is an update for the year 2022,

1:11:23but you'll notice we haven't called this an annual report.

1:11:26As we continue to build and strengthen

1:11:28our performance culture,

1:11:30we will improve our data collection and report in process

1:11:33as we move towards the goal of real time performance measures.

1:11:36And you will see us integrate this work into the items

1:11:39we bring forward for consideration.

1:11:42So now for what this report isn't,

1:11:44it's not a catch all report

1:11:45that only shows green lights and positive stories.

1:11:49There's lots of that in there,

1:11:50but it's also a report that's balanced.

1:11:53It shows what's going well

1:11:54in the areas where we need to improve.

1:11:56We recognize the balanced reporting is critical

1:11:59as we move towards being more performance driven

1:12:01and data informed in our decision making.

1:12:04And when I say our, I mean staff

1:12:05and of course our Board of Governors, you folks as well.

1:12:10This is also not a report that highlights

1:12:12every single department in the city.

1:12:14Many important areas are not currently reflected

1:12:16in these KPIs or initiatives.

1:12:18And one of the key takeaways of the 2022 progress report

1:12:22exercises the number of indicators

1:12:24that are not being reported

1:12:25because the data is not available.

1:12:27And so that's okay until it's not.

1:12:29So that's part of we're working through these things.

1:12:32So will the data be available

1:12:33and what do we have to do to make it available?

1:12:35And that's those areas of gray sometimes

1:12:38where we want to improve.

1:12:39We're just not quite there yet.

1:12:41And there's nothing wrong with that because

1:12:43and don't shoot any of the messengers as well

1:12:46or we'll never get up here and say things.

1:12:47And that's the value we want to be able to come

1:12:49and participate and share.

1:12:50It's not quite working when there's lots working of course.

1:12:54And the data provided by external sources

1:12:57which may not regularly report.

1:12:59So that's also a piece

1:13:01that we have to bring in some outside data.

1:13:03We're not the masters of that.

1:13:04We don't control it.

1:13:05And of course the timing of the data release

1:13:07doesn't always coincide with the timing of our report.

1:13:12And so while this may seem, you know,

1:13:14it's a little bit negative,

1:13:15but again, I just want to keep coming back to it.

1:13:17It's not, it feels it, but it's not.

1:13:19It's okay to talk about these,

1:13:21that things that come for others

1:13:22or we're not quite ready for prime time yet

1:13:25because that's how we get ready for prime time.

1:13:27It is also something that only becomes apparent

1:13:29through the experience of trying to capture the data

1:13:32and report it over a number of years.

1:13:34And I think we're starting to see the benefits now.

1:13:36I mentioned the three year trends.

1:13:38We're now starting to reflect some of these results.

1:13:41You know, sometimes you can ask us

1:13:43and the good answer is, well, it's one year's worth of data.

1:13:45We're now starting to get into good trends for some areas.

1:13:48So you start to see some come into the light here.

1:13:51Some have been there for a while.

1:13:53And these lessons are important on the journey

1:13:55for all of us.

1:13:56It forms the development and selection

1:13:58of improved KPIs for the refreshed strategic plan.

1:14:02So with that in mind,

1:14:03I'll hand this over to members of our executive team

1:14:06who'll walk us through some of the highlights

1:14:07and our strategic priority areas starting with Jane Holmes

1:14:11our deputy CEO of infrastructure development and enterprise.

1:14:14Jane.

1:14:24So good afternoon, council.

1:14:25So today we'll start our tour on the homepage

1:14:28where there's a brief message from our CAO and a video

1:14:31showing staff from across the organization.

1:14:34Each strategic priority we present

1:14:36is organized in the same way

1:14:38with KPIs, strategic initiatives,

1:14:40a collection of highlights that further tells the story

1:14:43of our collective accomplishments

1:14:45and the budgets that support them.

1:14:47With that said, let's dive into our first strategic priority,

1:14:51powering our future.

1:14:54This priority is meant to position wealth

1:14:56as an economy that empowers us.

1:15:00These KPIs provide an overview of the progress

1:15:03we saw in 2022.

1:15:05We can see here that both metrics under this pillar are green.

1:15:09To navigate to the details,

1:15:10we will click on the first KPI

1:15:12and then click on the arrow in the text box

1:15:14above take us to the KPI details.

1:15:19In this example,

1:15:21the number of circular businesses and collaborations

1:15:23undertaken in 2021 trended upwards,

1:15:26increasing from 164 in 2021 to 243 in 2022.

1:15:33The 2020 data is also shown to indicate the trend

1:15:36in this measure.

1:15:40The notes on the right explain more details

1:15:42on the source or drivers of this measure.

1:15:45And if the indicators are red,

1:15:46they also include a plan to return the indicator to green.

1:15:50As Scott has mentioned, highlighting areas

1:15:52where challenges exist is critical to being able to plan

1:15:55and address these factors in the future.

1:16:00Based on each strategic priority has different

1:16:04strategic initiatives that are assessed based

1:16:06on the progress of their scope, schedule and budget.

1:16:11In 2022, this indicator became yellow

1:16:13for the budget component of this plan.

1:16:16Wherever a strategic initiative is reporting

1:16:18either yellow or red, they include a return to green plan.

1:16:21The return to green plan for this initiative

1:16:24is to focus on the grow growth partnerships first

1:16:27and then focus on workforce.

1:16:29The interpretation of these colors is shown in the legend

1:16:32at the top with the button, what do these colors mean?

1:16:37Now I will pass this off to Trevor Lee,

1:16:39our deputy CAO of corporate services

1:16:41to take us through the next few strategic priority areas.

1:16:48Thank you, Jane.

1:16:50Today I'll walk us through a few of the strategic priority

1:16:52areas starting with sustaining our future.

1:16:55As council knows, sustaining our future involves caring

1:16:58for the local environment, responding to climate change

1:17:01and preparing well for net zero carbon future.

1:17:07Unfortunately, as you can see here,

1:17:08there's no data available for the KPI

1:17:10at the time of publishing.

1:17:11As we mentioned previously, and as Scott referenced,

1:17:14the lack of data availability for some of our KPIs

1:17:17is an area of concern and a key lesson

1:17:19from the progress reporting exercise.

1:17:22However, in this case, there is also a strategic initiative

1:17:26that relates to the climate adaptation plan,

1:17:28which will drive this KPI into the future.

1:17:35In 2022, we saw progress on that, develop and implement

1:17:39the climate adaptation plan initiative.

1:17:42Stage one and stage two have been completed

1:17:44and we're nearing completion on phase three.

1:17:46The schedule and budget continues to track well

1:17:49compared to what was reported in 2020.

1:17:51The next phase will address climate risk

1:17:54undertaking specific actions to address these risks.

1:17:57This will be measured through the previous KPI.

1:18:01These projects are vital to ensuring wealth can adapt

1:18:03to our changing environment.

1:18:07We're working together for our future strategic priority area,

1:18:10positions wealth as a modern government that works with us.

1:18:13We'll be looking at the city's credit rating now.

1:18:20The city's credit rating increased in 2022,

1:18:23moving from a double A plus rating to a triple A rating,

1:18:27which is the highest rating available.

1:18:29This is an important success to highlight,

1:18:32given the uncertainty and fluctuations we've all experienced

1:18:34over the past two to three years of economic uncertainty.

1:18:41Now I'll hand it over to Colleen Clark Bush,

1:18:43the deputy CEO of public services.

1:18:45Thank you.

1:18:49Thank you, Mr. Lee and good afternoon, everyone.

1:18:51And so I'm excited to be walking us through the final

1:18:54two priority areas of our strategic plan.

1:18:57First, our navigating our future pillar focuses

1:19:00on building a transportation network that connects us.

1:19:04This metric highlights the green shift of the city's fleet

1:19:07to clean and efficient technology.

1:19:10In 2022, the city more than doubled our percent of our fleet

1:19:14with the purchase of 12 fully electric cars,

1:19:17eight hybrid SUVs and four electric buses.

1:19:24The building our future strategic priority area

1:19:26highlights how we make strategic investments

1:19:28that nurture social well-being,

1:19:30provide landmark beauty and offer a safe place

1:19:32where everyone belongs.

1:19:35As you can see, there are a large number of indicators here

1:19:38that are showing red.

1:19:40And this is in large part because there was an increase

1:19:42in response times for all of our emergency services

1:19:45compared to 2021.

1:19:47These changes are related to higher call volumes,

1:19:50fewer ambulances available when emergencies occur

1:19:53due to the increased offload delays at hospital

1:19:55that we spoke about last week,

1:19:57as has been the case in many nearby municipalities.

1:20:01But it is important to keep these contextual factors in mind

1:20:03when analyzing the results.

1:20:05But measuring and reporting these metrics,

1:20:07even when they don't meet the target,

1:20:09demonstrates the city's commitment to transparency.

1:20:14As council is aware, the South End Community Center

1:20:17experienced a number of challenges in 2022.

1:20:20This included the tender closing well above budget

1:20:23and supply chain issues which contributed to delays

1:20:26in the production, in the project timeline.

1:20:28However, the city made the change

1:20:31to our construction management methodology

1:20:33and a final recommendation on a path forward

1:20:36was approved by council in 2023.

1:20:38A very, very happy day.

1:20:40I'm just smiling this direction,

1:20:41but of course for everyone.

1:20:43We anticipate these indicators will return to green

1:20:46after these changes take effect.

1:20:48And this flexibility in our approach positions Guelph

1:20:50to be future ready as the city continues to grow.

1:20:54As we grow and modernize our organization,

1:20:56we'll look to increase reporting intervals

1:20:58so that we can more regularly share what's going well

1:21:01and where we need to adjust to become even more future ready.

1:21:05We hope that council and the public will take some time

1:21:08to review the information and stories

1:21:09presented in the council report and on this website,

1:21:13which are all now publicly available.

1:21:15And with that, I'll hand it back over to CAO Stuart

1:21:18for some concluding remarks.

1:21:23So thank you very much, DCO Clackbush.

1:21:26So council, I'd like to mention again,

1:21:28this is not a one-off exercise,

1:21:30but it's an ongoing program that's grown,

1:21:32it's developed over the years

1:21:34and the foundation will be built upon.

1:21:36So that as we enter our next strategic plan,

1:21:39we can certainly see where we can apply the lessons,

1:21:42learn to select measures.

1:21:44It's good that we can smile about things like south end,

1:21:46the colors that come up, but we're still happy about it.

1:21:49As we recognize that there's good answers to

1:21:52why is it not green?

1:21:54But I think that's also part of the questions

1:21:56or answers to part of the questions

1:21:58that you've had with me over the last little while.

1:22:00How do we raise our flags up or flag pull a little bit more?

1:22:03And this is a good way to communicate some things.

1:22:05It's not the only way,

1:22:06but I want to sort of make that suggestion as well.

1:22:09This is also part of the outreach to the community

1:22:13on the things that we're working on,

1:22:16what's the status of those things?

1:22:18It doesn't link everything together,

1:22:20but we can certainly begin the exercise of

1:22:23this is where we keep our foundational data.

1:22:25And that's an important piece so that we can speak to

1:22:28where are we on, whatever it might be of that

1:22:31to have interest for you, your constituents,

1:22:33or any of the groups that come to your office.

1:22:37But before we turn it over for questions and comments,

1:22:39I'd like to note that this was a team effort

1:22:41from the beginning, all the way to here we are today.

1:22:44It started with leadership from this council.

1:22:46So moving to more transparent performance,

1:22:48report and tie to our strategic plan.

1:22:50And I mean that, that's one of those,

1:22:52often hear me say, this isn't about polishing your Apple.

1:22:55This is what happens.

1:22:57This is leadership that happens in the council arena.

1:23:00Your direction to us is important

1:23:02because then we go and do,

1:23:03and then we bring back here on,

1:23:05well, this is what we think that implementation looks like.

1:23:08So that's an important piece.

1:23:09And then the data presented in the report

1:23:12was gathered by a large cross section of staff

1:23:14with leadership, of course, from CMT and ET

1:23:17that's specifically here in front of us today.

1:23:20But without the engagement and commitment

1:23:21to building a data-driven culture, this isn't possible.

1:23:25So that is a brilliant step.

1:23:27And with that, I'd like to recognize

1:23:29the strategy innovation and intergovernmental team here

1:23:32led by Jody Sales, you, where's Kim?

1:23:34Well, Kim is back there.

1:23:36We're not gonna make him hop back down here again.

1:23:39And of course, Daniel and Colm.

1:23:41That's the group that have brought this to life.

1:23:43So with that, I'd really like to say,

1:23:46I'm excited because we've got the digital version now

1:23:49that's come to life in such a user-friendly way.

1:23:51And we owe a big thanks to Deepak, Shuland, Kim, Lauren,

1:23:54and IT for all their efforts as well.

1:23:57So that cross-functional gathering is important

1:23:59because it eliminates silos.

1:24:01And what you're seeing is an elimination of silos today.

1:24:04So with that, Mr. Mayor,

1:24:05we'll hand it back to Council for any comments

1:24:07or questions you might have for the teams.

1:24:12Great, thank you very much.

1:24:14Really appreciate the quick walkthrough on that.

1:24:16And is there any questions?

1:24:17I'm gonna go to Councillor O'Rourke first

1:24:19and then go over second.

1:24:20Thank you.

1:24:22Thank you, Mayor Guthrie.

1:24:23First, the level of transparency here is so much better

1:24:27than it was four years ago.

1:24:29And the solidity of the KPIs is so much better.

1:24:33So I appreciate that from a governance perspective.

1:24:36And it's gonna help us in budgeting to identify,

1:24:38oh, we've got slippage here,

1:24:40or we really need to increase here

1:24:42and what's that gonna take?

1:24:43So I really appreciate all of this work.

1:24:46It's terrific.

1:24:47There are a few places where it talks about,

1:24:51I'm thinking of transportation tomorrow survey

1:24:54or things like sense of belonging.

1:24:58And those can be provided either by provincial

1:25:01or federal governments at big statistical organizations

1:25:04that do that.

1:25:05And I'm seeing suggestions that maybe this city

1:25:07should be measuring some of those things.

1:25:09So just a general question about the metrics.

1:25:14How do we validate research methods

1:25:16if we're going to do it ourselves

1:25:18to make sure that they're robust?

1:25:20And how do we decide when it's best to wait

1:25:22for a national statistical agency

1:25:25to provide that information?

1:25:30Through you, Mr. Mayor, to Councillor O'Rourke.

1:25:34Your first question,

1:25:36how do we validate the research methods?

1:25:37So every data point is unique.

1:25:39As you can see, they come from different sources

1:25:41throughout the organization.

1:25:43And each data point will have

1:25:44its own validation methodology.

1:25:45As part of our continued growth

1:25:47in this performance culture journey,

1:25:49we'll be asking all data providers to assist us

1:25:51in developing what we are calling a KPI information sheet.

1:25:55Within that sheet, we'll provide additional metadata

1:25:57about each KPI.

1:25:58This includes the calculation methodology,

1:26:01where the data comes from, is it internal, external?

1:26:04How often does it get reported, et cetera, et cetera.

1:26:06This will help us understand the validity internally

1:26:09as well as externally for each piece of data being presented.

1:26:12And our plan is for this to be included

1:26:14on the Progress Report website for data nerds like me.

1:26:18So you can actually go in and see all of these pieces

1:26:20of information for each KPI.

1:26:22And we'll wanna do that

1:26:23for the 24 to 27 plan as well.

1:26:26Right, thank you.

1:26:27So to answer your second question,

1:26:28is the rationale of when to use national

1:26:31or provincial statistical agency data?

1:26:34It really depends on the project.

1:26:35I know that's not the best answer,

1:26:37but it depends on the speed of implementation

1:26:40for a particular project.

1:26:41We have master plans that are 15 years.

1:26:42We have some projects that need to be done in six months.

1:26:45So what's the desired usage for the data?

1:26:48Do we require point in time data

1:26:50so that we can know where we are currently

1:26:52or do we need ongoing measurement of data?

1:26:53So those are all questions that we ask ourselves

1:26:56when we decide whether or not we want to report data

1:26:58or use data for our projects.

1:27:02That's terrific, thanks very much.

1:27:05Councillor Cole, we're next.

1:27:06Thank you.

1:27:07Thank you, through your worship.

1:27:09I really appreciate this report.

1:27:10I love being able to see what we're doing,

1:27:14where we're meeting our targets or not.

1:27:16And as I look at this, I do have one question

1:27:20about those targets.

1:27:24Where can I find those targets?

1:27:25So when I look at the report that was included in the agenda,

1:27:29I see met target did not meet target.

1:27:32So for example, our credit rating,

1:27:33we went from AA plus to AAA met the target.

1:27:38What was the actual target?

1:27:40Was it that we're going to increase every year?

1:27:43So if next year we maintain it, we're not meeting or that,

1:27:47or when I look at police services, for example,

1:27:49there was a response time,

1:27:51we did not meet the target at six minutes and 10 seconds.

1:27:53Well, what was that target?

1:27:55And were we short by eight seconds or two minutes?

1:28:01So is that information available

1:28:03somewhere that I can find?

1:28:05Sure, so through the mayor to Councillor Goller,

1:28:08if clerks can help us share our screen again,

1:28:10I think Daniel Beamsing will walk you through

1:28:13where to find the data.

1:28:24All right, through you, Mr. Mayor to Councillor Goller,

1:28:27you can see here we have the list of KPIs.

1:28:29I'll click on the one that you mentioned specifically,

1:28:33so we can go in there.

1:28:34With each KPI, you'll see a little section here

1:28:37called target green, target red.

1:28:39So as we went through this journey at the beginning,

1:28:44it was interesting to try to get people to nail down numbers.

1:28:48So we decided to make it very easy for everyone.

1:28:50Do you wanna maintain increase or decrease?

1:28:53And so those are the targets.

1:28:54And so you'll see here reflected in the police one,

1:28:57if I can zoom in a bit here, there we go.

1:29:01So for this one to remain green,

1:29:04you'd have to either decrease the response time

1:29:06or maintain the response time.

1:29:08For it to turn red, you'd have to increase from 2021.

1:29:11And it's the same pattern throughout

1:29:13all the rest of the KPIs.

1:29:14You'll see what is the target or remaining green,

1:29:18what is the target for turning red or yellow?

1:29:21Okay, so in this case, the first bar being the base year,

1:29:25this would be 6.3, in 2020, what is that next one?

1:29:2921, it was met because it went down a little bit,

1:29:32so that should be green.

1:29:33And then the next one, we didn't meet it,

1:29:35so that would become red by just by that second.

1:29:37Correct.

1:29:38Okay, no, thank you for that.

1:29:40And so that I understand this,

1:29:42that each service area sets their own target,

1:29:45or how does that, because we are asking,

1:29:48one of the questions is for us to direct

1:29:51police services library,

1:29:53all of these different organizations to report,

1:29:56are they setting their own targets or how does that?

1:30:01Again, through you, Mr. Mayor, to Councillor Goller.

1:30:03So we've given the responsibility of setting targets

1:30:06to the staff that are most closely connected to the work,

1:30:09but the targets still need to be approved by GMs

1:30:11and the regulatory body.

1:30:13If we find that we have to adjust the targets

1:30:15after the baseline year and a couple of years of reporting,

1:30:17then we'll do so with the proper rationale and documentation

1:30:21for the strategic plan indicators specifically,

1:30:24we would share those changes with council

1:30:26through an information report,

1:30:27or as part of our annual reporting every June.

1:30:31Specifically for the other local boards

1:30:33and shared services, because they're a separate structure,

1:30:35they have their own leadership, their own strap plan,

1:30:37we can give them consultation advice,

1:30:40but it's up to them whether or not they choose to use it.

1:30:43So effectively they set their targets

1:30:45and then the report is perfect.

1:30:46Okay, I really appreciate that.

1:30:49And I had a request, as I look at some of these,

1:30:52I was just looking at the website,

1:30:55the information talks about, for example,

1:30:57that the previous year or this report to council,

1:31:00is it possible to provide links in there?

1:31:03For example, when I would look at housing,

1:31:04it was read because we did not meet our target

1:31:08for affordable home ownership.

1:31:10And it said there was a report given to council

1:31:12May 25th this year, or March 25th.

1:31:15Is it possible to have links so that it's easy to refer

1:31:19to that information?

1:31:21Or does that not allow in this platform?

1:31:25Through you, Mr. Mayor, to councillor Goller,

1:31:26it's difficult through Power BI

1:31:28because it's pulling from a data excel sheet.

1:31:31I don't need to get into the technical details,

1:31:32but links are a little difficult,

1:31:34but what we can do is, if I'm still sharing my screen,

1:31:40which I think I am,

1:31:41if we go back into, let's pick any one of these,

1:31:47and scroll down to the bottom,

1:31:48you'll see we have sections called highlights.

1:31:51So what we can do is add links here.

1:31:53And if that's your direction,

1:31:55if council's direction today, we can do that.

1:31:58I would appreciate it so that when I send this information

1:32:00to my constituents, I can also say,

1:32:02this is where you find the links rather than,

1:32:06then you have to search through it on the CD website.

1:32:09I would appreciate that.

1:32:10And just to be clear, did you need us to move a motion

1:32:13and give you direction for that?

1:32:15Okay, okay, thank you.

1:32:17Thank you, Your Worship.

1:32:19Just before I go to council,

1:32:20all of you don't mind just let me jump in on that comment.

1:32:24Daniel, I appreciate you jumping to this other page

1:32:26and then saying, oh, maybe we could do it here personally.

1:32:31It'd be great if you took it back.

1:32:33So I don't want to get into the weeds and trying to do it,

1:32:35but so that our constituents and us

1:32:38do not have to jump to a different page

1:32:40to try to find links.

1:32:42If it could be all in one,

1:32:46it would just make it so much easier.

1:32:48Part of the issues I often hear about our website

1:32:50is it's difficult to navigate and jump all over the place.

1:32:54So having that jump all over the place

1:32:57might be difficult for even this guy.

1:32:59So if you could try to take it away as an option,

1:33:02I'd appreciate that.

1:33:04Councillor Allt and Councillor Kloss.

1:33:06Thank you very much, Mayor Guthrie.

1:33:08My question is possibly an awkward one

1:33:11because I'm not certain there's a simple answer,

1:33:13but targets being in red, green, and yellow

1:33:17imply to me that there are financial considerations

1:33:21from certain targets being possibly red or yellow

1:33:25or even green.

1:33:26I was wondering if somebody could comment on the connection

1:33:30between city finances and targets.

1:33:38Through you, Mr. Mayor, to Councillor Allt.

1:33:41I would caution that there's not a direct linkage

1:33:43between financial considerations

1:33:46and the measures of red or amber.

1:33:49It's, in some cases, I'll be blunt,

1:33:52you cannot throw enough money to something

1:33:54to make it go green.

1:33:56It's a function of the challenges

1:33:57that exist outside of financial.

1:34:00Thank you.

1:34:04However, like one example where the future

1:34:08transportation options was not funded by us in the budget,

1:34:12that could be a direct correlation why it's red

1:34:15because we didn't fund it.

1:34:16Yeah, so there's some in there

1:34:18that jumped out at me on that.

1:34:21Councillor Kloss.

1:34:23Yes, through you, Mayor Gustaf.

1:34:25I have a couple of clarification questions

1:34:27because it's my first time.

1:34:28Also, I love this.

1:34:29I think it's really insightful

1:34:31and I'm really happy to see this format.

1:34:35I have a question with regards to the annual reporting.

1:34:38So we receive annual reporting every year in June,

1:34:40but how often do staff go through

1:34:43and check in with these targets?

1:34:49Through you, Mr. Mayor, to Councillor Kloss.

1:34:53So we try to do a review every year with our staff.

1:34:58It's been an interesting journey

1:34:59because as we first implemented the performance culture work

1:35:02and KPIs was the first part of it,

1:35:04people would pick things that were visible to them.

1:35:07This is the work I'm doing, so this represents my work.

1:35:10But later, as you think about what is the outcome

1:35:12I'm trying to achieve for the people of Guelph,

1:35:14the people who live, work, and play here?

1:35:16There's always someone at the end of everything we do.

1:35:19Looking and shifting towards looking at the outcome

1:35:21and trying to measure outcomes,

1:35:22that's where we've seen the real growth in our organization.

1:35:26So once a year, we try to review

1:35:30and we try to challenge everyone to say,

1:35:33is this truly measuring the outcome

1:35:34you're trying to achieve for Guelph,

1:35:36or is this just measuring work that you're doing right now?

1:35:41So that's how we try to move this work forward.

1:35:45But once a year, and hopefully now that column's here,

1:35:48we can do it a little more frequently.

1:35:51Great, thank you.

1:35:53Quarterly, maybe.

1:35:57My second clarification just for clarity.

1:36:01I'm curious about these targets, so there's a lot in here

1:36:03and we're talking about shifting from

1:36:06this previous strategic plan to the new one.

1:36:09Well, most of these targets carry over

1:36:11into the new strat plan.

1:36:13Are they easily translated,

1:36:15or are there gonna be things that will drop off?

1:36:17And how will we know about those things?

1:36:23Through the mayor to Councillor Kloss in.

1:36:25I think some of that work is happening right now

1:36:27and has happened sort of through the development

1:36:29of the new strategic plan with all of you.

1:36:30We've heard some of the things you'd like to see us measure.

1:36:33Now is a matter of us actually checking the data

1:36:35to say, do we have clean data?

1:36:37Do we have available data so that we report it

1:36:40more than once during your term of council?

1:36:42And that work will take place over the summer really

1:36:45as it relates to the new strategic plan.

1:36:47Some of these KPIs will absolutely carry forward

1:36:50because they're meaningful and they're insightful

1:36:53and they're useful.

1:36:55Those that maybe need some improvement

1:36:57or that we haven't been able to report on

1:36:58as much as we'd like,

1:37:00will work with the data owners over the summer

1:37:02to really see if we can't find better measures

1:37:06and then there'll be an information report prior to budget

1:37:09that informs you about the KPIs that we're looking to attach

1:37:12to the new strategic plan.

1:37:15That would be great.

1:37:16And just if possible in that report,

1:37:18if there could be a section that identifies the items

1:37:21that are no longer relevant in the new strap plan,

1:37:25just so that we see,

1:37:27because I know that potentially down the road

1:37:30we'll be like, oh, what happened to that one?

1:37:31And it will be gone in a year from now,

1:37:35just so that we have that information

1:37:37would be very helpful.

1:37:38And then I have one last question,

1:37:42which is about the data actually, so funny transition.

1:37:47It just, I just had a clarification under nine

1:37:49under the greenhouse gases.

1:37:51It says community utility data not available

1:37:54from the utility providers.

1:37:55Is that just because they just don't have it yet this year

1:37:58and we'll be able to get this updated later

1:38:01in the year?

1:38:03Through the mayor to council classes.

1:38:05So yes, we get that data from Electra and Enbridge.

1:38:09And typically they are a year behind.

1:38:11They're always a year behind.

1:38:14So even though, even next year when we have the 2023 report

1:38:21it won't be showing 2022, it'll show the year before.

1:38:24So it's always a year behind.

1:38:28And we've asked if we could have it earlier,

1:38:30I think they might be able to push it up earlier.

1:38:32So we have it for our report in June

1:38:35because it used to actually be later than that.

1:38:38But there's a lot of things that they have to consider

1:38:40in getting that number together.

1:38:41So that's why it's a bit later.

1:38:43Okay, thank you for the answers.

1:38:47And last I have is Councillor Downer.

1:38:50Thank you.

1:38:51Through you, Mr. Mayor.

1:38:52So I just noticed going through this,

1:38:55that there's nothing,

1:38:59so in the sustaining our future,

1:39:00an environment that sustains us,

1:39:03I don't see anything from environmental services

1:39:06like on water, wastewater, waste.

1:39:09So were they not considered like priority areas?

1:39:13Because we usually have,

1:39:14they're usually easily defined KPIs in that area

1:39:18because we have, we control all the data.

1:39:21So I'm just wondering why,

1:39:23why there's nothing in here about that.

1:39:26So through the Mayor to Councillor Downer,

1:39:29on June the 9th,

1:39:31we will be issuing our sustainability report.

1:39:34That's a report that we issue annually.

1:39:36And that is 14 pages of information

1:39:39that do include things from solid waste, wastewater,

1:39:42water and also our environmental goals as well.

1:39:47We had tried to get them to put them together for this year,

1:39:52but for next year.

1:39:53So we got them in the same week this year.

1:39:55For next year, there will be all issued together

1:39:57as one report,

1:39:59but that will be coming out with all that information

1:40:01on an information report on June 9th.

1:40:05Okay, so it's,

1:40:08I'm just hearing it's separate than part of our strap plan

1:40:11or it just seems it should be part of the strap plan.

1:40:14So I'm just sort of,

1:40:16but you know, maybe you could,

1:40:17so if information is coming fine,

1:40:19but I'm just wondering what it's not sort of embedded here too.

1:40:23So through the Merida counselor downer,

1:40:26as DCA Holmes mentioned,

1:40:28often our environmental data has outside sources

1:40:31that we rely on.

1:40:32And so for a long time,

1:40:33these reports were much farther apart in timeline.

1:40:36You'd see one in the spring

1:40:38and you'd see another not usually till the fall.

1:40:40We've done a lot of work,

1:40:41well, the environmental services teams

1:40:43that all contribute to that report

1:40:45have done a lot of work to get there,

1:40:47reporting timelines much closer to what we require

1:40:50to load into the back of the strap plan.

1:40:53So just getting them in the same week is great for us

1:40:55because it's reporting week here at the city of Guelph.

1:40:58And then our hope is that not only will the sustainability

1:41:02report and some of those deep dive metrics

1:41:04that you might find more in master plans,

1:41:07those surface as part of our corporate reporting

1:41:10in June of 2024,

1:41:13but that other parts of the organization

1:41:15that have really rich data, we can include as well,

1:41:18even though it may not be strap plan level data,

1:41:21we are hoping to bring them forward always

1:41:24at about this point in the year.

1:41:25And it's just been some work to get everybody reporting

1:41:28in the same sequence.

1:41:32Okay, I think that's it.

1:41:34So thank you very much.

1:41:37And if I'm looking for a motion for this

1:41:42and it would be to receive,

1:41:44and then the second one is just to ask our outside boards

1:41:47and other shared services to try to align as well,

1:41:51starting with June 2024.

1:41:55May I get someone to move the motion for that?

1:41:57Councillor Allt, thank you.

1:41:59Councillor Billings, I'll go for a seconding.

1:42:01Thank you.

1:42:02Anything further on this?

1:42:05I have like literally just a couple of sentences,

1:42:07which is one, the first one is, thank you very much.

1:42:09Diddle to a lot of the praise

1:42:11that my council colleagues have said about this.

1:42:13I love being able to see it exactly

1:42:15as it has been presented.

1:42:18And then the only other comment I'll make

1:42:20is to say something a little bit further

1:42:24to what councillor Colassen said,

1:42:25which is I do find that this really does give a huge input

1:42:30into our upcoming strategic plan.

1:42:32So I know that for me,

1:42:34the kind of snapshot attachment for this policy

1:42:36is attachment one, okay?

1:42:39I would love it if you could maybe just have that included

1:42:42as an addendum or as an attachment

1:42:45as we move into talking about fulfilling

1:42:48what our strategic plan is.

1:42:50Because this gives us a really good insight

1:42:53into what's working well, what needs attention.

1:42:58And I do really appreciate about the what needs attention part

1:43:02that there is commentary about that.

1:43:04It doesn't mean to dismiss stuff,

1:43:07but there is some contextual context

1:43:11about why something's in red

1:43:12or why something's in green or yellow.

1:43:13Like there's some really good kind of commentary there.

1:43:17And that speaks to councillor Goller as well

1:43:20the links to some of the things

1:43:21that might give further detail for us

1:43:23or our citizens to be able to understand.

1:43:25So thank you very, very much for doing that.

1:43:28Okay, with that then I'll call the vote.

1:43:30Is there anyone against?

1:43:32Hearing and seeing none, that means it's unanimous.

1:43:35So thank you again very much for bringing that forward.

1:43:39We're moving right along

1:43:40and our friends from the county are here

1:43:43and we really appreciate them coming.

1:43:47We are gonna have a presentation.

1:43:51And Louisa I think is coming, making her way down.

1:43:59Louisa has actually just become,

1:44:00I think in the last several, just a several months,

1:44:03not too long social services administrator

1:44:06for the county of Wellington.

1:44:08So thank you again for being here with your colleagues

1:44:13and staff and CAO and chair and warden.

1:44:17Thank you very, very much for coming and joining us today.

1:44:21This is, if you recall,

1:44:23there's a little bit of my own context.

1:44:25Last, I think it was July, last July,

1:44:28council unanimously passed a motion

1:44:31requesting the county to come and actually report

1:44:35in a presentation style with the ability for us

1:44:38to do some Q and A if required about how things are going.

1:44:42And so this is in my view a very great first step.

1:44:47We just had our own sort of transparency report

1:44:49if we call it that, that we had for what we control.

1:44:52Now we're having an outside board

1:44:54or an outside agency like the county that we pay into

1:44:59and does a lot of the services for our city.

1:45:01Come and present now as well transparently.

1:45:04And it gives us an opportunity

1:45:06and our citizens an opportunity to learn more

1:45:08and also for us to do the same

1:45:10to understand what's happening.

1:45:12So thank you very, very much for coming

1:45:14and I will turn it on over to you.

1:45:18Good afternoon, your worship and counselors.

1:45:21As Mayor Guthrie said, I'm Louisa Tuso

1:45:25and I'm the social services administrator

1:45:27at the county of Wellington.

1:45:28With me in the audience today

1:45:30is Wellington County Council warden Andy Lennox,

1:45:33the chair of social services committee,

1:45:35County Councillor David Anderson,

1:45:37Wellington County's CEO, Scott Wilson

1:45:40and our three social services directors,

1:45:43Mandy Kroniak and Mark Post and Stuart Boomer.

1:45:47Thank you for allowing us time in this meeting

1:45:49to provide a brief orientation of our services

1:45:52to help with the understanding of the data

1:45:54that has been submitted in the key performance indicators

1:45:58report in your agenda package.

1:46:01The performance indicators in this report

1:46:03are taken from the county's 2022 budget and 10 year plan

1:46:07and staff continue to update the indicators

1:46:10and data on an annual basis.

1:46:12The plan reflects the county's current strategic plan

1:46:15and action items, which is also under development.

1:46:19That includes people as a priority,

1:46:22making the best decisions,

1:46:24providing the highest level and best quality of services,

1:46:27planning for and providing physical infrastructure.

1:46:31I will provide a brief overview

1:46:33of the social services department

1:46:35in relation to these indicators

1:46:37and the directors will help answer

1:46:38any program specific questions

1:46:40you might have following the presentation.

1:46:42I've been advised that I have 15 to 20 minutes

1:46:45so I will do my best to stay within that timeframe.

1:46:48However, I'm continuing to pair this down

1:46:51as much as I can without losing its context.

1:46:53So I apologize if I go over.

1:46:56As mentioned in the report,

1:46:57the county of Wellington is a designated,

1:47:00consolidated municipal service manager

1:47:02for the delivery of social services

1:47:04for the Wellington service delivery area,

1:47:06which includes the county of Wellington

1:47:07and the city of Guelph.

1:47:09Like land ambulance provided by the city of Guelph,

1:47:12the county is accountable to the province of Ontario,

1:47:15sorry, it should have been,

1:47:17to the province of Ontario to ensure the funding

1:47:19and delivery of social services programs

1:47:21are delivered in accordance with the agreements

1:47:23with various ministries,

1:47:25and they're up on your slide there.

1:47:27Our department is accountable to county council

1:47:29with reports first being approved

1:47:31by the county social services committee

1:47:33that includes the mayor of Guelph as a voting member.

1:47:37The social services department oversees

1:47:39the planning, management and implementation

1:47:41of the following three provincially mandated programs,

1:47:44children's early years, housing services and Ontario works.

1:47:50The Sir Leadership team, you see them here in person.

1:47:53Mark Post on the left of the picture

1:47:55is the director of housing services,

1:47:58Mandy is the director of children's early years

1:48:00and Stuart is the director of Ontario works.

1:48:03Together alongside our managers and supervisors,

1:48:06we lead the work of 235 frontline workers

1:48:09who on average touch the lives of just over 36,000 people

1:48:13in our communities annually.

1:48:16While excellent customer service

1:48:18that's delivered by our frontline staff

1:48:20and by contracted local community agencies

1:48:22is at the forefront of our work,

1:48:24the department must also uphold ministry requirements

1:48:27which include the development of evidence-based service plans

1:48:30that are designed to support the unique strengths

1:48:33and needs of each municipality in our service area,

1:48:36service system monitoring, financial and data reporting,

1:48:40compliance reviews and financial audits.

1:48:44And then move into each division.

1:48:46So the overall mandate of the children's early years division

1:48:49is to support the provision

1:48:51of high quality licensed childcare

1:48:53as well as child and family support programs

1:48:56that are equitably available, accessible

1:48:58and affordable to all families.

1:49:01In all of our social services divisions,

1:49:04it is imperative to understand the importance

1:49:06of community engagement and collaboration

1:49:09to ensure optimal service delivery.

1:49:12Our children's early years division is mandated

1:49:14by the province to take a community approach

1:49:17in planning for the childcare and early years system

1:49:20and specifically with publicly funded school boards.

1:49:23For our area, we consult with local agencies

1:49:26through the growing great generations

1:49:27community planning table.

1:49:29The growing great generation members shown here

1:49:31on this slide are the agencies

1:49:33that we have a purchase of service agreement with

1:49:35to deliver a variety of mandated services.

1:49:40As stated in our report,

1:49:41the key functions of children's early years

1:49:43is to perform service system planning

1:49:46that addresses local priorities

1:49:48and the matters of provincial interest

1:49:50as outlined in the Children's Early Years Act 2014.

1:49:54This slide shows the program areas of the division.

1:49:58Much of this division's work relates to public services

1:50:02where there is no eligibility criteria

1:50:04for the people they serve.

1:50:06Only childcare subsidy is similar

1:50:08to Ontario Works and Housing Services

1:50:10in providing financial supports to families

1:50:13based on an eligibility criteria set by the province.

1:50:18With the exception of Ontario Works,

1:50:21the work of each division has a set budget to work within.

1:50:25So really our performance measures are a summary

1:50:27of what we've been able to achieve

1:50:29with the funding that we have to work with.

1:50:31Funding for all levels of three divisions

1:50:33is complex and complicated,

1:50:35but we wanna provide you with a general sense

1:50:37of how each division is funded

1:50:38from the three levels of government

1:50:40on a percentage basis using our 2022 budget.

1:50:44While the federal funds for early years flows

1:50:46through us, to us from the province,

1:50:49we wanted to highlight the federal investment

1:50:51of the new Canada-wide early learning system

1:50:54that will continue to grow over the years.

1:50:57So as an example, you will see this is 2022

1:51:00and in 2023, you'll see that the federal funding

1:51:03as the Canada-wide early learning and childcare

1:51:06moves to approximately $10 a day by 2026

1:51:09for childcare spaces for children ages birth to five years.

1:51:13This monumental system continues

1:51:15and as this monumental system continues to be implemented,

1:51:19the federal percentage of the childcare

1:51:21and early learning budget will continue to increase.

1:51:25So relative to the key performance indicators,

1:51:28this division on page 310 of your agenda package,

1:51:33it is anticipated that the number of licensed childcare spaces

1:51:37both in center-based and home-based childcare

1:51:39will increase in the coming years

1:51:41as the Seawalk system continues to gain momentum.

1:51:45However, it may also result in a decrease

1:51:47in the number of families being supported

1:51:49by childcare subsidies as the cost of childcare

1:51:52reduces year after year.

1:51:56In relation to the number of available spaces,

1:51:58this slide shows the percentage of the number

1:52:00of childcare spaces that are available

1:52:02for the population of children birth to four years

1:52:05as of March 2023.

1:52:07The province's rate for the provincial ratio

1:52:09of spaces to children aged birth to five is 37%.

1:52:16If we're able to associate this as a percentage locally,

1:52:20you can see that some areas in our service delivery area

1:52:23are doing okay, while others,

1:52:25we have lots of work to do in them.

1:52:28That said, the county has no authority

1:52:30over who opens childcare spaces and where they choose to open,

1:52:33but we have some leverage on the distribution

1:52:36of public funds to support the operation

1:52:38of childcare programs.

1:52:39The number of available licensed spaces primarily lies

1:52:43in the interest of the not-for-profit

1:52:45and for-profit sector.

1:52:47Some good news is that under the ministry's

1:52:49directed growth plan under the Seawalk system,

1:52:52our area has been given the target

1:52:55of creating 1,721 new spaces by 2026,

1:53:00and there will be funding to support

1:53:02the operation of those spaces.

1:53:05While we support school boards to plan

1:53:07for the availability of school-age childcare,

1:53:10the responsibility for school-age spaces

1:53:12rests with the publicly funded school boards.

1:53:17In 2018, the province transferred the oversight

1:53:20and funding of early-on centers to service system managers.

1:53:23These centers are 100% funded by the province

1:53:26and are open at no cost to families

1:53:28with children ages six years and under.

1:53:31Since being transferred, the number of municipalities

1:53:34with early-on centers has increased from three to seven,

1:53:37with Guelph maintaining two centers

1:53:40with the Guelph Community House Center and Family Gateway.

1:53:44As our key performance indicators of 2,817 participants,

1:53:48which has dramatically grown since 2018,

1:53:52we aim to increase the number of participants

1:53:54year after year,

1:53:56barring that there's no provincial reductions in the funding.

1:54:00In the same year, the ministry mandated services to managers

1:54:03to dedicate a portion of their funding

1:54:06to capacity building of the childcare workforce.

1:54:09A new team within the division,

1:54:11as well as the early years Professional Resource Center

1:54:13was created to provide inclusive and collaborative support

1:54:16to enhance reflective practice

1:54:18and strengthen the pedagogy of childcare

1:54:21in early years programs.

1:54:22The team offers on-site coaching, mentoring, resources,

1:54:25and a variety of professional learning opportunities,

1:54:28both in-person and virtually.

1:54:30One of the core functions of this team

1:54:32is to provide resilience training

1:54:34to both licensed childcare and early-on centers.

1:54:37And this training accounts for a large percentage

1:54:39of the key performance indicator

1:54:41in the number of participants in professional development,

1:54:44as well as the number of participants in early-on centers.

1:54:47We also run the Bounce Back and Thrive resilience program

1:54:52for parents, and as a service manager

1:54:55for our early-on centers, it's mandated that those programs

1:54:59provide that training to families on an ongoing basis.

1:55:04The direction of Children's Early Years

1:55:07is a continued implementation of the Seawalk system

1:55:10with increasing reduction for families,

1:55:13the growth expansion of childcare

1:55:14and associated capital funding.

1:55:17And we also are anticipating a new funding formula

1:55:19and transition to a cost recovery model

1:55:22for childcare providers enrolled of the Seawalk system.

1:55:26So it's very difficult to plan for a system

1:55:28when we're quite unsure as to how much we're being funded

1:55:32and how we are able to deliver those funding sources

1:55:36to the community.

1:55:39Moving on to housing services,

1:55:41the overall mandate of housing services

1:55:43is to support people to find and maintain

1:55:46an appropriate, safe, and affordable place to call home.

1:55:50Much of the work with Housing Services Division

1:55:52isn't possible without our numerous partners

1:55:54in the homeless, housing, and healthcare systems,

1:55:57many who receive funding from housing services.

1:56:00They are essential in providing wraparound services

1:56:03as we all work together to help individuals obtain

1:56:06and sustain a place to call home.

1:56:09Together, our community has had great success

1:56:11and has been publicly acknowledged by the ministry

1:56:14in keeping our number of people experiencing homelessness

1:56:17to 137.

1:56:19As you can see in our housing performance indicator

1:56:22on page 312 of your agenda package,

1:56:26that said, one person experiencing homelessness

1:56:28is one too many.

1:56:33This is our slide shows our housing continuum.

1:56:36It represents our mandated services to be housing focused

1:56:39and helping to move individuals through this continuum

1:56:42and stabilize them somewhere in this continuum.

1:56:46With the majority of our services and supports

1:56:48ranging from emergency shelters

1:56:50to government funded affordable rental housing

1:56:54in those areas of that this continuum.

1:56:57The two core functions of Housing Services Division

1:57:00is supporting individuals who are at risk

1:57:02or are experiencing homelessness

1:57:05and supporting the maintenance and growth of community housing.

1:57:08Our housing stability team is responsible

1:57:10for the provision of housing outreach workers,

1:57:13emergency shelters, diversion from homelessness efforts,

1:57:17and stabilizing housing for those experiencing homelessness.

1:57:21Within the community housing are two components.

1:57:23The first component is government funded

1:57:26permanent affordable housing.

1:57:28This funding supports the capital costs of units

1:57:30to which landlords are committed to charging

1:57:32no more than 80% of the average market rent

1:57:36that is set by the province for our area.

1:57:39The second component is rent subsidies,

1:57:41also referred to as rent geared to income and social housing.

1:57:45This provides financial support towards rental costs.

1:57:48This includes funding to landlords

1:57:50and maintains the housing units

1:57:52as well as providing funds directly to tenants

1:57:55in the private market.

1:57:57This program uses the methodology of renting and geared

1:58:01to be no more than 30% of an individual's income.

1:58:05In total, the division is responsible

1:58:07for funding and oversight of 3,500 housing units

1:58:10in Wellington and Englal.

1:58:15Oops, slides are a little mixed up.

1:58:23I apologize.

1:58:28This map shows the location of properties

1:58:31that make up the community housing.

1:58:33Some of these units can be government funded

1:58:35affordable housing that also has rent subsidies layered

1:58:39on to help individuals acquire

1:58:41and maintain a place to call home.

1:58:43For some units, funding is contracted

1:58:45to a number of agencies to provide supports to individuals

1:58:48to help them maintain their tendency

1:58:50that is over and above the affordability of the unit.

1:58:54This makes up a bulk of our 2022 performance measures

1:58:58in the numbers of households in government

1:59:00funded affordable housing, transition and supportive housing

1:59:04as well as the number of households accessing rent

1:59:07subsidies supports.

1:59:09For more detailed information on the activities

1:59:11and the outcomes, June committee and council agenda package

1:59:15will include an annual update to the housing

1:59:17and homeless service plan.

1:59:19It is a good read that I highly recommend.

1:59:23Now I need to backtrack a little bit.

1:59:30This slide shows that while the province sets a minimum

1:59:34for rent subsidy units for service system managers,

1:59:38it relies heavily on municipal contributions

1:59:40to fund the operation and in the maintenance

1:59:42of rent subsidy units.

1:59:44The minimum that has been set for us is 2,342

1:59:51and we currently have 2,508.

1:59:54The provincial investments are key contributors

1:59:58to supporting those at risk or experiencing homelessness

2:00:01as well as providing capital grants

2:00:03to create and maintain community housing.

2:00:08You will see that this in 2023,

2:00:10we wanted to look ahead to that to share

2:00:14that contrary to what we showed you in children's early years,

2:00:16you'll see that the 2023 funding at this time

2:00:19has been decreased resulting in an increase

2:00:22of a municipal percentage of our housing budget.

2:00:26However, not all allocations have been announced

2:00:28so we're hoping that the provincial

2:00:30and perhaps federal funding will increase in 2023.

2:00:35This chart is being shown to you in some of our reports,

2:00:38you might see that there is financial reports

2:00:41that includes the affordable housing line.

2:00:44These financial reports are relevant to the county only.

2:00:48As the county has invested in government funded

2:00:52affordable housing stock of 135 units

2:00:54in the county of Wellington.

2:00:56These projects leverage one time provincial grants

2:00:59and county reserves for capital costs

2:01:01and operating costs are funded through the tax levy.

2:01:04To date, the county has invested $18 million

2:01:07in the development of affordable housing.

2:01:14This chart shows the measures for housing services in 2022

2:01:18and you'll see that we've supported over 3,600 individuals

2:01:22within community housing.

2:01:29Ultimately, the only true way to address experiences

2:01:32with homelessness is to stay housing focused

2:01:35and to develop more affordable options across each community

2:01:39and to support people to stay housing, to stay housed

2:01:42both from a financial and wellbeing perspective.

2:01:46The term it takes the village to raise a child

2:01:48can be replicated that it takes everyone to house everyone.

2:01:51Staff will continue their important work

2:01:53in making gains on the goals and objectives

2:01:56that are outlined in their housing and homeless plan

2:01:59that has been developed with community agency partners.

2:02:03Our community knows how to end homelessness

2:02:05in the most effective way possible,

2:02:07both from a service perspective

2:02:09and a financial perspective.

2:02:11We simply need to take more initiatives and funding

2:02:15and advocate to all levels of government

2:02:17to increase levels across the housing continuum.

2:02:23And finally, Ontario Works.

2:02:26The Ontario Works division is mandated to support

2:02:30newcomers and low income individuals and families

2:02:32in meeting their unique and complex needs

2:02:35so that they can achieve their goals

2:02:36related to the wellbeing and self-reliance.

2:02:40Many of the grants supporting low income

2:02:43and other vulnerable residents across Wellington Guelph

2:02:46are managed through the Ontario Works division

2:02:49on behalf of the social services department.

2:02:51This allows social services to work collaboratively

2:02:54as a community to better meet the needs

2:02:56of vulnerable residents in Wellington County and in Guelph.

2:03:01The intent of Ontario Works program is to help people

2:03:05in temporary need of financial assistance

2:03:07find sustainable employment and achieve self-reliance

2:03:11through the provision of employment services.

2:03:13Life stability supports and financial assistance.

2:03:17Social assistance, eligibility and rates

2:03:19are provincially determined.

2:03:21Once an individual is receiving assistance,

2:03:23they are provided with employment and case management supports

2:03:27to assist them in addressing their immediate needs

2:03:29and to support them in finding employment.

2:03:33This slide shows that similar to the Children's Early Years

2:03:35pie chart, a high percentage of the budget is provincial,

2:03:40is provided by the province of Ontario.

2:03:43Unlike Children's Early Years and Housing divisions though,

2:03:45Ontario Works does not have a set budget

2:03:48for benefits to eligible clients

2:03:50as we reconcile expenditures with the province

2:03:52on a monthly basis.

2:03:54It does however have a set budget for administration.

2:04:00This next slide shows what Ontario Works recipients

2:04:03are expected to live on on a monthly basis.

2:04:06To notice the shelter maximum to which in no way

2:04:09pays for rent being charged locally,

2:04:11so many of our Ontario Works clients

2:04:13are also eligible for housing benefits.

2:04:16Given the low financial support,

2:04:18additional benefits are extremely important

2:04:21to those individuals in receipt of Ontario Works.

2:04:24And this slide shows the many benefits

2:04:26that we provide both Ontario Works recipients

2:04:29as well as those in the community

2:04:31that are not Ontario Works recipients,

2:04:33but we have deemed them eligible for some support.

2:04:38This chart shows the performance measures

2:04:40for Ontario Works in 2022.

2:04:43The key performance indicators on this chart

2:04:45of the number of cases exiting employment,

2:04:48which has much to do with all of the staff's work

2:04:50to help prepare clients for employment

2:04:53and to help them find jobs in their local community.

2:04:56Exits to employment remain below the provincial average,

2:05:01but a higher percentage of Ontario Works recipients

2:05:04in Wellington-Gwell report income from employment

2:05:07compared to the province as a whole.

2:05:10Ontario Works is also presenting a report

2:05:13on the OWC profile at the County's Committee and Council

2:05:18in June.

2:05:20And so that's also another read that you'd like to know.

2:05:23It does a lot deeper into the people

2:05:25that we serve in the area that we're from.

2:05:28I just wanted to note that I've added the monthly case

2:05:30though to this chart to provide an understanding

2:05:33of the number of people that we serve in Ontario Works

2:05:36on a monthly basis.

2:05:38And that is 1,900 individuals a month.

2:05:42Overall, in 2022, we had 3,098 Ontario Works recipients

2:05:49that we provided services to with 2,000

2:05:54and 481 being from the city

2:05:57and 617 being from the county.

2:06:03Future directions for Ontario Works,

2:06:06there's a lot of change happening in that division.

2:06:09We have Employment Services Transformation,

2:06:11so that's a new services to manager,

2:06:13which is a for-profit agency to take over administration

2:06:16of employment supports by January 2024.

2:06:20Results with social assistance modernization

2:06:23and that centralized intake risk-based eligibility

2:06:26determination, automatic granting,

2:06:28paperless strategy and enhancing online tools.

2:06:32There's an anticipated caseload growth

2:06:35of about 8.3% to a monthly average

2:06:40of 2,064 cases by early 2024.

2:06:44There's also financial pressures for clients,

2:06:46significant gaps between social assistance rates

2:06:49and the poverty line and rapid increase market rates

2:06:52making it increasingly difficult

2:06:53for Ontario Works recipients to find, maintain housing

2:06:57and meet basic needs.

2:07:00And that is my presentation

2:07:03and happy to answer any questions.

2:07:06Well, thank you so much.

2:07:08And I'll go to start with Councillor Goller, please.

2:07:12And then O'Rourke.

2:07:16Thank you, through your worship to Mr. Tissel.

2:07:18Thank you for your presentation, very informative.

2:07:22To start the last few comments that you made

2:07:26in terms of Ontario Works.

2:07:29So the employment services transformation

2:07:31is that just the part to help people find jobs

2:07:35that is being moved to the private sector?

2:07:39I'll ask Stuart to jump in, but yes,

2:07:42but you can perhaps add more information, Stuart.

2:07:47Sure, through you, Mr. Mayor, to that Councillor Goller.

2:07:50The employment services transformation

2:07:52is a provincial project that's been rolled out

2:07:54in a number of ways, waves rather.

2:07:57We're in the second wave.

2:07:59We're part of a service area that includes Waterloo Region,

2:08:02ourselves in Wellington, Dufferin County,

2:08:04as well as the County of Simcoe.

2:08:07So you can see it's a large area.

2:08:09In each of those areas,

2:08:10the province has undertaken a competitive process

2:08:12to identify a service system manager

2:08:15who will be responsible for receiving provincial funds

2:08:18through the Ministry of Labor,

2:08:20Immigration Training and Skills Development

2:08:22to then fund the entire Employment Ontario system

2:08:26within the area.

2:08:28The way that this impacts Ontario Works

2:08:30and social assistance is that a portion

2:08:33of the employment dollars that we receive

2:08:36are being transferred to that system.

2:08:38So we'll have a decrease in our administrative budget.

2:08:41And also some of our responsibilities

2:08:43related to providing employment services

2:08:45are moving to the Employment Ontario system

2:08:48and we'll rest with them.

2:08:50We will still be involved in supporting Ontario Works clients

2:08:53with life stabilization supports

2:08:56and also in making active referrals

2:08:59to that employment system through linked technology

2:09:03and through shared case management systems

2:09:07within both the Employment Ontario program

2:09:10and the Ontario Works program.

2:09:13In our area, the selected service manager is Circo Canada.

2:09:17Circo operates a number of services around the world.

2:09:23They offer employment services in the UK.

2:09:26In Ontario, their footprint is probably best known

2:09:31as operators of the Ontario Drive Test Centers.

2:09:35So there's one up on Woodlawn Road.

2:09:39In each catchment area,

2:09:41a different selections were made

2:09:45around who the service manager would be.

2:09:47So in some cases, it's for-profit corporations.

2:09:50In other cases, it's been municipal collaborations.

2:09:54And in other places, it's been not for profits.

2:09:57In one area, there's a college.

2:09:59So it just sort of depended upon who the ministry selected

2:10:03and in our area, it's Circo.

2:10:04So I hope that gives you a bit more information

2:10:06about what's happening.

2:10:07Thank you.

2:10:08And just so that I understand on the ground impact

2:10:10with local agencies like Luther Wood and Second Chance

2:10:14and are those still going to be received the funding

2:10:18or is that funding going from them to Circo

2:10:21to deliver those services?

2:10:24So through the mayor to the councillor Goller,

2:10:28Circo has assumed the contracts with those agencies

2:10:31as of May 1st.

2:10:33And so now the provincial funding goes from the ministry

2:10:37of immigration labor training skills development to Circo.

2:10:41Then contracts out with those same agencies

2:10:44to provide the same range of services.

2:10:48In 2023, the direction from the province

2:10:51was just to assume those projects without making changes.

2:10:56And then moving forward, Circo will be able to work

2:10:58through ministry processes to actually do some service

2:11:01planning with engagement of local communities

2:11:05around what those employment services,

2:11:07how they're structured and what they look like.

2:11:09Thank you very much for that.

2:11:11Explanation, I really appreciate that.

2:11:13Through your worship, I had a couple of questions

2:11:15about the housing services section.

2:11:19It picked my interest.

2:11:20You mentioned that Wellington County

2:11:22has invested 18 million in building.

2:11:25Could you tell me a little bit about what was built

2:11:28and the locations of those units

2:11:30so that I understand where those housing is going?

2:11:38Thank you.

2:11:39Through you, Mayor Guthrie to councillor Goller.

2:11:42So those are units that were specifically invested in

2:11:46by the county of Wellington,

2:11:48in the county of Wellington, the Townsend Townships.

2:11:51So there are two large projects that were built

2:11:54in the town of Ferguson, sorry,

2:11:57center Wellington in the town of Ferguson.

2:12:00There has been a project built in Mount Forest,

2:12:02another project in Palmerston.

2:12:05And then the rest of the funding is in a reserve right now

2:12:10for future considerations on the affordable front.

2:12:12So those are the projects right now

2:12:15that are county specific.

2:12:17Thank you.

2:12:18And so that I understand is that rent gear

2:12:20to income housing or is that shelter space?

2:12:24What has been built?

2:12:27Through you, Mayor Guthrie to councillor Goller.

2:12:30That is affordable.

2:12:32It'll be the 80% of average market rent.

2:12:36And in some cases there is a layer of RGI

2:12:40thrown on top depending on the needs of the households

2:12:43inside the units.

2:12:45Okay.

2:12:45And so thank you for that.

2:12:47So now, if you can help me understand,

2:12:49there is the social services committee that works

2:12:52within Wellington County.

2:12:54How does the funding for that work?

2:12:55I'm trying to understand how does Guelph jump in on that?

2:12:58How do we set aside 10 million in the budget

2:13:01and say we need social housing built in Guelph

2:13:04or rent gear to income housing?

2:13:05So can you tell me what that process looks like

2:13:08from the county?

2:13:08Is it that the social services committee

2:13:11makes a recommendation?

2:13:12We've noticed that there is a need in center Wellington

2:13:15and then the township of center Wellington

2:13:17sets the money aside or what would that process be like?

2:13:24Through you, Mayor Guthrie to councillor Goller.

2:13:27So that is a pro the county's had this affordable housing

2:13:30reserve since 2002.

2:13:32And it's fed by the seven towns and townships

2:13:36of the county of Wellington.

2:13:38There have been reserve contributions growing

2:13:44ever ever since 2002.

2:13:47And priorities are set as opportunities come up,

2:13:52priorities communities are set.

2:13:54And as funding is made available and they look to develop

2:13:59in those towns and townships as the opportunities arise.

2:14:03Operationally though, there is the county has opted to have

2:14:09all of the properties that free.

2:14:11So the county is paying for all the costs upfront

2:14:16so that there's no mortgages,

2:14:17which means that the properties have are operationally viable

2:14:22and they have, there's no debt costs.

2:14:24So the projects are paying for themselves.

2:14:27And then the leftover money that comes from revenues

2:14:30are going to build other projects as well.

2:14:33So if you can help me understand the structure

2:14:37because you are our housing services manager,

2:14:41does that work that setting aside of those reserve funds?

2:14:45Does that happen and could you as our social services

2:14:48manager do that for the city of Guelph

2:14:51if we were to start allocating a percentage of money

2:14:55from every budget just so that I'm trying to see

2:14:57how do we get from this point where we have,

2:15:01I think it is, I saw a 58% increase

2:15:05in the wait list for social housing

2:15:07in Guelph and Wellington County.

2:15:09I'm thinking I'm seeing the projects happening

2:15:10in the county and understand that it's because

2:15:13you're funding it, how do we get to a point

2:15:15where we start allocating funds?

2:15:18Is it that the social services committee says,

2:15:22we need X amounts of dollars

2:15:24and then the townships put it aside?

2:15:27How does Guelph insert into that process?

2:15:32Because when we generally, when we have asked our staff,

2:15:36the answer is well, Wellington County

2:15:38manages social housing.

2:15:40So we don't have the staffing to say,

2:15:43this is how much money we should be setting aside,

2:15:46these are the need in Guelph.

2:15:49So I'm trying to understand how we get

2:15:51that relationship happening.

2:15:56So maybe I'll go to actually our staff.

2:15:58If you don't mind, maybe we'll just,

2:16:00we'll go back and forth a little bit here.

2:16:02But Pauline, I want you to correct me if I'm wrong,

2:16:06but that already exists.

2:16:11So we have an affordable housing reserve.

2:16:13Every budget we put $500,000 into it or whatever we wish.

2:16:19And then about two or three years ago,

2:16:22council said all of the decision-making

2:16:26around how that funding is used will always rest

2:16:29with the in-house experts, which is the county.

2:16:35And so depending on how much we have and give on a budget

2:16:40into the affordable housing reserve,

2:16:43that is the funds then that would be leveraged

2:16:46for proponents that are stepping up to the plate

2:16:50to actually build things.

2:16:51Do you worship this?

2:16:52Am I understanding your question right?

2:16:53This is different because as I understand

2:16:55that the county is doing the building,

2:16:58we, the funds that the city sets aside

2:17:01is for private proponents to come and say,

2:17:04I need some funding.

2:17:06I'm going to ask for the funding.

2:17:07It goes to the county.

2:17:08It goes to the private, the nonprofit sector.

2:17:11But the city of Guelph is not doing any building

2:17:14of social housing like the county is.

2:17:17So that's what I'm trying to understand.

2:17:19How do we get to the point?

2:17:20All that our deputy CAO,

2:17:22the only thing I would just mention is

2:17:24there is a dollar cash amount that can be given.

2:17:29But don't not forget that we also gave,

2:17:31like we also helped with a building,

2:17:34Delhi as an example as well.

2:17:36So it's not always just cash, right?

2:17:39To help with these types of things.

2:17:40Colleen?

2:17:41So through you, Mr. Mayor.

2:17:42So I think a couple of points.

2:17:44So yes, the mayor is correct in his encapsulation

2:17:46of the affordable housing reserve.

2:17:47The only slight nuance that I would say

2:17:48is that ultimately council still holds

2:17:50the decision making authority.

2:17:51What we did ask the county to do

2:17:53with through that process was to make the recommendation,

2:17:55but you do still ultimately hold the funding decision

2:17:57for how that affordable housing reserve money gets spent.

2:18:01And yes, that affordable housing money has been spent

2:18:05funding third party projects.

2:18:07There would, I mean, there could be city policy decision

2:18:10that we take away and consider,

2:18:12but I do want to pass it back to Ms. Artuso

2:18:15because there are county supportive housing projects

2:18:18that exist within the city boundary though, correct?

2:18:21I don't want to leave anyone with the impression

2:18:23that there are not county built and operated housing

2:18:26within the city of Guelph boundary because there is.

2:18:29There's a number of them.

2:18:29I will make a mistake if I try to list them all.

2:18:31So I'm going to pass it back to my right.

2:18:35Arthur, you Mr. Mayor.

2:18:37That is the slides and the data that we provided to you.

2:18:40So there's a lot of that's for the majority

2:18:43of the city funding is going.

2:18:46When we're talking about affordable housing,

2:18:48the profit and mark can correct me if I'm wrong.

2:18:51The provincial and federal government comes,

2:18:53sometimes comes out with capital investments to say,

2:18:56here's a project that some funding

2:18:59that you can initiate a new capital project.

2:19:02That's where then we put it in our P process to say,

2:19:05does anybody want to, is interested

2:19:08in building affordable housing?

2:19:10Anyone can really step up to do that.

2:19:12So, and I believe that, not for profits,

2:19:15for profits can do that.

2:19:17In the case of the county, they decided to step up

2:19:19and say that we're going to leverage our reserves

2:19:23in order to become and to increase the level

2:19:26of government funded affordable housing that they have.

2:19:29Every municipality, when it comes

2:19:31to the non mandated services in funding

2:19:34and maintaining the social housing units

2:19:38that we are required by the province to do

2:19:43in every municipality, it looks different.

2:19:46So, in, we do, for instance, Grace Gardens,

2:19:51there was a rapid housing initiative

2:19:53that the county applied for.

2:19:55And then we were successful in that application

2:19:58and gave it to Grace Gardens.

2:19:59And then I believe the city of Guelph also gave funding.

2:20:02So it is, there's no one simple solution in housing.

2:20:06I've, I thought children's early years was complicated.

2:20:09Housing is definitely much more complicated,

2:20:12both in how you actually create things, right?

2:20:15There's a multitude of individuals and levels

2:20:19of government that need to come together

2:20:21to make one project come alive.

2:20:25And in the case of these 135 units in the county,

2:20:29the county indicated that they are going to create this.

2:20:35It was a council decision.

2:20:37And that is county council or township?

2:20:39County council decision.

2:20:41Okay, so if I'm not mistaken, last year you set aside

2:20:451.3, 1.4 million to your affordable housing reserve.

2:20:49How is that number selected?

2:20:51Just so I understand the process to selecting the,

2:20:54because we put in 500,000,

2:20:56but I have a feeling that that is an insufficient amount.

2:20:59So I'm trying to understand how do you get to your,

2:21:01the amount that you set aside for your reserve?

2:21:05If you may, Guthrie, I think we may defer that.

2:21:07We will need to consult with our treasurer

2:21:09who will be able to provide that answer.

2:21:11And unfortunately he's not here today.

2:21:13That would be very much appreciated.

2:21:16Councillor, I have a lot of other,

2:21:18Councillor, how many more questions do you have?

2:21:20I have a couple more in your worship.

2:21:22Let's just get right to the question.

2:21:23Okay.

2:21:24You had a 10 year plan, 2011 to 2021.

2:21:28Well, what is happening after the 10 year plan

2:21:31to end homelessness that finished in 2021?

2:21:38Through you, Mayor Guthrie, to Councillor Goller.

2:21:41Our 10 year plan actually started in 2015.

2:21:45And we did a five year update that was complete in 2019

2:21:49that goes from 2020 until the end of 2024.

2:21:54That was the annual report that

2:21:57Louisa was mentioning earlier.

2:21:59We present our annual report on the progress

2:22:04towards all the goals that were set by the community

2:22:06in that five year update every June.

2:22:09So we're just, unfortunately,

2:22:11it's like the end of this month

2:22:13that report goes to our council.

2:22:16But we have, that will be shared from the county

2:22:20when that's approved.

2:22:22And it looks at all of the goals.

2:22:25So there's eight main objectives, strategic objectives

2:22:28on the housing and homelessness plan,

2:22:2947 recommended activities.

2:22:32And it looks at our progress.

2:22:34So the overall numbers that Louisa's presented today

2:22:36as well as our progress towards

2:22:37each of those 47 recommended activities.

2:22:40So thank you.

2:22:42And Mr. Poser, you mentioned that that was set by the community.

2:22:44So there was public engagement with the constituents

2:22:48in the county to set those targets.

2:22:51Is that how it worked?

2:22:53Three America, three two, Councillor Goller.

2:22:55No, this is a community, this is city and county.

2:22:57This is the county,

2:22:58Ballington service area for housing services.

2:23:01Okay. So this is inclusive of the city of Gowl.

2:23:04Okay. Thank you.

2:23:05So what I'm trying to understand this,

2:23:09I have constituents who have been on the wait list

2:23:11for social housing for 10, 12,

2:23:13I've heard up to 13 years for some members.

2:23:16So how do we actually start closing that gap?

2:23:20Because what I'm seeing is that the gap is growing.

2:23:23So what is the plan to go back the other way?

2:23:27We had a presentation recently

2:23:30when we were looking at housing

2:23:31and they told us we have been under building housing.

2:23:34So housing is getting more expensive,

2:23:35more people are being priced out of housing.

2:23:38We have population growth and immigration

2:23:41that is driving up that need.

2:23:43So I'm just trying to understand,

2:23:45looking at the next five years,

2:23:47what is in place to bring down the wait list?

2:23:53Arthur, you Mr. Guthrie to Councillor Goller.

2:23:56It's, we are working on a plan

2:23:58that will hopefully be ready in the fall of 2023,

2:24:02hopefully in advance of the budget cycle for 2024.

2:24:07As I indicated across the housing continuum,

2:24:11we need funding for all aspects of that.

2:24:15With the amount of acute mental health and addictions,

2:24:19our shelter system is at its peak.

2:24:23We understand that the whole impact of COVID

2:24:28is not going to really come to fruition

2:24:30until five years from now.

2:24:32So we have to stabilize our shelter system.

2:24:35We have to ensure that the individuals supporting

2:24:40those shelter systems are well trained

2:24:42and well paid for the work that they do.

2:24:44Otherwise that system will crumble.

2:24:46So that's one key factor.

2:24:49Then we look at, we need transitional housing

2:24:52which is coming on board in 2024.

2:24:54So we're quite excited about that.

2:24:56And so we will see that more as a triage

2:24:59as to understanding the needs of the individuals

2:25:01providing some supports that they need.

2:25:03Can they go into permanent housing with minimal supports?

2:25:06Can they just go into permanent housing

2:25:08or do we need to put them in support of permanent housing?

2:25:12And then we have these supportive housing projects

2:25:15that the capital is there, but the operating's not there.

2:25:19And then we have the variety of government funded

2:25:23affordable housing that we need.

2:25:26So we're trying to maybe come up with some recommendations

2:25:28of what we feel every municipality might need in that respect.

2:25:32And then there's the market

2:25:34where you need a variety of different,

2:25:38housing options for individuals

2:25:40so that if they are a working family,

2:25:42chances are hopefully that they can afford the rent

2:25:44with minimal perhaps rent subsidies.

2:25:47And then we can provide them with some subsidies market-based.

2:25:51So there's a role here for everyone.

2:25:56And we've included government funded affordable housing

2:25:59to be different than affordable housing

2:26:00because we know that municipalities

2:26:02as a whole are working on affordable and attainable housing.

2:26:04We don't wanna confuse that.

2:26:06When we're talking about affordable housing,

2:26:08when it comes to the social services budget,

2:26:09we are talking about the 80% of the market rate

2:26:13that is funded by the government,

2:26:15that they received some sort of government grant

2:26:18to have that capital project come to fruition.

2:26:22So answer is we need a little more

2:26:26than of everything right now.

2:26:29And we're trying to present a picture

2:26:31as to what that actually should look like.

2:26:33And hopefully there will be some dollars attached to that.

2:26:38And it'll be for every municipality right across

2:26:41in our service delivery area,

2:26:42both in the County of Wellington and the city of Guelph.

2:26:45And that provides at least some goals, some pictures,

2:26:48like what does this look like, what's needed.

2:26:50And hopefully that'll help with some decision-making.

2:26:52Perfect.

2:26:53And so that I understand that for the next budget process,

2:26:57usually we have the county come,

2:26:59you tell us how much is needed to pay a portion

2:27:02of maintaining the stock of social housing.

2:27:05Will there be a request for funding

2:27:07to add new government-built social housing

2:27:13in the city of Guelph at this time?

2:27:15Or what would that process need to look like?

2:27:18Through you, Mayor, I think it'll be more of a picture

2:27:20of what's needed in order to address homelessness and housing.

2:27:25And at this point, I don't think we're ready to say

2:27:29that there will be a specific funding request,

2:27:31perhaps for the shelters,

2:27:33because we are mandated to provide those shelters.

2:27:36And so that's where we have to very much ensure

2:27:39that there is that service being provided.

2:27:41And so that's where I feel

2:27:43that there will be a funding request for shelters.

2:27:48And then when it comes to the other portions

2:27:49of the housing continuum, it might be some recommendations.

2:27:53I hope that helps.

2:27:55I would appreciate that, because I think for us,

2:27:58it would be helpful to see how much we should be putting aside

2:28:01if we want to start closing that gap

2:28:04and reducing that wait list.

2:28:07Yeah, thank you.

2:28:08Thank you, I look forward to seeing that report.

2:28:10And in September, I think you said, or in the fall?

2:28:13Fall of 2023.

2:28:14Okay, sometimes in the fall,

2:28:17because I think that's commentary, I'll leave it for later.

2:28:20Thank you.

2:28:21Thank you, Your Worship.

2:28:22Thank you.

2:28:23Okay, we've got to keep moving here folks.

2:28:24We've got a big agenda

2:28:25and I want to respect other councilors' time.

2:28:27So, O'Rourke and then Alt please.

2:28:31Thank you, Margarit.

2:28:32I have one on housing,

2:28:32the piggyback on Councillor Goller.

2:28:34And then I have a question about childcare.

2:28:36So through you to Ms. Artuso,

2:28:39on June the 1st, we had a joint city and county council meeting

2:28:43about ambience service.

2:28:45And we had a really good picture of the state of the facilities,

2:28:48potential funding that'll be needed,

2:28:50some of the challenges and offload delays.

2:28:51And it was a really clear picture of what is needed

2:28:54in each of the individual towns and townships in the county.

2:28:58And so I don't get that same sense of what is needed in Guelph

2:29:03in terms of housing from the presentation.

2:29:06I'm seeing high level stuff, which I appreciate.

2:29:08And I've seen really, really granular stuff before as well.

2:29:12But is there a document that shows

2:29:16this is how much is currently being provided in Guelph?

2:29:20And are there recommendations?

2:29:21So at that meeting on June 1st, our Chief of Paramedics,

2:29:26they have a plan for how we move forward to correct that,

2:29:29right, as the service provider.

2:29:31So will the county in the fall report

2:29:34come and say to the city of Guelph, like here are real gaps,

2:29:36like here's the big picture, here are the gaps,

2:29:39and here's how we're in it together.

2:29:40Is that what we're gonna see in the fall?

2:29:43You may go through to Councillor O'Rourke.

2:29:45Yes, we can do that.

2:29:47The plans really talk about the key performance indicators

2:29:51and the future directions that we do have.

2:29:56But I hear what you're saying,

2:29:57and we can definitely do something like that in the fall.

2:30:00So I appreciate that.

2:30:01Thank you.

2:30:02Through you Mayor Guthrie,

2:30:03because Councillor Gullar asked about my questions.

2:30:05I mean, I think we hear the urgency in the community.

2:30:07We hear the urgency around the horseshoe on housing.

2:30:10So we'll read the June report

2:30:11and we'll be happy to see you in the fall.

2:30:14My next question is about childcare.

2:30:16Wow, they really need a different acronym.

2:30:19But what can residents in Guelph expect to see

2:30:22with that new Canada-wide early learning childcare system

2:30:26or the $10 a day?

2:30:27Will we see more spaces?

2:30:28We've talked a lot about that coming out of COVID,

2:30:31availability of childcare.

2:30:32So what will that look like in Guelph a year,

2:30:35three years, five years from now?

2:30:41Through you, Mr. Mayor.

2:30:43So the County of Wellington and City of Guelph

2:30:47have received an allocation,

2:30:48as Luisa mentioned, of just over 1,700 new childcare spaces.

2:30:54And these are to be created,

2:30:58these targets have been set for our area

2:31:00to be created up to 2026.

2:31:05So while we are awaiting some final guidelines

2:31:09from the province related to the startup rounds

2:31:12that will be associated with this space creation

2:31:15made available to new childcare providers

2:31:19that are interested in expanding or opening such spaces,

2:31:25we will, I am anticipating that there will be growth,

2:31:30there'll be some concentration of growth

2:31:31within the City of Guelph.

2:31:33But that will be a fair application process

2:31:37and so it will remain somewhat to be seen

2:31:40the interest in developing those spaces

2:31:42both in the City and in the County.

2:31:45But we will be making, of course, every effort

2:31:47to achieve those targets.

2:31:49Thank you.

2:31:50Mayor Guthrie, just a final question through you.

2:31:54Both on housing and on childcare,

2:31:58how are those targets keeping pace

2:32:00with the population growth that we're experiencing

2:32:03that's gonna be even more accelerated now in the 10 years?

2:32:05So how do you figure that out?

2:32:14Through you, Mr. Mayor.

2:32:16The province has actually set a access ratio goal

2:32:22of 37% for childcare.

2:32:25In our planning documents that we are currently creating

2:32:29that will support potential operators

2:32:32in applying to enter the system

2:32:36and access these startup grants.

2:32:39We have included some population projections.

2:32:41So we are aware of various of the County

2:32:44where we are anticipating significant growth

2:32:49and we'll make every effort to support providers

2:32:53in opening in those areas.

2:32:58It's a challenge.

2:33:03From the housing perspective side of it,

2:33:05go ahead, does anyone know about that?

2:33:08Through you, Mayor Guthrie to Councillor O'Rourke.

2:33:12Sorry.

2:33:13Yes, so a lot of the work that we're doing

2:33:18in terms of maintaining the buildings

2:33:19and everything like that,

2:33:20we're keeping up with it that way.

2:33:21We are delivering and developing the provincial monies

2:33:27that we get provincial and federal dollars

2:33:29for affordable housing through the different programs.

2:33:33But the city of Guelph does have an affordable housing strategy

2:33:37and a financial incentives program

2:33:40around affordable housing,

2:33:41which I know is in the process of being updated,

2:33:44which is an important document to help support that work

2:33:48because it talks about Guelph specifically

2:33:52on the affordable housing front

2:33:54and helps keep track of that,

2:33:56keep that affordable housing on track

2:33:58because ultimately what happens with social housing today

2:34:03is social housing is realistically

2:34:06built form affordable housing with layered subsidy on top.

2:34:11Those affordable housing projects have to be getting built.

2:34:16The federal and provincial governments

2:34:17are coming to the table with different pots of money,

2:34:19with different debts, sorry, different debts,

2:34:23with different debt finance programs

2:34:25like the Co-investment Fund to support projects

2:34:28that are being built,

2:34:29but all levels of government have to come to the table

2:34:32and that is why the affordable housing strategy

2:34:34is really important.

2:34:36Bringing in additional funding

2:34:38such as the Canada and Ontario Housing Benefit

2:34:40helps with the subsidy support for individuals.

2:34:47Sorry, just this past year,

2:34:49we brought on an additional 180 rent supplements

2:34:56to the Canada and Ontario Housing Benefit

2:34:59and those are the projects that we need to do in connection

2:35:04with affordable built form housing in the community.

2:35:07So again, so it's a layered approach.

2:35:12It takes all different groups to kind of keep up

2:35:14with that work and keep up with that growth of the population.

2:35:21Thank you.

2:35:22Alt, then Klaus and then Kate.

2:35:24Thank you very much Ms. Artuso

2:35:27and the staff that are present

2:35:29as well as the other members of the county staff

2:35:33and political body for being here.

2:35:36This is actually being close to a workshop in my mind

2:35:39as I've learned a lot,

2:35:41but it has laying out some questions for me.

2:35:45I'm gonna start, I hope with the easy one.

2:35:48A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away,

2:35:51many of these programs were promised to be revenue neutral.

2:35:55How far away from revenue neutral are we now?

2:36:00You Mr. Mayor, all three, like all-

2:36:04I was like, I believe it was supposed to be revenue neutral

2:36:07that we would be getting contributions from the province

2:36:10that would be comparable to what the province put into housing

2:36:15in approximately 1997 and would of course change over the years

2:36:22with inflation, et cetera.

2:36:23So specific to housing, I'll let Mark take this one.

2:36:27Through you, Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Halt.

2:36:31If I think I understand the question.

2:36:35So over time, a number of the programs had mortgages

2:36:39associated with the projects,

2:36:40and correct me if I'm wrong with this,

2:36:44but Pat Devolution, a lot of those projects had mortgages.

2:36:49Over time, those mortgages would expire,

2:36:52which would change the relationship.

2:36:53We call that end of mortgages for the provincially reform

2:36:58projects and that helps to put new social housing funding

2:37:04that was originally going into mortgages back into the system

2:37:08that can help projects either help to fund their capital costs

2:37:15in the buildings, but could also help to expand the system

2:37:20as well once those mortgage savings were starting to be received.

2:37:23So, sorry, Mayor Guthrie, is that where you were speaking to?

2:37:28No, but I learned something new.

2:37:30So thank you.

2:37:31No, what I was really looking at was provincially,

2:37:33I was chair of the housing authority at that point.

2:37:36And one of my concerns is that when the whole program

2:37:40was transferred to the county,

2:37:42there was going to be revenue neutral.

2:37:44In other words, it wasn't going to cost the county

2:37:46or the city anything at all.

2:37:48We would accrue as much as we would lose,

2:37:51but from the graphs that I saw,

2:37:53that doesn't seem to have been the case.

2:37:59They're not up there now.

2:38:00Okay, through you, Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Halt.

2:38:05I wasn't a part of devolution at the time,

2:38:10but I'm not sure if that had to do with the offsetting

2:38:15other programs that went up to the province

2:38:17and came down from the province over offsetting.

2:38:20So I couldn't speak to that number.

2:38:22My apologies.

2:38:23That's fine.

2:38:24I appreciate the comment with regards to triage.

2:38:28One of the things that struck me is you made mention

2:38:31of $18 million for housing or too so.

2:38:34That's for the 135 units.

2:38:41Through you, Mayor Guthrie.

2:38:42That's for the hundred, sorry, for the 135 units

2:38:44plus monies that are in the reserve for future developments.

2:38:48So am I correct to assume that to address the housing

2:38:53concerns that we have countywide,

2:38:55we're looking at a lot of money, well beyond $18 million.

2:39:02Do you Mr. Mayor, that's correct.

2:39:05That's all I needed to know.

2:39:06Thank you.

2:39:08Okay, Councillor Fawcett and Kate and now Boosentil.

2:39:13Yes, through you Mr. Mayor, thank you

2:39:16to the county for the presentation.

2:39:17I appreciate it's a very complex issue

2:39:19and I'm learning a lot.

2:39:22I have two questions and these might be takeaways

2:39:24because they're related to data.

2:39:26So I'm curious about the data.

2:39:29I just looked at the housing services performance measures

2:39:33for 2022 and the numbers.

2:39:34And I wonder if we have available any data about the need.

2:39:41I've just looked at a few different housing assessment tools

2:39:44and I appreciate the continuum of,

2:39:47I think housing continuum is the correct language.

2:39:50I appreciate that it's complex to identify.

2:39:53But I was just curious if that's something

2:39:55that is accessible.

2:40:00Through you, Mayor Guthrie, to Councillor Klosson.

2:40:04On the county's website, so wellington.ca,

2:40:10slash housing, on our housing services page,

2:40:12there's a button at the top of the page

2:40:15that's called policies and planning.

2:40:18And in there we have copies of our housing and homelessness

2:40:21plan, our annual reports against the housing

2:40:22and homelessness plan, all the data around

2:40:26our homelessness initiatives and everything like that.

2:40:29So a lot of that need data is can be found there

2:40:34in the housing and homelessness plan

2:40:35and the other documents that are in that part of our portal.

2:40:40Also noting that our housing and homelessness plan

2:40:43was completed in 2019.

2:40:45So the information there is slightly at a date,

2:40:49but we do it every five years.

2:40:51So that is up for being renewed

2:40:54and will be in place for 2025

2:40:57and go through approvals at the end of 2024.

2:41:02Okay, then perhaps my next question

2:41:04might be similarly answered.

2:41:06I just had a question with regard to the increases

2:41:08in the availability of full-time spaces

2:41:11for childcare from previous years.

2:41:14Is there data that shows if there's an increase

2:41:17against the need or vice versa?

2:41:20And maybe that's found in the same policy section

2:41:23on the website?

2:41:28Through you, Mr. Mayor.

2:41:31That information can actually be found

2:41:33in our recent childcare and early years service system plan

2:41:39which has recently been approved by council

2:41:42and is currently undergoing accessibility remediation

2:41:48and will be available soon.

2:41:51Okay, thank you.

2:41:54And now I am going to Kate and then Bustel.

2:42:02Through you to the Wellington County staff.

2:42:04I just have a couple of questions about accessibility.

2:42:08Do you know what our unmet need is

2:42:10for fully wheelchair accessible low-income housing?

2:42:13Like what is the length of our wait list?

2:42:21Through you, Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Kannon.

2:42:24I don't have those numbers on hand.

2:42:27Apologies.

2:42:28We do have the number

2:42:30within our centralized waiting list system,

2:42:32but I don't have those on hand.

2:42:35Thank you.

2:42:36Is there a way to grab this from you later?

2:42:40Through you, Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Kannon.

2:42:43Yeah, we can definitely make sure

2:42:44that those are passed along.

2:42:46Thank you.

2:42:48Through you, Mayor.

2:42:49So do you have any plans for accessible housing

2:42:52for people who have severe environmental disabilities

2:42:55like multiple chemical sensitivity?

2:42:57I know that they require different build structures

2:43:00than typically get used in housing.

2:43:13Thank you, through you, Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Kannon.

2:43:16We don't have anything at this time.

2:43:18We do look at the materials that we're using

2:43:21as we're creating,

2:43:22but nothing that has been set specifically

2:43:25for that accessibility demographic at this time.

2:43:29Thank you.

2:43:30And last couple of questions through the Mayor.

2:43:33So for the ones that currently exist

2:43:36in terms of accessibility,

2:43:37do we ensure that we're using unscented products

2:43:41for cleaning the common areas

2:43:43for housing units that have those

2:43:46in shelters?

2:43:46Are we making sure that everything is unscented?

2:43:53Through you, Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Kannon.

2:43:55I know that we pay particular attention to it

2:44:00when there's been a,

2:44:05when someone has brought forward a concern about a sense

2:44:07and we definitely switched to unscented at that time.

2:44:10And if I know we've started to switch to unscented

2:44:13through the different products that we use,

2:44:16I can only really speak to the products though

2:44:19that the county itself uses in our buildings.

2:44:22We have a number of housing providers

2:44:25and shelter providers and health providers

2:44:27that we work with that we fund

2:44:29that would all have different,

2:44:32would have different approaches to sense.

2:44:36I hope that's helpful.

2:44:38Yes, it is.

2:44:39Is there a way to have that kind of pushed forward

2:44:43as they're both an environmentally safe option

2:44:48and help towards emissions goals

2:44:52as well as make sure that certain people

2:44:55who might be avoiding the shelter system and sleeping rough

2:44:58because they know it's not safe for them.

2:45:00A lot of people don't feel like they can ask

2:45:02for those accommodations.

2:45:04Is there a way to just make them blanket accessible?

2:45:13Thank you, through you, Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Kannon.

2:45:16Yes, we can definitely bring those forward

2:45:18to our shelter partners if that's a identified need.

2:45:23And if there's people that are looking

2:45:27to bring forward concerns to a partner

2:45:32or they feel like they can't,

2:45:34they can always come bring those concerns to the county

2:45:38and we can bring those things up forward

2:45:40to our community partners in a way

2:45:42that protects their privacy.

2:45:44Great, thank you very much.

2:45:45If they have concerns.

2:45:47Perfect, thank you.

2:45:50Thank you, Councillor Bouschill.

2:45:52Yes, thank you.

2:45:53And through the mayor, welcome, Ms. Artuso.

2:45:56Thank you for the presentation.

2:45:57That was great.

2:45:58Two very quick questions.

2:46:00The first one is I have been following

2:46:02the employment transformation

2:46:04and it's very linked to employment supports

2:46:07and addressing the barriers to employment

2:46:10and the Ontario Works caseload.

2:46:13My question is where did you end up?

2:46:17The ability to fund and address employment barriers

2:46:20for the caseload for Ontario Works

2:46:22and then I have a very quick housing question.

2:46:27So through you, Mr. Mayor, to Councillor Bouschill,

2:46:33most of the core, what I would call core employment functions

2:46:38that are currently options to deliver within Ontario Works

2:46:42will no longer be there for our staff

2:46:46as of January of 2024.

2:46:50We will have, we are working with the province

2:46:52to understand our ability to use funding

2:46:55to provide what are deemed participant supports.

2:46:59These can be used to help someone

2:47:04in other aspects of their life.

2:47:05So it could be, for example,

2:47:08funding to help with transportation costs.

2:47:11We have agreements to provide low-cost counseling

2:47:14through Compass, one of our community partners

2:47:17to provide some therapeutic counseling

2:47:19when we can't access in a timely way through here 24-7.

2:47:25It could be some funding to provide childcare costs

2:47:30while they participate in a program.

2:47:32However, the expectation will be on the employment

2:47:37Ontario system to be able to provide

2:47:40more traditional employment support,

2:47:42such as any training dollars, anything linked to

2:47:47starting a job.

2:47:49Sometimes you were able to help people with funding,

2:47:51for example, for clothing or for some initial start-up costs.

2:47:57We were having conversations with Circle

2:47:59about how that works and with our community partners,

2:48:02such as Second Chance and Luther Wood

2:48:04and Anishinaabe Beck out, Rachie and Guelph.

2:48:07To make sure we're clear about who can pay for what.

2:48:12But I wanna be clear with folks

2:48:14that we are seeing a 22% reduction

2:48:18in our administrative funding

2:48:19and it will definitely impact staff that we have

2:48:23that are able to support folks in the area of employment,

2:48:25as well as the actual participant benefits

2:48:31that are available to us.

2:48:34Thank you and that local context is really important

2:48:37in connecting there.

2:48:38And then my last question is around housing.

2:48:42Just in the update of the plans,

2:48:45I have a lot of conversations with refugee sponsors,

2:48:48immigrant services and so on about affordable

2:48:51not-for-profit housing for larger families

2:48:56that we are not able to meet in the type of housing

2:49:01for families.

2:49:02Can you speak to that or how that will be attended to

2:49:06maybe in the next iteration of the plans

2:49:08and those conversations?

2:49:11Thank you through you, Mayor Guthrie,

2:49:13to Councillor Boussutil.

2:49:16Sorry, I hope I get that right.

2:49:19Yes, we've definitely noticed the growing size

2:49:25of some families in the community.

2:49:28For housing services specifically,

2:49:29our county-owned buildings,

2:49:31we've been looking at opportunities where we have,

2:49:33we have a number of fully detached homes

2:49:35throughout the community in Guelph specifically.

2:49:38And we've looked at opportunities where we can expand,

2:49:42where safe and appropriate into like basements

2:49:45to gain more bedrooms and more bathrooms and units

2:49:48to make them bigger for some of the larger families

2:49:50that we're seeing in the community

2:49:53that are in need of the programs.

2:49:55And we definitely, we have members,

2:49:59numerous members on our,

2:50:01in social services on our management team.

2:50:05We have policy analysts on the local integration

2:50:08partnership and the immigrant services community tables

2:50:18that have been bringing those forward.

2:50:19And we're certainly seeing those.

2:50:22I think when we're looking to prioritize

2:50:25future affordable housing builds,

2:50:29there is opportunities to kind of highlight

2:50:30some of that needs to different proponents

2:50:32that are coming forward with affordable housing ideas

2:50:36and identifying that as a need for sure.

2:50:39And that will likely be something that would be seen

2:50:42in future need and demand studies through our,

2:50:44like I said, our housing and homelessness plan update.

2:50:48Thank you very much.

2:50:52Great, thank you.

2:50:54I have no more questions from anybody.

2:50:56And so I will just leave it at that

2:51:01other than to say, on behalf of council and community here,

2:51:05thank you very much for the work that you do.

2:51:08Just want to make sure I'm seeing everybody, all the staff

2:51:11and thank you for coming and answering all of our questions.

2:51:15I would imagine just being the first time

2:51:17there's like lots of these new questions that are coming out.

2:51:20So they've been pent up, you know,

2:51:22and we want to ask these questions.

2:51:23So thank you for taking the time

2:51:26and looking forward to whenever the next times are

2:51:29and all the reports, you know, fall-ish 2023,

2:51:32we'll hold you to a date about some of this other stuff

2:51:35that's coming forward as well.

2:51:37And oh, you know what?

2:51:39I actually do have one quick question.

2:51:41I'm sorry.

2:51:42And maybe it's just a nod at the head to both you

2:51:44and to Colleen Clark-Busch or WCAO.

2:51:47So we, or maybe it's to you deputy homes is that

2:51:54the update of our affordable housing strategy

2:51:58is it in conjunction with the county?

2:52:00Like you guys are working together on that, right?

2:52:03Yes, okay.

2:52:04Heads are not in good.

2:52:06Just didn't want to make that an isolation, so that's good.

2:52:09So thank you very, very much again

2:52:10and to the warden, to the chair and to the CAO as well.

2:52:14Really appreciate your presence here today.

2:52:16Thank you.

2:52:17And with that then, I'm just looking for a recommendation

2:52:21just to receive the information.

2:52:22So Boussatil is good and a goer.

2:52:26Thank you as a seconder.

2:52:27Anything further on that?

2:52:30All right, don't hear or see anything.

2:52:31So I'll call the vote.

2:52:32Anyone against the receiving of this information?

2:52:36Again, I don't see or hear anybody.

2:52:37So that's unanimous vote of council.

2:52:40So thank you very much.

2:52:43Just councillor Alton said to leave the meeting early today.

2:52:47Has regrets for the rest of the meeting.

2:52:50Okay, we're going to,

2:52:52it looks like we were going to try to have a hard,

2:52:56kind of a hard stop at five o'clock.

2:52:59That's kind of what we were all kind of banking on.

2:53:02Our clerk has indicated that his,

2:53:07reamble presentation in regards to the governance review

2:53:09is about, I think about five to seven minutes or so.

2:53:12So I think we will have enough time

2:53:14to go through this matter before we look to have a stop.

2:53:20And so I'll just ask our clerk to come up

2:53:23and give the presentation for the governance review.

2:53:37Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2:53:39Just conferring with our CAO on a couple of things.

2:53:45Good afternoon, Chair Guthrie,

2:53:47as chair of the governance committee

2:53:49and members of city council.

2:53:50Happy to be here to present

2:53:52the 2023 governance review report.

2:53:55In 2018, the city clerk's office began preparing

2:53:58what are twice per term governance reviews

2:54:02as a means of really collecting

2:54:03kind of several different governance related policy

2:54:07recommendation or updates into one single report.

2:54:10And really what that helps us with is,

2:54:12and we believe it helps you as well,

2:54:14it's to sort of consider holistically these things

2:54:16all in one single package.

2:54:18The 2023 governance review is the fourth

2:54:21of such governance reviews

2:54:22that we've presented to city council since 2018.

2:54:26And it's been really quite frankly,

2:54:27administratively efficient for staff

2:54:30and has certainly provided what we feel

2:54:31as a consistent opportunity for members of council

2:54:34to raise governance related items in one single sitting

2:54:38and potentially also refer matters

2:54:40that happen throughout the off years

2:54:41of those governance reviews

2:54:43to future upcoming sessions such as this.

2:54:46All together, the governance review process

2:54:48has been effective and we do continue

2:54:50to bring it forward in that regard.

2:54:53The 2023 governance review includes updates

2:54:55to seven different policies, procedures and bylaws,

2:54:58response to two of your outstanding resolutions

2:55:00of city council.

2:55:01Many of the policy updates and procedural updates

2:55:05are relatively administrative and routine in nature.

2:55:08And they really do ensure that the city's governance policies

2:55:12continue to reflect best practices in our sector.

2:55:15And while some of these changes seem small,

2:55:17they're really part of the city's broader efforts

2:55:19to ensure our collective progress of our governance system

2:55:24and to ensure that it really remains,

2:55:25and I'll say that quite confidently,

2:55:28it remains as one of the leaders in the municipal sector.

2:55:31I'll highlight a few of the more impactful changes

2:55:33included in the report, but staff are obviously here

2:55:35and available to answer questions you might have.

2:55:37So first off, the procedure bylaw amendments to that bylaw

2:55:41include a four month limit on pulling

2:55:42of an information report from the weekly information items,

2:55:47unless a committee of the whole service area chair

2:55:49or other chair, acknowledging yourself, Mayor Guthrie,

2:55:52agrees to have that report pulled.

2:55:54Another item is delegation authority to myself

2:55:57and my team to make very minor administrative edits

2:56:00to motions that are moved at committee of the whole,

2:56:02things like including a date or a reference to a report,

2:56:05or sometimes where acronyms are sent in to us

2:56:07for accessibility purposes and just better public digestion

2:56:11of the material, we would spell all those acronyms.

2:56:13So we're talking about very routine and minor changes.

2:56:17We're also recommending that all delegate time limits

2:56:19be set at five minutes, including statutory public meetings

2:56:22held under the Planning Act.

2:56:24That ensures a consistency and a familiarity

2:56:26so that everyone coming before council

2:56:28speaks for the same amount of time.

2:56:30The delegation authority bylaw,

2:56:32you'll recall earlier this year council approved

2:56:34administrative changes to the delegation authority bylaw

2:56:36in April, which are April meeting.

2:56:38At that time, no real material changes

2:56:40to existing delegations were made,

2:56:42but through a review process,

2:56:44staff colleagues across the organization

2:56:46came forward with specific delegations

2:56:48that could be amended or added

2:56:51so that they better align with current practices

2:56:53or best practices in the sector.

2:56:56As a result, the report includes additional delegations

2:56:59of authority sought by five different city departments.

2:57:01Some of those staff from those departments

2:57:03are available at today's meeting.

2:57:05And if they're not available today,

2:57:06we can certainly route questions back to them

2:57:08as we head towards the end of the month

2:57:10and your ultimate ratification of this.

2:57:12The final aspect I'll point out is task force governance.

2:57:16In 2021, city council asked the city clerk's office

2:57:19to review and report back on best practices

2:57:22as it relates to task forces

2:57:24that are led by elected officials.

2:57:26Since 2021, however, the rules of the game changed.

2:57:29And we've seen a ruling from the Ontario Superior Court,

2:57:32sorry, that has really altered the legislative landscape

2:57:36that these kinds of bodies operate under.

2:57:40And so as long as they're carrying out the affairs

2:57:42of the municipality, they're deemed effectively

2:57:44to be local boards.

2:57:45And as a result of that, city staff have included

2:57:49a recommendation that requires that the city clerk

2:57:51in consultation with your self mayor, Guthrie,

2:57:54would work collaboratively to ensure

2:57:55that any existing task forces are compliant

2:57:57with those provisions of the act

2:57:59as a result of the changes

2:58:00that came through those court cases.

2:58:03So that brings me to the end of my presentation.

2:58:05I'm gonna take a seat beside Mr. McMahon

2:58:07and we're happy to answer any questions you might have.

2:58:10Great, thank you.

2:58:11Maybe just before questions, maybe I just look for,

2:58:15maybe I'll look to my vice chair, first time vice chair.

2:58:19Would you be able to at least move all the recommendations

2:58:21to get them on the floor?

2:58:22Okay.

2:58:23And then seconded by Councillor Chew.

2:58:25Thank you so much.

2:58:26And then why don't we start with questions only,

2:58:29Councillor Boussantel.

2:58:32Thank you.

2:58:33And through the mayor, just question around the editing,

2:58:36the minor adjustments to minutes and so on.

2:58:39Will it be in italics or something?

2:58:42So when it comes to those minutes come to council,

2:58:44it's clear what that change was.

2:58:47How would we know about the change?

2:58:50So through you, Chair Guthrie,

2:58:51what we would talk about predominantly here

2:58:53is motions that are sent in to staff.

2:58:55So not so much in the minutes,

2:58:56we'd like to catch these type of things

2:58:57before they get minuted.

2:58:59We have a statutory obligation under the legislation

2:59:02to minute your meetings without an order comment.

2:59:05So that won't change that process.

2:59:07That is our obligation to you as council and to the public.

2:59:11But as motions are sent into us,

2:59:13we might offer feedback in advance of it,

2:59:16of it being formally brought up if time permits.

2:59:19If it's in the meeting, obviously we're operating

2:59:21in the moment and having to respond quickly.

2:59:23So you might see a motion come through that references,

2:59:26I'll just refer to AMO.

2:59:27Well, we'll spell out what AMO is

2:59:29when that motion actually comes forward on screen.

2:59:32So.

2:59:33Thanks for the clarification.

2:59:36Great, thank you.

2:59:37Is there any other questions at this time?

2:59:40Okay, Ulrich.

2:59:44Sorry, Mayor Guthrie, are we on the procedural by-law

2:59:45or we're on the whole package?

2:59:47It's all, everything's been moved.

2:59:49Okay.

2:59:50All right, thank you.

2:59:51So through you to click O'Brien.

2:59:55In the municipal act rules for closed meetings

2:59:58in that section,

3:00:00it's two of nine in your red line document.

3:00:03It's 41 of 398 in our agenda.

3:00:07It removes quote management issues identified by auditors

3:00:12as a closed meeting,

3:00:17something that can be enclosed.

3:00:19So I understand that list is not exhaustive,

3:00:23but I am concerned about the removal of that language

3:00:26in the chart because if an external auditor

3:00:29or our internal auditor identified an issue

3:00:32and wanted to speak directly to council, right?

3:00:35And the internal auditor reports directly

3:00:37to the audit committee under which clause would council

3:00:40be able to speak with external or internal auditors

3:00:43on a matter that is not public.

3:00:47Yeah, that's a great question.

3:00:48Thank you, councillor Rorick.

3:00:49I'm through you, Mayor Guthrie.

3:00:51Again, and I think you alluded to it.

3:00:52The list is there by there,

3:00:54on that document is by no means exhaustive.

3:00:56We remove the reference to the internal

3:00:59and external audit functions specifically in that section

3:01:02because the reality is, and you're quite right,

3:01:04the internal auditor or an external auditor

3:01:06ought to have the ability to speak to council

3:01:08through the audit committee on any number

3:01:10of different matters, some of which do qualify

3:01:13to be rightly constituted under a closed meeting of council.

3:01:17So it may be secured to the property

3:01:19where it was originally listed,

3:01:21but it may also be, you know,

3:01:22matters about identifiable individuals

3:01:24in regards to their work with staff

3:01:26in conducting an audit.

3:01:27So we simply removed it from that one section

3:01:30so that it's not explicit that that would be the only place

3:01:34in which the internal auditor could meet with council

3:01:37or committee in a closed session.

3:01:39You're quite right.

3:01:40As long as they're meeting the sections or requirements

3:01:42under section 239, two of the municipal act,

3:01:45then they can meet with council on any number of issues

3:01:47as long as it's within those defined allowances

3:01:50under the act.

3:01:52Thank you.

3:01:53So through you, Margaritari.

3:01:54So that is not a list of,

3:01:55it's not an exhaustive list of what is permitted.

3:01:58It is illustrative.

3:02:00That's correct.

3:02:01Okay.

3:02:01We'll all have a chat with our chair of audit

3:02:03over the course of the month

3:02:04and see if he's cool with that.

3:02:07Second question, same chart.

3:02:09Under personal matters about identifiable individuals,

3:02:13says, quote, members on various boards and committees.

3:02:17So by removing that language,

3:02:19are we no longer discussing the slate

3:02:22of council appointments?

3:02:24Are we no longer discussing that in closed?

3:02:26Is that what that means?

3:02:29Through you, Mr. Mayor to councillor O'Rourke's question.

3:02:31So, the names of individuals that serve on committees

3:02:35is once they've been appointed is a public matter.

3:02:37So if you're discussing about a committee

3:02:39or members on a committee, that's a public matter.

3:02:42What we will continue to include in closed.

3:02:44And again, in the lines of that list,

3:02:45not being seen as exhaustive,

3:02:47but we still will continue to offer council

3:02:49the opportunity to discuss in closed

3:02:52because it does meet those requirements under the act.

3:02:54Are things like the application packages

3:02:57that members might apply for those committees?

3:03:00That is very clearly personal information.

3:03:02It often contains addresses, phone numbers,

3:03:04email addresses and the like.

3:03:06And so that needs to be properly constituted

3:03:08in a closed meeting to protect the personal information

3:03:10of those that have applied for committees.

3:03:13So again, that's removed in that sense only

3:03:16because the names of individuals

3:03:18who serve on committees is public information,

3:03:21but certain nuanced aspects about their personal information

3:03:24is in fact confidential and private

3:03:26and will be treated in the same regard

3:03:27as it has been in the past.

3:03:29Perfect, thank you.

3:03:30That's the clarity I was seeking.

3:03:31And through you, Mr. Mayor, I just have two,

3:03:36one, maybe two more questions.

3:03:37Under the delegation of authority by law,

3:03:41and someone give me an example of why we would need length

3:03:44of contracts to go from five to 10 years.

3:03:46I mean, that's beyond a strat plan.

3:03:49It's beyond the four year, multi-year budget.

3:03:54I just have a concern around that.

3:03:58Why go from five to 10 years?

3:04:00And I'll explain a little bit

3:04:02the other piece that's concerning me.

3:04:04The language in the paragraph says,

3:04:06longer-term agreements support organizations

3:04:08that rely on the city and other funders

3:04:10to offer stability to general operations, et cetera.

3:04:13But our role here in governance is to be stewards

3:04:15for the city and not necessarily

3:04:18to ensure operational stability for someone else.

3:04:21So if somebody can give me an example

3:04:24of what that would look like,

3:04:25it would help me get my head around that.

3:04:26Yeah, I think through you, Mayor Guthrie,

3:04:28to Councillor O'Rourke, that's a specific reference

3:04:31to some of the work that is carried out

3:04:33by DCL, Clark Bush and her team.

3:04:35So maybe I'll let her respond.

3:04:38Sure, through the Mayor to Councillor O'Rourke

3:04:39and thank you for the question.

3:04:40So examples, so our community benefit agreements

3:04:45are generally three to five years.

3:04:46So they fit within the five years

3:04:47where we were looking to change this delegation of authority

3:04:51is for some of those organizations

3:04:52with whom we have agreements.

3:04:53And I'm hesitant to get into too many specifics

3:04:56because I don't want to,

3:04:58so I'm just using specifics off the top of my head.

3:05:01These aren't exact examples that we're negotiating right now.

3:05:04But for example, the Lawn Bulling Club,

3:05:06the Tennis Dome, Salta's Gymnastics,

3:05:09Guelph Youth Music Center,

3:05:10these are organizations where we have agreements

3:05:13and where there would be benefit

3:05:14for the stability of the organization

3:05:16to sometimes in terms of our conversations with them,

3:05:20be able to do those contracts with them

3:05:23for longer than a five year period

3:05:26and to look to the longer term stability

3:05:28for the organization.

3:05:30So it's been identified.

3:05:32Previous histories,

3:05:33we actually have much, much longer term agreements.

3:05:35It's actually much coming down to five was a shortening.

3:05:38And I think, again, I won't name a specific,

3:05:42but I think there's an agreement, for example,

3:05:44that previously was done for somewhere over 30 years.

3:05:47So we're trying to find that balance

3:05:49between not getting too long into agreements,

3:05:51as you've said, where we're locking ourselves in,

3:05:53but giving the stability to an organization

3:05:56where it may be beneficial to be able to enter

3:05:58into a six or seven year agreement.

3:06:01So it was just about giving us that flexibility to do that

3:06:04as we're working with some of these organizations

3:06:06where we do have these existing longterm relationships.

3:06:12Okay.

3:06:14Thank you.

3:06:15And then my last question is on the task forces.

3:06:19Is there a date for the mayor and CEO to come back

3:06:23with an assessment of whether task forces are local boards?

3:06:31So I think the language is as required.

3:06:33So I'm just wondering what the timeline is.

3:06:36Thank you, Councillor Wark.

3:06:38And through you, Mayor Guthrie,

3:06:39I mean, our intent is as soon as possible,

3:06:42recognizing we're heading into the summer months,

3:06:44but in sort of brief preliminary conversations

3:06:47with Mayor Guthrie, and I'll let him

3:06:49add any additional commentary,

3:06:51we're ready to sort of embark on that work

3:06:53and that review sooner than later.

3:06:55And again, I'll defer to either Mayor Guthrie

3:06:58or CAO Stewart if there's any additional comments.

3:07:04Just so people at home can hear me.

3:07:05No, what you just said is exactly as we discussed

3:07:08that as soon as possible.

3:07:10So yeah, we're on the same page.

3:07:14Okay, thank you.

3:07:18And then Councillor Downer had a question

3:07:19and then over to Guller.

3:07:21Thank you.

3:07:22Councillor Wark asked the one about task force,

3:07:25but I have a sort of another one here,

3:07:27which I'm not sort of clear about.

3:07:29So a member of city council can establish a task force

3:07:34that does not qualify as a local board

3:07:36and they're free to do so.

3:07:37Such a body would not be considered a local board

3:07:40if it was not established.

3:07:42Greater point of our city council

3:07:43is not directly connected or controlled by the municipality

3:07:46is not carrying on the affairs of the municipality.

3:07:50So if I set up a task force in my ward on,

3:07:57oh, let's look at the tree situation in word five,

3:08:02and I called it my tree task force.

3:08:06Is that not carrying on?

3:08:08Like what could I possibly be setting up a task force for

3:08:11that I wouldn't be carrying on some issue

3:08:14around the municipality?

3:08:17I mean, I'm not furthering it with staff

3:08:19or bringing forward, like I just so,

3:08:21I'm just sort of, I'm not clear about that.

3:08:23Yeah, and through you, Mayor Guthrie,

3:08:26to Councillor Downer's questions, your question, Councillor.

3:08:28I think it's also a bit of a struggle that we're realizing.

3:08:31So what we're relying on is a court case here

3:08:33from the Ontario Superior Court,

3:08:35which uses the terms, you know,

3:08:37quote, carrying on the affairs of the municipality.

3:08:39That is quite broad in sort of,

3:08:42it's just plain reading of that language.

3:08:45We would be in a position to support members of council

3:08:47if they're embarking on those aspects.

3:08:49It's less about the, I'll call it the nomenclature

3:08:51or the naming of a committee,

3:08:53it's task force or committee or, you know, working group.

3:08:56It's less about what you call it and more about

3:09:00where that body's work might land on the spectrum

3:09:03of quote, unquote, carrying on the affairs

3:09:06of the municipality.

3:09:07So we're ready and prepared to be in sort of lockstep

3:09:10with members of council as they sort of embark

3:09:13on these activities and where needed,

3:09:16could consult with legal staff to support that work as well.

3:09:20It is really, and I use the analogy that sort of the rules

3:09:24change midway through the game in this last,

3:09:27between our last governance review

3:09:29and this governance review.

3:09:30And it literally was quite literally that case,

3:09:32superior court case as a result of a matter in Hamilton

3:09:35that sort of cropped up.

3:09:36And so we're all left in the sector kind of trying

3:09:39to ascertain what a specific body might,

3:09:43where it might land on that spectrum.

3:09:45So it is very challenging.

3:09:46I will acknowledge that as well, Councillor Downer,

3:09:47but suffice to say we can just be ready to support members

3:09:52of council if they're moving through those kinds

3:09:53of exercises or considerations.

3:09:55Okay, I'll think about that.

3:10:03The tree task force.

3:10:04Just sort of this, you know, advisory committees

3:10:09are now local boards issues.

3:10:13And if they have subcommittees or working groups,

3:10:19that all has to be.

3:10:21So it's not posted on our web.

3:10:23Local boards don't post their agendas on our website.

3:10:27They post them probably on their own,

3:10:29like the library or the DGBA, right?

3:10:31So the DGBA is a local board, right?

3:10:34Yes, that's correct.

3:10:35So any subcommittee of the DGBA should be doing that, right?

3:10:40Is that posting them on there?

3:10:43Through you, Mr. Mayor.

3:10:44Yes, absolutely.

3:10:45I mean, I think you know our default in the clerk's office

3:10:47is to open and transparent at all times.

3:10:51We're in a position to really well support

3:10:53some of the local boards in the community and are there.

3:10:56And we've, in fact, you know,

3:10:57because we're so early into this term still relatively speaking,

3:11:01you know, over the last course of the last six to eight months,

3:11:03we've worked pretty closely with some of those local boards

3:11:05to offer training, to offer support,

3:11:08to offer best practices and tips.

3:11:11We've done that with the DGBA,

3:11:12I believe with the Guelph Public Library Board.

3:11:16So we're able to do that, but yes,

3:11:19the default is to open and transparent by nature.

3:11:21The fact that the act states that these are local boards

3:11:25and by nature of that,

3:11:26they're required to have minutes and agendas posted

3:11:28in a relatively prompt time leading up to a meeting

3:11:31and following a meeting.

3:11:33Do all our advisory committees have their minutes

3:11:36are up to date and current on our website?

3:11:38I remember recently looking for, I can't even remember which one,

3:11:41but there was no minutes posted for like a couple of years.

3:11:47Through you, Mayor Guthrie, I will say yes.

3:11:50They certainly should be.

3:11:52The reality is resourcing the city's advisory committees

3:11:56can be a challenge.

3:11:57So we've got very dedicated and competent staff

3:12:00that serve as what we call staff liaisons for these committees.

3:12:02They do great work.

3:12:04They in effect act as extensions of the city clerk's office.

3:12:07When it comes to supporting the work of those committees

3:12:09from a legislative standpoint,

3:12:10they offer subject matter expertise

3:12:13that quite frankly, the team in the city clerk's office

3:12:16can't provide that level of subject matter expertise

3:12:18on whatever it is that they're formed to sort of engage upon.

3:12:23We offer that legislative expertise.

3:12:25So we're there in a position to support those staff liaisons,

3:12:29but we're exploring through discussions with the executive team

3:12:31how the city clerk's office can be a little bit more engaged

3:12:34in some of those groups.

3:12:36And that's certainly part of our work,

3:12:39looking forward to this term, your upcoming strategic plan,

3:12:42your upcoming budget deliberations, et cetera.

3:12:45So we feel we've made some really good interim

3:12:47and sort of iterative steps

3:12:49to be able to better support some of those advisory committees.

3:12:52So we think that's been beneficial.

3:12:55And the feedback we've received from those staff liaisons,

3:12:57and I think I speak on behalf of the executive team,

3:12:59from members of the executive team,

3:13:00is that that's a positive insertion for us

3:13:05as the city clerk's office to do that.

3:13:08Thank you.

3:13:10Great, just before I go to Councillor Gower,

3:13:11I just want to make sure I respect,

3:13:12I can see some of the delegations coming

3:13:15for the next agenda item.

3:13:17So I just want to, and some of you might have just walked in.

3:13:19So just so you know, like after this item is done,

3:13:23we are taking a heartbreak.

3:13:24Okay, so probably, you know,

3:13:28I got imagined like sort of like 530, 535,

3:13:31something like that,

3:13:32what might be sort of the starting time.

3:13:34So I just wanted to make sure I respected you.

3:13:36If you're like, oh, I wouldn't mind going

3:13:37and grab something to eat or come back, whatever,

3:13:39that you knew in advance and not kind of waited and waited.

3:13:42And then you didn't know.

3:13:43Okay, so I just wanted to make sure you knew that.

3:13:46So I have two more, Councillor Gower and then Buschichel.

3:13:49Thank you and through your worship.

3:13:51Mr. O'Brien, with regards to the change

3:13:54to the noise by like exemption,

3:13:58whereas before it said that the deputy CEO

3:14:01could give exempts to events

3:14:05that were going to be making loud noises

3:14:09and we had to make post notice about it.

3:14:11Now it says we may post the notice about it.

3:14:14Can I understand the rationale

3:14:15for not telling our community members

3:14:17that we have given an exemption

3:14:18and there's going to be an overly loud event

3:14:21that would contravene our noise regulations?

3:14:26Thank you, Councillor Gower and through you Mayor Guthrie.

3:14:30This is something that I think we can report back

3:14:31at the end of the month.

3:14:32But if I remember correctly, Councillor Gower,

3:14:34the specific question you're asking about around May

3:14:37is more about the nuances of where we post it.

3:14:40So for example, previously, delegations,

3:14:44we were able to post in at one point in time,

3:14:46it was a daily newspaper in the city.

3:14:49That's no longer an option for us.

3:14:50So the May is more about flexibility of in print,

3:14:54but also perhaps online.

3:14:56So, but again, that's my current assumption,

3:14:59but I think we can work back

3:15:00or again, I'll defer to DCO Clark Bush.

3:15:03Yeah, and through Mayor Guthrie to Councillor Gower,

3:15:05we can definitely get back

3:15:06and I'll follow up with Mr. Godfrey on that.

3:15:09But I think part of the challenge is the way

3:15:11that we were reporting was often actually missed

3:15:13by members of the public.

3:15:14And so it actually wasn't a helpful process.

3:15:17And so it's about having that discretion

3:15:19to look at what the noise by-law exemption is,

3:15:21determine how we need to, if we do need to report it

3:15:24and who we need to report it to,

3:15:25rather than being constrained

3:15:27to a very specific way of reporting.

3:15:29We'll do it on a case-by-case basis

3:15:31and do what makes the most sense

3:15:32in terms of the circumstances of the noise

3:15:35that is being exempted.

3:15:36Okay, okay, thank you.

3:15:38I will follow up with you.

3:15:40I have concerns that my constituents

3:15:43that live in the downtown experience

3:15:46many more loud events than the rest of the city.

3:15:50So it would be good to be clear about,

3:15:53we will tell people about it,

3:15:54but it's gonna be on the website, on Twitter,

3:15:56or whatever that form is.

3:15:58Thank you, Your Worship.

3:16:00Thank you, and then over to Councillor Prostul.

3:16:02Thank you, and through the Mayor.

3:16:04I just wanted to echo Councillor O'Rourke's

3:16:07kind of 10 years delegated authority.

3:16:09That was something that I highlighted

3:16:12as well as a bit of a concern.

3:16:16But I do wanna acknowledge Councillor Downer

3:16:19talked about task force and so on.

3:16:21And I wanted to thank the clerk's office

3:16:23for meeting with the mayor and I on May 29th to discuss this

3:16:27because I asked the same thing.

3:16:28Well, I'm gonna set up a task force then.

3:16:31But I was going to raise this and I will raise this.

3:16:34Yeah, it's about trees.

3:16:36In the engagement item later in the agenda,

3:16:38because there's two questions that I had

3:16:40and one is on page seven,

3:16:42in the engagement continuum,

3:16:44it talks about engagement staff, project managers,

3:16:47community members and elected officials in this engagement.

3:16:51And it feels like this fine balance of,

3:16:54that question, are you continuing or furthering

3:16:56the business of city council?

3:16:58And what had or how do, is it a working group?

3:17:01Am I a task force?

3:17:02Like how do we meet that continuum

3:17:06and still walk that fine line kind of thing?

3:17:10So that was a question that I had.

3:17:12The question actually is,

3:17:14will the clerk's office work with that team

3:17:17to ensure that we don't cross that line,

3:17:20whatever it looks like and we call ourselves,

3:17:22whatever we need to be.

3:17:24And through you, Mayor Guthrie,

3:17:25to Councillor Boussette, absolutely we will.

3:17:28Our challenge again is we kind of need to see this bear out.

3:17:32Like we sort of need to observe and watch

3:17:34how this court decision is interpreted

3:17:37in hopefully other municipalities

3:17:39if there's those that are sort of running up against this.

3:17:42But we'll continue to monitor that.

3:17:43We do offer that type of support and advice

3:17:46and guidance to all city departments,

3:17:48including our community engagement colleagues.

3:17:50So we'll be in lockstep with them as they move through

3:17:53those things and they know that they can reach out

3:17:54to us as well.

3:17:56Thank you.

3:17:56And I know we're going through the review

3:17:58of all our committees, our advisory committees

3:18:01and so on, which, so this is timely.

3:18:03And just finally through the mayor,

3:18:05when it comes to the recommendations,

3:18:07I'd like to separate item number one.

3:18:10Yep, no problem.

3:18:13What I'll do then is, oh, I'm sorry, I got one more.

3:18:15Councillor Caron and then I'll go to the vote.

3:18:17Yep, Councillor Caron over to you.

3:18:19Do you don't want to set up your own task force

3:18:21on trees, do you?

3:18:22Well, as a matter of fact,

3:18:26I'm changing the conversation a little bit

3:18:29to a different section of the report, if that's okay.

3:18:33And that is a section, hold on, I've got it on another screen.

3:18:38On page 14 section,

3:18:43just scroll back, 4.10,

3:18:46or 4.10.

3:18:49And then we have two, two new clauses there, H,

3:18:54which is, as a best practice,

3:18:57council may choose to move and second staff recommendations

3:19:00prior to any motions from members of council.

3:19:02So I had a question on that,

3:19:04just because it is listed as a best practice,

3:19:10what is the reasoning behind that?

3:19:13I'm not in opposition to it,

3:19:14it's just nowhere else in the governance report

3:19:18do I see as a best practice as the introduction.

3:19:22Is that considered a best practice?

3:19:24Is there evidence?

3:19:25Is that from AMCTO?

3:19:28Where is it a best practice from?

3:19:31That's a great question.

3:19:32Thank you, Councillor Caron.

3:19:33And through you, Mayor Guthrie.

3:19:35The rationale behind that change is, again,

3:19:39and I think council will have heard me talk about

3:19:41sort of the quote unquote bouncing ball.

3:19:43So the benefit of moving a staff recommendation,

3:19:46that does not presuppose that,

3:19:48I'll say this guardably as I look over at you too,

3:19:50that staff always have the best recommendation.

3:19:52Council may have very valid approaches

3:19:54and really good constituent input

3:19:56that informs an alternative approach.

3:19:59What this talks about is,

3:20:00staff makes a recommendation, Councillor Caron,

3:20:03and then that recommendation is what's included on an agenda.

3:20:06So if that is moved first,

3:20:08and then amended by a council motion,

3:20:12then the minutes then show that the history or the pathway

3:20:16and the lineage of that motion, right?

3:20:18Versus if something is on an agenda

3:20:20as a staff recommendation and a member of council,

3:20:23which again, remains your right as a member of council,

3:20:25if you move something in the alternative

3:20:28to a staff recommendation before that recommendation

3:20:31is moved, we may have someone look back

3:20:3310 years, 15, 20 years from now and say, wait a minute,

3:20:36I saw a staff recommendation on the agenda,

3:20:37but there's in the minutes,

3:20:38it shows an alternative approach.

3:20:40So the best practice is really just to sort of provide

3:20:44as clear a history of the decision.

3:20:46So staff recommendation moved,

3:20:48council had an alternative approach,

3:20:50an amendment was moved, the motion was duly amended,

3:20:53and then council carried on as they saw fit

3:20:55in their decision making.

3:20:58Does that answer your question, Councillor Caron?

3:20:59It does address it, yeah.

3:21:00And I'm okay with that.

3:21:02That tends to be what we do.

3:21:04We sometimes don't do that,

3:21:06but I can certainly understand why that record keeping

3:21:10is an important layering.

3:21:12So I'm okay with that addition.

3:21:16The next clause, clause I,

3:21:19and I'm sorry I didn't get, you know,

3:21:22send these questions ahead of time.

3:21:24It's something that's just kind of been percolating for me.

3:21:29I guess what I'm asking,

3:21:31and I may have an amendment here,

3:21:34is, and I can see why this clause has been added.

3:21:36I know we had a situation last year.

3:21:40Don't wanna bring up the reason for that situation,

3:21:43where we did have an amendment made

3:21:45where the minutes didn't reflect the amendment

3:21:47that was on, or the motion that was on the screen.

3:21:50And so I understand why this is added.

3:21:53So we wanna give the clerk some discretion

3:21:56to make our motions clearer in the public record.

3:22:03But I do have some concern about it being occurring

3:22:09prior to, during, or following the adjournment of a meeting.

3:22:14And it does give authority to the clerk at their discretion

3:22:19to make those administrative amendments

3:22:20without the mover or the seconder or the mayor

3:22:24having an opportunity to agree with those.

3:22:28We would have to confirm it at the minutes.

3:22:32And I just, I have some concerns about that

3:22:37because I believe that council should own its motions.

3:22:41The mover and the seconder should always own their motion.

3:22:45The clerk, you know, with all due respect,

3:22:49doesn't own the motion.

3:22:51So I think I do have an amendment then.

3:22:55I would like that to word,

3:22:56the clerk at their discretion may suggest

3:22:59administrative edits to motions and amendments

3:23:03rather than to make them.

3:23:04I think that the mover and the seconder of a motion

3:23:08should have the opportunity to own the motions

3:23:11that they make.

3:23:12And we do respect the role of the clerk and his team

3:23:18to suggest edits, administrative and otherwise.

3:23:23But I think that the mover and the seconder

3:23:26should ultimately decide whether or not

3:23:28those administrative amendments do accurately reflect

3:23:34the intent of the motion, the motion and do reflect

3:23:41the intent of the mover.

3:23:43So if I could just,

3:23:46I'm going to swap out the word make administrative amendments

3:23:48to suggest administrative edits.

3:23:53Let me just see if there's a seconder for that first.

3:23:55Okay.

3:23:56So I got a Rourke.

3:23:58So that's fine.

3:23:59Then it's on the floor then.

3:24:01And any questions on that amendment before?

3:24:06So I only, okay.

3:24:07It doesn't look like there's any questions.

3:24:08I have only one question

3:24:10because I'm actually, I'm not opposed to it at all.

3:24:13But just from a process point of view,

3:24:15like in the moment,

3:24:16you often will sometimes make suggestions

3:24:19or actually any of us can,

3:24:21we all kind of work together sometimes

3:24:22or a staff will make a suggestion.

3:24:25Will that require you then or any clerks

3:24:30to have to pause, make sure it's written out

3:24:36with the included suggestions

3:24:38before it goes up on the screen?

3:24:40Like I'm just trying to figure out,

3:24:43sometimes they are as minor as,

3:24:46oh shoot, that's a,

3:24:48that motion said 2022 by accident

3:24:50when it's supposed to say 2023.

3:24:53Do we all then have to pause our meeting,

3:24:56wait for that to be changed on the screen,

3:24:58have it go up on the screen?

3:25:00Is that how you are going to view this amendment

3:25:03by Councillor Caron?

3:25:04I know she's shaking her head,

3:25:05which I'm with you Councillor Caron.

3:25:07That's not my intent.

3:25:09Yeah, no, I just want to make sure

3:25:10from an actual workflow process in the moment thing

3:25:14that our clerks are understanding the intent

3:25:16behind the word suggestion.

3:25:18Yeah, and through you, Mr. Mayor,

3:25:19or to you, Mr. Mayor, to your question,

3:25:21you know, this is actually an exact example of this.

3:25:25So right now my team will be minuting this meeting

3:25:28and they're saying to themselves,

3:25:30what specifically is the wording that's being asked?

3:25:33What we might take is the exact explanation

3:25:35that Councillor Caron has given for her motion

3:25:37and we would word something that,

3:25:39an amendment to clause one,

3:25:41that the amended procedural byline

3:25:42included as attachment one, et cetera, et cetera,

3:25:44be approved, including a change to clause 4.10,

3:25:50H, and in a revision to the word make versus suggest

3:25:55and that type of thing.

3:25:56So we actually already do some of this work in the back end.

3:26:00What this change is intended to do

3:26:03is really capture quite frankly what happened.

3:26:05So members of council will know this,

3:26:07you'll often send an email into clerks.

3:26:09It might say, you know, and remove,

3:26:12sometimes we get simply, and this is with complete respect,

3:26:14it might say, remove the word may.

3:26:16Well, that's not actually the motion that's being tabled.

3:26:19It's a lot more nuanced than that.

3:26:21And again, coming back to the history piece,

3:26:23someone will want to look back five years from now

3:26:25and say, what exactly did they move?

3:26:27They didn't really move, just remove the word may.

3:26:29They moved something that was more substantive

3:26:32and very descriptive in that regard.

3:26:34So what we're trying to achieve with this suggested revision

3:26:37to the procedure by law is to give us the flexibility

3:26:39to support you in that regard.

3:26:42We will often go back and forth in meeting

3:26:44and support some of that dialogue with individual members.

3:26:47We will still continue to do that.

3:26:50But this speaks to that process of sending those motions

3:26:53to us so that we can support that process.

3:26:57Okay, and then this is a follow up.

3:27:00Oh, sir.

3:27:01Is that okay, Councillor Cronk?

3:27:02This is a follow up.

3:27:03Yeah, you do your follow up and then I'll respond.

3:27:05All right, thank you.

3:27:06So just as one follow up,

3:27:09I just want to ask you straight up,

3:27:11is this amendment of changing the word may make

3:27:15to may suggest, is it in any way onerous

3:27:19or not going to fulfill the natural end result

3:27:23of what we would see anyways?

3:27:27To you, Mr. Mayor, what it may do is it may cause us

3:27:31to go back to the member to say,

3:27:33thank you for your motion that you've provided.

3:27:34May I suggest this more explicit wording changes to this

3:27:39so that it achieves the intent

3:27:41that you're looking to achieve?

3:27:42And we may be in a position where we're waiting for it.

3:27:45What this allows us to do this amendment

3:27:47that we've proposed in the bylaw as it stands

3:27:49is that we will take that and still likely engage

3:27:53and say, I'm going to suggest this additional wording,

3:27:55but we'll be able to run with it more quickly.

3:27:57I come back to some of the language

3:27:58that we talked about during the orientation

3:28:00with council about respecting your time

3:28:02to be efficient and effective in your meetings.

3:28:04By no means do I see Councillor Caron's suggested amendment

3:28:07as deviating from that,

3:28:09but there is a nuanced aspect of us being required

3:28:12to suggest backwarding, waiting for that to be confirmed

3:28:15versus us sort of being able to support council's work

3:28:19in the moment.

3:28:20Okay, thank you.

3:28:22I think if I could just make a comment then on the motion

3:28:25before I go back to you, Councillor Caron.

3:28:27So you know what, I just don't think there,

3:28:30in my view, we could give this a try.

3:28:32I think that's where I'm kind of landing on it a little bit

3:28:35to support the amendment.

3:28:37And here's where I actually was,

3:28:40you kind of took the words out of my mouth,

3:28:41is that I agree, and I think we all agree,

3:28:44we want to have efficient and effective meetings

3:28:47by being better prepared to not have a whole bunch

3:28:51of in-the-moment changes,

3:28:53of course things will naturally rise,

3:28:55but if we could be better prepared with suggestions of words

3:29:00or things like that of amendments or different motions

3:29:03prior to us walking in the room, so we're more prepared,

3:29:07that way we aren't having to pause or wait

3:29:10or work backwards in the moment.

3:29:13That's because we received your suggestions

3:29:16or that of staff or whatever, prior to.

3:29:19And that kind of compels us as a council

3:29:21to be a bit more prepared.

3:29:23So anyways, I'll support this amendment,

3:29:25but I'll go back to the mover.

3:29:27Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor.

3:29:29And I think we're onto something here.

3:29:31I think this is a new clause to our governance procedure,

3:29:34and I want it to be clear that I highly value

3:29:36the input of our clerk on helping us craft motions.

3:29:41For me, what stuck here was the following

3:29:44a German of the meeting.

3:29:45So if I make a motion and clerk edits it,

3:29:49and I'm not aware of that edit until I get the minutes,

3:29:52and then it's confirmed at a meeting

3:29:55where I have to check the wording of every motion

3:29:58that's made to make sure that my intent is clear.

3:30:01I just think that that dialogue, if an edit is made,

3:30:04goes back to the mover again, so that we can own our motions

3:30:07so that we don't put the clerk in a precarious position

3:30:10of having to defend an edit that was not

3:30:12the intention of the mover.

3:30:15So since this is a new clause,

3:30:17I think we're onto something,

3:30:18and that would give me that piece of comfort

3:30:21that there's a dialogue when a change is made.

3:30:25So I'll leave it at that.

3:30:26And vote accordingly.

3:30:31Yes, I think our clerks are gonna work on that amendment

3:30:34to have them come up on the screen.

3:30:35Councillor Downer really wants to see it.

3:30:38But I only have one more question, and there it is, boom.

3:30:43Oh, that was your, okay, that's it there.

3:30:46So it's already been moved and seconded.

3:30:47I think we've had good dialogue and reasoning behind it.

3:30:50So it looks like I can call the vote.

3:30:53So is anyone against that amendment change there?

3:30:57Seeing and hearing nobody's, that's unanimous.

3:30:59So that's great.

3:31:01Is there any other changes at all

3:31:03that need to be addressed?

3:31:04Councillor Boussantel.

3:31:07Thank you, and through the mayor,

3:31:08I did send this to the clerk's department.

3:31:12And this is section, let me just pull it up.

3:31:16It is to the procedure by-law, it is section 13.2C.

3:31:22And it's around information items to be amended

3:31:28to require consultation and approval

3:31:31of the relevant meeting chair prior to adding

3:31:35an information item to a committee of the whole

3:31:37or county or sorry, city council agenda.

3:31:41And again, thank you to the clerks

3:31:43for meeting with the mayor and myself

3:31:45and a conversation around this.

3:31:47But what I did appreciate through this whole by-law review

3:31:51is the tightening up as a new councillor,

3:31:55cleaning up some of the ambiguity around the procedure.

3:31:58So I'd like to place that.

3:32:01I'm sorry, not Michelle, Councillor Richardson

3:32:04as agreed to second that.

3:32:07Is there anything further on this item?

3:32:09So your worship, what is the motion?

3:32:13So we'll have it back up on the screen.

3:32:15Just give it a second there.

3:32:19There you go.

3:32:25Do you want me to explain what that is?

3:32:27Well, currently we only need approval

3:32:31if it's more than four months,

3:32:33but by this it would require approval,

3:32:36regardless of the time, is that correct?

3:32:38So that I'm understanding.

3:32:39So if I wanted to pull a report from last month

3:32:41and the chair was against it,

3:32:43then I wouldn't be able to pull it.

3:32:45I'm trying to understand why we would want to do that.

3:32:49Let's, want me to?

3:32:51Okay, we kind of discussed it as vice chair or chair.

3:32:54So the way it currently is,

3:32:56is that any councillor, including myself, by the way,

3:32:59can just ask for an information item to be pulled.

3:33:03And without any consultation with the chair

3:33:07or a deputy CAO,

3:33:08it can just flow right to the council meeting.

3:33:11And from an agenda management perspective,

3:33:16that can be quite difficult.

3:33:18Like if we had a major heavy issues agenda,

3:33:22and all of a sudden without chairs or deputy CAOs

3:33:25or anybody knowing a mayor or a councillor,

3:33:27says I'm putting this information item on there,

3:33:30then all of a sudden you've got this issue,

3:33:31it's landing on agenda without anybody knowing.

3:33:35And if I could just give an example

3:33:36of how like really good this sort of works already,

3:33:40you're gonna have an agenda,

3:33:42we're all gonna have an agenda item on this agenda.

3:33:45The councillor Caron rightly pulled as an information item

3:33:49a few months ago, like I don't know, two or three months ago.

3:33:52But she was great, like she contacted me

3:33:55and was like, I am thinking of pulling this.

3:33:57And I said, you know what,

3:33:57the best placement for that is under the overall governance

3:34:01review of this agenda item.

3:34:03And councillor Caron was like, yeah, that's great, that's perfect.

3:34:06Instead of it automatically without anybody knowing,

3:34:08it just flies to an agenda at the end of the month.

3:34:11So the approval or non-approval

3:34:15to get to your question as well,

3:34:18the default on that is that,

3:34:20first of all, I can't really see that happening,

3:34:23but let's say it did,

3:34:24then the default position of any councillor would be,

3:34:27well, then I'm gonna do a notice of motion then.

3:34:29And then so you could just on that exact information item,

3:34:32you could say, well, I'm gonna do a notice of motion

3:34:34to bring that item forward.

3:34:36So it's not stopping it from ever coming forward

3:34:39because there's always a process to bring it forward.

3:34:43But this really codifies

3:34:45that any member has to speak to the chair to say,

3:34:49look, I'm thinking about bringing this forward.

3:34:51And then the chair in consultation with the deputy CAO

3:34:54can say, you know what, the end of this month's perfect

3:34:56for that.

3:34:57It's not a heavy agenda item,

3:34:59it matches whatever we're talking about,

3:35:01or the chair could say, don't bring it to this one.

3:35:04Can we bring it to this one over here?

3:35:06It makes more sense exactly as this,

3:35:08the one that councillor Caron is bringing forward today

3:35:10as an example.

3:35:11Did that help you?

3:35:13My one concern is that it does leave the door open

3:35:17for an information item that at this point

3:35:22should be brought into an agenda, any agenda,

3:35:24for it to have to go through a notice of motion.

3:35:26And if the vote of council doesn't support it,

3:35:30then that will no longer be brought forward.

3:35:33So in essence, it puts that additional filter.

3:35:36So if my constituent wants to talk to an information item

3:35:41and council doesn't agree, they're no longer able to.

3:35:44So I am concerned about that filter.

3:35:46And then information items have this layer

3:35:49where they would very well not be brought

3:35:51to a meeting of council if the chair doesn't agree.

3:35:55And I completely agree with the timing,

3:35:57but the possibility for it to not be brought forward,

3:36:00that is a concern to me at this point.

3:36:02Okay, I guess my only response to that would be,

3:36:05forget that information items even existed.

3:36:08You have an issue that one of your citizens

3:36:11wants to bring in front of here,

3:36:14you would still have to go through

3:36:15a notice of motion process to get buy-in

3:36:18from your council colleagues to say,

3:36:19okay, this is a relevant issue

3:36:21that your citizen wants to talk about

3:36:23in the council chambers, right?

3:36:25So regardless, it's still,

3:36:27you would still need to kind of get permission

3:36:30in some way to that.

3:36:30Right, right, except that this is responding

3:36:32to a report that is coming from staff.

3:36:35And no, no problem, thank you for that.

3:36:39I'm gonna go to Colosson and then Billings on this one

3:36:42and then O'Rourke.

3:36:46Just for clarification purposes,

3:36:49is there precedent around this

3:36:51with any other municipalities pulling this,

3:36:54this information report away from the ability for counselors

3:36:58or is this just something that has come up?

3:37:03My first question.

3:37:07I can't speak to other municipalities.

3:37:09So maybe the court could jump in on that one.

3:37:11Yeah, really quickly through you, Mr. Mayor.

3:37:12I would say that the information items,

3:37:15the process we have and the process

3:37:17that other municipalities have very differently.

3:37:19There's no prescribed set rules for these types of things.

3:37:21We opt for once a week to issue information items.

3:37:24That lets members of council pull items

3:37:26that are just for receipt and discuss if they feel fit,

3:37:29see fit at that means some municipalities,

3:37:31smaller communities in Ontario will include

3:37:33those pieces of correspondence

3:37:35or those receipt item reports

3:37:36on regular agendas of council.

3:37:39So it's difficult to say whether it's precedent

3:37:43that there's so many different ways

3:37:44that it's done across the province.

3:37:48Okay, and so pulling it is one of the ways

3:37:51that we can bring something to council.

3:37:52So I don't know, I'm maybe kind of repeating something

3:37:55that Rodrigo said, but just for my own clarification,

3:37:58pulling it directly brings it straight onto the agenda

3:38:01versus a notice of motion would mean

3:38:05that we would have to get seven counselors to agree to it

3:38:09before it became, it got on the agenda.

3:38:12You are technically correct,

3:38:14but if I could just walk you through it one more time.

3:38:17Right now the procedural by-law omits talking to a chair

3:38:22or to the deputy CAOs, you could just automatically ask

3:38:25for an information item and you could just automatically

3:38:28have it come to the next council meeting

3:38:30without any talking to anybody.

3:38:32And that can be a problem

3:38:34from an agenda management point of view.

3:38:37So the proper kind of courtesy step,

3:38:39if I could call it that, is you would say,

3:38:41hey, I saw this information item, you go to the chair.

3:38:44You go to chair or RORC as an example and say it

3:38:47because it's an IDE information report.

3:38:50Hey, can I throw this on there?

3:38:52And the chair or RORC goes, yeah,

3:38:54the end of this month is perfectly fine, done.

3:38:56Or she says, well, I don't like that,

3:38:58can we do it next month?

3:39:00And then you're like, yeah, fine, done, right?

3:39:03But what this motion, this amendment is saying

3:39:06is that it basically codifies that you have to do that step.

3:39:11And if for some reason though,

3:39:12and I've never seen it by the way,

3:39:14if for some reason councillor RORC goes, no,

3:39:17this is not worthy of having a discussion at council at all.

3:39:20Then you would have a default third option,

3:39:23which is, well, then I'm gonna bring a notice of motion

3:39:25forward for my council colleagues to decide whether or not

3:39:28there's relevancy to it or not.

3:39:30So really what this is all about

3:39:32is making sure that it's codified,

3:39:34that the step to speak to the chair is there

3:39:38so that a conversation can be had

3:39:40before it's just automatically,

3:39:41without anyone knowing, put on an agenda.

3:39:46Okay, thanks for the clarification.

3:39:50Billings and then RORC?

3:39:54Yes, Mr. Mayor.

3:39:56So I'm agreeing with everything you've said

3:39:58in the process, however, it wasn't that long ago.

3:40:01There was an issue, it was on the information sheets

3:40:04and it was brought forward to council,

3:40:07but it was time sensitive.

3:40:10At that point in time, if this amendment were to pass,

3:40:13that chair could have said no.

3:40:17And then it would have been too late.

3:40:18To go through the process of the notice of motion,

3:40:22then the issue would have been over with,

3:40:24meaning staff in the information report

3:40:27was identifying how they were going to implement

3:40:29something immediately.

3:40:31And to go through the notice of motion process,

3:40:35then there couldn't have been direction from council.

3:40:38So this is why I'm hesitating and supporting this amendment

3:40:43is because it's only on time sensitive matters.

3:40:46As far as informing the chair,

3:40:48working with the chair, with the agenda, absolutely.

3:40:52But if it is time sensitive, that's where I'm blocking.

3:40:58Okay, I'm neutral.

3:41:00You can look at him.

3:41:01You can, sorry, go ahead.

3:41:03No, so I was just wondering,

3:41:04so if there was something through you two to Stephen,

3:41:08if there was some other way,

3:41:10because right now we just have the other option

3:41:12of notice of motion.

3:41:16Yes, you can suspend the procedural bylaw,

3:41:18which we've done.

3:41:19So that's another default position.

3:41:21If it's a time sensitive issue,

3:41:23the councillor could make the case

3:41:25through a point of order or a point of privilege

3:41:27to bring order requests to suspend the procedural bylaw

3:41:31to allow an item to flow immediately rare,

3:41:34but that is an option for council to consider.

3:41:36That is an option, but does that not have to be put on?

3:41:39I'm asking you, Mr. Mayor,

3:41:41does that not have to be put on the agenda?

3:41:44No, as an example, the community wanting to have council,

3:41:50council wanting to make their point known

3:41:53about the hydro power station in the park,

3:41:56in your West End, by the way,

3:41:58you brought that forward at the end of an agenda

3:42:02where council did have to suspend the procedural bylaw

3:42:06to allow that item to be discussed in the moment.

3:42:08That's correct, Mr. Mayor,

3:42:10but I went to you and asked your permission

3:42:13in order to make that happen.

3:42:16If I did not have your permission as you as chair,

3:42:22did you see where I'm going with this?

3:42:25I do, but even if I'm not allowed,

3:42:28if I had not given permission,

3:42:30you could have risen on a point of personal privilege

3:42:33to ask your councilmates to suspend the procedural bylaw.

3:42:40Even if I ruled that out of order,

3:42:42your councilmates can still challenge the chair

3:42:44with a majority vote to continue.

3:42:46Okay.

3:42:47Yeah, look, but hey, look,

3:42:49I want to be honest here with you,

3:42:53if that's a big enough deal for you,

3:42:56you could amend this amendment to say,

3:42:59instead of with the approval of the chair,

3:43:01I forget what the wording is,

3:43:03you could say in consultation with the chair,

3:43:06if you wanted to do that.

3:43:08Well, I would move that as an amendment.

3:43:12Okay.

3:43:12And councillor Klosson will second it.

3:43:15Mr. Mayor, if I may.

3:43:16Hold on, our clerk wants to jump in.

3:43:18Councillor Billings, just one second.

3:43:20That amendment that's being tabled

3:43:21is already what staff recommendations is.

3:43:24So the recommendation right now is to do a consultation.

3:43:27Our focus was predominantly around a four year,

3:43:31four month story limit.

3:43:33And it already includes the wording of consultation.

3:43:35I think if I can speak for councillor Boosterteal,

3:43:38I believe her intent was to make it sort of an in consultation

3:43:42and with approval of the chair of a respective committee.

3:43:46So if that's what councillor Billings is looking to achieve

3:43:49is simply just in consultation

3:43:51without the actual action of approval

3:43:55on the part of the chair,

3:43:56then that's already existing in the recommendation

3:43:58and the procedure by law amendments were proposing.

3:44:03Okay.

3:44:04Well, I mean, we could just take that is correct.

3:44:06So we could just take a vote on the amendment as is right now,

3:44:09looking for the approval.

3:44:10And if it fails, then it would default

3:44:13to the position that the clerk just said.

3:44:14So why don't we just wrap this up then

3:44:17and do it as simple as that with two stages.

3:44:19Councillor O'Rourke first though.

3:44:22Thank you, Mayor Guthrie.

3:44:23Just a couple of comments.

3:44:26One is that the role of the chair

3:44:28is to manage the agenda and the meeting.

3:44:30And so something added to the agenda

3:44:33should have the approval of the chair.

3:44:35We've not been really sticky

3:44:36and we don't have some kind of really, you know,

3:44:38hard nose chair, but that is the job, right?

3:44:43The other thing, and this happened to me actually

3:44:47in the last term of council.

3:44:49Sometimes we're pulling information reports

3:44:53because we want to ask more questions,

3:44:55but that can be done individually

3:44:57and doesn't have to happen at council or publicly.

3:45:00So if we're pulling something from an information report,

3:45:03what is the desired outcome there?

3:45:05Is it just to find out more?

3:45:06Cause there's another channel to do that that's not here.

3:45:10I have a concern, you know, we're very,

3:45:12we're a council that gets along really well.

3:45:15What is to preclude every member of council

3:45:18from pulling an information item

3:45:19and insisting it be put on an agenda

3:45:22without any sort of approval from the chair.

3:45:24It would be totally taking over a council

3:45:27or a committee agenda.

3:45:29So I think this actually is a bit preventative.

3:45:32It places that decision making with the chair.

3:45:34If somebody disagrees with the chair,

3:45:36they can take it up with them.

3:45:37They can do a notice of motion,

3:45:38but we've got to respect like why some of those roles are there.

3:45:43And so I'm glad councillor was still

3:45:45brought the motion forward

3:45:48because in fact it happened to me in the last term.

3:45:50So I'll resolve themicably.

3:45:52My other question is in clause C,

3:45:58there's a typo in the amendment that says,

3:46:00and clerk's clerk within four months.

3:46:03So I'm just wondering if the answer

3:46:04Boothie Tells motion to fix that

3:46:06or if we need to fix that.

3:46:08Well, through you councillor,

3:46:10we will exercise our authority to edit the motion

3:46:15as it comes on the floor.

3:46:17Yes, that should read city clerk.

3:46:18We will acknowledge that that's an error on our part.

3:46:20Thank you.

3:46:21Okay. Thanks.

3:46:23Thank you to the chair chair for bringing that up.

3:46:26Okay, so I'll go back to the mover for final comments.

3:46:30Before I go to you though,

3:46:32I am good to support exactly what councillor Booth

3:46:35and Till put down.

3:46:36I am good to support that.

3:46:37I think we should give it a try

3:46:39that the approval is required by the chair.

3:46:40Anyways, go ahead, councillor Booth and Till.

3:46:42Thank you.

3:46:43And just in closing,

3:46:44we had a robust conversation with the clerks.

3:46:46We met with them.

3:46:47The intention is not to close doors,

3:46:51but again, that efficiency effective,

3:46:54as councillor O'Rourke was saying,

3:46:56managing the agenda and moving through the meeting.

3:46:59That was the intent there.

3:47:02Okay, so let's call the vote then on the amendment here

3:47:06for actually getting approval of the chair.

3:47:08So I'll call the vote.

3:47:10All those against, please raise your hand.

3:47:13Okay, we got...

3:47:15Two, okay.

3:47:17That's Billings and Guller.

3:47:22Oh, I'm so sorry, and Kaden, I'm so sorry.

3:47:24Okay, thank you.

3:47:26So that fails.

3:47:27So now we'll go back.

3:47:29So that means, sorry, it passes.

3:47:31It passes.

3:47:32So that amendment has passed.

3:47:34All right, so now we're back to everything.

3:47:37Main motion as amended, okay.

3:47:39Anything further?

3:47:40We got councillor O'Rourke.

3:47:43Through you, Mayor Guthrie, the staff.

3:47:45So this 10-year contract is really troubling me

3:47:49because it could be any general manager.

3:47:51And again, like we have a very collegial,

3:47:53very respectful relationship here.

3:47:57But to me, that blanket provision of you can go

3:48:01from a five to a 10-year contract, it seems like a lot.

3:48:06So through you to staff, is there a mechanism

3:48:08where you can come and seek an exemption

3:48:10if you needed a contract that was that length?

3:48:13I don't want to worry for no reason,

3:48:15but the five years was there for a reason.

3:48:18And to me, it seems like a significant change

3:48:20in the delegation of authority.

3:48:22So can you help me get my head around it?

3:48:24Why not just come for a special exemption?

3:48:28So through the mayor to councillor O'Rourke,

3:48:30and then I don't know if Mr. O'Bron or Mr. McMahon

3:48:32want to comment, I think that was what we were partly

3:48:35trying to avoid was having to come to council

3:48:37and having to have council consider those agreements.

3:48:40And we can take that back between now

3:48:42and the end of the month to make sure that there is

3:48:45perhaps more limitation.

3:48:46It is certainly not the intention that any contract

3:48:49could be extended by any general manager

3:48:51for up to 10 years.

3:48:52That was not what we were trying to accomplish.

3:48:54It was simply to, when we're renegotiating

3:48:56some of our existing agreements,

3:48:58and it's predominantly related to renegotiations,

3:49:01is having that flexibility so that,

3:49:03and again, I'll just, I don't want to pick

3:49:07a specific example and look like I'm targeting it,

3:49:09but when we're doing these agreements

3:49:10with some of these community organizations

3:49:12that are utilizing city facilities

3:49:13for their longer-term operations,

3:49:15it was about giving them that stability.

3:49:18Yeah, and so, I mean, generally,

3:49:21the Merced Remembrance Day,

3:49:22that could be one that we'd look like.

3:49:23Generally, we do our CBAs on three to five-year cycles,

3:49:26but it would give us that flexibility,

3:49:28but we can take that away as well

3:49:30and commit to coming back at the end of the month,

3:49:33if, and maybe working with you to see if there's a way

3:49:35that we can accomplish what staff we're still hopeful for

3:49:38in terms of not having things having to come to council,

3:49:41but limiting how widely that could be used,

3:49:44because it certainly was not the intention

3:49:46that it be for any contract at the city

3:49:48or that any general manager could do that.

3:49:49So we can work with you on that if you want

3:49:53so that you can bring an amendment at the end of the month.

3:49:55Okay, thanks.

3:49:56The section I'm looking at is Table 3, Number 1.2,

3:49:59and it says delegate CAO, the deputy CAO's

3:50:02general manager of the relevant department,

3:50:05which seems broad to me.

3:50:08So through the mayor, we'll get that clarification

3:50:10because the intention really simply was those agreements

3:50:12sitting within the culture and recreation department

3:50:14where we're working with those community groups.

3:50:16So I will make, we will take that away and look at it

3:50:19and then follow up with you.

3:50:20Okay, great, thanks.

3:50:22So I'll make sure to go to you if there's a motion

3:50:24then having that ready, okay?

3:50:26At the end of the month.

3:50:27Yeah, Guller and then Busigil.

3:50:29Thank you through your worship to deputy CAO,

3:50:32but it's just a follow up on that.

3:50:34Would there be any instance where a general manager

3:50:37enters into such agreement without approval

3:50:39from their DCAO?

3:50:42Through the mayor to council Guller,

3:50:43no, because in general terms,

3:50:46these are separate from this delegated authority.

3:50:48We do also still have signing authority requirements.

3:50:51And so any of these types of agreements

3:50:52are coming to me for my signature

3:50:55because they exceed the signing authority

3:50:57of the general manager, which is,

3:50:59there's kind of those two measures in place.

3:51:02Okay, thank you.

3:51:03Thank you, worship.

3:51:04For sure, and then Busigil.

3:51:06Thank you.

3:51:07And I still had some concerns as well.

3:51:09And I guess I'm not familiar with the context.

3:51:12Is there a community benefit plan, like a longterm plan

3:51:16that would coexist with this

3:51:19because you're building the capacity of whoever.

3:51:24And I think I asked this question

3:51:25of the community investment, Dana,

3:51:28as well as not having a sense

3:51:30of where these investments are happening.

3:51:33And that's when I asked the question,

3:51:34is there a master plan so that you can picture

3:51:37and say, oh, capacity is growing here and not here?

3:51:39Or that kind of a context.

3:51:41And that's just a comment.

3:51:42And perhaps I just don't see it

3:51:44or have an understanding of it.

3:51:48Through the mayor,

3:51:49if I can just respond to council,

3:51:50please tell this really was about those longer term leases.

3:51:55Really the community benefit agreements

3:51:57we generally are doing on that three to five year cycle

3:51:59and council is seeing those on an annual basis.

3:52:02And again, I would go for example,

3:52:06and I'm, Salto's Gymnastics Club has a very long lease.

3:52:10I forget what the term length is.

3:52:11It's something in the range of 50 years.

3:52:13I believe it was negotiated long before I think most of us.

3:52:16When that time comes up to renegotiate that,

3:52:19it really was about the flexibility on that lease.

3:52:21If you have an organization that had a 50 year lease

3:52:23and we're looking to renegotiate it

3:52:25to then do only a five year lease is a big shift.

3:52:27So it really was about having that flexibility to say,

3:52:30where we used to do things

3:52:31and have these really longterm leases, that's too much.

3:52:34But perhaps five years was too short.

3:52:36And so for these longer term lease agreements,

3:52:39and as I say, I've, I don't think Salto's comes up

3:52:42for another 20 years, which is why I picked it as an example

3:52:44because it's not relevant.

3:52:46But that would be an example where we would like

3:52:49the flexibility to not have to bring something like that

3:52:52back to council where we've had an existing relationship

3:52:55with this community client for such a long period of time

3:52:57and simply to be renegotiating every 10 years, not every five.

3:53:04Okay.

3:53:06Flexibility.

3:53:07And you were talking about a gymnastics thing.

3:53:11All right, let's make a councillor downer

3:53:13for laughing at my jokes, I appreciate it.

3:53:16It looks like I can call the vote

3:53:18on the main motion as amended.

3:53:21So I will do that now.

3:53:23Is anyone against?

3:53:26Nobody, that's unanimous.

3:53:27So that's great.

3:53:28We got through that.

3:53:30So we are going to take our break now.

3:53:34And I'm going to suggest that we come back here at 545,

3:53:38almost a half an hour.

3:53:41No, let's make it a half an hour, please.

3:53:42So 10 to six, okay, 10 to six.

3:53:47And then we will jump into the last two things,

3:53:50the smart cities and the municipality

3:53:53of Trent Lake's resolution oath of office.

3:53:58And the third one, the downtown renewal.

3:54:01And then the fourth one,

3:54:02which is the engagement questions.

3:54:04Okay, here we go.

3:54:09See you soon.

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.