[0:00] Everyone call the meeting to order.
Please be aware R&B council meetings are
[0:05] livereamed to facebook.com
black forward slpass pi live stream
[0:12] comments are not monitored during real
time.
[0:15] During the council meeting visitors
please remember to sign in. Thank you.
[0:21] In the spirit of reconciliation we
acknowledge that the land upon which our
[0:25] organization stands is unseated Migma
territories. We pay our respects to the
[0:31] indigenous Migma people.
[0:35] I missed the line. Abu Migmaki is
covered by the historic treaties of
[0:42] peace and friendship. We pay our
respects to the indigenous Mikmma people
[0:45] who have occupied this land for over
12,000 years, past, present, and future.
[0:53] Do any members of council have a
conflict of interest with any items on
[0:57] today's agenda?
>> I just wanted to note councelor Carter
[1:02] is not here, but she would be in
conflict of interest on uh item 22.
[1:08] » It's actually it's 21.
>> Oh, is it?
[1:11] » Yeah. Continue Canada post operation in
Bel 21.
[1:15] » 21.
>> Yeah.
[1:16] » Okay. I'll make note in the minutes. uh
she would have had to uh declare that
[1:21] next meeting. So this saves her from
doing that.
[1:27] » Are there any other suggested agenda
items for today's meeting to be placed?
[1:33] » Sorry. Yeah. I would like to combine 22
and 20 in efforts of saving time this
[1:38] evening.
>> Yes.
[1:42] » Um I would also if that do we need a
motion for that or no?
[1:47] » No.
>> Okay. Um, I'd like to make a motion that
[1:50] we defer items 24, 25, and 26 to the
September meeting. Um, and um, for
[1:57] everyone here in the live stream, the
reason is that um, councelor Mcurban
[2:01] called for that um, in camera session
and she's unable to be there tonight.
[2:09] » Um, on that one, does anybody have a
problem with that?
[2:12] » No.
>> Okay.
[2:14] Mr.
>> I also have an item. Council McGvern, as
[2:20] you know, is not able to be here
tonight. She has a personal matter uh
[2:25] that she's unable to attend and has
asked that we request an excused absence
[2:31] for her.
>> So, that'll be near the end.
[2:35] » Yes.
>> I'm 23.
[2:41] Um, do we need a mover and a seconder
for Katherine's motions?
[2:46] » Uh, no. We just needed u
mover and a seconder as amended on
[2:52] number three.
>> All move. I'll second.
[2:59] » All in favor?
[3:03] » Naz.
Motion carried. RCMP report for the
[3:08] month of July, Ashel.
>> Okay, so our incident rate is down
[3:13] slightly and is still the lowest in
Eastern Kings. Uh even with the
[3:18] additional guests visiting our island,
uh traffic um with with with increased
[3:23] traffic, our municipality continues to
maintain respectable numbers. Uh for
[3:28] access to detailed RCMP reports, you can
visit the R&B website, www.
[3:35] uh rural municipality of Belfast.com.
Thank you.
[3:40] » Thank you, Ashley.
Uh public presentations, if any members
[3:44] of the public are offered five minutes
to make a presentation to council.
[3:48] Reminder, should any member of the
public wish to speak on any issue on
[3:52] today's agenda, this is the time to
all other agenda items are reserved for
[3:58] council participation. Are there any
public presentations?
[4:03] We did have uh Kier White who had
requested to mention something but he's
[4:08] not here to be in the queue.
>> We will push that to September. I'll
[4:14] email him.
>> Okay. Adoption of the July 15, 2026
[4:20] council meeting minutes attached
previously distributed. All suggested
[4:25] changes have already been incorporated.
May I have a mover and a secondary to
[4:29] approve the minutes of the July 15th,
2026 council meeting as presented?
[4:36] » Moved by L. Second.
>> I'll second by Cafe. All in favor?
[4:41] » Naz. Motion carried.
[4:47] Uh, adoption of the July 22nd DAO
subcommittee meeting minutes attached on
[4:56] this
council agenda for approval of the
[4:59] subcommittee members only as no other
CEO subcommittee meetings are planned at
[5:04] this time. So, the only three voting
members on this uh here today would be
[5:10] Jim, Katherine, Glenn, and myself.
May I have a mover and a second to
[5:16] approve the minutes of the July 22, 2026
EAO subcommittee as attached previous
[5:23] and presented?
>> Yeah, one of you
[5:28] » moved by Lynn
seconder.
[5:33] » Oh, I'll second.
>> All in favor?
[5:38] » I I'm still reading it.
We're not discussing that.
[5:44] » Oh, we're not discussing this.
>> No,
[5:46] » no, we're going to do that in September.
>> Yeah.
[5:49] » Yeah.
>> N
[5:54] motion carried.
Adoption of the July 30th, 2026 special
[6:01] council meeting minutes. Attached is
distributed. All suggested changes
[6:06] already incorporated.
May I have a mover and a seconder? to
[6:12] approve the minutes of the July 30th,
2026 special council meeting as
[6:18] presented on the move by Billy. Seconder
>> second.
[6:21] » Um
>> Lynn
[6:24] is I I
>> All in favor?
[6:27] » I don't see the item in there that
they're going to return that money.
[6:33] » Yes.
>> Is that in there somewhere?
[6:35] » It is in the the financial plan that
we've provided.
[6:40] I think it was it was in something that
we do remember seeing it.
[6:46] » Yeah, it was the the approved financial
plan that we gave to finance PBS.
[6:51] » It was it was it might not be in these
minutes, but it's within this bylaw.
[6:56] » Right.
>> So, we passed that bylaw and it does say
[6:58] that specifically inside.
>> Yeah. Yeah.
[7:02] » Correct.
>> Yeah.
[7:04] All in favor to move the 20 August 5th,
2026 special council meeting minutes.
[7:12] » All move second.
>> All in favors.
[7:20] Motion carries.
CEO reports. Bob Brooks. Thank you
[7:26] worship. Uh everything is on track
uh for our um expenditures and all the
[7:34] community grants now are all paid with
the exception of the monthly ongoing to
[7:40] the fire hall and the um community fancy
fe. So they were all actually paid out
[7:47] early. And uh I also just to let you
know I had a discussion with our auditor
[7:54] this morning. everything's on track for
her to
[7:59] have a discussion with myself and Ashley
within the next couple weeks. So, we'll
[8:03] be able to put the audited financial
statements on the agenda for next uh
[8:08] September.
So, everything's on track and as it
[8:13] should be with the finances.
>> Okay. Thank you, Bob.
[8:21] Uh
11 Belfast Rural Fire Department fireh
[8:27] hall funding update. So for the uh
benefit of the uh live stream, I'll read
[8:32] it out. Um so it's the Belfast Rural
Fire Department fire hall funding update
[8:38] per council's resolution resolution
number 2026 decimal or002
[8:45] made during the special council meeting
of August 5th. the reserve funds bylaw,
[8:50] the resolution, the financial asked,
breakdown, the minutes of the council
[8:54] meeting, and RMD's latest audit
financial statements were all sent to
[9:00] finance PEI. Finance PEI required those
documents from RMBB so they could start
[9:06] the financing process with the Belfast
Royal Fire Department for the fireh hall
[9:10] expansion project. Uh, that process is
underway. Still no word regarding the
[9:17] finance application with Canada.
However, our MP McDonald, his office, us
[9:23] and the fire department to continue
continue to follow the process closely.
[9:28] And in fact, I uh sent off a message to
um MP Kent McDonald's assistant today to
[9:36] see if he could look into any other word
that might be coming. No, no word today,
[9:43] but uh they are following up for us. Uh
the contractor Riley and Suns
[9:49] Construction recently confirmed that the
project is on track for completion in
[9:54] this fiscal year. And also I both Joanne
and I confirmed with um Finance PEI that
[10:03] all the documents have been received and
finance PEI estimates that a couple more
[10:09] weeks they'll be able to have the uh
documents ready.
[10:13] » Can I ask a question?
>> Yeah. Um, so were Riley and Sons were
[10:17] they able to be paid? Have they been
paid? Okay.
[10:20] » Yeah. So, uh, in the progress um,
invoices that they've sent so far. Yes.
[10:25] » Okay.
When it says here to, uh, completion
[10:30] this fiscal year, is that our fiscal
year or is that January 3rd, December
[10:34] 31?
>> That's the March 31 fiscal year.
[10:39] That's uh when it was confirmed that it
should be the firehole project should be
[10:44] completed around that time.
>> Next Maych March.
[10:48] » Yeah.
>> 31 years.
[10:51] » Be a long time to meet a little building
like that.
[10:54] » Well, the contractor is fairly confident
that that was the timeline he was given
[10:59] and uh he says he's on track to complete
it in that timeline.
[11:07] Great.
[11:10] » Okay. Well, thank you, Bob. Oh, the
mayor's meeting at the pilot house.
[11:17] Okay. Provide an update on the meeting
at the pilot house regarding FCM and
[11:22] PEI. No,
>> FPM.
[11:24] » FPI. Yeah. Okay. I was invited to the
pilot house
[11:31] um on July the 20th
for a social and got there just before
[11:37] 7. I met with PEI
PM
[11:44] » FIM
members Lori and Bruce chatted with
[11:49] others as they arrived.
uh had a meeting with Philip Brown,
[11:54] mayor of Charlotte Town, and Steve Oen
of Stratford, Jeff Spencer from
[11:59] Kensington, who the deputy mayor from
Rustico, uh Davidlair,
[12:06] and a counselor from your Ben Dunkers.
Good.
[12:10] And uh
we met with uh had a meeting with their
[12:15] MLA,
Kent Dollar. he's the minister in charge
[12:20] of the MGA and things like that.
>> And um we spent a couple hours there and
[12:28] there was two members from the national
board, one from um Thunder Bay and
[12:35] another from Halifax shot at the same a
while and had some food and came home.
[12:41] » Good job.
>> Pardon? Good meeting. There was no
[12:45] meeting. Oh, I mean, yeah, just social.
>> Yeah.
[12:49] » Sorry, I didn't know you were going. I
bailed at the last minute. So, thank you
[12:53] for representing Belfast.
>> Sure.
[12:57] » Thank you for your report, guys.
>> You're welcome.
[13:01] » Okay, next. Calgary Foundation grant in
and out rec center admin Ashley. Okay,
[13:09] so as reported at our last council
meeting, a donor wants to submit a grant
[13:14] to the Belfast Rec Center. It needs a
host to help deliver the funds. I spoke
[13:19] to the donor stewardship advisor and she
hopes to have she hopes that their
[13:23] office will have paperwork for us so
that the Belfast Rec Center could start
[13:27] receiving funding support in September.
Um I will have another update for R&B at
[13:32] the next council meeting. That's all.
That's great. Um,
[13:36] » when you say host,
>> yes.
[13:38] » What's that mean?
>> So, we'll be an it'll be an In-N-Out
[13:40] grant.
>> Okay. Similar to the uh Arena grant,
[13:44] similar to the uh community foundation
grants.
[13:48] » Okay.
>> Thank you.
[13:51] » Thank you. And do we have an update on
their Wood Islands Market area
[13:56] playground? Deputy Mayor,
>> I can do it. You want to?
[13:59] » Yeah, I can do it. Um, so, uh, R&B
staff, uh, spoke with Todd St. Claire,
[14:05] the executive director of the Wood
Islands and Area Development
[14:08] Corporation, uh who suggested that R&B
explore potential funding opportunities
[14:14] in 2027,
um in collaboration with uh uh Widok on
[14:20] the development of a playground space
here at the Wood Islands Market. Um, the
[14:24] White board is very supportive of Deputy
Mayor Dockert's idea uh of her proposal
[14:30] and they would welcome the addition of a
playground as a way to further enhance
[14:35] the facility and provide a new amenity
for visitors and families in the in the
[14:40] community. Um, the board director, John
Russo, stopped by R&B office to
[14:45] personally express uh the board's
support and to thank Lynn for her
[14:48] forwardinking approach on this project.
Um, as a followup, Todd St. Clair, uh,
[14:54] the executive director there contacted
the insurance provider for the Wood
[14:58] Islands Market regarding the potential
playground and the insurer advised, uh,
[15:03] that additional insurance costs are
expected to be minimal and that the
[15:07] playground would fall under the existing
policy that WDAT currently carries. Um,
[15:14] it was suggested that possibly a
preliminary concept draft plan outlining
[15:19] the type of playground equipment that
R&B would like to see um see in the
[15:24] space uh be brought forward and provided
to their to their insurance company. Um
[15:30] that would allow them to provide a more
accurate assessment of any potential
[15:34] increase to the current policy cost. Um,
a further update uh will be provided to
[15:40] council in September once Lyn and I have
um met with the wide act board after the
[15:46] 70 mile yard sale is over because they
as you know they are quite busy with
[15:50] that at the moment.
>> Yeah.
[15:52] » So that's all for now and thank you.
>> Um can I ask you a couple questions
[15:57] about that?
>> Sure. Um so I assume um since this is
[16:01] deputy um mayor Doerty like bringing
this forward that they would be seeking
[16:06] like community grant money. Has that
been a
[16:09] » We haven't talked that we're talking
external grant money not through not
[16:12] through R&B at this point. It would be
uh different funding streams.
[16:17] » Okay.
>> Um
[16:19] » it would be Yeah.
>> Okay. Okay. Because yeah, again like
[16:23] this was a concern I brought forward
before that just like
[16:27] » potential favoritism, right? So I just
want
[16:30] » keeping it separate.
>> Um I think that's the right way to go
[16:33] for this project. So
>> perfect. Thank you for the
[16:36] clarification.
>> Thank you for reading that because I had
[16:38] it on my phone. So
>> no problem.
[16:42] » Appreciate it.
a wide
[16:45] operation that they're what they're
developing corporation with their own
[16:49] staff to look after a gap. Why are we
involved
[16:52] support? Typically on all these kind of
projects uh if they have a um buy in
[16:59] from the rural council from the
municipal council then there's more
[17:03] likelihood that they can leverage that
support to get other funding like as Gar
[17:09] said uh participation andor
um tourism andor there are lots of
[17:17] » there's two other funding agencies but
if if they get a government uh or
[17:22] municipal government buy in, then
they're more likely to be supportive of
[17:26] the application.
>> Yeah. So,
[17:29] » for that reason,
>> shouldn't our our involvement just be
[17:32] giving them a letter of uh support?
>> Well, they need uh assistance right now
[17:38] just to figure out which way they want
to go. So, it may be that all we need to
[17:44] do is give a letter of support, but at
this point, um there's a lot of research
[17:49] that is required. They're also not
initiating this.
[17:53] » It's coming from
>> right. It was an idea from our
[17:56] » Yeah.
>> It's it was it's us that's presenting it
[18:00] to them. So, at this point, we should
probably do the preliminaries and not
[18:04] just say here's our here's our idea. You
guys collaboration.
[18:09] » It's a collaboration. Exactly. Um, and
so with that being said, like if this is
[18:13] successful, I'd really love to see us
working with um, BCDC as well to to try
[18:19] to do the exact same thing for them.
>> Okay, great.
[18:23] » I'll add that to my notes. Thank you,
Catherine.
[18:25] » Thank you.
>> Absolutely.
[18:30] » You're up again.
>> Okay. Getting a nurse practitioner in
[18:34] the R&B municipality. Mayor Doerty and
Ashley Pest
[18:39] 18.
[18:44] » Okay.
>> All right. So, uh, first of all, I want
[18:49] to thank, uh, Minister Corey Deagle for
taking the time to meet with myself and
[18:54] CEO Brooks on Monday, as well as our
MLA, Darlene Compton. Uh, she was also
[19:01] in attendance at the meeting. uh as well
as Lisa uh Lisa uh deputy minister Lisa
[19:10] Tibu um and uh the um health PEI CEO
Laurier Klinsky
[19:18] along with their respected
administrative support.
[19:23] Um, I would also like like to thank the
rural um the Belfast Rural Fire
[19:28] Department for providing our office with
statistics prior to that meeting. Um, as
[19:34] well as the Belfast residents who showed
their support, their continued support
[19:38] of this R&B initiative by commenting on
our Facebook post uh last Wednesday.
[19:45] I do think it was a very positive
meeting in the sense that we were able
[19:49] to reopen communication with healthi and
begin reestablishing some context around
[19:56] this initiative. This, as you know, is
not a new project. It was originally
[20:01] initiated and documented by our
municipal office in 2021 and has gained
[20:07] some momentum as sort of a legacy
project at the moment. Um the work
[20:13] undertaken over the years um has been
driven by the recognition that access to
[20:19] health care is an ongoing challenge for
our residents in rural communities and
[20:24] that the municipality has a role in
advocating for those solutions. Um, I
[20:30] appreciated the opportunity to remind
health PEI of the countless hours and
[20:34] work spearheaded by councelor Mary Mer
Carlson along with Mayor Gillis, CEO Bob
[20:40] Brooks and administration.
Uh, originally talks began with Andrew
[20:44] McDougall, the executive director for
health PEI back in 2021.
[20:50] Um, and they showed promise at that
time. However, uh the space that R&B was
[20:55] renting was not conducive to um the
needs of health PEI and their
[21:00] requirements. So, the talks were put on
hold.
[21:04] Um I don't want to overstate what came
out of the meetings because I still have
[21:09] questions that I'm waiting on answers
for. Um particularly around whether or
[21:14] not there are other healthcare
initiatives maybe being considered for
[21:18] our area. Um, so I'm waiting for those
responses at the moment from some of the
[21:23] parties that were in attendance. Um, I
would also characterize the meeting as a
[21:29] real step in the right direction. Um,
but not an outcome. So we have reopened
[21:35] the door and we are once again on the
radar of health PEI. Um and uh now we
[21:42] need to see whether or not we're able to
get some meaningful follow through.
[21:48] Uh the R&B space here has been offered.
So we were very clear about that at the
[21:54] meeting. Um, and I even suggested, as I
often do, volunteering some of my own
[22:00] personal time to support an individual
who might be willing to come and assist
[22:04] our residents with their healthc care
needs one day a week. Um, I think the
[22:09] residents of Belfast deserve both
optimism and honesty and that's what
[22:14] that's what I can give them. If any of
the other parties provide up further
[22:19] updates with permissions of course to
share, I will do so at upcoming
[22:23] meetings. Uh in the efforts of full
transparency from R&B office, I will be
[22:28] sharing the notes that I brought with me
to that meeting on the R&B website. In
[22:34] closing, uh one of the main points that
I raised is that Belfast population is
[22:40] aging and not everyone has the ability
to access and navigate online resources.
[22:46] Um as a rural community, reliable
internet access um can also be a
[22:52] challenge. uh in some areas. Uh this was
made even more clear to me with some of
[22:58] my conversations that I've had recently
with some of the residents. Uh for
[23:03] example, um I've had a 79year-old
uh resident who regularly calls our
[23:10] office office and asks me if I can book
her an appointment
[23:15] uh because she's been waiting for a
family doctor since 2019.
[23:21] Uh so that's a powerful reminder that
access to health care cannot simply
[23:26] depends depend on a person's ability to
access an online resource system. Um
[23:32] they actually need somewhere to go and
sit down and have a face-to-face
[23:36] conversation.
Um, so our Facebook post regarding this
[23:40] issue received significant engagement
and generated enough interest that ACT
[23:45] CBC reached out this afternoon and would
like to have an interview with our
[23:49] office. And I'm requesting um I'm going
to leave that decision with council as
[23:54] to whether or not they would like either
myself or deputy mayor Derty to speak to
[23:59] the to this issue or or if you would
prefer to just let this statement stand
[24:04] on its own. It's completely up to you.
But I do need to let them know by
[24:08] tomorrow morning. Thank you. That's all.
>> Thank you, Ashley.
[24:12] » Thanks, Ashley.
>> Thank you, Ashley.
[24:13] » Okay. I was wondering I I requested that
when this first came up if uh
[24:19] for the municipality to be in contact
with Murray River to see what their
[24:22] experience was because they wanted to
get a nurse practitioner years ago. In
[24:26] fact, they built a building and they
built a space. Is there any do they have
[24:30] that? Is that underway?
>> Their office was closed the last time I
[24:34] went there, Jim. So I wasn't able to get
you the answers that you you've
[24:38] requested. It's on my list. So
>> we did bring up the example of the
[24:44] morale uh unit and uh they had said or
in that meeting the deputy minister
[24:52] talked about the fact that they were
looking at all the different models and
[24:57] uh they're exploring
as many alternatives as possible.
[25:01] Actually, I think it was wasn't it fin
or
[25:06] LPI that was saying they had some uh
knowledge of some other examples, but uh
[25:14] right now everything's up in the air.
They're they're basically
[25:17] » we're just reopening the conversation
and reestablishing the work that we
[25:22] started in 2021.
>> Yeah.
[25:24] » So, that's where we're at. Um, and like
I said, uh, we want to work
[25:28] collaboratively and we hope that, um, we
can do that going forward on any other
[25:34] initiatives that may be proposed for
this area. We're happy to work with, uh,
[25:38] various groups in order to achieve what
we want to achieve for our residents.
[25:43] And that's where we're going to leave it
today. Um, I just need to know from
[25:47] council if you would like to, you know,
if you would like a CBC interview or
[25:51] not.
>> Yes, please.
[25:54] I propose that Ashley be the person that
talks to him or uh Ashley and Lynn
[26:00] together if if that's possible.
>> Uh because they
[26:05] » don't
there's multiple times that we can try
[26:10] and work around. So it could be a joint
initiative.
[26:13] » It could be over the phone. I could
>> absolutely I think well from the sounds
[26:17] of it it would be so we can talk about
it more later as long as you're open to
[26:21] that. Yep. Yeah.
>> But yeah, I'm fully in support of that.
[26:24] So, if we need a motion, I'm happy.
>> No, we don't.
[26:27] » Okay.
>> I had a question about the Murray River
[26:32] Clinic. I know they built those built
that strip mall and put an office in
[26:37] there, but I don't think they ever got a
practitioner.
[26:39] » There is a practitioner. There was a
number on the door with the name of the
[26:43] practitioner. I don't I'm not sure of
the hours or anything like that, but
[26:48] there is information on the door.
There is information on the door whether
[26:52] or not that's up to date and whether or
not that person's actually still there.
[26:57] I can't speak to that, right? So, I'm
just letting you know that when I did my
[27:00] when I stopped by
>> after work one day, that's what I've
[27:04] that's what I noticed because I was
hoping to talk to someone in person to
[27:08] follow up on Jim's
>> um questions.
[27:11] » Yes, of course. Concerns. Yeah.
>> So, health PEI, I should say government,
[27:15] their their policy then is to adopt some
of these Well, they're health ups. I'm
[27:19] not
>> Well, are we on the line?
[27:21] » They're not there yet.
>> I'm not able to speak to any of that
[27:23] right now. We don't have that
information.
[27:25] » Yeah,
>> they said everything's up in the air at
[27:28] the moment.
>> Yeah. She's just trying to open channels
[27:31] for for these conversations.
>> Yeah. But also reestablish the
[27:35] groundwork that we laid out in 2021.
Not we, but specifically Mary Gillis,
[27:41] Bob Brooks, and Mary Meteor Carlson,
who's a Monagu res or Monu girl? Yeah.
[27:49] So anyway, there you go.
>> So these health hubs, how many of them
[27:53] are in operation now? Anybody know?
>> That would be a health. something I
[27:57] could follow up with you on if you have
questions that I can
[28:00] » Well, I'm just wondering if if if during
their planning stages of whether or not
[28:03] there's anything down in the southeast
area of the province, do they plan on
[28:07] having one down here?
>> I've asked that question. I'm still
[28:11] waiting for followup. Jim,
[28:20] » anything else?
>> Thank you, Ashley.
[28:23] » You're welcome. Thank you. Okay, don't
go fair.
[28:26] » I won't
>> uh harassment policy for MB progress to
[28:30] date.
>> Oh, where are we now?
[28:34] » Okay. So,
>> uh so I brought this forward last month
[28:39] since we're legally required to have one
in place. It's legal. It's a legal
[28:43] requirement. Uh and subsequently sent it
to council. sent the sent council the
[28:49] adopted policy that was approved and
vetted by the legal for um Eastern
[28:53] Kings. Um I'm just waiting on members of
council to some of you did get back to
[29:00] me. I'm still waiting on a few others to
see if there were any edits or um or if
[29:06] what we were given is sufficient for us
to move forward with. Um if there are no
[29:11] comments made on this tonight, I would
suggest we follow up on it in September.
[29:16] But uh it it should be established since
it is a legal requirement.
[29:20] » It should be on the agenda in September.
Yes. Uh to pass. So we're hoping that
[29:25] anybody who has not commented on that
policy, please get your comments in
[29:30] because it will be on the September
agenda.
[29:33] » I particularly like the uh to have to
have one. I like the uh provincial
[29:39] government's uh policy because they put
in they they have a a clause in there on
[29:45] what is actually excluded from it and
it's um
[29:50] from harassment management action
standard reasonable actions taken by
[29:53] supervisors or employers to direct work
conduct performance reviews or apply
[29:58] valid disciplinary measures do not
constitute harassment and the second
[30:02] thing that they have that what is
excluded is normal pressures ordinary
[30:05] everyday workplace stress and regular
operation Please are included. If that's
[30:09] not in the Eastern King is what we're
looking at, that's that those two items
[30:14] should be added.
>> You could send those to me and I'll
[30:16] check and see if they're already in
there if you'd like. If you haven't read
[30:20] through it yet,
>> I read the original one,
[30:24] » which seemed reasonable to me.
>> Just forward it to me, please, Jim, and
[30:27] I'll take a look for you. Thank you.
>> Robert has a question.
[30:31] » Yeah, just back to you mentioned
collaboration. It's great. Uh I'm just
[30:38] hoping that you would be in contact with
her local MLA.
[30:41] » I have been. Yeah, she was CP initially
also in 2021 on all of the initiatives
[30:47] that we started back then and she was
and it was so gracious of her to lend
[30:51] her time to come to the meeting on
Monday. Um and I also invited her uh to
[30:57] all of our council meetings to provide
residents with updates going forward
[31:02] because we'd love to hear from her and
work collaboratively.
[31:05] » Yeah. So, we thank her for that.
[31:10] » Anything else?
>> Oh, see. Oh my goodness. Where are we
[31:15] now? Take a drink of water.
>> Okay. Finish with the harassment policy
[31:21] discussion.
>> Yeah.
[31:24] » Jim
more.
[31:26] » Jim's going to send
>> Yeah. No, I'm just going to send send
[31:30] the two items that are
>> Okay. a new code of conduct by law for
[31:34] R&B as required by the municipal
government act MGA
[31:39] at Ben Ashley. Thank you.
>> I'm not trying to make more work for us.
[31:42] These are actually like legal
requirements that we have to have.
[31:47] » Oh. Uh so council should be aware that
R&B is legally required to have a code
[31:52] of conduct bylaw um when we do not have
one in place at the moment. We do have a
[31:58] code of conduct uh but what they require
is it needs to be updated on a regular
[32:03] basis and we have not updated right
since we established ours originally.
[32:09] » Right.
>> So uh we do have one but it's now
[32:12] required yeah
>> to be updated
[32:14] » and again Eastern Kings shared their um
their document with us. Uh so we can we
[32:21] can look at that and compare um and see
what we may have missed or um
[32:27] » or changes. Yes. And again I am open to
edits. So if you have anything that you
[32:32] would like to see in there uh within you
know that's appropriate, please forward
[32:36] it to me and I can uh I can add add it
to that draft.
[32:42] » So as as in the harassment policy that
is uh to be on the agenda for September
[32:48] as well. Okay, thank you for that
clarification because I do remember
[32:52] bringing that up. I don't know when it
was last year, the year before. At some
[32:56] point, I put it on.
>> Um,
[32:58] » two years ago, they said they wanted uh
all the councils to make sure they
[33:04] updated their code of conduct bylaw for
the current term of the council members.
[33:10] » Okay. Um, I'm happy
>> Ashley, I'm happy to like lend my time
[33:17] for that as well. Um, so if you don't
mind sending me the information, I can
[33:21] look that over.
>> That would be great. Thank you,
[33:23] Catherine.
[33:26] » Now we're involved.
>> Okay. Uh, draft letter for FBI
[33:34] for council comments. Councelor Bryson.
>> Um, so this is building off of um
[33:41] previous council special council
meetings I believe um regarding the fire
[33:46] department. Um so this is kind of an
ongoing initiative that's been both
[33:52] municipal and provincial. Um
the issue is that our fire departments
[33:59] are seeing an increased number of um
first responder medical calls. um and
[34:08] they've not received an increase funding
from the province in regard to that
[34:14] increased response due to decreased
ambulance service. So, um this is an
[34:20] ongoing issue or an an ongoing issue
that FBI has brought forward a couple
[34:25] times to various um various municipal
ministers because if I recall, we've had
[34:33] four in the last two to three years. So
there's been a lot of turnaround.
[34:37] There's been a lot of discussions. Um we
have um Minister Kent Dollar in place
[34:43] now. So um we are continuing those um
discussions with the province. So um
[34:50] what Ashley and I would drafted is just
um a letter. Essentially the purpose of
[34:55] it is to um it would be sent to FBI to
use throughout their discussions with
[35:01] the province. Um, and also I'm asking
that we send it directly to both our MLA
[35:06] Darling Compton um, and Minister Kent
Dollar and um, Premier Robert Lance. Um,
[35:13] I did see one typo in it though, just
the um, that I previously missed that it
[35:19] says re um, request for increase. It
says federal support. Um, I'm just
[35:24] asking that we change that to
provincial.
[35:26] » Sure.
>> Um, and if anyone else um, saw anything
[35:30] that they'd like changed. just had a
question. Um, you had said that it was
[35:35] on the FBI agenda for a while now. Uh,
have they already had some preliminary
[35:41] discussions andor if they have any
>> progress?
[35:44] » Um, well, there's been ongoing, as you
know, Bob, there's been ongoing
[35:48] negotiations with the province regarding
the restructuring of the financing
[35:53] between the province and the
municipality. Um, so it's just part of
[35:57] that ongoing negotiation. um you know
timelines change. I think at one point
[36:02] we were supposed to have things
finalized last year and then it got
[36:06] bumped and and things you know are
continually progressing. So um just to
[36:12] provide them just concrete like I've
obviously brought it up at FBI meetings
[36:17] as have multiple other municipalities.
Um, but just something for them in
[36:22] writing that they can take forward to
their meetings to say this is actually
[36:27] what's going on and this is what
municipalities need.
[36:29] » I could actually see them coming out
with two streams. Well, one uh one
[36:33] stream that talks about the uh first
responder calls, medical and emergency
[36:39] calls that way and then the other one
about fire protection. So, I know that
[36:44] they're having the overall one about
fire protection, but uh
[36:48] » yeah, if it worked out to be two
streams, that would actually be a lot
[36:52] more clear.
>> Which is why this is even more timely
[36:55] that we need to get it to them because
the province is currently overhauling
[36:59] how they how they finance the all of the
provincial municipal um fire services.
[37:05] So, it's just kind of on both of those
ends to try to get in there. And that
[37:08] being said, actually, is it um is it
Minister Bliss Thompson that does EMO
[37:14] safety? Like perhaps we'll have to we'll
have to look that up, but whoever um
[37:20] directly deals with fire service, we
should CC them on this email as well.
[37:24] » Absolutely.
>> Yeah.
[37:27] » I noticed you said uh we mentioned under
I haven't seen this letter exactly, but
[37:32] you mentioned a reduction. If it's as a
result of reduction of EMS circs in the
[37:36] area in Santa Paul
there have been a reduction of emergency
[37:40] measures.
>> Well, I think I think
[37:44] » they said they're not going to send this
down here as much.
[37:46] » No, no, that's not what I mean. I mean
like it's been ongoing since CO time,
[37:51] right? There's been a reduction of staff
and increased calls and you know we're
[37:56] very far away. So, it's just it's harder
for
[38:01] » response times are much longer.
>> Exactly. So, what's happening is our
[38:05] fire department is faster, getting to
those calls faster. They're feeling the
[38:11] the need to get there faster because the
ambulance isn't there and they have a
[38:15] first responder bag and they've had the
training. Um, so they are doing a lot
[38:19] more medical calls. Also, actually, I
believe you have statistics, don't you?
[38:24] » I'm wondering I'm going to ask the fire
department if it's okay if I share those
[38:29] um with you with council. Yeah, it
would. Yeah, there are firm numbers.
[38:35] They were very quick to get them to us.
So, we're really lucky um that they were
[38:39] able to compile them so quickly. And it
does give us a window into uh how much
[38:45] time they actually deal with um spending
on medical incidents um versus uh
[38:52] exactly
75 to 80% of their calls are medical.
[38:57] » Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is too, I
mean, they're volunteers, whereas the
[39:01] EMS is a unionized group. I mean,
they're having union troubles right now,
[39:05] but they're a unionized group. They have
supports for when they're going to these
[39:09] medical calls for the they'll see.
Like, I mean, they they see a lot of
[39:15] stuff sometimes and
>> they don't have that uh that route to
[39:19] get, you know, any therapy or anything
like that. So it is they should have
[39:24] funding with the increase that they're
doing of that job.
[39:28] » Um just to clarify that the fire
department does have access to separate
[39:32] therapists and your counselors or
whatever the correct term is they do
[39:37] have um access to that. They've had that
in place for some time. But again, you
[39:41] know, it's stretched thin. It's
stretched thin. And so considering that,
[39:46] you know, whatever the statistic is, if
it's 80%, 70%, even if it's 60%, that's
[39:51] a huge amount of time that's being spent
on these volunteer community members
[39:56] that are, you know, seeing
>> a followup
[39:58] » really really,
>> you know, exactly difficult situations
[40:03] or and and you know, it's your neighbor,
right? So, um it it would be nice if we
[40:09] could somehow get a a either an
additional funding stream or just
[40:13] additional funds in general um just to
support their initiative without
[40:18] » thing too with them being volunteers.
You know, you never know who's going to
[40:22] be available and not having the EMS
always available. you know, you can be
[40:26] left in a situation where there might
not be firefighters that are close by
[40:30] and
>> it leaves us in a a tough spot being so
[40:33] far away from because usually I think
the main spot they station up at is uh
[40:38] at Busters in Cherry Valley and that's
quite a ways from here
[40:42] » and the other ones would be in Mon.
So, so yeah, the response time
[40:47] obviously, you know, someone in Wood
Islands,
[40:50] » you're gonna get a firefighter from Wood
Islands is going to get there a lot
[40:52] quicker than than driving from Cherry
Valley or
[40:55] » Muse. So,
>> I see their rock respons.
[41:07] » So, yeah, if we could send that, that
would be
[41:10] » I think with you on the stats tomorrow.
Great. Thank you.
[41:12] » Thank you.
>> Okay. progress just to comment on that.
[41:16] I don't know what the fire department
has planned for the building that
[41:20] they're going to empty and put into the
new building, but it might be thinking
[41:26] to maybe have stopped.
>> Yeah, that's a good idea. Mhm.
[41:32] » I just do a little point of reminds
[41:38] the BMS parked in a lot of times in the
fire department
[41:45] inside.
>> Yeah. Point. I asked couple of members
[41:49] what they're planning for. They said
they don't have any plan the old
[41:52] building yet, but they're the states
that you know open for
[41:59] help
[42:05] is
>> okay
[42:09] number 19 Belfast days make a wish
foundation.
[42:16] » Yes. I just want to give a short and
sweet update. Belfast Days. Uh, the
[42:22] donations that came in for Belfast Days
was $2,000
[42:26] wish.
>> Good job.
[42:29] » Biggest biggest donation amount to date.
>> Congratulations.
[42:32] » Yeah, very happy.
>> Thank you.
[42:36] » Okay. Uh, meeting with MP Kent McDonald
and Minister Valdez on August the 8th,
[42:44] Wood Island's Lighthouse. on combining
um numbers
[42:49] uh 20 and 22
>> 20 and 22. So uh
[42:53] » I had the opportunity to represent the
R&B um office at the Wood Islands
[42:58] Lighthouse and Heritage Museum on two
recent occasions. Um on August 8th, I
[43:04] attended um a welcome and support with
Kent McDonald um who was on a uh giving
[43:11] a tour to Minister Valdez uh
highlighting the importance of uh the
[43:16] Lighthouse Museum and the role it plays
in preserving and promoting our local
[43:20] history and heritage. I also attended uh
the 150th uh birthday celebration on
[43:29] August 15th uh for our Wood Islands
Lighthouse. Um joining the community and
[43:35] celebrating this important milestone and
recognizing the volunteers and
[43:40] supporters uh who continued to preserve
this significant piece of history. Um
[43:46] both events were wonderful and a great
way to support our local heritage. Um,
[43:52] and uh, it was really nice to have the
opportunity to represent this office at
[43:57] two social events in the past month. So,
thank you.
[44:02] » That's all.
>> Um, just to add to that, um, Mayor
[44:05] Gillis and myself also attended August
8th.
[44:08] » Yes, that's right.
>> Um, and, um, I don't think you were
[44:12] there for that part, but, um, Kent was
also working very hard on Minister
[44:18] Valdez on the ferry service. Okay. um
because she sits on a committee that
[44:23] will ultimately be discussing and making
choices um regarding funding. Um so he
[44:29] he was really working that um
>> everyone was working hard.
[44:33] » Yeah, it really was. The um the
lighthouse is gorgeously done over now.
[44:38] They did um Yeah,
>> if you haven't gone for a tour yet, it's
[44:42] really really
>> beautiful. Yeah. and they have a whole
[44:46] section on the history of the ferry and
so he was working pretty hard up there
[44:50] to explain the process and the
>> history. Yeah, it was a whole thing. So,
[44:55] » thank you for coming for both of you as
well. Yes,
[45:00] » the continued
>> post operations for in the Bell River
[45:06] PEI.
>> So, for the benefit of the live stream,
[45:10] I will uh read out the uh information.
It's uh item 21 is continued Canada Post
[45:16] operation in Bell River PEI. Uh, on July
20th, Canada Post sent a confirmation
[45:22] email of discussion with our mayor Garc
Gillis confirming that a post office in
[45:28] your community, option one, was the
preferred option for this municipality
[45:33] and that if they were unsuccessful in
finding an appropriate contractor in the
[45:39] current location, Canada Post would move
the postal operation to Monagu either
[45:45] temporarily or permanently. Trisha
Carter and current R&B counselor. The
[45:51] previous postmaster with the post office
location at their uh location of Gala
[45:58] Designs has arranged for a replacement
contractor in the current location and
[46:02] is asking council's support to keep the
post office operation in the current
[46:08] Bell River Post Office location and
that's up for uh council discussion. The
[46:14] email uh specifically said, "Hi, Mr.
Gillis, as a followup to our
[46:19] conversation yesterday, please find and
close the letter of outlining a can the
[46:24] post community outreach process. During
our discussion, the following
[46:28] information was shared. And I I was have
to express my disappointment. They sent
[46:35] us the process letter from 2022,
which had nothing to do with this one
[46:42] other than, you know, so anyway, just
pissed me off.
[46:48] » Uh, anyway, um, one, uh, you confirmed
that your role as mayor of Belfast
[46:54] municipality included the areas of Bell
River and Wood Island. You two, you
[47:00] confirmed that as the community leader
for Bell River, you selected option one,
[47:05] a post office in your community. As
such, we will attempt to staff the
[47:10] postmaster role for Bell River. The
successful candidate will need to meet
[47:14] Canada post requirements for the
position as well as provide appropriate
[47:19] accommodations to house a post office,
which is currently where they're at. Uh
[47:25] three uh finally I confirmed that if
candost is unsuccessful in staffing a
[47:30] suitable candidate that can provide
appropriate accommodations meeting all
[47:35] of uh candos specification. Option two
which is transfer to a post office in a
[47:42] neighboring community which has been
designated as the town of Monagu as a
[47:47] temporary basis may become can a post
permanent solution. I look forward to
[47:52] future correspondence with you on this
matter. If you have any questions,
[47:56] please feel free to contact me at your
uh convenience. Thank you, Brian Hurley.
[48:02] Hand the post. Um so, should R&B council
wish to pursue the option of keeping the
[48:08] Bell River office in the current
location, a follow-up letter under the
[48:13] mayor's signature is recommended. And
that's that's what I'm recommending that
[48:17] we do. follow-up letter suggesting that
we keep the post office in the current
[48:22] location.
>> Can can I just ask so this is this is
[48:26] different to what the ask from councelor
Carter was though, right?
[48:31] » Correct. Council Carter, what she said
is we already have a contractor in the
[48:37] current location. Yeah,
>> actually it's not different. It's the
[48:39] same. Um she's saying
>> we already have somebody that's there.
[48:45] uh that person has been trained already.
>> Yeah.
[48:48] » And um basically if Canada Post gives
the okay, they should be able to stay
[48:54] there and she's asking for a letter of
support to do just that.
[48:57] » Okay.
>> So are they trying to just continue the
[49:01] service or they're just they're just
trying to
[49:04] » No, they're doing
>> she's trying to shift who's operating.
[49:07] » Yes.
>> And so is there concern that they're
[49:10] going to dissolve the post office?
>> No, they they have two options.
[49:14] Okay.
>> They have two options. Keep it where it
[49:17] is.
>> Yeah.
[49:18] » If the uh contractor that's there is
appropriate and if not they want to move
[49:23] it to Monu. Okay.
>> So, we're trying to make sure they don't
[49:26] move it to Monu. Okay.
>> And keep it in the current location.
[49:28] » Yeah. Sorry, I just had some confusion
around.
[49:31] » They can't keep it in the current
location. I would suggest that uh we
[49:34] should ask them to transfer to Elden.
There's a post office there and there's
[49:37] a post.
>> That wasn't an option space. They said
[49:41] one in they said if it's not uh
appropriate in the current location the
[49:47] only other option is to go to Monu. As
you know there is already a post office
[49:51] in Elden.
>> That's right. So why don't they just
[49:54] move it there?
>> It's capacity.
[49:57] » Oh come on. It's
>> a different postal code right beside it
[49:59] nowhere near
>> it's a different postal code. You can't
[50:02] just throw it there. So basically what
you're saying is we already have
[50:06] » you would a different postal code be
okay to move it there. It would be okay
[50:09] to move it to Elden.
>> That's what they say.
[50:11] » Yeah.
>> I think they're nuts.
[50:12] » Okay.
>> Yeah. So, basically, they've given us
[50:15] two options. Either
>> Well,
[50:18] » we keep it where it is or they move it
to Monagu. That's the only two options
[50:24] they give us.
>> So, I think just a second now because
[50:27] the uh the post office in Elvin I know I
don't know when Connie is going to
[50:32] retire, but she's getting off the phone
to retirement age or something rather
[50:35] now. So are they move it to Monu too or
are we going to why don't they
[50:39] consolidate the two post offices give
that as an option to them and maybe move
[50:43] it in more central location like the old
fireh hall building would be a good
[50:46] location for it central to the community
present them with options
[50:51] » but I think right now like they're not
look they're not actively looking to get
[50:55] rid of it it's just that they need our
support to say it's okay that someone
[51:00] who doesn't live at the property
operates the property and there is a
[51:04] contract Trish's worked that out with
this this lady and so I Yeah.
[51:09] » which provides a local job for Exactly.
>> been trained by the way so you can post.
[51:15] » Yeah. So I think I think rather than my
suggestion personally would be if you
[51:20] start giving them options to completely
remove something they'll probably given
[51:26] given uh you know the financial straits
that they're in. So I think we should
[51:31] the council support. find a slider
replace them off you with the builder
[51:35] elden on temporary basis post solution
>> in which case since we don't have a
[51:41] unanimous uh feeling uh I would need a
motion uh to the suggestion
[51:47] uh about sending uh bell river or s can
post a letter to follow up with the
[51:55] mayor's recommendation of keeping it in
the same location.
[51:59] Yeah, that's my personal feeling is that
we only
[52:01] » option.
I'll I'll make a motion for that. And
[52:05] the reason why is if we give them two
options, then they might cop out and
[52:09] take that second option. So, I think for
start to start, we give them one option
[52:14] that says we're happy with this. Trish
is happy with this. Um the other lady,
[52:18] sorry, I don't remember her name, is
happy with this. And then if they come
[52:22] back after that and say no, sorry, we're
not going to do that. Then we offer
[52:26] Elden. If if Connie has agreed that
that's a pay exactly
[52:31] need a second for that motion second
>> second from Billy all in favor I
[52:38] » n
okay hearing none that's a unanimous
[52:44] sense
>> and I also apologize for not responding
[52:46] to that email because I just
misunderstood what the aspir
[52:55] new business.
>> Yes. Uh I have one and that's the
[52:58] excused absence of councelor
McGivern for personal matter. Uh can I
[53:05] have a move and a mover in a second or
for an excused absence?
[53:09] » I will move that second.
>> Uh sorry who was the second?
[53:15] » I was captain. All in favor?
>> I
[53:22] thank you.
>> Okay. Motion carried. Our next meeting,
[53:26] regular council meeting will be
Wednesday, September the 16th, 2026 of 7
[53:32] at the RMB office and uh municipal
general election is Monday, November
[53:38] 2nd. Yes, I thought I would start
putting that in on our thing because
[53:43] it's basically two and a half months
away and uh Ashley and I are going to be
[53:49] very busy over the next uh little while
because there's a lot of training and
[53:54] stipulations that uh election PEI have
in order for us to be able to run an
[54:00] election. So,
so it's on the agenda from now until it
[54:04] happens.
>> Okay. And is there any further business?
[54:12] Move to adjourn by I'll move to
[54:19] » Thank you everyone. Goodbye Facebook.
>> Have a good night. Ross
[54:22] » at 7:54.
So the encounter