Heritage Advisory Committee

0:02All right.

0:04All right, well, welcome everyone.

0:07I'd like to call to order the June 4th,

0:092026 meeting of the Heritage Advisory Committee,

0:12welcome committee members, staff,

0:13and invited guests who are attending the meeting today.

0:17I'll begin with our Indigenous Territorial Acknowledgement.

0:20As we gather, let us take time to reflect

0:22on our privilege to live and work in Guelph,

0:25a city built over rich Indigenous histories.

0:28We are guests here,

0:29and we should reflect upon the responsibility

0:31to care for this land, the people who live here today,

0:34and the generations to come.

0:36If our actions today can move us towards reconciliation,

0:39we should take pause and make those decisions

0:41with intention and gratitude.

0:44This place we call Guelph has served as traditional lands

0:46and a place of refuge for many peoples over time,

0:49but more specifically, the Atawan Derunk

0:51and the Haudenosaunee.

0:53This land is held as a treaty lands and territory

0:55with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

0:58Guelph lies directly adjacent to the Haldeman Tract

1:01and is part of a long-established traditional hunting ground

1:04for the six nations of the Grand River.

1:06Many First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples

1:09who have come from a cross-turtle island

1:11called Guelph Home today.

1:14I will ask if there's any disclosure of pecuniary interest

1:17in the general nature thereof.

1:23Seeing no hands, no one interrupting me,

1:27which is always welcome.

1:29I will assume there are none.

1:31So we will get into the approval of the minutes.

1:33Is there someone who will move the motion

1:35approving the minutes from May 7th?

1:39Thank you, Dawn.

1:40Piper, can I take you as a seconder then?

1:42All right, all those in favor?

1:46Sure, I see everyone.

1:48Excellent, thanks everyone.

1:51And we'll then move into the Consent Agenda.

1:53There is only one property on the Consent Agenda today.

1:56Are there any questions or comments

1:58related to item 3.1?

2:04Double checking, no.

2:06So the Consent Agenda motion wasn't included in the agenda,

2:09but it should be, and I'll read it out for everyone,

2:12that the June 4th, 2026 Heritage Advisory Committee

2:15Consent Agenda as outlined below be approved.

2:18And thank you for putting that on the screen there, Jordan.

2:21Is there someone that will move that motion?

2:26Thank you, Liam.

2:27Kelly, can I take you as a seconder?

2:28Is that okay?

2:29Yes, all those in favor?

2:33Excellent, thanks all.

2:34And apologies, I think it's David that's in the room,

2:36and I can't see David in the City Hall room,

2:38but I'm going to assume you put your hand up there.

2:42I think there's two, whatever you want.

2:44Well, that's a lot of pressure, but thanks, David.

2:48All right, so we'll move into our committee items then.

2:52So item 4.1 is the Commemorative Naming

2:55and Street Naming Policy Update,

2:57and the presenter is Tiffany Hanna.

3:00Tiffany will turn it over to you then.

3:03Oh, so you're sharing?

3:08Oh, so I'm Tiffany Hanna, and I'm a Park Planner here,

3:12and I have been tasked with determining

3:15how we name city assets.

3:18So if you want to look down.

3:20So the slide I am talking to your committee today.

3:25We want to tell you that we're working on this project,

3:28and we also want to gather feedback from Heritage Wealth.

3:33So if you, I'll back it up a little bit.

3:36We used to have a naming committee as part of a committee

3:40of council, and when we did the ACOC,

3:43they removed that committee,

3:46and so then I was tasked with, well, how do we name things?

3:49So the first thing I did was look at the policies,

3:52and the policies seemed out of date.

3:53So as part of this process of figuring out

3:56how to name things, I wanted to update the policies as well.

4:00So what do we want to hear from you?

4:03So we want to hear how the place names affect people

4:06and communities, share what matters

4:09when naming public places,

4:10and identify what stories and histories

4:12deserve recognition.

4:13You seem to be the great group to do that.

4:18So I already talked about why we're naming,

4:20updating our policy, like why updating the naming policy

4:24makes sense because place names matter.

4:26You want everyone to feel included in our city.

4:30The current policies are outdated,

4:31and wealth has changed a lot

4:33since things have been named by the hundreds.

4:38So I've got a bunch of questions for you.

4:41This can be incredibly casual.

4:44I am just looking for some ideas about

4:47what the committee values in terms of

4:54naming and heritage.

4:56So you want to jump to the end, and we can go.

5:00Oh, sorry.

5:01All right.

5:02So I drafted some recommendations

5:04for the committee to consider.

5:07So I figured this was a good place to start.

5:10So I said that the Heritage Advisory Committee

5:12offers the following comments and advice to staff

5:14regarding proposed updates to the commemorative naming

5:17and street name policies,

5:19and that I report back to the committee

5:21once we have a draft report.

5:23So now that we know what those draft recommendations

5:27might look like, we can go back into some of the questions

5:29that I have for your group.

5:31I'm going to go back to the other slides.

5:34Next one.

5:35Oh, sorry.

5:37Next one.

5:38Like, yeah.

5:38Sorry about that.

5:39No, that's okay.

5:41So, and these are very broad and open endings.

5:47So if you have anything that you think about

5:49what we should be doing for names,

5:51I'm happy to hear that feedback.

5:53I've just added these questions as kind of prompts for us.

5:57So what should names say about our community?

5:59So what words or ideas come to mind

6:01when you think about the right name for a place

6:03and how should we balance history, community identity

6:06and inclusion when naming places?

6:08Just kind of like the first topic.

6:11I'll open it up to the committee to provide

6:16generous feedback.

6:20Do you have questions?

6:23So open it up to anyone you're welcome

6:24just to unmute if you're online.

6:27Folks that are at City Hall, you're welcome to jump in.

6:30Again, it's hard to see everyone.

6:37When I talk generally, just in terms of,

6:40I was a short time member of the last committee.

6:43Okay.

6:44And I found that there was very a tune,

6:48which was one of the Beaumont Park,

6:50which had an indigenous background theme to it.

6:54And I found that that committee was extremely sensitive

6:59and went out of its way to go to outside groups,

7:04particularly those could give us more of an indigenous

7:09background and it was very sensitive

7:11and very thorough involvement in that.

7:15So I guess my first comment was there was no surprise,

7:24why not?

7:25That's right.

7:26I understand the need for an overhauling of the,

7:30I wanted to make sure that we're in tune with

7:32where the naming policy should go,

7:34but my experience on the last Amy exercise was,

7:39you know, that every community members and the city,

7:43city staff were extremely well attuned to it.

7:46So we may not have to do as much of an overhaul

7:50as it's suggested.

7:52I think what, so what I'd heard from Rory

7:55about the committee is the same thing,

7:57that it was like the conversations that were happening

8:00at the committee level were really,

8:04like they were really inclusive and they were like,

8:07tying the right names to the right place.

8:09And like all of those things were happening,

8:11but if you like read through the policy,

8:13and if you read through the straight naming policy,

8:15I think there's just improvements that we can make,

8:18that we'll just kind of match what's actually happening

8:21at the committee level and then what's actually happening

8:23in the policy, but I do agree with you.

8:25But I think in practice, we were doing all of those things.

8:28I think we just need to write a policy

8:30that sets those things.

8:33One procedural point of view,

8:36what we found, what was helpful was

8:39that there were background documents

8:41when we approach something.

8:42So we may not, people would really may not know

8:46what to look for in terms of the background when we came,

8:50but for that one, and a lot like we get

8:53for the heritage committee, there's a pretty background

8:56on what we're dealing with,

8:59there's a street or a building,

9:01and I'm sure thinking that's a similar sub-direction.

9:04So it would be helpful, I think for any type of exercise

9:11that were involved in, it would be helpful

9:14as the other said to house as much background,

9:16because we could know which direction to go in,

9:18whether the chronic asks.

9:22Thank you, great feedback.

9:24We're working with the University of Guelph right now,

9:28and a researcher from Mount Allison University.

9:31So she's for a little thing of a place names,

9:35and that's all she studies.

9:38But we were talking with the University of Ways

9:40that we can like involve them to get the right information,

9:43like the background information for that,

9:48because it sounded like sometimes

9:50if we put the onus on that community,

9:51they may not know,

9:53mean you guys know, like as heritage people,

9:56like you know a lot of the history.

9:58So yeah, that's good feedback.

10:03Great talk, last topic,

10:04that's just what I found pretty helpful.

10:06No, I think like I'm only here to just get as much feedback

10:09as I possibly can and listen, so yeah.

10:13I think Don wants to jump in as well.

10:15Yeah, I just wanted to say that,

10:17I think street names evolve pretty well

10:20in terms of our culture,

10:22but the one thing that isn't represented at all

10:26that I know of and something that you just mentioned

10:29is any street names or park names or anything else

10:34that recognizes that native people lived here.

10:37So maybe there should be a policy statement

10:40even beyond diversity or whatever the word

10:44that you were using there was that states explicitly

10:48that there'd be more things named for native culture

10:53because except when you hear the introductory thing,

10:59you don't really think of Guelph as a place

11:01that you know native people lived at one time.

11:04It'd be nice to create more awareness around that.

11:10That's good feedback.

11:17Hyper, go ahead.

11:19On that general theme as well,

11:21I think Toronto also recently went through the process

11:24of redoing some street names and I'm looking at their policy

11:27and something I like from that is that

11:30they also prioritize consulting with like

11:33and following traditional indigenous ways of knowing

11:35and knowledge keepers and respecting the transmission

11:38of that knowledge.

11:39A big thing in history is like extractivist history.

11:42So making sure that if we are prioritizing indigenous history,

11:46which I do think is important that we're also consulting

11:48with people who hold that history rather than focusing

11:51on just pulling it from Western methods.

12:00Along those themes as well, it would be helpful

12:02to have a list or be able to refer to resources

12:07that we could go to because again,

12:09just on the final eight bullman experience,

12:12there were groups that we were able to send suggestions

12:16to and get background on.

12:22Like you're specifically talking about like

12:26like like block heritage society, indigenous groups.

12:31Okay.

12:31Yeah, maybe give it for different.

12:34Different themes in different areas.

12:38That's a great idea.

12:45Sorry, I was trying to take notes to add to the,

12:48to that recommendation there when we're at that point.

12:51I think Hannah, you were taking notes as well.

12:52So we should hopefully we're on the same page here.

12:55Or sorry, Tiffany, sorry about that.

12:57Oh yeah, I'm just kidding.

12:58I'm just asking.

12:59I don't know if you want to jump to then

13:02like the second last slide.

13:03And then you said that's more questions.

13:05Sure.

13:06I think you're on versus oriented questions.

13:19So then the other question is,

13:21so we touched a little bit on this.

13:22It's like what should be remembered?

13:25So who is remembered in place names and who is missing?

13:28Like I think we touched on them a little bit.

13:31What story should be reflected in naming?

13:34How can we ensure those stories are accurate and complete?

13:37And what should future generations learn

13:39from our place names?

13:41So I think we talked a little bit about that

13:42with like the indigenous, do you have guys on any,

13:47do folks have anything else to add around that line?

13:50I'm like, what we should be remembering?

14:00Okay, go ahead.

14:02Yeah, I think David brought it up,

14:05but the definitely black history is a big thing

14:07in any form of marginal history.

14:10A while ago, there was news about the,

14:13I think it's the Episcopal Methodist Church

14:16or something in Guelph that I think recently got

14:18an Ontario heritage plaque,

14:20but wasn't able to be designated

14:22or there was some controversy around that.

14:24So collaborating with people

14:27who are pushing these initiatives for built heritage

14:30and making sure there's a connection there to show like,

14:33okay, if something maybe can't be covered

14:35by built heritage that there's, or sorry,

14:37I just see Stephen Rose's hands,

14:39so maybe I'm very wrong about this,

14:40but that there can also be representation

14:43through street names.

14:48Stephen, go ahead.

14:54You're on mute, Stephen.

14:57That, thanks Sarah.

14:59Piper, were you referring to the,

15:02what's known I think generally is the BME church

15:05on Essex Street?

15:07Yeah, because it does have a municipal heritage designation

15:09by law, but I'm happy to learn if there's any,

15:13well, I'm not sure I'd be happy,

15:15but I'd be keen to learn if any sort of issues

15:19are at hand with that, with the protection

15:22or recognition of that building.

15:25I thought I saw something in the news a while ago,

15:27but maybe I can look and I might be wrong.

15:34I think one note I'd like to make is also

15:37just considering that range of heritage that we look at.

15:40I think there's a tendency to look to some of the easy stuff,

15:42which is like anything a hundred years or older

15:44is really easy to argue heritage,

15:46and it tends to really get into a very colonial perspective.

15:49And I think so in some of this,

15:50it's that commemorative piece can be more recent as well.

15:53It does, I don't know that we always have to hit

15:54a certain decade or something to be remembered

15:57or that value of commemoration hitting,

16:00whatever that threshold needs to be.

16:02Guelph is a super eclectic place,

16:04and I think there's some commemoration

16:07that is probably more recent

16:08than when we traditionally think of heritage.

16:09And again, I think some of those traditional heritage pieces

16:12really sort of underlie that colonial aspect.

16:20I don't know if any of them will also has a hand up or not,

16:23because again, we're teeny tiny once again,

16:24but I'll welcome anyone else to jump in

16:27if they have thoughts or comments.

16:31Here's at least one or two books

16:33that have been done over the years

16:35about the name of Guelph Street.

16:38So it would be helpful if we had access to,

16:40those could be referred to.

16:42Some of them were done before the digital revolution,

16:46but one of my predecessors for the wealth store,

16:48the society did one in 1990s,

16:50and he named every street.

16:54Yeah, I think you're talking to the Ross Irwin book.

16:56Yeah, so we've taken that book

17:01and the students have gone through and verified,

17:06like they've been going through and verifying

17:08all of this information,

17:09because some of this stuff wasn't necessarily easily sourced.

17:13So we've had the students going through that piece

17:15and then categorizing all of the street names

17:19by like person, place, thing, you know, the background,

17:22so that we can get some demographic information from that.

17:27And then our goal with all the work that the students are doing

17:30is that we'll have that database publicly available

17:34so that anyone can go in

17:36and then maybe an opportunity for people to share stories,

17:39because I know you guys are very good

17:41and the Heritage Society are very good

17:43at like enobing all of those stories,

17:45because some of them may not be,

17:47like some of the ones from the 1900s,

17:48but it's like, I'm just making this up,

17:52but like Allistery was named after so-and-so's mothers,

17:56something, something, you know?

17:57So to try and get some of those stories

18:00might be a good way to collaborate with

18:01the Heritage Society and stuff.

18:08You should also not forget, I mean,

18:11I've been in the Office of Office of the Heritage Society

18:12for over 15 years,

18:15and a lot of the attraction

18:16that we still get are the older events.

18:18So as much as we should start with the inclusive,

18:23I don't think we can just track the,

18:25well, it's gonna be 200 years old next year

18:27and a lot of history is still,

18:29but people would consider it all the European generation

18:33or that type of thing.

18:34So it shouldn't be so quick to,

18:38to include some more recent history,

18:42and then to forget the past before that.

18:48The, I think, the second piece, I guess, whatever.

18:54I did just enter into the chat,

18:57just a quick summary of the comments that I heard.

19:00Jordan, I don't know if you wanna put that on the screen,

19:02and apologies if grammatically they are not very well written.

19:07Just as sort of that piece to that first recommendation,

19:10wanna make sure I captured everything

19:11that folks were saying,

19:13but for folks online,

19:13you can see it in the chat there, hopefully.

19:16I'm so, I will pull that up for you momentarily.

19:19No worries, thank you.

19:32We could have Nev Campbell Boulevard.

19:36Do you know her?

19:37Like the celebrity, Nev Campbell?

19:39Yeah, she's from wealth.

19:42Really?

19:42I didn't know that was the,

19:45I was supposed to love it, he was named after.

19:47I like that.

19:48Yeah.

19:52Yeah, I would say we could also look for inspiration

19:55and things that are aside of the written record.

19:57Like, for example, if we're talking about naming of a new park,

20:00and that land has been, you know,

20:02subject to an archeological survey,

20:04and there's been some findings of significance,

20:08you know, that might not be captured in, you know,

20:10written records of early settlement

20:11related to pre-contact indigenous occupations.

20:15So that could be a source of inspiration as well.

20:18That might not be as readily apparent.

20:23Jordan, would you mind adding that

20:25as like an additional bullet point there

20:27about looking for inspiration

20:28that is outside of written records?

20:30Yes, absolutely, I can add that.

20:32Sorry.

20:34Your notes for like excellent,

20:36better than mine, mine are like verbatim,

20:38and then I have to like go back and try

20:40and like make it, get them into sentences.

20:42So.

20:43Well, I appreciate that.

20:45Well, Jordan's doing that.

20:47And before I go, I wanted to share that we do currently

20:50in a survey, oh, a trans-city-wide survey of naming.

20:55So if you feel free to fill that out,

20:58the other pieces in the fall

21:00we're going to be doing a series of focused groups

21:02with different organizations, different groups of people.

21:08So if you're interested in participating in that,

21:10you're welcome to reach out to me.

21:13Obviously I want to speak with you

21:16and the rest of the folks around the previous naming committee.

21:18Just, they've gotten away from me right now.

21:24Tiffany, before we go into the motions itself,

21:27do you have a full timeline on when you expect those pieces

21:30to roll out or for those announcements

21:32for public participation,

21:34especially if there is any in-person things to happen?

21:37So right now we're doing the online survey

21:41and I've got a few pop-ups.

21:46When am I doing?

21:47I'm doing a multicultural festival,

21:51two weeks from now.

21:53And then there's the Indigenous People's Day FMVDM.

21:57And then I think I'm doing a couple of markets

21:59and like other pop-ups that are listed

22:01on Have Your Say website.

22:04And then, timelines-wise,

22:06we're going to be reaching out in September

22:07to do those focus groups again.

22:10I've got a list of organizations

22:13that we're trying to make sure that we're reaching

22:15out a bunch of diverse voices.

22:17And then the report itself will be going to council

22:21in the new year once there's a new council.

22:24So I think mid-2020 something.

22:31Are there other comments that folks wanted to include

22:33in the recommendation in that first motion

22:36for things to consider before Jordan puts it back

22:38on the screen?

22:44No?

22:44If you've got it ready, Jordan will take a look at it then.

22:52I'm not going to read it out.

22:53I'll let everyone take a look.

22:54And then we'll see about moving this.

22:56And then the second motion that was part of all of this.

23:35And then as folks are getting through the list,

23:37just remembering as well, there's just the second part

23:40of the motion that staff report back

23:42to Heritage Advisory Committee

23:43and an appropriate stage of the policy development process

23:45to allow the committee to review

23:46and provide input on the draft policies.

23:50Is there someone who will move both of those recommendations?

23:55Thank you, Kelly, a seconder.

23:58Thank you, Piper.

23:59All those in favor again in the room, can't see you.

24:02So I see, oh, I got the hands perfect.

24:03Thank you for putting those up so high for me.

24:05I appreciate that.

24:08All right.

24:09Thanks so much for that presentation, Tiffany.

24:11I think I'll speak for everyone and say we look forward

24:13to seeing where things go and how we can provide

24:15further input as the process gets rolling.

24:18No, I definitely appreciate coming here

24:21and getting your feedback.

24:22And I definitely will look forward to engaging

24:25with you guys in the future.

24:27Awesome.

24:28Thank you.

24:30All right, as we're rolling right through today,

24:33the next part is chair announcements.

24:35I myself don't have any.

24:36I know Jordan's going to speak though

24:39and I don't know of other staff if there's other items,

24:42but Jordan, maybe I'll turn it to you first

24:44if that works for you.

24:45Sure, thank you, chair.

24:47Hello, everyone.

24:48I have one announcement concerning our next meeting.

24:51Our next meeting is scheduled for July 2nd

24:55and it's anticipated to have some significant items

24:59on that agenda.

25:00So we really want to ensure that we're able to meet quorum.

25:02Now, with that being so close to the holiday,

25:05I just want to know if anybody foresees any conflicts

25:08in their schedule, if they're unlikely to be able

25:11to attend that meeting.

25:12And if so, we can find an alternate date.

25:15Staff have proposed, Jack, did you say the 16th of July?

25:21July 16th would be our suggestion.

25:25I'll also remind the committee

25:27that we don't typically meet in August.

25:29So a later meeting date in July would actually be quite helpful

25:33to staff to give us more time to prepare more items.

25:40Yes.

25:41Let the world up and make over the actual second.

25:43Oh, and us.

25:45I'm very happy for you.

25:46We did make it.

25:48And we didn't make it to us though.

25:51We don't need to take a vote on this right now

25:55and you can take a moment to consult your schedules.

25:57I'll send you an email with a follow-up

26:00to determine if July 16th works well for everybody.

26:07Okay, thank you, Don.

26:08I will note that.

26:11And that concludes my announcement.

26:15I will now hand it over to you, Jack.

26:18Thank you, Jordan.

26:20I wanted to give the committee a quick update

26:23and I may invite Piper and David to pipe in.

26:29On Tuesday, I was at the committee of the whole

26:33with engineering staff

26:36because the McClellan's Branch Environmental Assessment

26:39was being presented to council.

26:43There was some wide-way discussion at council.

26:46I think the item took about two and a half hours.

26:50But ultimately council passed the staff recommendation

26:54to restore McClellan's Bridge,

26:55which is also the Heritage Advisory Committee's

26:59first recommendation.

27:02David or Piper, would you like to provide an update

27:04of what transpired from your perspective?

27:12It was like the Jack Scuddered, right?

27:14It was lively.

27:15It was super last minute development

27:18with a couple of counselors wanting to do real.

27:23Might be everything that had gone in.

27:25But fortunately, there were a lot of,

27:28Lee and Karen was very helpful

27:30and some of the other counselors.

27:33So it was, it was been my experience.

27:36Particularly when considered the Arboretum Experience,

27:40restored my faith in the council,

27:43but that they will respect heritage priorities

27:48and the fact that the,

27:50the heritage designation over 20 years,

27:52I think helped as well.

27:56The entire state staff,

27:57quickly Jack, but the engineering staff

28:00and the consultants were very good

28:02and had to be very patient.

28:07That was my view.

28:10It was, I thought it was very good to have members

28:15of the committee there alongside staff

28:17to kind of reaffirm what we were recommending

28:20but also expand upon it.

28:22So thank you, David and Piper for being there.

28:27In other news,

28:29the word heritage conservation district

28:31is progressing on time.

28:36So we will be having the public meeting

28:41at city council on July 14th

28:44and the draft plan will be posted publicly

28:46three weeks prior to that.

28:47So I'll make sure that's distributed to the committee.

28:52I also wanted to let you know that alongside the draft plan,

28:55I'm gonna be bringing forward an information report

28:57on heritage financial incentives,

29:00just providing a jurisdictional scan

29:02of what comparable municipalities are doing

29:05to encourage designation or conservation.

29:07So information reports don't make any recommendations.

29:10It's just kind of, or council's knowledge,

29:14but I will also be bringing forward the same report

29:19to you at your next meeting for your consideration.

29:24And that's it from me.

29:26I'll look to Steve and our image

29:28if they have any updates.

29:31Chair, I have no updates today.

29:34Thanks.

29:35And nothing from me today.

29:37Thank you very much.

29:40Great, thanks, Ron.

29:41And also just echoing Jack's thanks for Piper

29:43and David for going to that meeting.

29:44It sounds like a marathon

29:45and we definitely appreciate your representation

29:48and support for sure.

29:49It's exciting that it went through,

29:51but long one for sure.

29:54Our last really hard agenda item today is just adjournment.

29:56So is there someone who would like to move adjournments?

30:01We wanna say, Dawn, thank you, a seconder.

30:04Thank you, Kelly, and all those in favor.

30:07All right, enjoy the rest of the month

30:09and we'll see you at some point in July, everyone.

30:14Bye.