Committee of the Whole

6:30All right, good afternoon everybody. Just after 1.30 it is January 14th 2025 and

6:37we're going to start our committee of the whole meeting today here but we're going to look to

6:42move into a closed session right off the top. As described on the agenda we only have one item to

6:50go into and that is titled Chief Administrative Officer 2025 Performance Objectives Review

7:00and that's under section 2392D of the Municipal Act regarding labor relations or employee

7:06negotiations. And is there any disclosure of pecuniary interest or any journal nature thereof

7:13for that item before we move into closed? Not hearing or seeing anyone? That'd be kind of weird

7:18if there was. So nothing there on that and also just to say out loud we do have formal regrets from

7:26Councillor Downer and Cossin as well. With that who would like to move to go into closed for me

7:33please? I got Caron and Alt. I think they were the winners there so is anyone against? No one. Okay so

7:42we'll go into closed under that and we will come back out in a moment. Thank you. All right everyone

40:39I'll call the meeting back to order for the open session to start. Just at 1.30 we did have a closed

40:45meeting of Council in regards to the Chief Administrative Officer 2025 Performance Objectives Review

40:55and so we had a discussion. Council had a discussion with our CAO and with that we do have

41:04motion that has come from closed session that we'd like to just look to move in the open session

41:11and so I'll look to Councillor Bustel please to provide that for us. Thank you Mayor. So the

41:19motion is up on the screen. Number one that the Chief Administrative Officer 2025 Performance

41:26Objectives has included an attachment 1 to report 2025-05 dated January 14 2025 be approved and

41:35number two that the Chief Administrative Officer present the Chief Administrative Officer 2025

41:41Performance Objectives in the open portion of the January 14 2025 Committee of the Whole Meeting.

41:49Great thank you and seconded by Councillor Richardson. Yep thank you and is there anything

41:56further on that before I call the vote? No okay I'll call the vote. Is anyone against the CAO

42:02Objectives for 2025? Nobody that's unanimous that's a good start and so that's that's done we're

42:12going to go through you know a little bit more of our agenda here and of course we will then be

42:18hearing from our CAO with the presentation and just a little bit so that ties in with what we just

42:24talked about. So with that I'd like to ask everyone if you can please stand if you're able as we

42:30recognize our national anthem. Great thank you and now just for a moment of silent reflection

44:02before we continue on. Great thank you everyone and for our territorial acknowledgement as we gather

44:19let us take time to reflect on our privilege to live and work here in Guelph a city that's built

44:23over rich indigenous histories or guests here and we should reflect upon the responsibility to

44:29care for this land and the people who live here today and the generations to come. If our actions

44:34today can move us towards reconciliation we should take pause and make those decisions with

44:39intention and gratitude. This place we call Guelph has served as traditional lands and a place of

44:44refuge for many peoples over time but more specifically the Anuonarok and the Hulna Shoni.

44:50This land is held as the treaty lands and the territory with the Mississaugas of the Credit

44:55First Nation in Guelph lies directly adjacent to the Haldeman track and as part of a long

45:00established traditional hunting grounds for the six nations of the Grand River. Many First Nations

45:05Inuit and Métis people who have come from across Turtle Island call Guelph home today.

45:12And with that is there any disclosure of pecuniary interest any general nature there are for the

45:17other items on the agenda in front of us today? Hearing and seeing none again just for the open

45:22session for to be made public we do have formal regrets from Councillor Clawson and Councillor

45:30Downer today. So we're going to kick things off with a certificate in Municipal Administration.

45:38This is a staff recognition moment. I'd like to turn it over to our chair of infrastructure

45:44development enterprise over to Chair O'Rourke. Thank you very much Mayor Guthrie. So on behalf

45:51of council it's my pleasure to recognize Allison Knapp an economic development officer at the city

45:57for completing the Municipal Administration Program Certificate issued through the Association of

46:02Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario. For over 60 years the Municipal Administration

46:09Program has been providing the foundation that municipal professionals need to go with the

46:14challenges and complexities in the rapidly evolving municipal environment. Study includes

46:19organizational structure and financial management of municipal governments. It provides a multifaceted

46:25view of how municipalities can operate strategically to serve their communities and address today's

46:30unique challenges. So congratulations Allison. Well done. I'm rolling down for a picture and

48:16great congrats again. I'm sure you'd love to stay for the entirety of the rest of the committee

48:20meeting but you and your colleagues and friends can go if you wish. Okay we are now going to

48:30hear a presentation from our Chief Administrative Officer on those 2025 performance objectives

48:37and so I'd like to welcome Tara Baker to the stage and so we'll hear about her objectives as set

48:46by Council and herself for this coming year. Go ahead. Great and good afternoon Mr. Mayor,

48:54members of Council, our collective city staff team that's here today and also members of the

49:01community. I'm very pleased to be here with you to present the 2025 CAO performance objectives

49:07culminating from two months of discussion and review with the CAO recruitment selection and

49:12performance subcommittee. Council's approval of the CAO objectives earlier today was an important

49:19moment that demonstrates alignment of expectations of administration and alignment of our collective

49:24council and executive leadership team. For me this means we're making a commitment to be focused

49:29together, a team that's driving towards the same key outcomes for our community this year. We're one

49:35team with one vision. To set some necessary context for those watching that may be new to the process,

49:41the CAO is the sole position at the city that reports to Council and through this performance

49:46process Council sets their expectations for what will be delivered by administration in the year.

49:53Council delegates the operational aspects of this project to a subcommittee which consists of the

49:58chairs of each of our five committees of Council and I'd really just like to thank the members of

50:04that subcommittee, Mayor Guthrie, Councillor O'Rourke, Goller, Downer and Caron for the

50:10and the city's executive team for the really open dialogue and as we work together to get

50:16to where we are today. So while I'm in the sole direct report of Council delivering services to

50:23our community takes a team and a team of passionate and dedicated community-minded people and we are

50:30all accountable to our collective success in today is a moment to rally our team around our key

50:35priorities for 2025. So I've transitioned the performance objectives into these four corporate

50:44priorities. We have a really diverse workforce that delivers a diverse portfolio of services

50:51and but in every role here in Aspect these are the four things that I really hope that

50:58everybody in every role in the city will look to to guide their 2025 objectives. So first we've

51:04got affordability, we will be data-driven, outcomes focused, measuring performance and

51:10act to find efficiencies in what we do every day. Housing we will recognize the urgency of the

51:17housing crisis and that we need housing now. We will lean into being facilitators, understand

51:23the process barriers and boldly lead through uncertainty. From a culture perspective our

51:28people are the heart of everything we do. We will develop and empower our leaders collaborating

51:34across departments to deliver customer-centric services and relationships we believe in the

51:40power of collaboration and together we are stronger and can achieve more. These priorities are not new

51:46they are part of the deliverables within our strategic plan future Guelph but perhaps equally

51:52important is that they reflect our corporate values of integrity, service, inclusion, wellness and

51:58learning. The symbols on the left of the screen are the thread connecting the corporate objectives

52:04to the strategic plan and underpinning every corporate priority as depicted in purple is the

52:09strategic theme of foundations. Not surprising really when you build the foundation right and

52:15you develop our people right our house won't fall in the face of adversity. So I'm going to dive a

52:23little bit deeper into each one of the priorities so affordability will continue to drive decision

52:29making and prioritization of resources. Affordability comes in many forms the city's budget being the

52:36most obvious however investment and providing community with affordable lifestyles is also part

52:41of this outcome. Understanding our risks and our collective risk tolerance will unlock more

52:47opportunities like housing supply while we also review how we do business and if there are more

52:53efficient and cost effective models to do so. We will be driven by a housing now attitude

53:03removing barriers creating solutions even if it's something we've never done before

53:09and after a year of challenging economic conditions where housing starts have been down

53:13province-wide Guelph will be doing everything we can to get units and we will leverage our

53:18financial assets our land assets and our relationships to reach our targets wherever we can.

53:30We will also leverage our best asset our people the strength of the team is each individual member

53:37and the strength of each member is the individual or is the team and this is a quote from a famous

53:43coach and very relevant to building our culture. We will invest in our talent engage with our teams

53:50and develop trusted customer centric leaders that have the tools and autonomy to do what they do

53:55and we will celebrate and we'll celebrate career milestones professional achievements

54:01teamwork and collaboration. I'm certainly proud of our team and what we do and I want everybody

54:06to feel that pride. And finally we will elevate the importance of relationships both internally

54:14and externally to me the relationships are premised on trust and trust is a two-way street

54:19that's earned on both sides. We acknowledge our most important relationships take extra effort

54:24and selflessness to maintain that trust especially in challenging times. Relationships are critical

54:31to our success while the city does a lot of work we don't have carriage over everything our community

54:35needs there are a multitude of agencies boards private industry and other governments that we

54:41need to work together with closely to be successful and so we will do our part in building rebuilding

54:47and strengthening these relationships calling in a friend when we need one and then conversely

54:51being a friend when someone else is looking to us. Earning trust and relationships with our community

54:57more broadly will also be a focus in 25 be it through convening the community around race to zero

55:02goals or and building more housing faster we're stronger better together and so in closing just

55:11want to come back to the message of alignment and teamwork council and administration are making a

55:16commitment to be focused together a team that's driving towards the same key outcomes for our

55:21community we're one team with one vision so let's work together to reach these 2025 goals

55:27affordability housing culture and relationships thank you thank you so much Tara that that was a

55:35great presentation and overview and I just open it up to my colleagues to see if there's anything

55:40further on this before we look to at least receive this well we don't have to I guess receive it

55:49we receive it with open arms we receive it without a motion uh

55:56uh Councillor Gibson has a question or a comment go ahead yeah comment through you Mr.

56:00Marges I guess um let's take the chance to affirm the the comments about relationships

56:06and how important that is I think it it's it sometimes if it fails on me and sometimes I

56:10don't realize just even in the I sit in just how many partners make the city go around um from

56:18albeit outside boards albeit you know hospital the university are are automated like our our

56:26advanced manufacturing industry in in Guelph there are so many partners that make Guelph

56:31what it is we are we are a part of it but we're not the only part so that's uh I take those words

56:36to heart thank you uh CAO those are well said thank you thank you very much um with that I'll

56:49just make a quick comment uh Tara just you know on behalf of council thank you very much for your

56:54leadership over the last few months that you've been in the role and as on a personal side I just

56:59think you're doing a wonderful job and uh it's been great to get to know you a little bit better

57:03in this different capacity uh you and your team and the executive team are doing great work and

57:09so just you have to I wish you all the best into 2025 with these objectives and everything else that

57:14will get thrown at us all especially you um but yeah you're just doing a wonderful job so thank you

57:19very much for for all that you do all right well with that um thank you again Tara I'll turn it back

57:27over to chair or Rourke we do have a consent agenda item now I can move out of this chair

57:33or if it is a consent maybe we I don't have to move let's see what happens I'll turn it over to you

57:38you stay there thanks Marigathe three so we have one item on consent right now for IDE and I'm just

57:47wondering um whether anybody wanted to pull that solid waste management bylaw update looking around

57:57I see no one wanting to pull it um we've had information items and there's information

58:02on the website regarding the change um what this does is simply update the bylaw to align with that

58:09new blue box regulation and seeing nobody then that remains on consent so I need a mover for

58:16that motion on consent Marigathe three and seconded by uh Councillor Billings is anyone opposed

58:23fastest IDE meeting ever there you go okay well thank you uh chair or Rourke and now it's uh over

58:32to to me again another consent item uh this is in regards to the expense policy for council

58:40it is um first of all does anyone need it uh need it pulled it's just a recognition around the

58:46communications allotment okay Councillor Keaton um why don't uh why don't we go with you just if

58:54you have a question go right ahead thank you sorry just a quick question through you to staff I was

59:02just wondering what the the rationale or the reason was that we couldn't have city branding on town hall

59:09advertisements or information through you Mr. Mayor to Councillor Keaton just to ensure that

59:21political communications remain separate from city corporate communications okay I'll follow up

59:31separately with staff on that thank you okay thank you all right um if someone to move that at

59:40least would Councillor Billings you're going to move it uh I can move it I can I can move it but

59:46I have a question okay moved in Councillor Allt will second it uh and you go ahead with your question

59:52Councillor Bunch okay just real quick there was a couple of items like mileage and meals where

59:59it refers you and says well go look at the staff travel and expense policy whereas before the the

1:00:05meal allotment was contained within the policy I was just wondering because I tried to to search the

1:00:11staff travel and expense policy I couldn't find it so I was just wondering why was that removed

1:00:16and why couldn't that be put in through you Mr. Mayor to Councillor Billings simply for consistency

1:00:24so that we're not making multiple updates and multiple policies every time we change those

1:00:28amounts but I can certainly circulate um those amounts in that policy to council after this

1:00:32meeting and in advance of council's consideration of this at the end of the month okay great and

1:00:38quickly one more through you Mr. Mayor um so say we wanted to have a town hall in the past

1:00:45we use a city facility it's not like a member of council has to pay and get reimbursed how it's

1:00:51written in here town halls expense or reimburse the actual cost i.e. facility rentals is that just

1:00:57referring then to if it's not a city facility and then of course then you would have to pay and get

1:01:03reimbursed but it's not including city facility rentals is it through you Mr. Mayor that's correct

1:01:12councilors could continue using city facilities like city staff do for events okay that's it Mr.

1:01:17Mayor thank you yep no problem okay uh with that I'll call the the vote then uh is there anyone

1:01:27against nobody thank you so much that's unanimous as well and um we have the advocacy plan now

1:01:39that's uh coming forward called future in focus I like that terminology by the way I like that a

1:01:47lot wealth's advocacy plan we're going to have staff do a presentation and then we can open it up for

1:01:55some questions so I'll turn it over Kim are you going to come up first okay perfect all right

1:02:12good afternoon mayor and council today we have the pleasure of presenting to you the future in

1:02:17focus advocacy plan which provides a renewed and strategic approach to the city's advocacy efforts

1:02:23in the coming years this plan was developed with input from many of you as well as from city leadership

1:02:29from across all four service areas in the organization excuse me the organization this plan

1:02:35will provide strategic guidance to the city as we work collectively to advance the four themes of

1:02:39the future wealth strategic plan our discussion today is going to begin with an overview of where

1:02:50we started why we undertook this work and the key goals we set out to achieve with the development

1:02:55of this plan we will then go over the process that we followed in developing the plan and provide some

1:03:00details on the major components within this plan that is really going to drive this work forwards

1:03:05we will also provide you with some context about next steps including how this plan can

1:03:09enhance work on some upcoming priorities the development of this plan was identified as one

1:03:19of the key initiatives under the advocate for our city objective within wealth strategic plan

1:03:24the need for this strategic approach to advocacy really emerged in response to the rising volume

1:03:30and complexity of issues facing the city that require intergovernmental collaboration

1:03:35from housing and infrastructure renewal to homelessness and mental health

1:03:39wealth is increasingly dealing with significant challenges requiring increasing levels of support

1:03:45these challenges are being faced across local governments meaning there are limited opportunities

1:03:50to directly engage with decision makers this means that the city's advocacy needs to be targeted

1:03:56and impactful to stand out in a saturated advocacy landscape another factor that makes this plan so

1:04:03important is the wide diversity of perspectives on issues mayor council and staff all have valuable

1:04:09insights on different advocacy topics and it is essential that the city's advocacy reflects these

1:04:15perspectives while also creating a united voice in achieving these goals the advocacy plan is

1:04:22intended to provide transparency on how the city advocates and ensures that council staff and community

1:04:29partners are informed of the role and process for advocacy to be able to meaningfully support our

1:04:34efforts and so with that now going to pass this over to Ilya Spivak our intergovernmental advisor

1:04:41who was really instrumental in the development of this plan and he's going to walk us through

1:04:45the actual slides around the plan itself right thanks Kim so the development of the advocacy plan

1:05:00began with an internal engagement process which was conducted in two phases with both city leadership

1:05:05and with members of council this engagement helped us gain a better understanding of not

1:05:10only the key directions for advocacy in the coming years but more importantly the supports and tactics

1:05:16that will help us advance the city's priorities through this engagement we were able to refine the

1:05:20priority areas for advocacy and gain a better understanding of councils and the city's advocacy

1:05:25needs and perspectives to help plan our future work in parallel with the internal engagement

1:05:31process we also undertook the development of an advocacy process that can be used to identify

1:05:36prioritize and action advocacy in various issues part of this work we defined the scope of the

1:05:41city's advocacy defined stakeholders and their role in advocacy developed advocacy issue prioritization

1:05:47criteria and developed a consistent approach for selecting advocacy tactics for any given issue

1:05:57so this takes us to our discussion of the advocacy plan itself the two core components of the advocacy

1:06:03plan are really the advocacy process and the key advocacy directions which you see very roughly

1:06:09outlined on the screen here these components set out both the methods and the strategic direction

1:06:14that will allow the city to undertake the impactful advocacy in a consistent and transparent manner

1:06:20the next few slides will walk you through these components and elaborate on how they will enable

1:06:24better advocacy so the advocacy process forms the backbone of this plan and describes how

1:06:33so the city conducts good advocacy work this process is split into four general steps as outlined

1:06:39in this slide as we go through these steps feel free to follow along using the advocacy plan that

1:06:44is provided in attachment one the first step before any advocacy can happen is to identify and

1:06:51outline the issues requiring advocacy this involves identifying the specific desired outcomes of

1:06:56advocacy and setting realistic intermediate and long-term goals for our work the next step is to

1:07:02identify the key external stakeholders which includes identifying the specific decision and

1:07:07policy makers who can influence our desired change also important is identifying any organizations

1:07:13that we can partner with to amplify our voice and message once an issue has been defined and

1:07:18characterized in the first several steps we undertake the critical step of evaluating the

1:07:22priority level of the issue based on the perceived alignments to internal and external priorities

1:07:27alignments to previous direction from council and the urgency of the problem among other criteria

1:07:32this prioritization informs how the city will approach the issue the final step and arguably

1:07:39the most important in this process is to identify the appropriate advocacy tactics to be used for

1:07:43each issue we have defined tactics under two different categories engagement based and supportive

1:07:48tactics to maximize the outcomes of our efforts we aim to use engagement tactics as much as possible

1:07:54which include direct meetings visits and other interactions with key decision and policy makers

1:08:00these tactics all offer maximum engagement and present relationship building opportunities

1:08:05making them best suited for higher priority and urgent issues some examples of these tactics are

1:08:10provided on page nine of the plan supportive tactics such as writing letters and creating

1:08:16other materials are not necessarily best suited for directly influencing change but can create

1:08:21awareness and support for issues these tactics are combined with more direct tactics example of

1:08:27supportive tactics are provided on page 10 so taken together this assortment of tactics provide

1:08:33the city with the flexibility to advocate in a way that most effectively utilizes city resources

1:08:37to advance our advocacy needs taken all together these four steps provide a framework which will

1:08:44support a more proactive and consistent approach to the city's advocacy work and will enable improved

1:08:49advocacy outcomes this brings us to the other important component of the advocacy plan which

1:08:57is the key directions for advocacy whereas the advocacy process provides the tools and method

1:09:02that we use the key directions outline the high level areas of advocacy that I needed to advance

1:09:07our future wealth strategic plan these key directions are the outcome of the leadership team and

1:09:12council engagement mentioned earlier and are organized by strategic plan themes to provide

1:09:18some context and examples I'll highlight a few of these directions in more detail under the

1:09:24foundation theme our key directions for advocacy relate to supporting fiscal and operational

1:09:28sustainability this includes advocacy for improved fiscal tools funding fairness and legislative

1:09:34changes to allow the city to effectively undertake its legislative duties under the city building

1:09:39theme our advocacy will focus on securing policy change and funding support that allows us to

1:09:43enable more housing and sustainably accommodate new growth under the environment theme our advocacy

1:09:49goals are centered on funding to support the various innovative uh environmental and climate

1:09:54initiative that the city undertakes and finally under the people and economy theme our advocacy

1:10:00is focused on health well-being and economic development the community health safety and

1:10:05well-being direction is centered around working with partners to advocate in highly complex and

1:10:09systemic issues such as homeless less mental health and substance use among others on the economic

1:10:15development side um advocacy is focused on the policy and funding that support golf and unlocking

1:10:20employment lambs and attracting investment taking together these key directions outline the current

1:10:27area of focus for the city's advocacy as new issues arise or others are resolved to some extent

1:10:33the specific issues that make up these key directions may shift and change as needed now we

1:10:41want to briefly touch about on the next steps coming out of this plan the advocacy plan provides a

1:10:47baseline from which we'll work to launch a variety of advocacy actions part of this will

1:10:52include developing tailored and detailed plans and profiles that outline the tactics timelines

1:10:56and approaches to advocacy and various issues and directions these plans will be flexible and are

1:11:01intended to inform and track our actions in the short to medium term we will also seek to engage

1:11:07with key partners to better understand collaboration opportunities and share information and data to

1:11:11advance shared outcomes finally tracking and evaluation of advocacy activities will be another

1:11:17important continuing part of our work to ensure success transparency and continuous improvement

1:11:22the city's work will continue to leverage the inner governmental performance index to track and

1:11:27report our activities as part of the annual strategic plan reporting cycle we will also

1:11:33seek to integrate additional outcome-based performance measures and qualitative data

1:11:37that specifically evaluates any results coming out of our advocacy and with that I want to hand

1:11:43it back over to Kim to wrap up our presentation and talk about some examples of how the plan will

1:11:48be implemented the near future so now as we look forwards we wanted to provide an example of how

1:11:59the future and focus advocacy plan can be leveraged in our intergovernmental work with this plan

1:12:04there are opportunities to not only frame issues in a unified voice but to also use the branding

1:12:11of the advocacy plan to tie all of our intergovernmental outreach together under a consistent look and

1:12:16feel a good example in the coming months is that the intergovernmental services team will be developing

1:12:22materials as part of our election readiness efforts should either a federal or provincial

1:12:26election be called in the near future this not only helps improve our requests and communications

1:12:31but but also can leverage the branding to enhance awareness around wealth priorities and outreach

1:12:41so this future and focus advocacy plan has laid out a strategic framework and provides direction

1:12:46that will enable the city to undertake effective targeted and inclusive advocacy work that aims

1:12:52to achieve real outcomes for wealth we look forward to implementing this plan with you in

1:12:56the coming months and years and thank you for your time today great thank you so much Kim and

1:13:02Ilya for your presentation we we really appreciate it we are let me tell you we are very very

1:13:10fortunate to have you and the intergovernmental team when myself and others you know we go to

1:13:16AMO or FCM or whatever you know yeah we're sometimes the ones doing the talking here or there but

1:13:24everything is coordinated and done so very well by by you guys and and what you do so

1:13:30you know our our city has been also extremely successful in a lot of grants

1:13:38and funding and total credit to to you we're very very fortunate to have you and this this

1:13:47this presentation and I think where this is scoped and moving forward is is really really well done

1:13:53very well done it's probably one of the best I've seen honestly so I really appreciate what you

1:13:58guys have done um with that this is a moment for approval and I just wondered if someone would be

1:14:06willing to at least just move okay Gaur will move and Gibson will second it and then how about any

1:14:13questions at all or comments you could do questions or comments at the same time boost it till and

1:14:19then it'll work okay and then then alt thank you and through the mirror thank you for the excellent

1:14:26document and the presentation I just have two questions and the first one is around city building

1:14:31and it was in the attachment to and I know it's not comprehensive and when I look around city

1:14:37building and it was around water increasing water supply and you know it's a priority I'm

1:14:45wondering how do you balance the conversations with the stakeholders but also government agencies

1:14:51around increasing water and conserving mitigating the water demands that are being placed by the

1:14:57provincial government that kind of awareness raising and advocacy around whoa you know slow

1:15:02down here we have very concrete if you can speak to that and then I have one more thank you for

1:15:15you mr. mayor to councillor Busuttil so in attachment number two there are a number of different issues

1:15:21in here where we are still really trying to collect much information to inform what the advocacy will

1:15:28actually look like in terms of tactics and approach etc many of them will engage with stakeholders

1:15:33whether they be intergovernmental or otherwise there are there is works underway in terms of how

1:15:40we actually reach out to community partners or other stakeholders some of the ways that we do

1:15:45that currently right now are through our policy consultation process so when consultations are

1:15:50made public for the city to comment on those are things that we actually do take advantage of quite

1:15:55regularly which you'll see through the information reports that come out each Friday and most recently

1:16:00there was one that came as part of a permit to take water which the city did provide some

1:16:04comprehensive comments on and so we leverage many of those existing opportunities that we have

1:16:08available to us to make comments on those thank you and that's exactly what I was thinking I hate

1:16:13to use the picture of you can turn the tap on or increase water supply but you can also turn it off

1:16:19the second question that I had is about in the same chart it's the people in economy one and I

1:16:25was curious when I read this originally in the first box it talks about item number one number two

1:16:31increase provincial funding for Wellington County as Guelph's Consolidated Service Manager and I

1:16:37guess my question is making the connection between increased wealth advocacy you know we talk about

1:16:44you know the experience here the numbers the social economic kind of context and should it not say

1:16:50you know something like increase provincial funding for Guelph through the Consolidated

1:16:57Service Manager because as we're making advocacy for our residents and our service providers and so

1:17:03on and then we go back to the Consolidated Service Manager what we've heard from the community is

1:17:07they want to see accountability and so my question is just around the wording of that you know instead

1:17:13of going into like a you know a black box not that it's a black box but you know what I mean we're

1:17:19putting resources and money and effort and you know information data collection into advocacy for

1:17:24Guelph within that system and if we're looking for that accountability back I was just curious

1:17:29about in that section the language through me through you Mr. Mayor to Councillor Bousetel that's

1:17:36a another great question in terms of how we structure some of these advocacy items that

1:17:41you're seeing in attachment number two I'll just kind of start at a high level before we get a

1:17:44little bit more specific but there are ones in here where you're going to see where they are not

1:17:49necessarily under the per viewer responsibility for the city of Guelph but has direct impacts to our

1:17:54community and we have specific interests in seeing these outcomes and so for these instances we would

1:17:59seek to have joint advocacy opportunities with somebody like Wellington County for issues that

1:18:05we find we have common desired outcomes for to get more specific to your question in terms of

1:18:13you know restructuring how that's framed to advocate for Guelph through Wellington County as

1:18:18the service manager you know not often or not all the time do we know how funding is going to flow

1:18:23from the province and often it's nice to just get the message out there with that defined kind of

1:18:28collaborative desired outcome of the advocacy in partnership with Wellington County. Thank you for

1:18:35the clarification. Thank you and then a Rourke please. Thank you Marga three through you to

1:18:41staff I have a couple questions the first is about the timelines I'm looking at attachment two

1:18:46this just occurred to me that the title for attachment two says December 2024 advocacy issues

1:18:53and outcomes snapshot so is there a timeline like a forward-looking timeline because I'm

1:18:58guessing this is not a here's what we did in 2024 report right so I'm just wondering if you can

1:19:03clarify that. So through you Mr. Mayor to councillor O'Rourke attachment number two is something

1:19:08that we developed throughout the engagement process in developing the actual advocacy plan and framework

1:19:14the intention for attachment number two is to really provide the intergovernmental services team

1:19:20that you see at the table here with some information provided by yourself so some members of council as

1:19:27well as city leadership from across all four service areas of what advocacy issues we know

1:19:32that are current so happening right now and which issues are emerging that we know we're going to

1:19:37need to address whether it be in months or years it's really meant to be a living document and so

1:19:43us providing attachment to as part of this package is really just giving you exactly that just a

1:19:48snapshot in time of what we know that is on our list for either a current action or could become

1:19:55something that we would want to action in the future as I'm sure all of you guys know these

1:19:59things happen and evolve very quickly the landscape changes quite rapidly and so it's part of our

1:20:06roles to continue to monitor update and then action based on the the results within the

1:20:12the snapshot itself so it's living if I could put it in simple terms. Perfect because my next

1:20:19question was is there space in the plan for emerging issues right sometimes you look at your

1:20:24coming year and it's just full on but I know you've respond to a record number of consultation

1:20:29documents you have to quarterback that across a number of different departments so in your plan

1:20:35do you have room for emerging issues as well? Through the mayor to councillor work I appreciate

1:20:42the opportunity maybe to share a bit of the work that the team has done as well so this team as we

1:20:47know has been operating at full capacity with the amount of legislative change we've seen for a

1:20:51number of years. We're fortunate to have great partners throughout the organization who support us

1:20:56and help us manage some of that capacity but certainly with the legislative environment and

1:21:01potentially two elections on the horizon in 2025 we are operating as a very busy crowd. There is one

1:21:08other member of our team who supports us through the grant process and and and if I can look back on

1:21:142024 this team supported 26 consultations plus some pretty significant legislative change through

1:21:21bill 185 and bill 212 27 intergovernmental meetings and secured almost 42 million dollars in funding

1:21:32which is up almost 86 percent from 2023 so so we appreciate council's recognition of this very

1:21:39small but mighty team that's doing really important work for the city. And through you,

1:21:44America, three just two more specific questions so I'd encourage the public to read the document

1:21:50because some of the priorities are things people might not assume right like heads and beds or

1:21:55payment in lieu of taxes for the Ontario reformatory so those are quite interesting when you look at

1:22:00what the list of priorities are. I know those are lower tier priorities but it is really interesting

1:22:06to see where there are opportunities for different levels of government to modify things to be helpful

1:22:12to the city. Just a quick question around trains actually so I'm just curious on the issue list

1:22:22is the Gulf Cambridge Go so is that a level C because it's not really in our hands and so that

1:22:30one is on the chart but two-way all-day go is not so is that because two-way all-day go is coming

1:22:37it's in the works there's no advocacy really to be done other than you know keeping the

1:22:43the train on time literally and then the the Gulf to Cambridge piece is because it's sort of

1:22:49proceeding so can you help me understand that? Absolutely so through you Mr. Barrett to you

1:22:53Councillor O'Rourke for the issue of the Gulf to Cambridge Go we have that on the list identified

1:22:59as an emerging issue it's very early in its stages so it's we're not confident at this point yet

1:23:05exactly what type of advocacy that will need other than the general support which is in the works at

1:23:10this point in time and so we do expect that that issue will elevate in priority and would require

1:23:16some additional action from the team in the coming months or years in terms of the two-way all-day

1:23:22go issue following some pretty extensive advocacy on that issue in past years at this point in time

1:23:29that issue is moving forwards as in there is commitments from the province on that issue

1:23:34and at this point in time we've essentially exhausted the the need for advocacy on that issue

1:23:42should something change that would be reprioritized and reconsidered and then we would

1:23:46reevaluate that within that framework. Great thank you and then through you Merga through my last

1:23:51question is also about what's about Guelph Central Station I'm asking the question because

1:23:56publicly because I had this question personally so this says Guelph Central Station

1:24:06is you know we're trying to get that the Central Station open so that people can be sheltered

1:24:11or use a washroom and I know that in past years especially in the winter we've also had issues

1:24:17with the shelters not being unlocked so somebody waiting for a goat train can't go in and get out

1:24:23of the elements so I just wanted to be clear for the public you know our operations can still

1:24:30advocate directly to Metrolinx for some of these operational things even if it's not a big

1:24:37organizational push with employers or the chamber or GCAT right so an advocacy piece looks different

1:24:45than just an operation operation we can still work keep working on this. Through the Mayor

1:24:51sorry through the Mayor to council for our work on that issue with the Guelph Central Station we

1:24:58we will always continue to talk to Metrolinx about the issue about not having access to washrooms and

1:25:03not having a place to wait for the train protective of the elements we continue to have those discussions

1:25:09we meet with Metrolinx on a regular basis and that's top of the agenda they kind of know that

1:25:14that's coming but we'll continue to have discussions with them on that outside of the the normal advocacy

1:25:21channels. Terrific thanks very much. Mayor Guthrie just a comment if I may. I think it's a great piece

1:25:28of work and I think part of council's responsibility is to give you space to advance these priorities

1:25:34and that that as a council we need to be a little bit cautious about sort of new advocacy issues that

1:25:41come up that may not have the same sort of rigor in the the prioritization in the ranking so

1:25:48you guys go do your work we'll try to be disciplined and and anything I think that

1:25:54council can do any networks that we have to to bring to bear then we are happy to assist

1:25:59in the measure that we can to advancing these initiatives. Great thank you I believe I have

1:26:08Alton and Kate. Mayor Guthrie following somewhat up on my colleagues I want to deal perhaps with

1:26:18metrics and how we measure success I did hear from one of the staff one of the measures of

1:26:23success is the grants that we receive but there is with any potential change of government

1:26:29possibly those grants will dry up and then the the measure of success changes markedly. I was

1:26:36wondering if we could perhaps comment on how we measure our success what perhaps a couple of

1:26:42specific targets or objectives might be and most importantly do we have target dates for some of

1:26:48these things and when I say that I recognize some of this must be fluid like all today and all the

1:26:56way go and and go to Cambridge and so on and so forth but nonetheless I think council work is

1:27:01correct the public does need to to to read this and and understand that we have some significant

1:27:07priorities and and in many cases we have to moderate those with any any government that might come

1:27:16along. So through you Mr. Mayor to Councillor Allt I think that's a very good question so just in

1:27:25speaking to what we currently do so for the past number of years we've been reporting on our progress

1:27:30successes and performance measures in the intergovernmental world through the intergovernmental

1:27:36index that index is reported to council via the strategic plan reporting from the corporate

1:27:42performance and reporting team on an annual basis. What's changing as we move this plan

1:27:47forwards is that we are going to be seeking to find more meaningful measures that really try to

1:27:52measure the outcomes of our work as opposed to the inputs or efforts that we're putting into it

1:27:57and I think that by measuring the outcomes which is difficult in this world we will be able to

1:28:03show a better story of the successes of the efforts that we've all been making and trying to advance.

1:28:09Another opportunity that is that you will see in the next performance reporting cycle is that we

1:28:14are going to be seeking to include qualitative data so the opportunity to actually tell those stories

1:28:20to help interpret the data that you'll be seeing as part of that index and so that would be coming

1:28:25in July of this year through the corporate performance team.

1:28:32Very groovy. Thank you very much. I appreciate that and I do recognize as Ms. Sales said earlier

1:28:39mentioned that you are on shifting sands all the time and I wish you the best in dealing with those.

1:28:47Thank you and then it looks like I'm wrapping up with Kate and please.

1:28:53Thank you. Sir you Mr. Mayor. I love it first off. I think it's great. I love to see everything

1:29:00in one spot and I think the prioritization has been done really well. It looks really nice to

1:29:05kind of see all of the advocacy work that the city is doing and I know that it's all going to a great

1:29:11place. My question is kind of similar to Councillor Allt and I was wondering if there was an opportunity

1:29:18to have kind of more of a public reporting style like we have other projects on the website

1:29:22where we have like when we've got some sort of big win then it goes on the website and we can see

1:29:28it so the public is more aware of the intermediate steps rather than having it coming on a quarterly

1:29:33report because I know that as much as those reports are fantastic they don't seem to get

1:29:39pushed up into the public view as much as a lot of the website stuff does. So is that something

1:29:43that we're looking to do with this as well? So through you Mr. Mayor to Councillor Caton,

1:29:49there are a number of ways that we can not only continue to provide public awareness on the

1:29:55efforts that we're making so there's many opportunities that we already undertake in

1:29:59terms of communicating with council but there are some additional opportunities to being able to get

1:30:04this messaging out there. In terms of materials, so for example for AMO we developed in the past

1:30:10two years some what we call our leave behind materials which are like tangible materials

1:30:15on the advocacy issues that we have and those are actually posted online publicly for the public to

1:30:20see what we're doing when we go to AMO and we link through those we link to that website via the

1:30:25social media posts that we make during the AMO conference. I think in time there's definitely an

1:30:30opportunity to better leverage that website that public website to be able to display and show

1:30:36these really great materials that are being developed for each advocacy issue to kind of show

1:30:40the public the issue that we're advocating on who we're advocating to and what those calls to action

1:30:45look like. So it's almost like bringing the public along as we make advances in many of those issues.

1:30:53That would be fantastic. Thank you very much. Thanks Councillor Keaton. I'm just going to circle

1:30:59back one more time very quickly to Councillor Busuttil and then I'll call the vote. Thank you

1:31:05and through the mayor I apologize I couldn't read my writing, couldn't figure out what this was

1:31:08till later. So the what I wrote down here and I think I've had a conversation before is long-term

1:31:13care beds and where does the advocacy for that happen is that the I believe it's DCO Clack Bush

1:31:20and I had the conversation is that part of the city's responsibility in people in economy to look

1:31:26for long-term care beds and is that part of our advocacy? So through the mayor to Councillor

1:31:32Busatil it isn't really in that the Ministry of Long-Term Care really has the oversight for

1:31:37where long-term care beds go in the province. Our advocacy is for our own facility that we

1:31:42obviously are the license holder for in the Elliott. Beyond that the addition of any long-term care

1:31:47beds into Guelph or in fact the whole catchment area really is at the discretion of the Ministry

1:31:52of Long-Term Care and to my recollection the city has not at any point taken an active role

1:31:59in engaging that beyond our role as long-term care provider. Thank you and just a follow-up. So

1:32:05is there any awareness raising when long-term care beds are lost in the community to to the

1:32:12Ministry? Certainly through the mayor I mean I will think back when our announcement about the

1:32:19Elliott long-term care beds came there was certainly connection with the Ministry at that time because

1:32:24St. Joe's also received licenses for beds they're still in the process of going through their process.

1:32:29So I think from a sort of on an ad hoc basis we do engage with the Ministry from time to time. I

1:32:35know certainly Mayor Guthrie had conversations with I forget which Minister it was but the

1:32:40Minister who was here might have been Calandra at that time for that announcement and so we did

1:32:44have conversations at the time about the needs in Guelph for long-term care beds being added

1:32:50but we have not had any engagement with the Ministry of Long-Term Care more recently with

1:32:56the loss of the licenses at La Pointe Fisher. Thank you very much. Great thank you Councillor

1:33:05Bustill. So it has been moved and seconded clerks that's correct you got that down okay.

1:33:12Well I've already gave my comments at the beginning so there you are. With that I will

1:33:18call the vote then is there anyone against the approval of the future in focus Guelph

1:33:24Advocacy's plan? Nobody so that's unanimous great thank you and that brings us to the end of our

1:33:32committee of the whole meeting for January. Is there any service chair announcements from anybody?

1:33:39Nope okay so then I am just looking for adjournment please and Councillor Goller and

1:33:46Alt will move in second adjournment and I'll call the vote on that is anyone against adjourning?

1:33:53Nobody so have a good rest of the night and thank you very much and take care bye bye.