Council Orientation and Education Workshop

0:50Welcome everyone here and online. We have some counselors online tonight too probably more than we normally do but

0:59I'm going to call the meeting to order. Oh, there's counselor work in the chambers too. Thank you

1:06Before we call before we get into the meeting

1:08I do want to recognize that today is international day

1:13against homophobia

1:14Bifobia and transphobia and I want do you want to say that well proudly stands

1:20against transphobia homophobia and bifobia and we are happy to be working on preparations for our first

1:27Rainbow crosswalk to be launched later this month to support and celebrate the LGTB QIA plus community in our city. I

1:37Think it was important to recognize that today. So

1:42Are there any disclosures of picturing interest?

1:46Okay, seeing none we'll get right into the meeting and this is an orientation session for communications and community engagement and

1:55We're going to do it a little we can do it a little more formally tonight too

1:59As mayor Guthrie does when we do the orientations and the workshops and we're going to have a presentation first

2:08By Lisa Durant

2:10Glenn Lombard and Laura Musso and

2:13then we're going to do a

2:16An activity and you were all supposed to be doing homework for that

2:20If you're a member and so I hope some of you or most of you did prepare for the meeting in that way

2:26So I'm going to hand this over to Lisa. Thank you so much chair Downer and good evening members of council

2:33I am Lisa Duarte. I am the general manager of strategic communications and community engagement

2:39Here at the city of Guelph which is housed within the CAO's service area

2:43I'm joined by a few members of my leadership team tonight

2:46I have Laura Musso with me who manages the communication side of our shop and

2:51Glenn Lombard who oversees the community engagement side of our shop

2:54The three of us will be presenting to you tonight

2:56And we also have a few members of our team in the audience to help should we need their assistance Kelly Guthrie and Tracy Zurich are here with us

3:03Should you have specific questions that we need them to help answer?

3:08So we're excited to join you tonight as part of your extended orientation experience about the city and talk to you a little bit about the work of our team

3:16There are a few objectives for our session

3:18We would like to share with you the purpose and scope of the department's work. I need to move us along there we go

3:25Share key insights about the communications and engagement landscape that we're currently working within

3:31We would like to highlight the role counselors can play as it relates to communications and engagement

3:36And then we're going to engage council in a co-design activity related to community engagement and how we report back

3:43We've designed the session to be one part about building your knowledge and

3:48Awareness of two key city services

3:50The second part is an engagement activity and we will end with a reflection and Q&A session

3:57So at the city communications and community engagement are critical functions that serve the public interest and ensure that city services meet community needs

4:08It's through communications and engagement that the community has opportunities to share their hopes and concerns and provide input

4:15Into the decisions that impact them on this slide. We see many components of our work

4:24We see that strategic communications and engagement are deliberate planned data driven and research informed work

4:31Evaluating what the city is doing against what's needed expected and supported

4:37Now more than ever the city needs to focus on active listening so we're able to respond to the changing and diverse needs of a world in constant flux

4:46Laura will now talk to you about some of the influences on our work. Thanks Lisa

4:57So the practice and effectiveness of communication and engagement are heavily influenced by current events

5:04Changes in technology and public perception influence us as well

5:09Social justice is something our community cares deeply about

5:13Equating inclusion are critical factors that should and do influence city communications and engagement approaches

5:21The social justice mindset will help the city honor its

5:25obligations to indigenous governments and sure we're listening to voices of

5:30Everyone in our community and help address barriers. We know exists today

5:35A rapidly growing digital landscape is also changing how we communicate and engage

5:40The tools we have available are moving from print to online and they're growing every day

5:46This feeds into information overload and the increase in misinformation and disinformation

5:51Which make it an imperative to be loud and clear

5:54There's a lot of information out there, but the quality truthfulness

5:59Truthfulness accuracy and reliability of the information were exposed to on a day-to-day basis

6:05varies widely and makes it very hard for people to know what contents reliable and which sources are trustworthy

6:14So what we share needs to be relevant timely easy to read and understand

6:20Meanwhile every year the Edelman Trust Barometer reports a decrease in trust in government and public institutions

6:28It's now at an all-time low across all of North America

6:32So in addition to battling information that is unintentionally or intentionally wrong

6:37We also have to contend with it contend with this lack of trust

6:41That means we need to explain the why behind our actions

6:45We need to make data and information accessible and understandable and we need to be open and transparent about how decisions are made

6:55Including how the community's needs and inputs are factored into those decisions

6:59And of course the COVID pandemic has changed our world in so many ways and

7:06Compounded all of these other influences on our work

7:09These influences shaped the development of a multi-year strategic communications and community engagement plan

7:19That's now guiding how we deliver these services

7:23The direction and even the title is intentional

7:27One city is about city employees working together across departments and service areas as one

7:35Organization to serve our community and provide excellent service and value

7:40One voice is about ensuring that all city employees regardless of their role

7:46Represent one organization and provide consistent and responsive public service to people in our community

7:53shared purpose is about recognizing the city's mission of delivering

7:58Responsible and responsive public service to wealths glowing growing and diverse community

8:04It's a reminder that when we work together to deliver our purpose our community flourishes

8:10This brings us to our vision and mission for communications and engagement at the city

8:21We need to listen and learn from each other to build this flourishing community

8:26And we do it by deepening engagement

8:31Communicating truth nurturing relationships creating space for all voices

8:37listening and fostering dialogue

8:39To reach our vision of an engaged community. We will listen elevate and evolve

8:50Listening and learning from our community requires us to let go of assumptions and this includes the need to understand

8:57what people and communities in Guelph are experiencing and

9:01It will help us create more sustainable policies programs and services to meet our community's needs

9:08We need to keep improving how we communicate and engage both inside and outside of the organization as we learn from and about our community

9:19And that requires a commitment to transparency and more effort to build and nurture

9:25relationships within the Guelph community

9:29Finally, whether it's changes in best practice

9:32advances in digital technology or learning more about the words and images we should use to represent our diverse community

9:40The city's communications and engagement efforts must evolve

9:45We must be innovative

9:47thoughtful

9:49intentional

9:50equitable and inclusive and

9:52We must plan our digital efforts deliberately and strategically

9:57So the key projects that we're going to deliver under this plan include a website redesign in collaboration with IT and customer service a

10:11review of city branding to build more consistency and brand recognition and

10:16It is not a rebranding exercise just a review and

10:21Then of course an update to our community engagement framework and policy, which is the perfect segue to hand it over to Glenn

10:31Thanks, Laura

10:32As you saw in the previous slide

10:34One of the key projects coming out of one city one boy shared purpose is the modernization of our community engagement framework and practices

10:42Some of you will be familiar with our framework

10:44It's a document that sets the standards across the corporation for how staff and consultants design and implement community engagement

10:51When we say community engagement

10:53We mean how we include the community in the decision-making process on matters that affect them and that they can meaningfully influence

11:00Our first framework was approved in 2013

11:03Revises in 2015 and it was among the first of such documents at Canadian municipalities and it became an inspiration for many other communities to develop their own

11:12It's guided how the city is designed and implemented community engagement across

11:16hundreds of projects over the last decades from small projects like the community plan a

11:22transportation master or pardon me from from small projects that might affect a few residents in a neighborhood to larger projects like the community plan

11:30The transportation master plan and every kind of project in between and we've learned a lot over the last 10 years about what works and what needs to change

11:39Laura alluded to some of those changes at the top things like the important work happening related to inclusion diversity

11:46equity

11:47accessibility

11:48Antiracism and reconciliation and how these justice issues necessitate we take different approaches to engagement

11:54The amount of miss and disinformation out there and how that drives polarization

11:58the downward trend

12:01Intrusting governments and how that can create cynicism frustration and disenfranchisement

12:06And the radically shifting digital landscape and how that changes expectations of how we engage and exacerbates a lack of inclusion for some community members

12:14So in late 2022

12:17We initiated a review of community engagement and this was not just about our framework and policy, but about our engagement practices more broadly

12:26Starting in November our team began having conversations with diverse community members people from equity denied groups and members of our local indigenous community

12:35People who frequently engage with the city folks. You may recognize as regular and active delegates at council meetings

12:41People from the broader public and silent majority

12:44People who were new to Guelph new to Canada and people who have called Guelph home for their entire lives

12:50We spoke with community partners organizations groups and associations

12:54business owners and operators city staff

12:57public participation consultants and experts and many of you who so willingly

13:02Responded to our invitation to provide feedback by participating in one of our focus groups or one-on-one conversations

13:09together

13:10We collected a wealth of data

13:13When all was said and done

13:14We heard that the aspiration of our original framework was still very much alive and what the community expects of us

13:20But that there were certainly gaps that needed to be addressed if we were going to achieve those aspirations

13:25I'll share just a few of those gaps to give you a taste

13:29But we'll be bringing a few components of our new framework to council next month

13:32And if you're interested you'll find there's lots to dig into in those reports and attachments about our methodology and the insights we cleaned

13:39For the purposes of our workshop today and setting up the activity we'll be doing in a few minutes

13:43I'm focusing on just a few of the gaps we heard about during the review

13:47And I'm happy to address any questions counselors may have about that during the Q&A

13:53First we heard that there's a desire to more meaningfully reach and engage those who have not traditionally been engaged

14:00Those from equity-denied groups and our local indigenous community

14:04Those who have experienced injustice

14:06Oppression or have different living and lived experiences than may have historically been the focus of engagement

14:11People from across the entire

14:13Geography of the city every ward every end and every area in between and for us to prioritize

14:20Accessibility and inclusion and focus on connecting with the silent majority

14:25Second we heard a lot about relationships

14:28There's a desire for the city to be more present in the community even when there's not a project that we're engaging on

14:34That means being at other people's events

14:37Participating at other people's conversations rather than just the ones we've organized or convened

14:42Aspiring to design engagement that feels relational and ongoing versus engagement that has sometimes felt transactional

14:50Thirdly there's a desire for the city to better connect the dots and report back

14:55We heard loud and clear that people don't always see the connection between the engagement

14:59We might be doing today

15:00Let's say on selecting between two or three park designs and earlier engagement

15:05We might have done at a master plan level around the vision and values that ought to guide park design

15:09That we don't always connect the dots between previous policy decisions made by council and the scope of a particular engagement

15:15And that people feel like they engage but don't always see how their input has contributed to final recommendations or decisions

15:22Our team sat with all of this data and after months considered

15:27What does it mean in all the stories and conversations?

15:29We had there was a meta level insight that it's not enough for us just to create meaningful participation opportunities

15:36We must create the conditions for people to participate

15:41That's how we arrived at our new community engagement promise to create the conditions for meaningful engagement

15:47We'll focus on nurturing relationships. So there's an evolving sense of trust

15:52Safety and cooperation between us and within the community itself

15:56We'll focus on building capacity for participation

15:59So people know about and understand decisions know what the impacts of the decision will be and know how to and when they can

16:07Participate in shaping these decisions will help people understand and navigate city processes

16:12And by focusing on relationships and building capacity will have contributed to creating a readiness for participation

16:18We'll meet this readiness by ensuring we continue to provide meaningful opportunities for the community to influence decisions

16:27To do all of that we developed a set of community engagement design principles

16:32Design principles are used in many fields to help practitioners keep certain critical considerations front of mind when building and creating products or

16:39Providing services we think of these like buoys or guardrails that keep us on track as we move towards our engagement promise

16:48The design principles are part of our modernized community engagement for framework and they were born out of the generative engagement

16:54We've done over the last number of months

16:56The theory here is if we do these things

16:59Identify and address barriers to participation focus on the needs and experiences of equity denied groups engage early

17:06Evolve our approach deliver diverse engagement opportunities connect the dots and report back

17:11Meet the community where they are and spark curiosity and joy

17:15We're not only meeting our community engagement promise, but we're helping move towards the vision of one city one voice shared purpose

17:22I won't go into much more detail about these components of our new framework again

17:26You'll have lots of opportunity in the coming weeks to ask questions and consider this body of work as we bring all of it to June to

17:33Council in June what we wanted to do before we get to the Q&A is to engage counselors in a bit more depth on what feedback and ideas

17:40You have for how we specifically can connect the dots and report back

17:45How we support you in making decisions you are faced with by sharing community engagement data and results

17:51In ways that make sense for you

17:53When we spoke with counselors during engagement, we heard that we need to connect the dots for people on public policy objectives

18:00What have we already engaged on what set of scope and what's still on the table?

18:04We heard there's a desire to show our work to demonstrate rigorous treatment

18:08Treatment and analysis of data how we got to a recommended direction or decision and to be clear about the problem

18:14We're solving for to give the whole story and to go simply beyond simply how many people we spoke with

18:20So we're gonna transition to the interactive component of the evening where I take off my hat as a presenter and

18:27Put on my hat as a facilitator and I'm gonna move around from behind the podium here to on the floor

18:32So that we can have a little bit more of a dialogue

18:35Again, we'll get to your questions about the presentation during the Q&A

18:39But we wanted to make sure there was time for a full some conversation with you about how we report back

18:43Chair Downer, I'm asking for your permission to facilitate from a different spot the room if that's okay

18:48Yes, certainly you can. Thank you. And we'll we will you be able to see everyone on the screen as well?

18:55Yeah, and everyone hear me. Okay?

19:04Awesome. Okay

19:07Now I gotta break the wall break the wall. So you've hopefully had a chance

19:12With the homework and I apologize that we gave you homework

19:15To review some examples of community engagement reports that we've shared as

19:21part of past work

19:23So and we've shared these example examples of how project teams across the city and

19:28Consultants we've worked with have reported back on community engagement in the past to get your feedback engines started

19:33This is not necessarily about critiquing staff work

19:36But rather drawing from tangible examples about what you want to see more of less of and what new ideas you have

19:43About how we report back on community engagement

19:46So think of this is helping us understand your ideal report or summary on community engagement and what that might look like

19:52I reminder to you before we dig in that we're trying to stay at a level of kind of content types

19:57We're not digging into the specific, you know peculiarities of those reports and the content that's in it

20:02So thinking about headings and subheadings types of informations tables charts the kinds of things that make the information

20:09Sing to you and relevant from your perspective

20:12so

20:13Let's start with what we liked across the reports

20:16What was helpful useful insightful and would you like to see more of and maybe what I can get you to do if you

20:22Wouldn't mind is just to sort of reference the report that you're talking about so we when we go back and capture notes that we're

20:28Making sure that we've captured all that

20:30Yes, counselor boosted TLI see your hand

20:36Sure, I did my homework. So I'll share what I've got here. So are in the what I liked

20:44I the first one was the ward boundary one and what I wrote down there is I liked the

20:52the report that

20:54kind of

20:55Instructed the the process of elimination, you know walk to you through that process of elimination in the ward boundary

21:06Report for the second one for me was the Metcalfe Street

21:12sidewalk I liked that it specifically included non residents in the methodology and really

21:20brought that out numerically but also in the comments and

21:25Then the last one is the engagement summary of the one canopy tree planting

21:31I liked that one. That was my favorite one. It was comprehensive. It gave me a

21:38Solid picture. I like the headings and the categories for the feedback and I liked I wrote down here page five

21:46what were

21:49Doing or not doing that was very clear and the appendices were helpful as well

21:55That's great. Thanks, sir. Thank you

21:58Think I saw counselor class in your hand club

22:02Yeah, I wrote down that I I like the sections on the I think it's the Metcalfe sidewalk and

22:09The tree canopy at the end which was the distinction between what we are doing and what we're not doing

22:14Because I always feel like there's some questions around, you know, like what's the you know, there's a pressing question

22:22It's like, oh, yeah, well, we're not doing that. So I thought that was that was helpful that clarity. Thank you. Yeah. Oh

22:32Thank you. I

22:34Can't sort of see who is first. So maybe I'll go counselor Kaden and then counselor all

22:42Thanks. So in the Metcalfe sidewalk when I really like the outline of the feedback options and

22:50similar to counselor Vistell the number of participants that

22:55Entered like within the boundary and then outside the boundary. I thought that was very helpful and

23:01In the tree canopy report. I really like the breakdown of feedback into the categories. I thought that was very helpful

23:09That's great. Thanks. So just parsing apart the data a little bit more. Yeah

23:14counselor alt

23:19I want to start first of all with the length of the report, which is something that I like they believe at all reports should be executive reports

23:27Preferably two pages long with the appendices or referrals to

23:32Citations at some point if more information is needed

23:35I felt that that that's incredibly important because we can tend to be overwhelmed with paperwork

23:43What we are not doing the clarification there was good for me

23:47I'll refer to some things that I think need improvement later on

23:53That's great. Thank you

23:58Yeah, sir work. Oh

24:02Sorry counselor Gawler, I didn't see you there

24:05That's okay. You recognize counselor work. Please go ahead Dominique

24:11Wow, it's like that those chipmunks on

24:15Like you go first. I go first. Okay. Sorry. I was scrolling back to capture some stuff

24:20I did do my homework, but I just want to make sure it was complete. I like when the

24:27Policy issue we're trying to solve is clearly outlined

24:30Right. So what is it? We're trying to what's the question we're trying to answer?

24:36Like counselor boost tail I really like to see a solid methodology. Unfortunately, there have been times where

24:42Consultations come back and the methodology is weak and so that is problematic for us as a governing body

24:49And I like the clarity in terms of the options. Great. Okay. Thank you

24:56counselor Gawler

24:58Thank you. I also really like the the high level summary

25:03Along with that not all the reports, but some of them had the next steps. This is what we're going to do with the information

25:09I thought that was quite important

25:12and in

25:14In one of the reports it was particularly clear I

25:19Believe it was the see which one that I read second here

25:22The three the three canopy how they presented the information

25:27Which presented, you know, this this number of people said this this number of people said that I thought that that was helpful to understand

25:37and

25:39Yeah, yeah, it's it's hard to just focus on on what I like without talking about the the other stuff

25:46But I do like that

25:48The report that included the graph I think that was for the war boundaries. I really thought that that was clear

25:53I had a hard time understanding some of the data that was just

25:59Just written out with whether the graph so I really like that

26:02The graph and when we looked at specific numbers visual. Yeah, that's great

26:08Maybe that's a good segue to what what you would want to see improved

26:13What are what are things that you would want to see improved in ideal reports on engagement?

26:19I can't so Bruce tail go to you first and then cancel Kate and then cancel

26:26Exactly what counselor Rodrigo Galler just had about visual communication

26:31and

26:33That was specific to the sidewalk the Metcalf one but some in the letters some kind of visual communication

26:39I think in addition to plain language the visuals important the what what's next?

26:45I think wasn't consistent in the examples that were given

26:49And in some of the reports I was not clear on

26:53Who the respondents were and so things like heat maps around the cities, especially if you're doing is

27:01helpful to know where the gaps are

27:03And overlaying the data that we have in terms of diversity and equity would be helpful and and that speaks to I think

27:11Counselor Iraq was talking about the methodology. So I think that that is something that I found weak

27:16I didn't get a sense of who and who not and then

27:21overall

27:23Could be improved

27:25I talked I broke down here that

27:29Sometimes the methodology has to be different and more concentrated more effort in some areas to ensure that there's a balance

27:37And I didn't get that sense. I thought here it is. It's one methodology

27:42You know

27:43Like the whack-a-mole you're there you're part of it or you're not part of it too bad

27:47and so some kind of

27:50scaffolding or diversity or

27:54Different differentiation in your methodology

27:57That's great. Thank you

27:59cancer Kate

28:04So in the Metcalf report

28:07I think that an improvement would be if we had something like the a

28:12C report or feedback

28:15if they had any kind of barrier reports or anything like that if we could have those things included and

28:23Also, if there are things like

28:2510 to 15 year timelines between when we expect to do the next project a list of if we're going to be

28:31Having future feedback opportunities to people because that's a long timeline in between potential residence changes and their circumstance changes between like

28:41Start to finish and I was also thinking that

28:47So the tree report

28:50Just reading it visually it's really hard when you've got a whole page of bullets like that

28:55like just having line height differences in between the bullet points so that you can visually parse them a little bit easier and

29:04In faux graphics like everyone else said if there's percentages

29:07I'd much rather see it in some kind of

29:11High chart or something like that then all of the bullet point lists because it's really hard to kind of visualize what it really means that way

29:18and

29:20Then well, so sorry back to them at cap one any kind of provincial standards because like I know that I

29:27Learned a lot about what is expected of sidewalks and things like that

29:31But just including that in the report would be handy as a reminder for folks

29:37That's great. Thanks. Can I cancel gaten?

29:40That's where work

29:44Sorry similar to what council Kate was saying it'd be really helpful

29:49To understand what other constraints were presented during the consultation like where people aware of

29:57budget constraints or legislative constraints my concern when we go out and consult is

30:02If it's sort of a blue sky, right and and the people are responding genuinely to that question

30:10Well, we have to wait with all the other policy considerations. So so I would love to know, you know, this this is how this problem

30:19No policy issue was framed how this consultation was framed. So I'd like to understand that

30:24I'd like to understand when we get a report what other inputs were considered. So there is the public consultation, right?

30:31But then what did the advisory committee say?

30:34Were there any groups that weighed in and then what the relative weight of those are right?

30:41So I'll give an example when the Chamber of Commerce comes to delegate on an issue

30:45It has it should have more relative weight because of the representation of their membership

30:49Especially if it's a business issue so that kind of thing. So I'm trying to understand

30:52When I read a report what the weight of the public consultation is versus the other inputs because from an equity perspective

30:59We never want to be in a position where we know something's the right thing to do

31:04But somehow in the public we've lost this sort of popularity contest, right?

31:08So I'd like to understand what other inputs are there

31:12And it's not one of your three examples

31:14But I love the equity work done in the trails master plan

31:17Because those folks are not delegating a council, right?

31:21And so I also love that sort of higher order data to say here's what we found

31:26Here's what we heard from these folks and then here's the recommendation and that'd be really helpful

31:32And the the other piece that would be helpful is more in the execution

31:37It's problematic when there's a big gap between the consultation and the execution

31:42I'm thinking about road safety stuff on Downey where we've you know had consultations before 2014 and

31:49We're seeing the road safety being implemented now people don't they weren't even part of those consultations. I don't remember

31:56What that happened and so when the context changes or when there's all of that gap

32:01I'd be curious to know is that then a refresh

32:05Are people given the new context again, you know, we're in a different budgetary context

32:09So that kind of stuff I'd like to understand the context in which the consultation took place. Yeah, great. Thank you

32:17Okay

32:19counselor goller and then counselor Billings

32:23Thank you

32:25so in in terms of the

32:28The numbers I really liked the the report that had the the graph and also that presented the numbers the other the first report that I read

32:37it gave

32:39it was about the

32:42The war boundary change and it gave

32:47Interpretations of the data that summarized section. So I find that a little bit bit challenging, you know, people were asked

32:54How much do you support this or that and

32:58I think

32:59Because the numbers weren't presented in a broken down level, you know that these categories received

33:0551% of support these categories received 49% of support. It was a little bit hard to understand. So

33:13It would be great if there could be a a better breakdown with a little more information

33:18for the public including more

33:20Um

33:21More tables or charts whenever possible. That's what I would like to see and and the consistency

33:28You know, I noticed that one of them two of them were created by us one of them. It looked like it was done by a consultant

33:34I would love to see a template that we have to use for every report

33:38So whether it's us or a third party, it looks the same that that is comparable with the same

33:45Questions and the on the same requirements

33:48And one of the questions along with what counselor work was saying in terms of the timelines

33:53Um, do would we have a way to actually follow up with people?

33:57So that when a decision is made by counsel a year or a year and a half two years

34:03I would love to see that person get a message saying this

34:06Open house that you participated in two years ago about this topic

34:10This is the new bylaw and that was you know, your feedback was taken into consideration

34:15I'd love to see some of that to rebuild that

34:18That that trust that I think is sometimes lost because someone participates provides their input

34:23Nothing happens for a year and you think uh, they you know, why did I waste my time?

34:27So I think that closing the loop with uh, people that participate would be uh helpful. Thank you

34:34That's great. Thanks counselor. It's something we heard a lot about is just closing that loop. So thanks for that

34:39Um counselor buildings and then counselor alt

34:44So my biggest concern again was um a context. So just following up again with everything counselor works at

34:52so we have

34:55We have content, but I'm not going to use the example of met cap

35:00So again, if we put it more into context i.e. the cost the budget the timing

35:06With the options, there's many times where I could I could look at the options how they're presented

35:12But because the data isn't there of which

35:16You know the city would would have more of that information and data

35:20But if that was there, I may not pick a certain option

35:25and another one is the um the implication so again, I'll use met cap as an example

35:32If you pick this option

35:35And then beside it it says well this this may impact say on street parking

35:41But if we had the data to say okay, roughly, you know

35:4420 on street parking spots would be lost

35:47So if you put the options and have the context with those options

35:51Then some people would would pick a different option

35:55So it's more about giving people the the data and the knowledge so that they can have an informed uh response

36:03um

36:05To the to the engagement process

36:08That's great. Thanks councillor billings

36:11councillor, oh

36:15thank you

36:16I'm going to primarily

36:18focus on on numbers one and numbers two, but

36:27The one challenge that I find with uh with number one

36:30Is the ranking and I think councillor Goller is correct 10 place would would assist this when we see that

36:36We are ranking preserving trees versus neighborhood safety versus on street parking

36:41I have to ask myself

36:43Is that a ranking that's separated by one or two points or is it separated by uh by 10 or 20 points?

36:50Secondly, what's even more important

36:53Despite the priorities of the community

36:56What are the necessities of council with regards to issues associated with say tree preservation or safety?

37:04Those those those are really key and I think they should be in a report

37:08um

37:09Another problem that I found in number two, especially was uh, there was a vacillation between concrete examples and ambiguity

37:17And uh the phrase that stuck out. I think it was number two might have been number one

37:21The solution requires significant construction activity. I don't know what that means

37:27It could mean many many things that it could mean many sidewalks. It could could mean

37:32Uh many many protective barriers for trees, whatever that's a concern with regards to both

37:40Surveys survey size is important to me as well. I can see the wrong numbers

37:46But what do we consider is an appropriate survey?

37:49Size for doing a survey and for outreach. It's great. We've got 180 x people

37:56That have been surveyed. How have they been surveyed? What's the quality of those surveys?

38:00How does it relate to the city as a whole number two? I've already said is just far too long in my mind

38:06um an executive report with a great deal of information behind it to which I might refer would be uh

38:14Far prefer because at this point we we still are uh,

38:18recognized as

38:19Sometimes doing full-time jobs and being part-time counselors

38:23um

38:25So the other thing that I think I didn't hear from councillor buildings, but I know that she means it

38:29I think budgetary considerations are essential in all reports

38:33With regards to number three, I've got to say that I really like number three because it was very actively voiced

38:39It starts out with um, what was done

38:43It goes to what we heard and then it says what it means

38:47That's pretty logical sequential to me and that that works well

38:52That's great. Thanks councillor. Great feedback. Um, glenn. Um, could I just point out?

38:57Councillor Caron is on the phone. Okay, great. I didn't realize that until just before we started this one. So

39:03Could we ask her if

39:05Council coran, do you have any comments you'd like to add?

39:13She texted me and said she was on the phone. So

39:17Maybe she council corana you there? Sorry chair sure downer

39:22I'm just on audio tonight and I I'm listening to all of my uh, colleagues comments and I don't have

39:28Anything to add at this time because I'm I'm feeling like everything's been expressed. Um, very well

39:35Okay, great. Thanks. Thank you. Thanks chair. Um

39:39Ask mayor Guthrie

39:43Thank you and through you madam chair

39:44I would just say ditto to everything that has been said so far

39:47But I'll just add one extra thing the difference between

39:50Sort of the proactive versus reactive

39:54So you do outline in the reports, you know, hey, we did this

39:57We had this open house and I I would almost

40:00that proactive. You proactively set something up for people to come and engage with. In a way,

40:07I would almost classify in my humble opinion, like online survey stuff as more reactive,

40:14even though sometimes we might push it out a little bit, it's more reactive. And I guess it

40:19would be interesting for me to find out if there was ever any overlap. So what I mean by that is,

40:26I don't know how you'd be able to engage this or figure it out, but if there was

40:35a neighborhood group that went to the proactive open house and staff were inundated with that

40:44group over whatever issue. And then online, you could somehow tell the same exact people

40:55that were at the open house are the ones engaging online. If there's a way to differentiate those

41:00two things for us, I don't know if it's a question that needs to be asked like within the online

41:07surveys that says, have you attended an in-person event on this subject matter, something like that.

41:13Just it'd be interesting to see if there's cross pollination between the two things. And then

41:21I had it written down here, so I know I said ditto, but Councillor Goller literally said

41:26two main points that I was going to say, the template I think would be amazing. Then it's

41:32uniform, not only uniform for council to digest, but it could start to almost be uniform as it gets

41:37out into the public realm too. And then the other thing I just got to say is the follow-up.

41:45I just think we're really, really missing on that. And it would be interesting to see

41:50follow-up options almost similar to like an exit interview for things with people.

41:59Hey, you gave us feedback. Council made a decision. Do you see yourself reflected in this

42:04decision? Those types of questions. Do you not? Why? I think those types of questions would be

42:11very interesting information for us to get, both from a staff perspective and from a council

42:17perspective as well. Okay, thank you. Thank you. That's great. Councillor, I'll go to you. And then

42:23maybe just in the final couple minutes here, just ask if there are new ideas of things that we can

42:28be doing in those reports that you haven't already shared over you. It was organization in number two.

42:34I noticed that in the organization, we identified policy somewhere down the report. And it strikes

42:42me that policy should be front and center because policy should be driving program. And then from

42:49policy follows everything else. So organization does, in many respects, matter in a report. How

42:55does it fit into policy? How does it fit into the strategic plan, for example? Those things should

43:00be apparent almost immediately. Great. Thanks. Councillor Kate, I see your hand for new ideas.

43:10These are new or not because I'm new. So I apologize if these are things that you've tried and

43:14they didn't work. But I just think for me personally, having like a hyperlinked table of

43:20contents to what's going to be in the report would be useful because sometimes I'm just the way that

43:25I'm thinking about things. I want to kind of read them in a different order than they're presented.

43:30And also, when you've got something that has a lot of dates in it, I would really like to see

43:36like a project timeline, sort of like Gantt style so that I can sort of see where everything was.

43:41Because going through and reading it, I can see there's a lot of stuff, but I can't really tell

43:45where things happen. So visually, it would be a lot easier for me if we did that. And then I was

43:51just wondering, do we have a link, like, do we provide the option to provide feedback on the

43:57surveys to people who filled them out? So like when they're doing it and they offer suggestions as to

44:04what they would like to see in the surveys. Yeah, great question. I'm happy to maybe address

44:11that during the Q&A. Yep. Any other ideas? Yeah, cancer work.

44:16Sharon, new ideas? Yeah. All right. Thanks through you, Chair Downer. I'm curious to know if and

44:22when we use big data in addition to the consultation. Because we do tend to attract

44:31groups that are very dedicated and have a policy, you know, that they're advancing a certain policy.

44:37So do we ever step back and then use higher order data? I know sometimes we use opinion polling,

44:44which I like sometimes because then we're reaching out to the people who might not otherwise have

44:49participated. But I think it was Councillor Buse still who talked about heat maps, right?

44:54But are there other types of big data that we can use just to give us a different data point?

45:00I'm curious how we capture spontaneous response. So it might be a big conversation happening on

45:05social media about something, but it's not our process. How does that factor in? Because they

45:11are people who are aware of something happening in the city have chosen not to engage. But it is

45:17at least a response that we need to be aware of, right? So those folks live in the city and they

45:22obviously have a position. So I'm curious how we capture that. I'm curious to know if you have

45:28any questions about how we capture that. And I have no idea. I saw a very scary news report last

45:34night on AI. I'm curious about whether we have concerns about bots or AI or whether conversely

45:41they can be helpful. So I don't know what the idea is around that. I know smarter people than me,

45:47you're talking about it. That's great. Because Councillor Hurwock, just looking at time and we

45:53want to leave time for questions and answers to the presentation more broadly. Any maybe sort of

45:58final thoughts in terms of ideas of things you'd like to see in these kinds of reports in the future?

46:06Maybe? I mean, mostly I have a ditto. I wrote down, can it be more visual? And I think every other

46:12councillor sort of emphasized that. But we read a lot and the visuals really help to process information.

46:21So anytime there's a graph or even a photo and maybe slightly different,

46:28the graphic design is important. I look through different reports from different cities

46:33and how the information is laid out rather than maybe just like one long line. It could

46:38potentially be separated out more clearly. Makes it easier to read. That's great. Thank you.

46:48I'm not seeing any other obvious hands. So maybe I'll stop there. Thank you so much for your feedback.

46:53That's really helpful. Back to you Chair Downer and we'll take some questions on the presentation.

46:59Hey, thank you. Are there any questions? Councillor Bousetail? I hope you're muted.

47:11All right. I had a ton of questions that came as a result of looking at those examples of reports

47:17that left me with questions. And some of the things have already been raised.

47:22And so I am going to just say that overall with the reports, I think some clarity around

47:33and honesty around where you are in the consultation or input process. So is it an input of,

47:41do you want the red one or the green one? Because people are often looking for input

47:47real meaningful consultation in the discussion of the problem and the generation of the ideas

47:54and not just having a choice of red or green. And so if that means, and this is where my question is,

48:01does that mean through your presentation that you will be working with council

48:08process around budget and staff around design so that there are meaningful opportunities around

48:17that process and then I did have some other questions. We'll carry on with your questions.

48:28Okay. So just thank you for the presentation. I was curious about, you use the words engagement

48:36versus capacity building. And for me, as soon as you start speaking about capacity building,

48:41I look at your staff structure and I think resources. And so I'm curious what your vision is

48:47for capacity building. There's a speak about engagement, meeting people where they are,

48:54building capacity, meaningful opportunities and so on. Is there a change in how you are doing

49:00your work that is embedded operationally in there? Thank you through you chair downer.

49:11So, I mean, we're building on work that we're already doing. I think our team is out there

49:15building relationships with community organizations and with folks in the community already. So this

49:22isn't net new. I think our sort of shift in focus and putting this in the center of our lens is really

49:29come out of that engagement. And so I think we are that's part of our next steps is to figure out

49:34how exactly we do that in meaningful ways that build upon the work that we're already doing.

49:41And how we work with, you know, other organizations locally that are that are in the community and

49:46that have relationships, how we tap into those and how we build those relationships over the

49:50long term with ourselves. I don't want to understate the fact that that, you know, many departments

49:55within the city have great relationships. And so we're not we're not starting from zero in that

49:59effort to, to, you know, continue building relationships. Thank you. And I guess a follow up

50:07to that is as you're aware, organizations are all resourced differently and often equity organizations

50:13in your presentation in the document, it talks about working two way conversations outside of

50:20predetermined corporate structures. And I guess my question is, how do you ensure that those agencies

50:26that don't have full time staff that don't sit in front of a computer all day, have that equitable

50:31opportunity to engage with the city and elevate, you know, and engage their members in their community

50:39in this process? Again, through you, Chair Downer, that is work again, that that is part of that

50:47relationship building. We need to understand who those organizations are, what their real capacity

50:52constraints are, and then adapt our approach accordingly. I don't think it's a one size fits

50:57all that's going to work for all different organizations, community organizations, we're

51:01really going to have to take a tailored approach. And I think that responds to the piece around

51:05equity. I think that there's really no one size fits all and how we develop those relationships.

51:10And I think it's a, it's a long horizon project. It's not something that we can flip the switch on.

51:17Thank you. And just I'm going to draw on my experience and through the chair. Thank you.

51:23Often sitting around the table will come personal experiences and personal voices.

51:29How do you envision that accountability back to the membership or back to the community? So it's

51:36not my experience, especially again, for those equity seeking groups, equity deserving groups,

51:44that don't have the resources to, at the same way, in a corporate structure, you know, conduct

51:49surveys and all those other kinds of things. Again, it comes back to my concern around, it's very,

51:55I think it's great to have these admirable, you know, meaningful opportunities and inputs

52:02decisions, but the playing field is not level. And I think I appreciate you're going into

52:07there looking and understanding and appreciating that it's different. But when you're looking to

52:12those organizations to bring their voices and their participation, they need resources, bottom

52:18line, they need resources to do that in a way that is comparable to those other corporate

52:27institutions or so on. So I'm looking for, has there been some consideration on intentionally

52:34how to do that? Through you, Chair. We're just at the early parts of that process,

52:43Councillor Bustiel. So yes, I think everything we do is intentional and we're working towards

52:49approaching it in that way and again, taking a customized approach, recognizing that

52:55organizations that are serving people from equity denied groups or people with living and lived

53:00experience are fundamentally bootstrapped and so we need to design an approach in terms of

53:06building relationships with those organizations in a way that meets that constraint and that

53:11challenge and doesn't exacerbate that challenge. And the last thing was, and I'll type up my

53:18comments about what questions do you have because I had a lot of questions that were unanswered in

53:23those sample reports. Equity is always first and foremost for me. Was the lack of connection,

53:31I think in your presentation you talked about connecting the dots, but I found the reports

53:36not connecting within reports and so the one that is on the tree canopy, there is excellent equity

53:46and diversity, cultural data that's in those reports and maybe it's visual. It's talking about

53:53what really jumped out for me and I know it was just an example was on the Appendix 150 Imperial,

54:00which is not for profit housing, no comment from there. That methodology, my question would be,

54:08well then you have to go the extra mile there to engage and if you layer those other reports,

54:14you would see that that is an equity seeking equity deserving group that we didn't go

54:22further to elevate their voice. So I guess in doing this, pulling together all those resources

54:29and those lens because it's helpful to me to know that you have looked through that lens in the

54:38consultation and that's it for me. Thank you Chair Down. Thank you Councillor Bousetiel.

54:44So Councillor Allt was next and I think Councillor Goller was after you.

54:50Thank you very much Chair Down. I'm actually going to follow up to

54:55Councillor Bousetiel, but I think I'm going to be just a bit more concrete. There is a,

55:01I guess a Harold and this kind of a Marshall McLuhan challenge here and that's the bias of

55:05technology. I deal with a number of seniors because it's seniors many times who are unable to have

55:12access to the technology that we believe is fairly ubiquitous amongst the population,

55:18computer cell phones, etc. I don't need the answer, but I suppose it's more of a comment.

55:25I would encourage us to continue to use the conventional approaches to consultation that

55:32have always been done along with the electronic approaches because I do think that we will tend

55:38to get a biased sample if we rely on electronic media for our communications. This is not just

55:46seniors and I don't mean to categorize people that way, but new Canadians as well, young people as

55:54well and that also gets back to the language that we use. The language is oftentimes very exclusive

56:02we know what a phrase means, but other individuals might not know what that particular phrase of

56:09that word means and I would encourage the communications staff to run surveys by each

56:15other if you're not already doing it, which I expect you are, to ensure that language is clear

56:21and simple and can be answered even by me and if it can be answered by me I'm sure it can be answered

56:28by everybody. Okay, if you want to respond to that at all.

56:38Happy to chair. A couple of things that are just to respond to I think there's a recognition from

56:43our team that diversity approaches is absolutely essential when we're designing engagement.

56:48You know a single approach doesn't work for the diversity of community members that we have in

56:53Guelph, so that means online but it also means other methods and means for sure and then in terms

56:59of accessibility of survey language and you know it's a key focus for us when we're talking about

57:05reducing barriers to participation is making sure that we're using as plain language as possible

57:10and reducing technical jargon and I know that's something our whole team is really focused on.

57:15Okay thank you. Are there any other questions? Councillor Work?

57:21Thank you Chair Downer. And Maric for you Dr. So through you to staff I'm curious

57:26whether or what the range of engagement looks like right because 2018 MTO was consulting or

57:37engaging community on the overpass and they weren't saying do you want an overpass here or

57:43service road they're saying what color would you like those shrubs to be right because the road

57:48was going to be built. So are there times when we're early we're in a policy conversation we're

57:55blue-skying and it's that's a different type of con consultation or engagement and then there are

58:01times when it's more of a decision point or more refined because of course we want the catalogue

58:07of consultations but then how do you balance that with still being able to be nimble especially if

58:14things are changing quickly. So can you just explain to me how you choose what the consultation

58:19or the engagement is going to look like and and then how do we know what that choice was what was

58:27behind that choice. Thanks through you Chair Downer. A lot of consideration goes into those

58:35decisions. Our team who's here tonight really that's what they focus on is really trying to

58:40understand where are there opportunities for the community to actually influence a decision or a

58:46part of a decision and sometimes that's not that's not the whole decision as you reference in the

58:52case of an overpass it's it's a part of it we maybe it's past the point or it's a decision made from

58:59another level of government or another entity and so engaging the community in that feels disingenuous

59:07because there's actually no opportunity to influence that and so that's usually a pretty simple one is

59:12sort of saying is there an opportunity to influence what is it if so that's what we would engage upon

59:17and I think it behooves us again as part of our new framework to make sure that we're connecting

59:21those dots or reporting back to people about those other options. In other projects there are multiple

59:27phases and there are multiple facets that we might engage on and some of those might be just at the

59:32informed level so we use the International Association of Public Participation's spectrum of

59:36engagement and they sort of lay out a model for how you know different kinds of decisions might have

59:43different kinds of engagement so on that sort of light end would be informed where there isn't a

59:49meaningful opportunity for community to influence but we are you know we have an obligation to

59:54communicate that all the way to the other end of the spectrum where we have in power where we're

59:58sort of saying this isn't our decision to make this is the community's decision to make and so

1:00:03how do we create the enabling infrastructure for them to do that so and everything in between so

1:00:07our team is looking at the engagement spectrum the the diversity of decisions that actually can

1:00:13be influenced and that's how they design engagement plans along with our communications colleagues

1:00:18and and get that out to the community. Great thanks very much and then through chair downer how do we

1:00:26capture so when counselors get emails right on a whole range of things and we forward that to the

1:00:32department for your consideration how does that get factored in right in between the formal consultation?

1:00:41Yeah it's a great question um we look at all of it I think is the short answer um sometimes it's

1:00:48unclear when we get an email from an outside party if that is data that they've already contributed

1:00:55to another tool that we have out there be it online or be it at an open house or some kind of public

1:01:02consultation that we're hosting so we would tend not to count it like physically count it as a thing

1:01:08but every perspective is valid every data point is valid and we look at that and we consider it and

1:01:14it's part of what we would share back in terms of this is what we heard um we might not like physically

1:01:20count it as because we can't separate is that a net new individual um or is that someone that also

1:01:25participated in a line but what they're sharing is important and so we try to do that. Okay great

1:01:30thanks very much and just an offer that a number of us have newsletters we're happy to share the

1:01:36consultation opportunities the engagement opportunities and so um it's important for us to feel that our

1:01:42constituents feel heard when they participate in engagement opportunities and also that we're able to

1:01:48to reach out so it's an invitation to keep us informed and lean on us when when the those

1:01:53opportunities exist appreciate it. Thank you. Mayor Guthrie? Thank you and through you chair

1:02:06I just want to just touch base on Councillor O'Rourke's last comment there because that was on

1:02:15my list here to say um there has been times where certain departments or certain staff members will

1:02:21send out an email to all of us on council and say hey we're trying to get better engagement

1:02:28on a certain thing and I see a lot of uptake and the only reason why there is uptake by council

1:02:33and myself is because we were told but very often I will find engagement happening on a

1:02:39particular issue by accident because I happen to see it on Twitter on the Guelph uh the Guelph

1:02:45feed or something and then I'll retweet it or send it out for for you guys um but if all 13 of us were

1:02:53told a lot better um then I would I would I would suggest that we probably would have

1:02:58even more feedback to compile because we can use the channels that we have such as what council

1:03:04or O'Rourke just stated. Okay a couple of questions um and again through you Madam Chair.

1:03:12I just want to try to understand what is the handoff like between your department and another

1:03:17department like when your engagement is quote unquote done do you compile a report and then

1:03:23just hand it over to the department that was looking for that report and say like okay here you go have

1:03:28a good day or are you still involved with the department that you hand that information to

1:03:36in the crafting of the report because you were the ones quote unquote closest to the people that

1:03:43were engaging on with whatever that particular issue was are you informing the report that comes

1:03:50out through engagement even with the department or do you just hand it off I just kind of want to

1:03:55know how that works. Through you Chair Downer um it's a great question um I would say a couple of

1:04:06things come to mind so first and foremost we work in a very hub and spoke model so our whole team

1:04:11communications and engagement um we're supporting our internal client groups to do the work that

1:04:17means working with project managers and the team leads that are actually leading the projects to

1:04:21make sure that they have the communication assets and the engagement assets that they need to get the

1:04:26kinds of response and feedback they need so we we're working we're working directly with them

1:04:32we provide advice we coach we support um sometimes we will actually facilitate the engagement but by

1:04:39and large we're supporting our clients to do that other times they're working with consultants in

1:04:43terms of the handoff um we we look at all the data and we help sort of maybe point out a few

1:04:50things that we're noticing in the data but often there's a very technical uh side to that and so

1:04:56the project managers are the ones that are also looking at that data and and we're sort of saying

1:04:59well what about this piece and and sort of pointing out other pieces that they may um may not address

1:05:04or or may not see and then helping them to craft to articulate that so giving them the templates

1:05:11and the formats and um you know support from our team to review the creation of those those

1:05:16summaries of community engagement back so um it's I would say it's a it's a team effort between the

1:05:22project team and our engagement experts okay great thank you and just a quick follow-up on that then

1:05:31is the data including the raw data that you compile and I'm about to ask a question I know

1:05:38probably has some privacy concerns in it so I'll state that up front but is the raw data

1:05:44or the overall data is it does it become open data at the end of the day? Through you chair uh

1:05:55I don't know exactly um uh Mayor Guthrie I think um in some case I think it depends on the nature of

1:06:02the data that we're collecting um sometimes if we're collecting um you know personal information

1:06:08um then we wouldn't um other times when we're aggregating that data for you know higher level

1:06:14insights yes we would we would share that data okay okay um let's see what else I had here are there

1:06:25any capital requirements for all of this engagement work that you are thinking that you will need?

1:06:38I'm just making this up as I go here but like software or

1:06:42more I don't know I'm just making it up here because there there might be the people on the

1:06:49operating side but I'm wondering if there's capital that's required for where you're trying to steer us here

1:06:57it's predominantly operating um there is some capital we have some software platforms that we

1:07:03utilize for engagement I think um Have Your Sake Wealth is an example of that um and that's an ongoing

1:07:09capital um uh piece of software that we have um and from time to time depending on the complexity

1:07:17of engagement I think COVID pointed to hybrid engagement and having to do both in-person and

1:07:23digital remote engagement at the same time so sometimes there are tools that we use that that

1:07:27may be capital but by and large it's it's operating okay my next question thank you for your patience

1:07:34everybody and especially you madam chair through you I just want to get some clarity around um

1:07:43so I don't disagree with what councillor booze and till is trying to say in regards to she continues

1:07:49to use the word meaningful I want meaningful engagement no one would argue about that but my

1:07:56issue a little bit is just just from a standard point of view of clarity around what is

1:08:05like what does meaningful mean what meaningful to me might mean completely different from meaningful

1:08:12from another councillor or it might even be different from the very residents that we're

1:08:16trying to engage with so when I heard you later in a different question answer somebody about this

1:08:23national society of engagement people or something whatever whatever that was is that the standard

1:08:32and does that standard equate to meaningful because if if we don't know what that means I just I'm

1:08:40fearful that we're going to have 13 of us here I'm just trying to make sure that we're all setting

1:08:45ourselves up for success that we all understand what the foundational standard is of engagement

1:08:52so that we're not arguing later to say something wasn't meaningful through you chair um yeah it's

1:09:03it's a tricky question I think um first and foremost is there an opportunity for the community to

1:09:11influence the decision that would be the first thing I would say in terms of what um classifies

1:09:18engagement as meaningful um are we doing it because we were sort of put into position where we had to

1:09:24do engagement but part of the decision felt like it was already made or there there are a series of

1:09:29technical expectations or financial expectations that narrow the scope of what's possible and so

1:09:34really it's not meaningful we're kind of box checking that that would sort of be the first

1:09:39date for me um the other the other one would just be yes so either the international association of

1:09:45public public participation would be one standard there there are other you know tools and resources

1:09:51that we use to help identify that um at the end of the day if there's a if there's an opportunity

1:09:57to meaningfully influence uh to influence a final decision and that decision hasn't already

1:10:02sort of been made in the in you know the hearts and minds of those that make the decisions um

1:10:06that we're getting a diversity of data that we're using a mix of methods that we're applying rigorous

1:10:12standards and and reducing bias to how we treat that data um I would say that those are some of

1:10:18the things that contribute towards it being meaningful okay so as a takeaway through you Madam

1:10:24Chair I again this is this is your world but maybe sometimes telling us in advance on the how

1:10:36you will be engaging it may set us all up on the same page so that it's not after three months

1:10:45of engagement that all of a sudden staff start hearing well that wasn't meaningful or you didn't

1:10:49do this or you didn't do that if we can know up front the standards you're using I think that may

1:10:56may help um okay you get what I'm saying now okay and my last question is uh

1:11:06wait are we going to in June have so I guess here's my question should should we talk about in June

1:11:16when we don't need to engage so are there going to be is there going to be a policy here with

1:11:28standards that we should expect as a council to say that we need to always engage under these

1:11:35circumstances and we will not engage under these circumstances and and I'm just going to give an

1:11:41example completely made up in the moment here but I mean the Metcalfe sidewalk thing is a great example

1:11:49but if council had a policy that said we're trying to put sidewalks everywhere and wherever

1:11:57there's a gap we're doing sidewalks just making this up here then why would we at what point do we

1:12:05need to actually engage on something like that if the policy says we need a sidewalk so I'm just

1:12:13trying to I'm just trying to make sure we're we're not engaging for the sake of engaging which also

1:12:20may be delaying things that is of a policy position that staff should just be moving on anyways

1:12:28that's what I'm trying to get at thank you for your question through you chair donor um I think

1:12:37I think that gets to your previous question as well around in terms of what's meaningful engagement

1:12:42so again we need to connect the dots if there is a previous policy decision something that's

1:12:47driving a direction sometimes that will help us understand whether engagement is is applicable

1:12:53or not and the answer to your first question when when we come back in June yes there will be a policy

1:13:00there will be a charter which is part which are two parts of a of a new community engagement

1:13:04framework that speak about when we will engage and when we won't engage and and try to break those

1:13:08apart so that there is greater clarity all right I really appreciate that I promise that was my last

1:13:15question and it is so I will now mute thank you Madam Chair okay thank you Councillor Catherine

1:13:24thank you chair donor um so first of all I wanted to say thanks for all of the conversation that I

1:13:31really appreciate this and I appreciated the the personal conversation we had when I was getting

1:13:36my feedback and all of the folks that I sent to you via accessibility means also came back with

1:13:41glowing reports on how they felt very very hurt so um I thought that was excellent and um in kind of

1:13:50the vein of accessibility so I I liked a lot of the suggestions about kind of reminding us when

1:13:56feedback is kind of going out so that we can put it up on our social media and I was thinking a step

1:14:01further for that is if you could provide the graphic that the city uses in their social media

1:14:09for that feedback form for us to put on our social media as well as the alt text and if it's possible

1:14:16I know this is extra work it may not be something that we have resourced right now but um if we could

1:14:22include the top five languages spoken in wealth to have it in other languages that might increase

1:14:29some of our availability for feedback too because I know like web browsers and things like that

1:14:34people can go through and they can do the survey forms in their own language but if they can't

1:14:39necessarily easily read the language that we're putting out in the graphic they might be missing it

1:14:44so is that something we thought about um yes counselor katin through uh chair donor um we are

1:14:55working slowly on introducing more and more translated communications materials so we

1:15:01started last year with welcoming week just taking some basic content and and translating it and our

1:15:08our website as well uh offers a few different languages we use a wordpress plugin which offers

1:15:15better translation than google on its own um so we're starting to do some of that we're also

1:15:22starting to branch out to other outlets that communicate in different languages there's a new

1:15:28um indokanadian newspaper in guelph called dwani that um was started by the people that own

1:15:36kirtidas kitchen uh and so they are actually sharing our news and information on their website

1:15:43because our website is translated into um the languages that they're printing in they can

1:15:50actually share that information with their community in those languages um and and so we are

1:15:56we're working on it slowly um there is a cost to translation services so we do consider that um

1:16:04another change we've made is our construction notices now all the handouts that actually get

1:16:09delivered to people closest to the area have information in those top languages at the bottom

1:16:15to say that they can go on the website and get the translated information um so again just little

1:16:21things that we're starting to weave in and i would say right now we're sort of assessing the

1:16:28the need right so if it if it if something is a small thing that maybe

1:16:36i mean nothing small here but if it were if we were going to go out with the community plan again

1:16:42we would absolutely make the effort to translate everything if it's a smaller project there may

1:16:48not be budget for those translation services but we can be running ads to promote the have your

1:16:55say website in multiple languages or to tell people to check out the website and that it's

1:17:00available in different languages and those help address some of those gaps um but in terms of

1:17:06providing you with materials to share on social channels absolutely absolutely something we can

1:17:14and are sometimes doing and will do more of that's sorry council kate and if i could just

1:17:21also add to that through the chair there is a we're looking we're exploring a simplified way

1:17:26so that we can send you social tiles that will just say you know click here to share on your channels

1:17:30so it makes it a lot easier for you to just you know reach more people like we're going to use

1:17:35you as our vehicle to get the message out as as widely as we can so we're working on that in the

1:17:39background it's not perfect i'm trying to figure out how we get the graphics to go with the text so

1:17:44it's on our it's on our radar that is perfect and if you want anyone to help beta test i mean

1:17:52i love that just kind of anecdotally like when i was going around door to door there is about

1:17:57like maybe 10 of the households that i would go to that didn't speak english when i got there

1:18:01and so i just i would really love for to be able to connect with folks in that way and uh just kind

1:18:08of like call back to a question i asked when i wasn't supposed to ask a question so i apologize for

1:18:12that uh just is there options to provide feedback on the surveys because people when they're

1:18:18answering them so that they can provide feedback on the survey itself yes thanks councillor

1:18:25councillor kate and through you councillor downer most first surveys all of our surveys will have

1:18:32a anything else question at the end so there's always an opportunity that's not explicitly asking

1:18:38for feedback on the survey but sometimes that is a place where we will get feedback that perhaps

1:18:43maybe a question was unclear or something like that and then we do have uh right on the have your

1:18:48say website and the community engagement section of the golf dot c we have opportunities for people

1:18:55to provide feedback on on things that are that they're experiencing in terms of community engagement so

1:19:01great thank you very much that's a lot of councillor lucid hill did you have another question

1:19:07yes and thank you through you uh first of all i want to thank the mayor because the two questions i

1:19:13had on the presentation materials were building capacity for participation just a question about

1:19:19operational event and the other one was meaningful opportunities to influence decisions and i understand

1:19:24the framework but i i wrote down on my notes here as part of the exercise that language is really

1:19:30important and i i you know the frustration from the community when when they hear we're going to

1:19:35consult with you but really all we want is your input is that the red one or the green one um is

1:19:41really frustrating for the community when they want to have a conversation about the problem

1:19:46statement and really you know get back to decisions that were made at budget and design time and really

1:19:53it's input and i know it'll probably come as part of your framework but i think that meaningful

1:19:58opportunities has to be very

1:20:00very clear in our language. And I agree. I think as part of our reports, and this is what questions do you have that I didn't get to us in a report to council, is are we asking for input or are we asking for community consultation? And those are resource very differently.

1:20:19And the methodologies are very different in that as well. So thank you to the mayor for raising that. I didn't get a chance.

1:20:26And I have 1. So, so, talking, I'm just curious as to.

1:20:37You know, and this is just something I started thinking about here now.

1:20:41When we do the console, the surveys, do we differentiate between.

1:20:47Engagement consultation on matters like we have and that you put in our report tonight.

1:20:56And applications under the planning act.

1:21:00Because I think sometimes when we you're getting responses, people are combining them.

1:21:07And they're actually 2 different creatures.

1:21:11So when you want engagement and consultation with the community, even under the new zoning by law or the new official plan updated official plan.

1:21:19That's 1 thing, but when we invite people to provide input under the planning act on an application.

1:21:26It's significantly different than asking for input.

1:21:32On on their tree canopy.

1:21:35Because it's it's guided by.

1:21:38They can know a lot of people and councillor crown and I spent a lot of time with with neighborhood groups and neighbors who get an application.

1:21:47To try to educate them and it's there's very little information and education for people trying to get input under the.

1:21:55In in on placations that are coming under the planning act.

1:21:58And I find that the bigger challenge than even the other 1. So I'm just wondering if somehow we've meshed.

1:22:05If people when they say I can't I can't have meaningful influence.

1:22:10That is much more difficult in applications under the planning act because if they conform to the official plan.

1:22:16Then, you know, or the zoning by law and and we want them to have, you know, double the parking that's allowed in in the zoning that that's not going to happen. Right.

1:22:26So we don't we don't give any reasonable parameters about what kind of input they can have.

1:22:34Into these applications and I wonder if we should be.

1:22:39In our documents going forward around public engagement if we should be separating out.

1:22:45Those and because I think it's going to get much more difficult to have meaningful input into applications and that's fine, but it's, but it's always been that way. It's a different.

1:22:56It's a different creature completely.

1:22:58And I think people are confused. They see public input.

1:23:02Well, I can come and have been put into an application planning application and I can come have been put into a tree canopy, but they are significantly different.

1:23:11Forms of engagement with the public.

1:23:15And I'm just wondering if we should somehow separate these out when we talk about.

1:23:23Our framework and things like that or have a separate one for that.

1:23:27Like a different type of education for planning applications and even the committee of adjustment. I mean, you know, I hear from people too. Oh my God, there's an application for the committee of adjustment. What do I do?

1:23:38You know, and they there's there is some information online, but not a lot really about. Well, I didn't even know there was a planning department.

1:23:46That's actually how I got into politics, by the way, many, many years ago.

1:23:51It was a committee of adjustment application, but and it took me hours to figure out what was going on. But I just, you know, I'm just sort of thinking that we need to separate that out.

1:24:01So just something to think about and consider and something that I'll be pursuing and looking for.

1:24:07Because I think the, I think we, I think we'd serve our public better if we, they had a better understanding of what kind of input they can have under applications.

1:24:18And I think, I think Mayor Guth who would be happy about that too.

1:24:26Yeah, through you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I've been nodding my head along with everything you're saying.

1:24:31I think that would be great.

1:24:34Yeah, it's in a way, especially if there's a template kind of back to what Councillor Goller said, if there's a separate template under sort of planning, planning application stuff.

1:24:45It could, it could also be an educational tool at the same time. So, yeah, I really like that idea that's really smart.

1:24:55Okay, so are there any other questions or comments? Okay, thank you.

1:25:02Oh, sorry.

1:25:05It's it's Leanne. Okay, Councillor Caron and then I seek Council Billings.

1:25:10Thank you, Madam Chair. Summary comments, great presentation, great discussion.

1:25:15I recognize and certainly have learned through this presentation and personal experience that community engagement is both an art and a science and has many, many layers because engagement and data collection is only one layer.

1:25:31Filtering and validating that data is an entirely different layer.

1:25:37So, in order to be able to trust the data and I like to make evidence based decisions as I know my colleagues do, we talk about how important it is to have that data as part of our decision making process.

1:25:48But it's also essential for me that that I can trust the data that we're receiving and I do have some concerns.

1:25:56Not with with staff and the professional work they do, but the world around us that is being infiltrated by more and more a I trolls out of city responses.

1:26:09Even a Guelph phone numbers that are people who live outside of Guelph.

1:26:17There.

1:26:18We check IP addresses, but we could have either 6 different people in a household or 6 of the same people that 1 person 6 times.

1:26:29There's there's ways to there's there's ways to commit fraud in the world of public engagement.

1:26:37And that is happening everywhere that is not unique to Guelph. And so security and validation of the data is very important.

1:26:46And so I am hearing that we have some of those methodologies, multiple methodologies that can help us validate that data, going out to in person events and holding open houses and charrettes and those kind of things help us get, you know, some validation because we can compare it to the on-site.

1:27:06And so we can get online data and see if it's in alignment. If we have online data that's completely out of whack with the stuff we're getting on the street, we can ask questions about where that, whether that that that online data is really, really valid.

1:27:19So I'm glad to see that we're doing multiple forms of engagement to try to get to to get to the state where everything that we get by the time your process is finished is is meaningful.

1:27:34And that to me is the definition of meaningful is that there's been a validation process as well.

1:27:40My last comment, a summary comment is I really appreciate all the conversations we've had about equity seeking groups and the importance of outreach and language translation accessibility.

1:27:53But I do think we also have a heightened need to ensure that our commitment to truth and reconciliation is embedded in our engagement process. And we often go out to individuals and and yet I with the indigenous community, we tend to go out to organizations.

1:28:14And organizations don't certainly do not claim to represent all of our our indigenous population, our new EMA T populations. And we have a lot of overlap with regional band councils, regional organizations.

1:28:32So I just wondered if you had any comments from staff about specific indigenous consultation that we are doing. I think that there's a heightened challenge, but also a heightened need with with our.

1:28:51Our indigenous community through you chair down or yes, it's something we're very aware of and our team is very committed to advancing.

1:29:05When we're officially engaging treaty partners, this engagement will be led by Jodi sales and her team and strategy innovation into governmental services within the CEO's service area and we work in lockstep with them.

1:29:18This happens when they're efficient, a sort of official nation to nation kinds of engagement when there's legislative requirement to engage or when it's a land based issue.

1:29:28Outside of those circumstances.

1:29:32We're engaging indigenous community members and building relationships directly as we would with other community members and our team and many city staff have been working to develop relationship with community indigenous community members.

1:29:45From this treaty land and from else from others in big part, this is about building trust and approaching engagement from a place of curiosity and understanding so that we can ensure many indigenous perspectives are included in our thinking.

1:29:57So as part of this project, we definitely did speak to local indigenous community members and we heard lots that help us understand how we need to evolve our practice in this area.

1:30:08Thank you for that. That's wonderful. Going back to the just in terms of policies coming back in June.

1:30:17I wonder if we can expect or whether you need direction on a policy related to hate speech and the types of feedback that we've been receiving certainly through our social media channels lately recently in the news.

1:30:36But also through surveys and online tools where there is hate directed towards our staff hate directed towards certain groups in our community.

1:30:48And ensuring that hate speeches excluded from any data.

1:30:55I don't find that I don't consider that to be public feedback on an issue when the response we're getting.

1:31:03And I've seen survey results that have comments in them that are, I would not classify as valid public engagement.

1:31:12Not because a person could not have an opposing opinion because absolutely all all diverse opinions are are part of that input.

1:31:22But specifically hate speech, which is very different from an opposing opinion.

1:31:28Really quickly through your chair downer.

1:31:33Yes, is the short answer our policy explicitly talks about expectations of staff and elected officials and community members and one of those key elements is about respectful dialogue.

1:31:48And so, though we don't necessarily explicitly mentioned hate speech. It's something that is very timely for our team as as we've been doing engagement on the rainbow crosswalk.

1:31:59There's a recognition that hate speech doesn't fit into the category of respectful dialogue and falls out a scope of what we're engaging on often.

1:32:09And so that's that that information is disregarded or it's treated differently than than other contrary views, which are, you know, we're open to and we have to consider as part of engagement data.

1:32:23Great. Thanks.

1:32:26Okay, counselor buildings that would make this the last one if I know somebody's really keen because we all have another presentation tonight. Thank you.

1:32:39Okay, I'll be quick. Again, I guess this is under trusting the data.

1:32:45There have been times like say it's a very, very important city wide issue. And we want the community input.

1:32:53And yet, say there's 1000 people that that go to have your say, but only 100 people actually respond. And so the survey is is never statistically significant.

1:33:08So, is there when when staff see this happening.

1:33:13Is anything ever tweaked with maybe there's something wrong with the survey and are there times when stuff think, you know, maybe this input should be a survey that is statistically significant.

1:33:30It's a great question. Thank you, counselor buildings through you chair downer.

1:33:36The statistical significance and representative samples are tricky.

1:33:40They require very large sample sizes. They take a huge amount of time.

1:33:45And they can be really tricky to complete within budget and within timeline. So, we do do those on certain occasions.

1:33:53Often they would be an outside firm that would do those kinds of studies on our behalf.

1:33:59And our team and our team advises project teams across the city on what are the appropriate methods at the right times.

1:34:06Sometimes when folks are asking about statistical significance or representative sampling what they're really getting at is exactly what you're saying kind of trust the data.

1:34:14And those statistical significance does get at whether the difference between data points is real quote unquote.

1:34:23The question that we we ask of ourselves is, are the differences meaningful, asking the steers us away from the trap of sort of binary thinking about a pair of numbers and guides us towards contextualizing things in a broader world of information.

1:34:36So, many of the problems we're seeking to resolve aren't also as clear cut as some of the lab or clinical settings where we're statistical significance and representative sampling makes sense so we are dealing with smaller numbers.

1:34:49Because if you remember people might be interested in that topic so, you know, in, in, in lots of cases that's that's not what we're looking at.

1:34:58What we're really focused on is making sure that engagement is designed to be purposeive so we're getting a diversity of data.

1:35:09We're using a mix of methods at the right times and we're sort of sequencing those appropriately and we're applying rigorous standards to how we analyze that data.

1:35:19That gives us the best shot of getting good data without the sort of, you know, the time and and expense and investment of staff resources into statistical significance surveys, which again will do in certain occasions on certain studies.

1:35:38Okay, thanks.

1:35:39Okay.

1:35:42Thank you. Great discussion. Really good discussion.

1:35:46Thanks everybody and thanks for being prepared. I really, we all really appreciate that so.

1:35:52Kudos to the communications and community engagement.

1:35:56Our department on this.

1:35:59I just want to check with council. Do you feel the need for a five minute break or do you want to just carry on to the community investment part of the meeting.

1:36:08They just might carry on.

1:36:16Okay, if you need a break, then you can.

1:36:20Thanks. Okay, so community investment investment in focus. So we're going to have a presentation by Dana Evans and Alex.

1:36:46Good evening.

1:36:49Thank you just for the moment to get ourselves settled, but we're here and happy to carry on as indicated. My name is Dana Evans. I'm the general manager of culture and recreation, not to be lost in department titles.

1:37:03My colleague Alex goss, manager of community investment is also here and as a part of the team, although not necessarily in the title, but one division of culture and recreation.

1:37:14We're here today to focus in on community investment and all of the investment and great work partnerships and collaboration and definitely supports that are happening in our community.

1:37:24We work with many organizations in the community to improve the well being of wealth residents. We enter into agreements and into partnerships for funding and in kind for local not for profit organizations to achieve community and social goals.

1:37:39Our organizations participate in everything from organizing sports and recreation activities, staging vibrant arts and culture events to meeting hosting and meeting the basic human needs by securing food and shelter.

1:37:58I hope that you have been asked what is community investment for the city. It's a way to support and work with these organizations in the community to improve and improve that well being for community residents.

1:38:11This type of work is common across many municipalities and others invest in many different ways. First approved in 2012 the community investment strategy improves the way the city works with local organizations, making the approach more responsive to local needs, offering consistency and clarity for all.

1:38:29The strategy was updated by staff and approved by council in 2019 to align to the current city goals and does reflect the work of certainly other municipal funders.

1:38:40Community investment supports the strategic plan building our future pillar, making a strategic investment to nurture social well being, providing landmark beauty and offering a safe place where everyone belongs.

1:38:54Looking forward to the refresh strategic plan to be approved by council later this year. These investments will be seen in community building, carrying our community through places and spaces, and will be shown through overall support of community well being in the people and economic work.

1:39:13The city has a significant role to play in the quality of life for residents. This is achieved through direct city services but also through an indirect supports that for community and residents.

1:39:26Community investment knits together the city's indirect support to the community so that lives of residents can be improved by investing in community and neighborhoods and advancing the work that the city does, along with investing in individuals to succeed and have access to city services.

1:39:44In some cases, community partners are better positioned and more efficient at delivering programs and services aimed at improving the quality of life for residents.

1:39:54City funding is an important way to offer stability and to grow and show growth with our partners, ensuring a continued alignment with the work of the city, and can usually attract investments from private and public funders that the city might not be applicable for.

1:40:10This helps city dollars go further and have a higher impact in the community than if we did the work ourselves.

1:40:17Also, many residents do not have access to the important services that the city provides. Community investments role helps reduce income and other barriers so that benefits of the city services are more equitably dispersed among the community.

1:40:34Community investment operates a number of programs that focus on the city's investment in the community. Here is a list of some of the more significant programs we offer an administer that are from our larger funded community benefit agreements through to impacts for individual residents.

1:40:52To subsidy users, individual users, the city investment means they can access services more frequently and easier. In a recent survey, users said that as a result of a subsidy program, they had stronger feelings of happiness, pride and connection into the community, where they were socializing and getting out more and had improved physical and mental health.

1:41:14For some artists in the community, the city's investment with the Guelph Arts Council means they have access to mentorship, supports, and multiple arts-based events.

1:41:25For some children, the city's investment in the Children's Foundation meant access to recreation activities at home, where children could stay, be healthy, and happy during the pandemic.

1:41:36For residents in various neighborhoods, the city's investment in Guelph Community Support Coalition meant building social connections, access to critical supports, and getting access to fresh food and healthy foods.

1:41:50I'd like to spend a few minutes with you and focus in focus on the community benefit agreements or CBAs.

1:42:01Community benefit agreements are multi-year funding agreements for up to five years that support the work that is done in partnership with the city and advancing specific city goals.

1:42:12Often, this is the work that the city would do, but others in the community can do it more efficiently and effectively.

1:42:20CBAs emerge from partnerships between the city and an organization supporting city goals in the community.

1:42:26In 2013, across 15 organizations, where most logos are shown in our slide presentation today, we invested $2.4 million.

1:42:38Individuals, CBAs included a wide range of financial and in-kind contributions and supports. They range from about $10,000 annually to almost $850,000 annually.

1:42:50Over the years, Council has also used the framework of a CBA, whether it's its agreement and its reporting, to fund organizations with one-time funding from reserves.

1:43:01For example, for the past four years, the support of welcoming streets has come from reserves until long-term funding was just established in 2013.

1:43:10And this year, we funded from reserves the extension of the Royal City Mission for drop-in hours.

1:43:16We invest in these long-term partnerships so if recipients can be more efficient for the city, for the participants and for ourselves.

1:43:25For example, the Children's Foundation can absorb overhead costs with similar work that we're already doing and take the burden of administration costs off the city.

1:43:34CBAs create stability for organizations that are important for the city to meet our goals.

1:43:40For example, the Art Gallery of Guelph leverages other partnerships because of the stability brought on and partnered by, with the City of Guelph, that provides them a stable foundation for their organization to build on.

1:43:54Community organizations often have a better reach for strong relationships with residents.

1:43:59For example, the Poverty Task Force is able to support people living with all lived experiences more flexibly with their on-the-ground leadership.

1:44:08CBA residents leverage investment from other funders as well to make the money go further.

1:44:14Recipients on a whole were able to leverage an additional $2.8 million from other funders, turning our $2.4 million investment into $5.3 million, a return on investment of 120%.

1:44:31So we understand why we invest, how we invest, maybe even who we invest with, but where does it start and who has which responsibilities?

1:44:39Multiple people in the city are involved in the success of these partnerships and this investment.

1:44:44Council, your role is to approve the overall funding envelope for these CBAs, so our overall envelope of $2.4 million.

1:44:52You receive annual reports summarizing all the work of the CBAs, highlighting potential impacts or receiving potential impacts that may affect the funding envelope for your consideration.

1:45:04Our Deputy CAO of Public Services has the delegated authority to determine the individual funding levels to individual CBAs within the total envelope.

1:45:14Our DCAO also approves the renewals and enters into new agreements based on recommendations from a staff review table.

1:45:22This table is made up of staff across different departments who works and are connected with the CBAs and organization.

1:45:29They review all those up for renewal and consider potential new CBAs.

1:45:34Information and recommendations are sent to the DCAO.

1:45:39Each CBA is assigned a staff liaison.

1:45:42Someone whose work is connected with the work of the CBAs objectives.

1:45:47The staff liaison maintains regular contact with an organization reviewing their annual reports and work planning.

1:45:55The staff liaisons also support and provide information to the overall review table.

1:46:01The community investment team help develop and oversee the process to ensure there is transparency and accountability throughout the process.

1:46:09Community investment staff also review work plans, budgets, reports, and summarizes all the information into an annual information report for Council and the community.

1:46:20This annual report also includes information about renewals, potential new CBAs, and any effects on the potential for requests for funding envelope for Council's consideration.

1:46:31New partnerships at Essence start at the bottom of our image in the slide presentation.

1:46:39We also work their way up through the staff liaison and our staff review table to work through to an intake review process.

1:46:46All review processes allow the opportunity to showcase the need in the community for an organization's unique work and showcases the alignment to any city work, policies, or even frameworks.

1:46:58Staff may take recommendations throughout the budget process to expand this funding envelope as needs, services, and supports may be required in the community.

1:47:07As staff, we encourage new and ongoing conversations for partnerships with any and all organizations to advance the goals within the city.

1:47:17As I bring community benefit agreements sort of section to a close. I'm going to pass this off to Alex Goss, our manager of community investment to highlight some of our other programs and investments.

1:47:28Hey, thank you, Dana.

1:47:32Beyond community benefit agreements, we invest in community in a number of ways, including community grants.

1:47:40Community grant is an annual multi-year grant that supports operational projects and small capital funding.

1:47:48This year in 2023, we funded $326,100 to 56 not-for-profit organizations.

1:47:57Largely, these are medium to small size not-for-profits working in arts and culture, human services, recreation, environmental sectors.

1:48:09I was going to share one story from one of the grant recipients from last year, the Wealth Black Heritage Society.

1:48:16Quote, in 2022, the Black Heritage Society launched our stories, our history, our heritage initiative with support from the grant, which includes a booklet about the history of the Essex Street Church.

1:48:30One of the members of a Black settler family reached out to us following the release of the booklet. She thanked us for sharing the stories of her family.

1:48:37She said that the work that we are doing will ensure the impact of the Black community in Guelph-Wilington will not be forgotten.

1:48:43Each of the 56 grants distributed this year have similar stories based on the very unique work that they do to support the well-being of our residents.

1:48:54So why else do we have the community grants?

1:48:57Well, it provides a centralized place for organizations to seek funding from the city to have their requests assessed based on the same criteria as other applicants and at the same time.

1:49:09Instead of having individual requests come to the city directly in a scattered way.

1:49:14This brings consistency, transparency, and accountability to the entire process.

1:49:20Many organizations also rely on municipal funds to leverage additional resources from other funders.

1:49:27In 2022, community grant recipients were able to leverage an additional over a million dollars from other funders for the work that they were doing.

1:49:35Community grants also help build stability for organizations doing important work for residents that align directly with city goals.

1:49:45Funding for the community grants are approved with delegation of authority from Council for a group of appointed residents on the grants allocation panel to make the funding decisions.

1:49:56And then community grants are then reported on annually to Council through an information report. We have one coming forward next week.

1:50:03Next steps for us on the community grant is we are looking at reducing barriers for equity deserving groups to access funding and exploring further exploring the role of the grants allocation panel.

1:50:24Sorry for that. We're not on the next slide yet.

1:50:26We're also investing in innovative funding opportunities.

1:50:32In 2019, Council approved the development of few innovative new funding programs through a reserve fund with community investment.

1:50:41However, in 2020, the pandemic hit and we pivoted towards the emergency fund in 2020 and 2021.

1:50:48We were able to support over a million dollars in funding going out to the community during that critical time to help organizations keep their doors open.

1:50:58In 2022, we began the process to transition back to the new programs.

1:51:03This year, the micro grant program is a new fund to activate neighborhoods and the arts community through small funding opportunities to groups and individuals.

1:51:11The program was developed in partnership with the neighborhood support coalition and the Guelph arts council.

1:51:17And each partner is able to allocate $25,000 back to the community for these resident led projects.

1:51:24Some of those projects include free bike inspection and repair workshops all the way to a ceramic art project exploring themes of mental health.

1:51:33That's just the first phase phase two we're planning in the fall.

1:51:38And we'll be sure to keep you on the loop on that.

1:51:39Next steps with these new programs is looking to further explore those programs for the develop some new programs and see ongoing basis, which we should be continuing.

1:51:52We are also investing in fostering partnerships.

1:51:56Through our CBAs that Dana mentioned, the city is engaged in some system level work by supporting partnerships such as the poverty task force, the willing to go falling to drug strategy and toward common ground.

1:52:07But internally at the city, we also support partnerships with the local immigration partnership being hosted at the city of Guelph and community investment.

1:52:16It's a federally funded initiative created to create a more welcoming community in Guelph that's able to support and integrate newcomers more effectively.

1:52:25We engage with over 50 community partners to create a more welcoming community.

1:52:29We conduct important research and leverage other partners resources to better support and attract newcomers to the city.

1:52:37And we'll now shift to talk about how community investment invests in individuals and primarily through our subsidy programs.

1:52:49Generally subsidies reduce cost barriers for residents to access important city services and support those living with low incomes to contribute to the community, build a sense of belonging and connection.

1:53:02All city subsidy programs are administered centrally in community investment to add efficiency and dignity for users, as well as ensuring greater confidentiality when they're they're accessing services.

1:53:15Community investment receives a subsidy application and sensitive information and assesses the eligibility into different subsidy programs.

1:53:24Affordable bus pass is one of the main city subsidy programs. It started in 2013. And it's the largest program with over 2500 people currently approved.

1:53:36Eligibility for many subsidy programs, including the affordable bus passes based on the low income cut off, which is an income scale.

1:53:46Just for some general context we provided here approval into the subsidy programs for a family of four would be an income of approximately $42,000.

1:53:56City Council recently approved the innovative sliding scale affordable bus pass program at an annual cost $400,000 to significantly help over 1800 people continue to buy monthly passes in light of financial hardships.

1:54:11Sliding scale initial results included hearing about improved quality of life. People are using transit more and increase in purchase a monthly passes.

1:54:21Sliding scale allows users with the lowest income to access a monthly pass of $4 a month and users in the middle to access pass at $20 and all other eligible users receive the regular affordable bus pass 3750.

1:54:39That's a lot of numbers but just to put that into some context needs to maybe imagine one of our users who would be a single mother of two.

1:54:49She's working part time. She uses the bus to get her kids around the city to get to work to go grocery shopping.

1:54:57She falls below the income threshold of about $26,000 and qualifies for a tier B pass.

1:55:04That extra $17.50 a month she's saving allows her to buy the pass more frequently and is able to use those additional monthly savings to help support her family.

1:55:14Next steps with the affordable bus passes will be continuing to monitor monitor the implementation of sliding scale affordable bus pass and adjust the policy to reflect the newly approved program.

1:55:32Next we'll highlight some of the other subsidy programs in our area starting with the fee assistance and recreation or sometimes called fair.

1:55:41Fair offers discounted rates of 80% for adults living with low income to access recreational programs.

1:55:49The city also works closely with the Children's Foundation through a CBA to support recreational subsidies for children.

1:55:57Adult users in the fair program they receive an annual amount that they can apply to the recreational programs that they're choosing.

1:56:04We have approximately 680 people who are currently approved in that program.

1:56:09We also administer the Welcome to Guelph program which is a program for new refugees to Guelph to access transit museums and some recreational programming for the first year that they're in Canada.

1:56:20We work in partnership with local settlement service providers to assess determining eligibility and also to work with their clients in their first language.

1:56:31Users receive access to the program for one year and there are about 750 new refugees that are approved and accessing the program.

1:56:42And finally I'll highlight the PAL program which is our personal assistant for leisure activities program.

1:56:48It supports people with disabilities to access city services with reduced barriers.

1:56:53PAL is a regional program that gives personal assistants free access to programs to ensure the individual user can be supported without any additional costs.

1:57:04We have approximately 125 individuals who use that program last year.

1:57:09The next step on our subsidies is we'll be looking at deepening the fair subsidy to further reduce income barriers and conducting outreach to equity deserving groups.

1:57:18We look forward to deepening and improving our programs in the months ahead as we adapt and respond to the changing needs of the city and the community.

1:57:30The city has a significant role to play in the quality of life of our residents.

1:57:34This is achieved through direct city services but also through the indirect supports to the community and the residents.

1:57:41And by knitting together this work, the community investment helps build a stronger future with equitable, vibrant, safe and healthy communities that foster resilience for people who live here.

1:57:53Thank you for your interest and support and the opportunity to speak with you all today.

1:57:59Thank you. That was informative.

1:58:02Are there any questions?

1:58:05See Councillor Busatel.

1:58:07Chair Downer, thank you to the presenters and I do have to also acknowledge DCAO Clack Bush who spent a lot of time helping me get my head around community investment.

1:58:24So I wanted to recognize her for all her time.

1:58:28To the presenters, I wanted to ask a question about the slide. I think it was the second one, community and neighborhoods.

1:58:37And this is a timely presentation because I obviously was thinking about the earlier one. How does or will this work scaffold a line with the earlier presentation around building grassroots community capacity equity.

1:58:54I'm not speaking about the institutions. I'm talking about the work there is, is there synergy there and then I have a follow up.

1:59:08Yeah, through the chair.

1:59:11Absolutely. So we work closely with community investments and helping build connections to some of the partners that we work with and and fund through CBAs.

1:59:22So often through that staff liaison connection to a CBA, we will work with them to help build that relationship and build that connection.

1:59:32If there is, for example, an engagement opportunity that arises in a particular neighborhood.

1:59:38Thank you. I wasn't specifically thinking about the CBA. I see that as centralization and actually not a positive thing.

1:59:46But thank you for the response. The second question is around, I wrote down about innovative funding opportunities and I did see the flow through micro grants through the arts council and through the GNSE and then team.

2:00:00up with a social media post that I saw yesterday from the clerk.

2:00:04I learned it was a report around transparency showcase from the info and

2:00:10privacy commissioners report and it talked about Guelph being highlighted for its geo data,

2:00:16which is awesome. Excellent. I've looked at that before. And that the city has teamed up with the

2:00:21GNSC to build a map that allows people to add info about events and activities in their communities

2:00:28and that the GNSC has plans to increase its use as a communication tool or to reach residents.

2:00:36And so I started to wonder about these micro grants and giving funding to, you know,

2:00:41these central organizations. And my question is, is there a master plan for community investment?

2:00:49Because it seems as though there are connections already happening and I would hear on just

2:00:54discovering them. Is there a master plan? And the second part to that is, if there is a master plan,

2:01:00what is the evaluation that comes as part of that master plan? And specifically the third slide

2:01:07that the assumptions that underline community investment of working more effectively and

2:01:12efficiently and reducing barriers and access to services. And so I'm looking for, is there a master

2:01:19plan or how does this all happen? And where does the accountability come back in terms of the

2:01:26evaluation and areas that are missing? Great. Through the chair. Thank you for the question.

2:01:36So in terms of a master plan, I guess the closest we have will be the community investment strategy,

2:01:41which guides the different funding programs and subsidies that we offer in community investment.

2:01:48And in terms of evaluation, that would fall into our annual reporting. And so part of that

2:01:53reporting is gathering information from the different grant recipients, the different

2:01:59CBA holders and compiling that into a broader document that we then share back with council.

2:02:07Thank you. Just a supplement. I've looked at that. It's not a report. I'm asking about an

2:02:12evaluation against the assumptions underpinning community investment of working more effectively

2:02:19and efficiently and reducing barriers, access to services. So I'm asking about an evaluation

2:02:27and not a report because I had looked at the report. Through the chair, I will add in as well.

2:02:37Certainly there isn't a formal mechanism in evaluating what is more efficient. I don't know

2:02:44how we define that. We use it certainly in community feedback, in community response, in community need,

2:02:51where we do hit that evaluation around effectiveness is defining those goals and objectives within

2:02:57that is outlined in our legal agreement with individual organizations and associations,

2:03:04where we add that accountability lens then is in the public realm, where we share that

2:03:10information in great detail with you. We do as well now report more robustly on organizations

2:03:16that receive more than $200,000 in funding. So that information data was all counted and

2:03:23collaborated and shared certainly internally before and now we see more publicly. And our

2:03:28mechanism was within that report to add comment. So I realize that you've sort of seen that report

2:03:35if there's something specific to a specific organization or if you think there's something

2:03:39that we haven't exposed publicly, it is available and it is public information. We'd be happy to

2:03:45have a conversation with you. Thank you. Nothing specific. Again, it goes to my understanding

2:03:51and please correct me if I'm incorrect. Having followed since 2012, working more efficiently

2:03:58and effectively, my assumption is then the city of Guelph, where my understanding of the community

2:04:06investment focuses, are there organizations and this was also echoed in your presentation that

2:04:12can do it better. And so where's the evaluation? If you don't want to use the word more effectively

2:04:17and more efficiently, that can do it better. Betterly, that's not a word, but it can do it better.

2:04:24That is my question around the evaluation of this. So I think that's part of the consideration in

2:04:34terms of the intake of CBAs to determine at that staff review table, is it more effective in talking

2:04:42to the departments that are most closely affected by it? And so gathering that expertise from the

2:04:48staff in the areas that would potentially be involved in that work to have that department

2:04:55be able to say yes, that is more efficient and effective. So it is part of that assessment process.

2:05:04Thank you. I'll leave the rest for comments. Other accounts for work?

2:05:14Thanks, Chair. I'm going to start by just have two really pretty quick ones.

2:05:18Before I ran for council, I did some work with the Canadian Index of Well-Being. So I know that in

2:05:232011, Guelph was the first municipality to do the full assessment of community well-being. So

2:05:30it's a really robust model with eight domains, data-driven, designed by national experts and all

2:05:37this stuff. And so I think that was the precursor to this strategy. And so I'm going to assume,

2:05:44back in 2012, that the intent of community investment was to identify gaps in community

2:05:50well-being. So if you've never seen what that looked like, it was sliced and diced by revenue,

2:05:59by household income, by ward, by proximity that people live to a park. I mean, there's tons and

2:06:06tons and tons of detail there. So we've moved away from the community well-being, Canadian Index of

2:06:12Well-Being model. And so do we still have that sort of robust ability to see, oh, this initiative

2:06:21will actually help meet two or three of the policy objectives? There was, I think at the time,

2:06:28a clear expectation to be able to measure improvement over time on some of these things.

2:06:33So I'm just wondering, what's the driver of the strategy now and how do we measure progress?

2:06:49Through the chair. Yeah, it's a great question. So currently, we're looking at a few different

2:06:57pieces in terms of measurement. Primarily with the grant program, for example, we look at

2:07:05the community plan and some of the goals that are in that plan as a driving force.

2:07:11Going forward, we're looking to the strategic plan and making connections directly with those city

2:07:16goals to measure the impact. Thanks. And through you, Chair Downer, my next question is really

2:07:26technical. So I'm going to ask you about the fee assistance and recreation program.

2:07:33What happens if somebody doesn't know about going through the Children's Foundation? So I think we're

2:07:39seeing, well, you hear a lot of families where suddenly there's a divorce. It's a family that

2:07:44appears to be doing really well. There's a separation of some kind. Suddenly, they need to pay for two

2:07:50apartments and wealth. And suddenly, people can find themselves in pretty dire straits or a family

2:07:55that appears to be doing really well and there's a job loss. And suddenly, their whole world's

2:08:01upside down. So if people don't know about these programs or aren't already associated with the

2:08:07Children's Foundation, what's the mechanism for them to find out about fee assistance programs?

2:08:17Yes, we look to a number of different ways to share that information across different

2:08:25platforms with our communications department. And so that is something that we'll be looking at

2:08:31going forward, is much more wanting to reach maybe different populations than before,

2:08:39some equity deserving groups that we know are gaps in the service. And so we'll be working with them

2:08:43to identify new promotional opportunities to make sure that the work gets out. Thanks. So through

2:08:48your Chair Downer, I would just make comment. It would be helpful if we had that information,

2:08:52because increasingly, I'm hearing from people who are saying I'm trying to find a job,

2:08:56increasing them. And it's not necessarily in the neighborhoods you would suspect,

2:09:02but I think that, well, I know a lot goes on behind closed doors and a lot of families are

2:09:09struggling. So if you can share that with us increasingly, I'm trying to direct people to

2:09:13places where they can have some additional support. So we appreciate that. Okay.

2:09:25They're ready to get Councillor Cajun. Thank you. Through your Chair Downer. I was just interested

2:09:34in terms of the income structure that we're using for things like the Affordable Bus Passes,

2:09:41because I know as a single parent of only one child, I just thought about 42,000 with four kids,

2:09:51and think as a single parent, there's a gap there that we're missing in terms of people

2:09:58that could probably use a discount in some of those services. Is there an opportunity to maybe

2:10:03expand that a little bit in terms of what the income level that we're supporting looks like?

2:10:16Through the Chair. Thank you for the question. We're always looking for

2:10:24new challenges, new barriers that maybe haven't been identified previously,

2:10:30and that is something that we could look at in the future. There was a time a few years ago where

2:10:37we did come forward looking at a different scale, and the decision at that time was to

2:10:43stay with the scale that we have now. But that is something that we're constantly

2:10:49checking on and looking at and consulting with different experts in the field as well to understand

2:10:54if we're meeting the need. If I may add through the Chair, ultimately our subsidy programs are all

2:11:03funded to sort of right size the original costs. So we see and understand how much funding is

2:11:13required to help support. It's not a sort of in-kind model. So when the original or the

2:11:19alternative scale from the sort of LIKO scale was presented, it just wasn't able to be funded. So

2:11:26these are things that can certainly come through the budget process. We review all these programs

2:11:31on a regular basis, if not annually. And so any recommendations we would have, you'll see come

2:11:36forward as a part of budget as well. Great. I would love to see some more options. I think that

2:11:43would be great. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any more questions or comments? Councillor Boussadio?

2:11:55Yes, thank you. I think Councillor Ororok's question was getting at the crux of what I was

2:12:00trying to get around the evaluation. And I understand and I've seen the reporting,

2:12:05but it's more the tangible measurements of whether or not we're making a difference and

2:12:13is there progress. And that self-reflection in slide number six of approving the funding envelope

2:12:20and so on, and I assume the staff reflect back and bring it back to the department and say,

2:12:27are we at a point where this is something that is more efficient and more effective to bring in,

2:12:33especially in consideration of the presentation we had earlier on the One City One Voice and

2:12:38around communication and engagement. That is a question that I have. And so I'd really like to

2:12:45see some kind of an evaluation within a framework in there. And I'm concerned that it's not there.

2:12:52And at the same time, I'm hearing of community benefit agreements as a place where agencies

2:13:00feel that they can come and get funding for things that are kind of outside of our mandate.

2:13:07And I'm a little bit concerned around the sustainability of that.

2:13:12Thank you. Are there any more questions or comments?

2:13:23Pretty good. Thank you. Thank you for that presentation. And I get another interesting

2:13:30point raised around those issues around the community investments. Is there anything else

2:13:36anybody would like to add or question? Okay. I'm going to ask for a motion to adjourn.

2:13:47Councillor Richardson and seconded by Councillor Klassen.

2:13:51Anyone opposed? Okay. We're adjourned. Thank you.