[3:45] Welcome everyone to tonight's council meeting. Uh in this room we have

[3:50] different views, different ways of expression, different emotional

[3:53] intensities and different roads that lead to conclusions. May we combine

[3:57] clarity of mind with kindness of heart. And may we be impartial without bending

[4:00] to strong personalities. May we sacrifice self-interest for the good of

[4:04] the whole. And may we do our work with the love and clarity of vision for the

[4:08] benefit of those that we represent. And I'd like to start by saying that we are

[4:12] on the unseated territory of the Quatzen people. And uh welcome our guest to our

[4:19] meeting this evening. And with that, we'll call the meeting to order. Uh

[4:23] introduction of late items. We have one late item, Miss McWilliam.

[4:27] » Thank you, Mayor Staples. We have one late item to be included as uh number

[4:32] 9.3. It's the joint utilities board sewage treatment plan outfall relocation

[4:38] project update and UBCM municipalities funding risk.

[4:44] » Excellent. Thank you very much. So, approval of the agenda as amended to

[4:48] include the late item is there remer. Any discussion? All those in favor?

[4:53] Motion carries and adoption of minutes from June 8th that the minutes of June

[4:58] 8th be adopted as circulated. Is there a move and a secondary? Any questions,

[5:02] corrections? All those in favor? Motion carries. And now we will move on to

[5:08] delegations. So we have uh Neil Puckish. Am I saying your name correctly, Neil?

[5:14] » Close. >> Close. Close. Mayor, it's Pukish.

[5:17] » Pukish. >> Okay. Um sorry for

[5:20] » for incorrectly. Uh welcome.

[5:24] » Thank you. Uh good evening, mayor and council. I'm pleased to be here tonight

[5:28] to along with Steven Sluida, who's on uh the television screen here from RC

[5:32] Strategies to present the findings of the regional needs assessment uh review

[5:37] for the recreation in the Kawajin Valley region. And before I pass it over to

[5:41] Stephen or Mr. Slooa, I just want to let you know that this is a pretty big

[5:45] document. I think it was about 191 pages. There's lots of information there

[5:48] to digest. Um, but what we're doing right now is we're doing a bit of a road

[5:52] show through the Cowin Valley. Uh, this is our last stop with the municipality

[5:55] of Duncan, uh, to give the, you know, give the information to you and as well

[6:00] to seek feedback. So, we've been to the CBRD board. We've gone to municipality

[6:04] of North Kawichin, uh, town of Lady Smith, uh, Lake Cowin, and now here's

[6:09] our final stop. So, at this time, we're gathering a lot of feedback, and we're

[6:13] going to use that feedback to help inform future decisions for what the

[6:16] region needs in terms of recreation facilities. uh 10, 15, 20 years into the

[6:21] into the future. The good thing is is that right now things are in really good

[6:25] shape. Our facilities are well prescribed and there's a big emphasis

[6:28] right now on asset management. You may have heard about this uh over the last

[6:32] several years, but this is something that we're focusing on. But I'm going to

[6:35] hand it over to uh Mr. Sluda and he's going to walk you through the process

[6:38] that we went through and I'm uh here to uh answer any questions that you may

[6:41] have afterwards. >> Wonderful. Thank you very much and

[6:44] thanks for saving the best to last. We always appreciate that. And uh over to

[6:48] you. >> Great. Thanks uh thanks Neil and and

[6:51] members of council. Can you hear me? Okay. Just want to do a quick sound

[6:53] check there. >> Absolutely. Yeah.

[6:55] » See some nods. Great. I'm just going to share my screen here.

[7:01] And um if someone can give me a thumbs up just to confirm you can see my my

[7:05] screen there, that'd be awesome. >> Great. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Um

[7:09] yeah. Well, good evening and uh and really have really excited to have the

[7:13] opportunity here to to share a bit of a summary or synopsis of the recreation

[7:18] needs assessment that our team undertook. So, as Neil mentioned, uh my

[7:22] name is Steve Sluda. I'm a partner at RC Strategies and our firm was um retained

[7:27] undertake the work on behalf of the CVRD and and all the respective partners. Um

[7:31] in terms of the the presentation itself, really there's kind of three components

[7:34] here. Uh first, just touching on the process we went through to develop the

[7:38] needs assessment. what were some of those key inputs? How did we ultimately

[7:42] land where we landed? U secondly, we'll share at a very high level and Neil

[7:47] referred to the length of the document. There's a lot of detail there, so we

[7:50] can't get in kind of to the the real weeds on it, but we'll share a bit of a

[7:54] synopsis of some of the recommended infrastructure strategies or or

[7:57] recommendations. And then, um last but certainly not least, uh answer any

[8:01] questions or or comments that you might have.

[8:05] Um so, the study purpose really was kind of three-fold. um first being and where

[8:10] we spend a lot of our time probably about six months was assessing what

[8:13] we've I guess we call the current state of regional recreation uh in the couch

[8:18] valley. So that would be looking at things like trends what are the the

[8:21] changes that have occurred over the last 5 to 10 years. Obviously a lot has

[8:25] happened um that impacts recreation and related activities within the course of

[8:29] a decade. Excuse me. Um trying to understand what some of those gaps and

[8:33] high priority needs are. Ultimately, um the work was was undertaken and intended

[8:38] to update the the last regional recreation strategic plan which was uh

[8:42] developed in 2019 and that included a number of five-year priorities. So

[8:48] obviously those priorities have um have have kind of passed uh given that we're

[8:52] in 2026. So this work was necessary necessary to revisit and update some of

[8:57] those priorities and and recommended focus areas. And then really at the end

[9:01] of the day, um the document is there to be a resource for certainly the CVRD

[9:06] board, but others as a kind of a point of reference to inform decision-m.

[9:12] Um it's highlighted in the bottom on the slide there, and I just wanted to make

[9:15] sure that that this was clear. The needs assessment was looking at regional

[9:19] recreation. So looking at the the regionally significant facilities, kind

[9:23] of the regional lens uh was put on recreation. This work was not intended

[9:29] to, you know, tell the respective municipalities what their local

[9:32] non-regional priorities should be. So, we recognize that all the different uh

[9:37] jurisdictions, municipalities have uh their own kind of planning documents and

[9:41] and that was not within the scope of our work. We're really focused on the

[9:44] regionally significant facilities. So, just wanted to make sure that was clear.

[9:49] Uh graphic on the screen on the right there really just shows the process we

[9:52] went through to undertake the needs assessment. And so as I mentioned spend

[9:56] about 6 months doing a fairly deep dive into the current state of things and and

[10:00] what some of those kind of emergent gaps and needs are through research and

[10:03] engagement. Uh then later uh in 2025 and early into this year kind of made sense

[10:08] of all that information that we gathered and that led to the the needs assessment

[10:11] draft and uh a final draft which uh we're we're presenting here uh to all

[10:16] the different uh entities in the region on the left there. Um that just really

[10:20] recaps that kind of bubble graphic there just recaps the uh the different inputs.

[10:25] So we had a number of different engagement opportunities. So we

[10:28] collected feedback from over a thousand residents through uh a statistically

[10:33] representative resident survey and some other inperson engagement opportunities.

[10:37] We engaged with 49 distinct community organizations and groups. So

[10:41] representing a wide array of recreation, culture and other related interests

[10:45] across the region. We did some analysis of facility utilization to try to

[10:50] understand which of facilities are at capacity, underutilized and and so

[10:54] forth. Looked at population and demographics. Looked at kind of broader

[10:58] provincial, regional, national trends. Uh undertook some spatial analysis and

[11:02] mapping to understand maybe where some of those g those spatial or geographic

[11:06] gaps are. And then looked at benchmarking with some comparator

[11:09] regions as well. So that leads us into uh kind of the

[11:14] second part of the presentation here which is a summary of the

[11:16] recommendations and priorities. And what we wanted to ensure that we did is um

[11:21] come up with these priorities and these recommendations in a really transparent

[11:25] datadriven way. So we used a three-step prioritization framework as the graphic

[11:30] illustrates. So the first step in that framework was to come up with a series

[11:33] of criteria uh and then weight those criteria. So um figuring out what some

[11:38] of those things we can score different potential amenities and projects

[11:41] against. So um those criteria, waiting them and then actually scoring in step

[11:46] two all those different uh amenity types that could represent potential

[11:50] priorities projects focus areas for for capital infrastructure investment. And

[11:55] then step three um we use that to then apply uh some practical considerations

[12:00] to come up with those strategies themselves. So sequencing resource

[12:03] requirements, land and and so on. So, uh, on the following slides here, we've

[12:08] put the the priorities and and the strategies into a few different buckets.

[12:12] Um, but I just wanted to touch on kind of the way that we got to those

[12:15] different priorities that we'll talk about on the following slides here.

[12:20] So, uh, as mentioned, there's kind of three slides here that represent three

[12:23] buckets of, uh, of infrastructure strategies, priorities, recommendations.

[12:27] Um, Neil touched on this in in his opening remarks there. Um, sort of under

[12:32] the strategies aimed at sustaining aging infrastructure. Um certainly majority of

[12:36] the facilities have have been wellmaintained and you know through good

[12:40] asset management practices and I'm talking about the regionally significant

[12:43] facilities for sure. Um but we're suggesting in the regional recreation

[12:47] needs assessment that that needs to be an overarching priority moving forward.

[12:51] So certainly there's demand and and desire for a lot of new types of

[12:55] facilities, new better as there always is, but really important to kind of lock

[12:59] down and ensure asset management protects um the the wealth, the hundreds

[13:03] of millions of dollars uh in infrastructure that already exists. So

[13:05] that's kind of an overarching recommendation there. In terms of

[13:09] specific focus areas for that reinvestment, certainly the existing

[13:12] arenas that exist across the region, um the two existing aquatics facilities,

[13:17] the two pools, community programming spaces, and there's a variety of those,

[13:20] the sports plex, and then the Kouchin performing arts center. So, those real

[13:24] key uh infrastructure spaces need to make sure that they're sustained again

[13:28] through good asset management practices to to sustain those service levels and

[13:32] ensure they're available for residents to enjoy moving forward.

[13:36] Um the the next bucket of uh strategies here are looking at some of those bigger

[13:42] longer term potential investments or what we've turned kind of termed kind of

[13:46] the next generation of regional facilities. So uh a few that we just

[13:50] wanted to touch on here. The first being looking at arenas or or ice arena ice.

[13:55] Um so the the strategy uh here uh that is recommended in the needs assessment

[14:00] is to look at working towards one to two new ice sheets by 2040. So about a

[14:06] 15-year kind of outlook and ideally doing that as part of a multi-heet

[14:10] facility. So there's there's kind of economies of scale. Um and also just

[14:14] programmatic benefits by having multi- sheet arena facilities. They can share

[14:18] mechanical systems. They can support tournaments better. So we haven't

[14:22] exactly said where or how this should occur. Um but we've kind of opened the

[14:26] door for some further uh review of how that could occur. Is it adding a second

[14:30] sheet onto an existing facility? Is it looking at eventually um scaling down

[14:36] operations at an existing facility when it's at end of life and building a new

[14:39] double arena? Um so those approaches would need to be further refined through

[14:43] through subsequent work, but ultimately looking over the long term to have a

[14:47] multi- sheet facility um that delivers one to two new sheets of ice incremental

[14:51] to what already exists. Um second bullet there. Um so we've suggested doing some

[14:56] concept planning and cost validation for a third regional indoor aquatics

[15:00] facility to serve the south. Obviously, a lot of uh growth is occurring in the

[15:04] south part of the regional district. Um so, not suggesting that that gets built

[15:08] and and or approved and built uh in the near future, but just doing a bit of an

[15:12] update to uh some of the previous planning that's been done in terms of

[15:15] what that type of facility could be. Is it a small pool? Is it a medium pool?

[15:20] What's the cost to both build and operate that? So, that's a strategy

[15:23] recommended around aquatics. Um third point there um looking at options for a

[15:28] smaller scale performing arts venue um to complement the the current one. Um

[15:32] the current facility is obviously a great facility but it's quite large and

[15:36] it's not really well suited to u providing kind of basic community

[15:40] program space uh or performing arts space for some of those smaller

[15:43] functions dance groups community theater and so on. So we've identified um as a

[15:48] strategy to look at options um for that space and that space being a priority.

[15:53] Um and then lastly, you know, as or if some of these majunities

[15:59] to meet other needs that we've identified through the recreation needs

[16:02] assessment. So a few of those space needs that we've flagged as being

[16:06] warranting further consideration is gymnasiums, indoor walking tracks, and

[16:10] fitness spaces. So, you know, as new arenas or a new pool uh gets considered

[16:15] and potentially developed, looking at opportunities to kind of tack on or tag

[16:19] on some of these other amenities that are part of the last bullet there on the

[16:22] screen. And then the last bucket here um is just

[16:27] some additional strategies um more focused on kind of trends monitoring and

[16:32] further validating needs moving forward. So the previous slides kind of uh

[16:37] identify strategies around um needs that have been kind of validated or amenities

[16:41] that are are sort of validated as priorities moving forward. There's a few

[16:44] other facility types that require a little bit more exploration. Um the

[16:48] first bullet there refers to looking at pickle ball um and undertaking either a

[16:53] feasibility study or developing a regional pickle ball strategy to explore

[16:57] kind of a major regionally serving pickle ball site. So something that

[17:01] could um kind of fulfill that need across the region and you know through

[17:06] that planning work identify you know is pickle ball even something that we want

[17:09] to include in the regional cadre of of regionally significant facilities or is

[17:14] it best left to the individual communities to provide. Um so that that

[17:19] planning work would kind of answer that question and also sort of cost out or

[17:22] potentially validate the broader need for kind of that major you know 12 16 30

[17:27] court size facility that could be kind of a a tournament draw for the region.

[17:31] Um the second point there um Couchin Sportslex. So there's a number of

[17:35] investments that we've suggested warrant some further consideration. Um, one

[17:39] would be potentially covering the existing sports blocks there to get more

[17:43] full season use out of that and and potentially meet some of the needs for

[17:46] for dry floor space. Uh, and then also looking at improvements to the the

[17:51] natural surface infield um that is uh inside the track. So the track needs to

[17:55] certainly be replaced, but there's opportunity to to squeeze a little bit

[17:59] more usage out of that natural surface field as well um through some potential

[18:04] improvements. Things like improving the surface, drainage, um lighting it

[18:08] potentially as well. So um these are ultimately a few things that require a

[18:12] bit more review, a bit more exploration. And then lastly again highlighted in red

[18:16] to kind of bring some emphasis to it overall uh just improving data

[18:20] collection man data collection and management approaches across the region.

[18:24] So when this work's done again in whenever that is 5 or 10 years there's

[18:28] even more data to draw from um particularly with things around

[18:31] spontaneous or casual use um things that are a little bit harder to track. So

[18:36] always a chance to have more data to make more informed decisions. So, we

[18:39] just wanted to highlight that as well and appreciate the time and and

[18:43] listening through that and and happy to take any uh comments or questions that

[18:46] you might have. >> Excellent. Thank you so much for that.

[18:50] Are there any questions from council or comments?

[18:54] No, I see no hand raised. Thank you for answering all of our questions about

[18:59] what the future might need. I Yeah, the two ice sheets. Is there would those be

[19:05] in South Couch? I you mentioned that not necessarily, but would does that kind of

[19:10] lean towards making the most sense? >> Yeah, through the mayor. Yeah, great

[19:15] question. Um, we we haven't specified exact location or the delivery approach

[19:20] for those. We we but we kind of looked at it with a regional a regional lens

[19:25] there as well. So, that would be something that would need to be further

[19:28] reviewed in terms of kind of where and how um we just kind of looked at it

[19:31] broadly as as the need for that many sheets across the the Kawichin Valley.

[19:36] Excellent. Thanks. And I appreciate the pickle ball conversation. I know that

[19:39] that brings out more people to council meetings than almost anything else. So,

[19:43] » no doubt. Yeah. >> Yeah. Thanks very much. All right. I

[19:46] see. >> Thank you.

[19:46] » Thank Thanks very much for your report and for the work that you're doing and

[19:50] there's no questions. So, we will move right along.

[19:57] And we are over to you, Mr. Diverti. >> Thank you, Mayor Staples.

[20:03] Uh just an update. Uh the Coronation Avenue bike lanes still just a few

[20:07] deficiencies left to be addressed. The pedestrian activated crossing lights

[20:11] have been installed at Coronation and Era and there is now also a pedestrian

[20:15] crosswalk ahead sign up at the top of the Coronation Hill. The Canon Avenue

[20:20] complete streets progress uh complete streets project sorry is progressing and

[20:25] the speed reader board has been installed on street to address some of

[20:29] the concerns around uh speeding through that detour. RCMP have also been up to

[20:34] Alley Street where they have issued another number of fines and RCMP tell us

[20:39] that they'll they'll be attending again periodically throughout the construction

[20:42] detour to try to keep those speeds down. We do have the potential to add some

[20:46] other traffic calming measures as well. The couchway traffic signals a good

[20:51] update there. The new timing signals by Ray have been approved by the traffic

[20:55] engineer and in the coming weeks we'll be implementing those. The lights will

[20:59] then finally after many many years utilize the actual traffic loops and and

[21:03] decrease time allocated to a particular leg if that of the intersection when

[21:07] that traffic is actually light for that leg. So uh no longer would you see say a

[21:12] 25-second uh green light when there's only two cars going through. So that

[21:16] should improve traffic through through there and we'll obviously watch as we've

[21:20] not had we've had a few hiccups as we've tried to implement this in the past. So

[21:24] hopefully this one goes w without hiccups.

[21:28] update on the 261 263 Third Street project. As council is aware, you

[21:34] approved a rear parcel line setback variance on June 8th. So that's uh and

[21:39] that's as because the applicant has revived their revised their proposal now

[21:43] seeking approval for a five-story 17 unit uh residential building which was

[21:48] intended to be a strata. And so as a result of that, they no longer require a

[21:52] zoning by amendment. So the next step for them is to uh revise their

[21:56] development permit application drawings and resubmit those to city staff for

[22:00] review and consideration of approval. And lastly, the 2026 property tax

[22:06] deadlines uh approaching very quickly. That deadline is coming up on June 2nd.

[22:11] So we need to get everyone to get their property tax notices uh paid up and as

[22:16] well uh if you have a home or grant need to get that uh signed off on for the

[22:20] province as well. Any questions, please contact city hall at 7466126 or just

[22:26] email taxes duncan.ca. Thanks.

[22:31] » Why thank you. Are there any questions for Mr. Dvert about his report?

[22:34] Councelor Newington, go ahead.

[22:38] » 50 Coronation. I had an opportunity to drive past that

[22:44] location and with the unit that is planned to go in there. Is there going

[22:49] to be enough parking for that? Like it's kind of a keyhole.

[22:56] » Yeah, at this point we don't have a lot of details on the conceptual drawings,

[22:59] but uh I believe an underground parkade was was intended.

[23:05] » Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Dvertai?

[23:08] Seeing none, uh, that council receive the June 2 or 20 22nd 2026 report of the

[23:16] chief administrative officer for information only. There's a mover and a

[23:20] seconder. All those in favor? Motion carries. Thank you very much for your

[23:23] report tonight. We'll move to invite Miss Hodins up for the accessibility

[23:29] plan.

[23:36] Thank you, Mayor Staples. So, this report presents the 2026 accessibility

[23:41] plan. Uh, under the Accessible BC Act, the city is required to review and

[23:45] update its plan at least once every three years, and the city adopted its

[23:49] first accessibility plan in July of 2023.

[23:53] Um, the city's accessibility advisory committee reviewed progress on the 2023

[23:58] plan last year and made additional recommendations at that time to improve

[24:02] accessibility of city services. A draft of this 2026 plan was presented to the

[24:07] committee on May 4th of this year which in included those recommendations and at

[24:12] that time the committee made some further recommendations which have now

[24:14] been incorporated into the plan before you. Um so and one of the key items that

[24:20] the committee raised um at the last meeting was to include our accessibility

[24:24] for businesses brochure in the uh business license notices annually. So

[24:29] that's something that's been incorporated that's new from the last

[24:31] plan. So, this plan reports on accessibility improvements over the past

[24:35] three years and sets a list of actions to work on until the next review period

[24:39] in 2029. Thank you. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. Are

[24:44] there questions for Miss Hodins about the plan at all? Comments? Council,

[24:48] anyone, would you like to say anything about it?

[24:50] » Well, I just wanted to thank Miss Hodins. She's worked very diligently

[24:54] with the committee on this. And the other thing is that we are going to do

[24:59] be doing a walkabout through the city to identify any issues that um the city can

[25:05] manage and bring up to date. So um we're probably going to do that in July, I

[25:10] would think. And but once again, thank you so much for all your help.

[25:16] Thank you. Will you invite council to that as well? Will you invite council to

[25:20] the >> Absolutely.

[25:22] » Wonderful. Excellent. Thank you. Uh so that council adopt the 2026

[25:26] accessibility plan as reviewed and amended by the accessibility advisory

[25:30] committee on May 4th, 2026. A mover and a seconder for that motion. Any further

[25:35] discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries. And again, yes. Thank you very

[25:40] much for all your work on that, Miss Hogins. And we're going to move over to

[25:43] the temporary use permit application for 610 Trunk Road, otherwise known as the

[25:48] village. And we are going to welcome Mr. Young up to the microphone.

[26:05] Thank you, Mayor Staples. This is a temporary use permit application for 610

[26:09] Trunk Road.

[26:15] The purpose of the temporary use permit is is to authorize the village

[26:20] supportive housing project um that exists on the site now to continue for

[26:24] an additional three-year term from December 31st of this year to December

[26:29] 31st of 2029. And the village uh supports up to 40 unsheltered people and

[26:35] up to 40 modular sleeping units.

[26:43] In terms of a a brief history, so the temporary use permit was first

[26:47] authorized uh by council in December of 2021 uh

[26:52] with the uses beginning in in January 2022. The site has been in operation

[26:56] since that time. Uh the current temporary use permit expires at the end

[27:02] of this year. Uh the proposed uh new TUP would which

[27:07] would be the fourth temporary use permit for the site would authorize the uses

[27:11] for an additional three-year term. Uh the couch and housing association was

[27:16] the original applicant for for the village site uh with Lookout Housing and

[27:23] Health Society as the operator and Lookout is still the operator of the

[27:26] site today. Um, one thing that's changed is that uh rather than CHA or Lookout

[27:33] being the applicant under previous TUPs, BC Housing is now the applicant for the

[27:38] new TUP and the the extension is proposed to be funded under the homeless

[27:44] encampment action response temporary housing or hearth program

[27:51] uh with Lookout continuing as the operator.

[27:55] The site is zoned high density residential. That's the brown color. Uh

[27:59] the pink areas are the highway corridor commercial zoning to the west. And then

[28:04] uh to the east is medium density residential zoning. The air photo on the

[28:09] right you can see the the pods. Uh this is a relatively recent air photo. So you

[28:15] can see the the site isn't currently in operation. It's outlined in yellow.

[28:21] few site photos from from Trunk Road back towards the site. It's uh

[28:27] surrounded by a security or or safety fence with a a netting material.

[28:35] This is the entry way to the site.

[28:45] Uh this is from the sidewalk along Trunk Road looking um east towards the site.

[28:56] This is the the parking lot on the commercial properties behind the

[29:00] village. And just another another image. So the

[29:04] the grass area are properties um um single family residential properties

[29:11] zoned highway quarter commercial that frontal to Dobson road.

[29:20] Uh the proposal is to revitalize the site uh under a new three-year term

[29:26] which includes renovating and replacing some of the existing units.

[29:31] um potentially adding an indoor amenity space for the residents,

[29:36] a new fenced perimeter. So, uh my understanding is is um the uh metal

[29:44] safety fence with that fabric material would be replaced with a more durable uh

[29:50] fence around the perimeter of the site as well as additional lighting and

[29:55] cameras for site security. Um, of note, the previous TUPS included

[30:02] a commitment for broader neighborhood walks by lookout staff and peer-to-peer

[30:07] outreach. Um, unfortunately, uh, the Hearth program does not fund

[30:12] neighborhood security or security offsite.

[30:17] the the temporary use permit and we'll talk about that a little bit more on the

[30:21] next slide, but the temporary use permit includes the letter of intent, a letter

[30:25] of commitment which which includes um a number of commitments by BC Housing U

[30:30] but again unfortunately does not include um neighborhood security

[30:38] as part of the application. Uh staff referred the application to the RCMP.

[30:44] Um, and I just wanted to to read a brief summary. This is my summary of of the

[30:49] information that was provided by the RCMP in response to this application.

[30:53] Uh, so since its opening in 2022, the RCMP has seen an increase in call

[30:58] volumes within a oneb block vicinity of 610 Trunk Road beginning in 2024 and

[31:04] 2025. With the primary issues in the area

[31:07] being unwanted persons, mental health calls, bylaw issues, assaults, and

[31:11] missing persons. 610 Shrunk Road, the subject property is the primary call

[31:16] generator in the area, but the number of calls at the site has generally remained

[31:20] stable since 2022, since the site's opening,

[31:25] except for a spike for call uh in 2025.

[31:33] Um so based on the feedback from uh from the RCMP and uh you know based

[31:40] on our observation that the increase in calls for service seems to coincide with

[31:45] a reduced presence in the broader neighborhood staff feel that those

[31:48] neighborhood and peer-to-peer walks um are an important part of the success of

[31:53] the village.

[31:57] Um as the long-term plans for the property have not yet been determined.

[32:02] um staff are supportive of the new TUP subject to adding neighborhood security

[32:07] checks as an as as a condition of the TUP.

[32:12] Now, the staff recommendation is that council amend the temporary use permit

[32:16] for 610 trunk road by adding the following condition. The site operator

[32:20] must conduct neighborhood security checks within a 60 meter radius of the

[32:24] land with the nature and frequency of the security checks to be determined in

[32:29] consultation with the city's bylaw compliance department and approved by

[32:33] the city's chief administrative officer and that council issue the temp permit

[32:39] as amended.

[32:45] » Thank you. Are there questions for Mr. Young at this time? Council

[32:50] Newington, >> is there somebody here from Lookout that

[32:54] is going to speak to this? Okay. And um what about BC Housing?

[33:01] » BC. >> Your BC housing.

[33:04] » Okay. Yeah. It's just um I feel that um I and probably a lot of the neighbors

[33:11] need some sort of guarantee um that the patrols are going to be

[33:16] done. this I mean this was one of the things that we said right from the very

[33:22] beginning that needed to be done in the area and it was done and it improved the

[33:27] area. Um there was garbage cleaned up. I had people that lived in the area coming

[33:32] to me and saying it's never been as clean as what it is since they moved in.

[33:36] So it's wonderful. Um but it seems to have fallen kind of downward in the last

[33:42] little while. And before I can support this, I would like to have some

[33:47] guarantees from both BC Housing and from Lookout that these patrols are going to

[33:53] be done regularly daily in the evening when people are trying to settle in.

[33:59] Thank you. >> Anyone else from council?

[34:05] Seeing no other questions, did you have something? Councelor Duncan, go ahead.

[34:09] » Thank you. uh your worship. Um I live within about 200 meters of the facility.

[34:15] Um quite often when I'm driving by, if I see people there, I contact our CEO. Um

[34:21] if I drive by a couple of times and they're still there after half an hour

[34:25] or so, then I get concerned. I'm living in the area. I recognize that in

[34:30] probably 90% of the cases, these people don't live in the village and it's about

[34:35] moving them on. uh we you know we've set up a a facility there so that we can

[34:40] provide shelter for unhoused people uh you know it's time for the I think for

[34:47] the police to start doing something more and I think that uh you know as

[34:52] councelor Newington said at the beginning it was great I actually had

[34:55] people come up to me and apologize uh after you know arguing with us here in

[35:00] the meetings about giving the initial first permit so uh but I have noticed as

[35:05] someone that lives very close by that there seems to be more people hanging

[35:09] around. So that I think requires uh uh more frequent uh patrols.

[35:18] » Thank you. Anyone else? All right. Pardon me.

[35:24] Okay. Um so the next up >> Oh, sorry. I did not see that cow or

[35:30] sorry, Mr. Young. Go ahead. >> Thank you, Mayor Staples. I should have

[35:34] mentioned this before, so I'm happy to answer any questions the council has on

[35:36] the technical aspects of the TU, but BC Housing and Lookout are here and may

[35:40] wish to to speak to their proposal as well.

[35:43] » Excellent. Thank you. So, next up I have um Naomi Brunmeer, is that correct? And

[35:50] Jennifer Fox, both from BC Housing. And then following that is um uh Shane

[35:56] Williams from Lookout. So, we'll have an opportunity to ask questions of BC

[36:00] Housing first, though. So, welcome. >> H welcome. Uh, thank you so much for

[36:04] having me. I'm uh somewhat new to the role of regional director for Vancouver

[36:08] Island and I've uh really enjoyed working collaboratively with your staff

[36:12] uh and getting to know your community. Uh and uh I want to congratulate you on

[36:16] your trailblazing with the village. Uh I can tell you the envy of many other

[36:21] communities around the tiny village concept and uh I just wanted to

[36:26] congratulate you on taking that brave initiative and that step. What the

[36:30] temporary use permit extension is is um offering is a renewal of the entire

[36:36] asset. So you may know that um BC housing uh only provided operating

[36:41] funding to the first phase of the um the village. Uh the units were already

[36:46] created and donated by the cow and housing association.

[36:50] um they've uh maybe uh had some wear and tear over the last uh several years and

[36:57] uh when we did a site tour, we felt that it was time for us to renew um the

[37:01] village and so our proposal is actually to renew um the entire village. Uh we

[37:06] wanted to keep it open to say renovate or or renew. Uh but based on our

[37:11] findings, we feel that um it's just best for us to start with a clean slate and

[37:15] to actually uh renew each of the 34 units knowing we have that expansion

[37:19] room under the temporary use permit up to 40 uh which could be an ongoing

[37:23] conversation. And so we wanted to make sure um that BC Housing was the

[37:28] applicant to the temporary use permit. We wanted to have a relationship

[37:31] directly um with the city of Duncan as opposed to through our operator. And so

[37:35] that's why there's been a shift. Uh, and that's also um the content of the letter

[37:40] of commitment that um Kyle spoke to is is talking about our intentions. So,

[37:44] we're the funer and we have expectations of our operator. And so, that's how we

[37:48] structured it this time is to make sure that we have a government-togovernment

[37:51] relationship. So, we've um started the process of the procurement for the

[37:58] modulars to update the site. Um there is approval in hand for funding both from a

[38:04] capital and operating side. And so that's why we need this necessary step

[38:07] to do that that investment is to extend that temporary use permit as it was

[38:12] stated by Kyle uh PRC. So that's the BC housing landowning arm. We own the site

[38:18] uh and we currently um don't have have uh a concrete plan for what that

[38:22] redevelopment looks like and we feel that this model has been successful in

[38:26] this community and that we wanted to continue to um house folks in this this

[38:31] model and in this manner at this location. Uh we have since um opened the

[38:37] uh White Road supportive housing facility uh also operated uh by the same

[38:42] team and uh have been seeing moveins and tenanting uh increase uh in the last few

[38:48] weeks and are intending to definitely create a positive flow from the village

[38:52] for those people who would like to move on. So trying to create a broad range of

[38:56] housing options in your community. Um I'm also joined by so I'm on the

[39:00] development side. um I do the building and the construction and I pass the keys

[39:04] over to my lovely colleague um Jen Fox who's the regional operations manager.

[39:09] So I'm going to pass it to her to speak more about the operating model and what

[39:12] we can and can't make commitments around around the hearth funding. Um and then I

[39:16] know that Shane is here as well. He's the CEO of Lookout um who can speak um

[39:20] from an operations perspective as the on the ground folks and of course you

[39:24] probably know better than I do um your local team here from Lookout. Lee and

[39:28] Elliot. >> Thank you. And I I do believe the White

[39:31] Road site is not operated by a lookout. It's operated

[39:34] » connective. >> Yeah, connective. That's okay.

[39:36] » Thank you for the correction. Hi everybody. I am still the regional

[39:38] director of Vancouver Island region uh for BC Housing, not the regional office

[39:43] manager, but thanks Naomi. Uh thank you everybody for the opportunity to be here

[39:46] tonight and have this conversation about uh T renewal for the village. Uh we're

[39:51] joined by Shane Williams, who's the CEO of Lookout, who will provide uh more

[39:55] information and context with respect to the boots on the ground work that's

[39:59] happening. But I just wanted to touch on the uh draft letter of commitment. It's

[40:04] state's intentions by BC Housing to work with the city to partner to continue to

[40:09] operate the village. Uh the province is providing the funding through the

[40:14] homeless encampment action response temporary housing fund. And that funding

[40:18] allows for a certain staffing level. It allows for the meals and it allows for

[40:22] other services to be provided. It does not provide funding for neighborhood

[40:26] security. So that's not part of the program. However, Lookout operates a

[40:32] peer program where they partner with their tenants who are interested in

[40:36] doing volunteer work for an honorarium to have that site cleanup for a

[40:41] neighborhood um being a good neighbor. And so I'll turn that over to you,

[40:45] Shane. >> Thank you. Uh welcome Mr. Williams.

[40:52] » Thank you your worship and thank you to my BC Housing colleagues for the intro

[40:55] and uh and setting the stage. Uh and thank you m council for uh hearing us

[40:59] out on this and considering uh the temporary use permit extension. Um just

[41:04] a couple of things. Um uh you know first and foremost uh the province

[41:09] reinvestment in this project really speaks to the success and the fragility

[41:13] of the people at the at the site that are getting good ongoing support um from

[41:18] our local team and the staff that we employ uh to to do this service on a

[41:23] day-to-day basis. It's true um that uh in the last year we have had some

[41:27] difficulty uh with the perimeter walks um largely to do with a union grievance

[41:33] um that um uh uh that was uh brought forth by one of our staff members um who

[41:39] were was participating in the walks on a regular basis and noted that it was

[41:43] outside of their current job um job description. uh and uh having people

[41:49] doing the checks uh that the way the way that they were um was actually uh taking

[41:54] away supports from the site um uh and taking them off site. So that was

[41:59] causing some duress and some some some challenge for some of the staff uh at

[42:03] the at the job site itself. I can say quite a bit about uh this application uh

[42:08] but from the BC housing perspective uh the renewal of the units uh the indoor

[42:13] amenity um fencing lighting cameras all speak to security all speak to uh staff

[42:19] capability and function uh will which will go much higher as a result of of

[42:24] these um um um really great supports. um the peer program that Jen was talking

[42:30] about. Um there is a lot of interest um and and you know we're looking at trying

[42:34] to expand that to uh to um um bring the neighborhood um um back to a spot where

[42:41] they be clear support. Uh you know much of the ongoing operational challenges at

[42:47] the site are a little bit outside of the scope of what Lookout can do um um you

[42:51] know through the village operations alone. um you know you've seen uh uh a

[42:56] little bit of a different approach to civic uh camps um and and and

[43:00] interventions on those camps which is displaced people I think in the

[43:04] community uh a little bit differently than before. Uh and uh you've also seen

[43:09] um an a different approach um from Kouchin tribes on the indigenous uh

[43:14] folks that may be struggling on reserve uh and them no longer being on reserve

[43:18] has actually put a lot of lot more pressure I think on all of the

[43:22] operations of the various uh um nonprofits in in the community. Um and

[43:28] we're hopeful that you know White Road um as it's tened it up um and other

[43:33] amenities and and and future BC housing projects and potentially um you know the

[43:38] uh uh uh uh this project reaching its its 40 um um uh uh occupancy and um uh

[43:46] and a renewal of the of the temporary use permit. We are we are we are

[43:50] anticipating that we're going to see some some some um um uh return to the

[43:55] the trust that the organization and and that the tenants of the village had

[43:58] earned from the from the greater uh community uh uh area.

[44:05] Um I appreciate the council I think was councelor to Tom that talked a little

[44:10] bit about the police role in um um uh the congregation in front of the

[44:15] village. Um it is really hard for um uh you know a staff member uh that has very

[44:21] little leverage um very little um uh control over somebody saying I'm not

[44:27] moving and you can't make me move and there's nothing that you can do about

[44:30] that. Um there's really not a lot more our team or that can be expected of our

[44:36] team. Um calls have increased at the site because

[44:40] we we're calling for help and people aren't moving along when prompted. Uh

[44:44] and so that can cause um you know this notion that it's there's more unsafety

[44:50] in the community um when really we're just trying to um live up to uh the

[44:55] expectation of the community which is to try to bring down the congregation of

[44:59] people outside the site. Um so so that I think has put a little bit more um maybe

[45:05] duress on our on our policing partners um as does uh the missing persons. And

[45:11] so you noted in in the report from staff that the missing person's uh data uh um

[45:17] was was noted as as as part of the police calls. Um that that's something

[45:21] that our team would regularly report a missing person's uh if if they haven't

[45:27] if if if a tenant of the village hadn't been at um um their uh uh pod in the

[45:33] last 24 hours um we get concerned about them. uh they are vulnerable um in some

[45:39] cases live al alternative lifestyles. It's important that we're flagging that

[45:43] this person is missing and that we need to reconnect with them. So we will use

[45:47] our local police so that you know the police who often know some of the folks

[45:51] that that live at the village. Um we'll keep an eye out for them uh and that we

[45:55] together can make sure that that individual safe in our community. Uh

[46:00] again, this this can lead to inflated um um data from from local RCMP and other

[46:06] policing across the province, and we've noted this in our other other projects.

[46:11] Uh and just something that I think council needs to be um uh mindful of or

[46:16] at least understand uh um before um you know uh uh casting a vote in in the TUP.

[46:22] Um I think I've addressed uh questions so far, but I'm open to anything else

[46:27] people might have. Thank you. Are there questions right now

[46:31] for either Mr. Williams or Fox? Councelor Caps, go ahead.

[46:36] » Thank you very much and thank you for coming tonight. I'm really pleased to

[46:38] hear about this like really tangible investment like really it sounds like

[46:43] really understanding and appreciating how important this is. And so so to have

[46:47] that investment in the renewal is is really exciting. I' I've been a huge

[46:50] supporter of this project from the very beginning. And so it's yeah, I'm just

[46:53] I'm grateful that you're here tonight. Um, I'm just cur I just had a a couple

[46:57] of questions and I'm not sure exactly who it would be for, but in I'm just

[47:00] reading through the letter here and when it says um ensuring the housing operator

[47:04] conducts perimeter checks between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. to support community

[47:08] safety, monitoring, and cleanliness in their surrounding neighborhood, what

[47:11] exactly would you say does a perimeter check involve? And where does it take

[47:16] place? Is it on the property only? Is it just outside? How far? And then I have a

[47:20] couple other follow-ups after. Thank you.

[47:24] through the chair. Um what we are able to offer is uh in partnership with

[47:30] Lookout, we are exploring additional FTE resources. So Shane spoke to some of the

[47:36] um limitations through the collective agreement and so looking at having

[47:40] another position that is responsible for providing leadership for the pre peer uh

[47:45] peer organization that comes to do those patrols. There's also the opportunity

[47:50] that we've been in discussion about with connective as well as with uh Squamo

[47:54] operations about some kind of larger peer group that could be doing this

[47:58] together. In terms of what we can expect from the perimeter checks is is really

[48:03] about a few things. First, it's making sure that we're not handing out

[48:08] resources to people who don't live at the village. So, discouing discouraging

[48:12] people from coming. It's looking at a guest policy to prevent foot traffic

[48:16] from coming in and out of the current village. We're also looking at

[48:19] repositioning the front gate area. So that's that um staffed booth would move

[48:24] forward where the entrance is. We'd have the new fence and more importantly, we

[48:29] would be working together with Lookout to have more honorarium funding to be

[48:33] able to provide through that volunteer work to discourage people from

[48:38] congregating. And so to Shane's point, Lookout doesn't have the ability to

[48:41] enforce uh make people leave the sidewalk that is technically city

[48:45] property. However, there's an opportunity to share resources. Hey, you

[48:50] can find something over here. You could maybe get a sandwich over here or

[48:53] something like that to redirect people to other resources within community and

[48:57] discourage that congregating. Those are just a few things.

[49:03] » Thank you. Thanks. I really appreciate that. And I do really um I appreciate

[49:07] the emphasis as well on the the the peer-to-peer interaction. I think these

[49:13] relationships are are really important. I think helping people connect with

[49:18] residents and and and so I I I really appreciate that aspect of it. I'm

[49:22] curious whether any other similar projects or any projects through

[49:27] this funding or similar funding through BC housing. Have any in other

[49:31] communities found any ways to in addition to these fantastic, you know,

[49:35] peer-to-peer initiatives? Um, have there been any other, you know, creative

[49:40] solutions to get around this? There's no funding for,

[49:46] you know, security. There's no funding for for things in the neighborhood. I

[49:49] understand in in certain cases, absolutely. there's union restrictions,

[49:52] but have there been for any other projects, have there been any other

[49:55] creative ways that that has been able to be addressed? Because I think I'm I'm

[50:01] hearing from my colleagues that that's something that's quite important is to

[50:03] just get a commitment at this stage in the TUP. And I understand why, you know,

[50:07] for a number of reasons, not just for the residents in the neighborhood, but

[50:10] also maintaining that positive relationship in the community. I I I

[50:14] really worry sometimes when you know over the past few years seeing instances

[50:18] of violence against unhoused people the the sort of discrimination and and you

[50:22] know I think having a a positive relationship and a and a positive idea

[50:28] of uh of the of the area of the facility is really important and for the safety

[50:32] as well because what yeah again like what we're talking about is it's not

[50:35] you're not able as as staff working on the site at the facility to control

[50:38] people who are outside but nearby due to the nature right so how Can we look

[50:44] outside of that immediate staff who's there trying to provide those really

[50:47] critical services to people that can look out for the safety as well of the

[50:51] the residents that are there as well as the overall well-being of the immediate

[50:55] neighborhood. Anyway, sorry, long-winded way to say, have there been any

[50:57] instances in other communities where BC housing operators have been able to find

[51:01] ways to fund something similar to what we're asking for?

[51:07] » Thank you for the question through the chair. um we have seen great

[51:11] partnerships happen and so in some cases directly with uh operator NBC housing we

[51:16] look to get creative and so the example that I would share is what I was I I

[51:20] said previously which is we have the opportunity to provide some additional

[51:24] funding to look out to have additional FTE resources to be able to oversee this

[51:30] type of program um not fully full-time but part of that role could include this

[51:35] type of work and also providing an increase so they can do that honorarian

[51:39] And the other piece I would say and Shane can speak more more to this, but

[51:43] there is the homelessness response leadership table in Kawachin right now.

[51:48] And so we do have the opportunity through that table to have conversations

[51:51] as partners about how we do this together. And so what that could look

[51:55] like is partnering with um Couchin Housing Association or with outreach

[52:00] partners or with BC Housing's own encampment response team to be able to

[52:04] partner on how we address specific issues. So, it's one thing for Lookout

[52:09] uh not to be providing resources to people who aren't living at the site and

[52:14] to encourage people with a handout or information to be able to go seek

[52:18] services elsewhere, but really about partners coming together in community.

[52:22] We've seen that work where outreaches together and different service providers

[52:26] and talking about the resources we collectively have in a community and how

[52:30] we can deploy or allocate those where the emerging need is. And so, that's

[52:35] what we've seen work as well. And I believe that the for the first few

[52:39] years that the village operated that is what was done. We were sort of a

[52:43] template for that in the region. Is that am I correct um Shane on that? That's

[52:49] that was something that we did but then funding started to shift and change

[52:53] around and now what we're asking what I'm hearing is that we're moving back to

[52:57] reimplementing that model in a in a more robust way with staff hours that you're

[53:01] talking about to go towards that. So it is something that we did do as as part

[53:06] of the beginning of this for a number of years. So am I hearing that correctly?

[53:11] » Absolutely. Mayor Staples, you are hearing that correctly. We would love to

[53:15] um bring it back to that. You will remember that the table had applied um

[53:20] um for peer funding um through other other means. Um and so we had some

[53:24] one-off grants that were that were augmenting peer service for a long time

[53:29] and certainly we've missed that. Um um the other thing I think that's so

[53:33] important to note is as there are different approaches to uh the

[53:36] homelessness within the region and that people are are are kind of um uh

[53:41] disrupted in maybe how they would have camped rough before or stayed on on

[53:45] couch and land. Um folks folks are they're figuring out a

[53:51] new pattern. Uh, and it's really important that we um uh continue to work

[53:55] alongside our tenants and residents who feel somewhat sometimes a little guilty

[53:59] for for having um um a pod uh and and and and living within the village when

[54:05] some of their friends are still very rough on the streets. Uh and so they um

[54:10] um will sometimes um you know try to support their friends on the streets by

[54:15] bringing them you know some of the sandwiches from the site. Um um and and

[54:19] we have to educate and and make sure that they understand that if you do this

[54:23] more will come uh and the impact on the community is hard and and it's um um you

[54:28] know people don't always put their refuge in in the buckets and and and

[54:32] that kind of thing. And so um you know reminding the tenants and educating the

[54:37] tenants and letting them know here here are the decisions we'd like you guys to

[54:41] make and here's why. Um it does take a while sometimes to change some of those

[54:45] some of those behaviors. Sure. Can I just say something to that? I I

[54:52] think too that that's one of the things with the village that we have managed to

[54:55] do as a community as well uh is to recognize that you know there is going

[55:01] there are times where we have to relook at things and we have to reimagine

[55:04] things and we have to the ch everything is changing around us and it sounds like

[55:09] we're you know back on that road again and and so um I I believe that when we

[55:14] do presentations about this one of the things that we talk about all the time

[55:18] is the the ability to you know to not do things well and but address those needs

[55:25] and address those changes so that we know everything isn't always going to

[55:28] run smoothly. As you know, Shane has pointed out the community has changed.

[55:32] We've seen that. I've seen that everywhere. And so, uh, but it it is

[55:37] important for us to pick that up and, you know, make sure that we're

[55:40] addressing that. And that is what I'm hearing uh being spoken today and being

[55:45] shared today. And I for one am, you know, really grateful to hear that

[55:48] because it is, as we've said throughout this whole process to to all of you at

[55:53] BC Housing, um to the to the province, that's such a core component of making

[55:58] this successful. And so I just wanted to add that while we were on topic and I'm

[56:03] going to pass it back to um councelor Caps.

[56:06] » Absolutely. Thank you so much. So just looking at the amendment that's been

[56:09] proposed here, just I'll just read it out. It just says that the site operator

[56:13] must conduct neighborhood security checks within a 60 meter radius of the

[56:16] land with the nature and frequency of the security checks to be determined in

[56:19] consultation with the city's bylaw compliance department and approved by

[56:22] the city's chief administrative officer. And I'm not sure if perhaps this is a a

[56:26] question for Miss McMilliam or Mr. But just does it sound as though based

[56:29] on the discussion that we've just been having about um some of the possible

[56:33] ideas or the ways that that could look. Does it sound as though

[56:36] it doesn't sound to me as though this amendment would prohibit these

[56:41] discussions? It sound actually like we're quite on a similar page in terms

[56:45] of what we're looking for. Um does it sound as though those types of

[56:48] discussions and things that are being had would be that's what we're trying to

[56:52] be able to have with with having this amendment if that makes sense?

[57:01] Thank you through Mayor Staples to councelor Caps. We had a similar

[57:05] discussion at a staff level about what exactly the um the language around

[57:10] perimeter checks that was included in the letter of commitment meant. And our

[57:14] our concern is that um exactly as you raised, our hope was that the there

[57:20] would be a commitment made to ensuring that the congregation that has from time

[57:24] to time occurred adjacent to the site would be addressed even if it was just

[57:28] past the perimeter of the of the location. So the 60 meters would bring

[57:33] us around the site where we have been from time to time encountering some

[57:37] issues and the hope there is that a conversation could occur and people

[57:42] could be encouraged to to relocate and if that's not successful of course

[57:47] there's a willingness and an interest in providing support and hoping to see the

[57:52] site continue to succeed. So, um, yeah, I think what has been included as an

[57:58] amendment to the temporary use permit aligns well with what's being discussed

[58:01] around a peer patrol um or arrangement and whether that's specific only to this

[58:07] site or whether that's something that could be carried out for all of the the

[58:12] support sites that are in the community that would that would also align. I

[58:15] think >> have another question another followup

[58:20] » sort of line. So, thank you but but go ahead council caps. Um, thank you so

[58:24] much through the chair to Miss McWilliam. So, yeah, in my mind, this

[58:27] this amendment uh is not overly prescriptive. I think that what it is

[58:32] asking for is very reasonable and and not misaligned with the discussion we've

[58:36] been having tonight. Um, and I think I I really do I really want to support this

[58:41] um this renewal, this this application. I really want to support it. Um, and I

[58:46] think supporting it as amendment as as amended here, the staff recommendation

[58:50] allows uh staff and BC housing and the operator and everyone to work together

[58:54] to come up with something that's going to work well for the residents of the

[58:57] village, the the neighborhood, and uh the broader community and all the

[59:00] organization. So, I yeah, I plan to uh vote in favor of this, but I'll let

[59:04] everyone else speak before I start moving things over here.

[59:10] Uh, councelor Duncan.

[59:15] We'll go to councelor Newington was first I believe.

[59:20] » I just have a question about um when you're going to be move um putting in

[59:25] new pods. So you're doing it on like four or five pods at a time. Is that

[59:31] what you're doing? Okay. I just didn't want to have all those people without

[59:36] their home. We're definitely going to be taking

[59:40] advantage of some of the tenanting to White Road to be able to create a little

[59:44] bit of vacancy and then move through the pods as we Yeah, absolutely. We don't

[59:48] want to accomplish that that either. >> Thank you, Council McKinley.

[59:54] » Regarding the fencing and the security and the lightings, so if you're putting

[59:59] in a new fence, is it going to be a gated community now or is it going to be

[1:00:04] open? because you said you're moving the office forward to closer to the street

[1:00:09] side. So I just question that way and the security would be cameras on all

[1:00:14] corners. Correct. >> Uh thank you for the question. So we are

[1:00:19] still working through with the operator to make sure that what we're proposing

[1:00:23] doesn't limit the ongoing operations of the site. So that is one of the

[1:00:26] questions around the gate um having it open for staff vehicles to come in etc.

[1:00:31] So we are still working on that. We're currently um sourcing for another

[1:00:35] project a gate that has the ability to roll. Uh so certainly um going to have

[1:00:39] that conversation with Lookout and the placement of the cameras is going to be

[1:00:42] based on where we move the pods in the amenity space. So absolutely the point

[1:00:46] of putting in cameras would be able to have maximum visibility as well as

[1:00:50] lighting. So we're also going to um I think move the position of the fence. I

[1:00:55] think there was a request to to move it slightly. So we have the opportunity to

[1:00:59] do that. that was brought up by uh by uh city of Duncan staff and I believe

[1:01:04] Lookout also supports the movement of the fence. So there's going to be a

[1:01:07] couple of tweaks in that sense too and plus some of the fencing interior to try

[1:01:11] to create a little bit of a sense of community sort of separate the groups of

[1:01:14] pods together. So lots of different combination of things um that we're

[1:01:18] happy to continue to work with your staff on as we establish them.

[1:01:22] » Excellent. Thank you. Is there any other questions? No. Councelor Duncan,

[1:01:27] » thank you your worship. Um, so if I understand correctly and I heard you

[1:01:32] correctly, there is some money for an FTE that would work with the peers. Is

[1:01:38] that correct? >> BC Housing and Lookout are having a

[1:01:42] conversation about what additional FTE hours can be added to the site to be

[1:01:47] able to provide that support. >> Yeah.

[1:01:50] » Okay. And uh um one more. So what is the process? Because right next door to the

[1:01:57] village was the old youth center and when I drive by I usually see three or

[1:02:02] four people laying on the ground uh doing drugs. uh what is your your

[1:02:08] procedure if when you go if you happen to run go out at the time do you tell

[1:02:12] them move on or do you say we're going to phone the police or we're going to

[1:02:16] phone the bylaws or you know uh the other thing I was wondering is is there

[1:02:20] some way for um lookout to assume what I I think you get permission from a

[1:02:27] property owner to move people along we similar to what we did at the ENN

[1:02:33] so is there some way that you guys could say you know work with the property

[1:02:36] owner that's complaining that people are out there all the time to get

[1:02:41] enforcement faster >> through the chair. So, Lookout's being

[1:02:47] contracted by BC Housing to operate the village. And so in terms of moving

[1:02:52] people along who are sheltering or gathering in front of a private business

[1:02:57] or another building, that's not what we're contracting Lookout to do. But we

[1:03:01] are interested in having a community conversation together with service

[1:03:04] providers about what we can do together to provide support. I just I just want

[1:03:08] to respectfully manage expectations for what Lookout will be able to do and

[1:03:13] where we need to put some um boundaries in terms of the expectation that they'll

[1:03:17] be doing all the things related to homelessness in Duncan. Really, if we're

[1:03:21] seeing people who are gathering outside the area of the village where it's

[1:03:25] located because maybe they're trying to come and talk to their friends or they

[1:03:29] were here last time and their friend gave them their lunch. But it's really

[1:03:32] about lookout referring people to other resources that are available in

[1:03:36] community and just discouraging people from gathering in large groups. So I'm

[1:03:40] just Yeah, it would really be about that conversation with community and service

[1:03:44] providers and outreach partners on how we're looking after people who are

[1:03:47] actually living outside. >> Yeah,

[1:03:51] » thank you. >> Yeah, if I may add to that. Um uh yes.

[1:03:54] So if they are tenant um uh uh councelor Tom if they're if they're if they're

[1:03:58] tenants of the village uh and we can identify that they're tenants of the

[1:04:02] village then it gets into a larger educational piece a conversation. Hey

[1:04:06] listen how do you think the neighbors feel about that? How do you think the um

[1:04:10] you know the the the businesses next to us um uh you know do do you think that

[1:04:14] that's a good positive kind of community element? Um and and and you know we

[1:04:19] these conversations sink in for the tenants and we've got you know lots of

[1:04:22] leverage and lots of ability to educate and help people that are living at the

[1:04:27] site. That's you know and that's our focus and that's exactly what BC Housing

[1:04:30] wants us to be doing. Um you know we've had conversations with with the the the

[1:04:36] um neighbor directly beside us. Uh one of the big reasons why people were

[1:04:40] congregating was the shade of the trees um and and people wanting to be around

[1:04:44] those trees. Um, and we had talked about, you know, expanding the fence to

[1:04:48] go around those trees. Um, and and that that neighborhood didn't want that to

[1:04:52] happen. Um, um, you know, we've tried to be a bit more proactive. There seems to

[1:04:57] be some hesitancy there to um, uh, look at, you know, a larger uh, uh, solution

[1:05:04] to some of those ongoing issues. Um um but you know what I think we normally

[1:05:09] see through our through our through our checks uh through our perimeter checks

[1:05:13] are people that that that we're not familiar with or that we have some

[1:05:17] rapport with. Uh and our approach would look like this. Hey, how you doing

[1:05:20] today? Um yeah, you know, this is private property. Uh you know, you're

[1:05:25] not supposed to be here. Um you know, can you pack it up and you know, can you

[1:05:28] head head on down to um you know, uh warmland? You know, the local shelter is

[1:05:33] just down this way. Sometimes people don't know. So you want to give them uh

[1:05:36] resources. I think what what Jen's um what BC Housing is uh uh um suggesting

[1:05:41] is that we you know um um work with other providers and have you know some

[1:05:46] resources that we can hand to somebody to help them on their journey um to to

[1:05:50] wellness whatever that looks like but it can't be where you're currently at. Um

[1:05:54] and then that can be met with okay yeah no problem I'll be gone and they're gone

[1:05:58] in 2 minutes. or can be met with uh some hostility and some you know we don't

[1:06:02] have to listen to you and you know some harsh words in which which case our

[1:06:07] staff would typically back off and make a phone call to um um um you know our

[1:06:12] our our policing partners if it was folks in danger um you know maybe uh

[1:06:17] ambulance if somebody was overdosing and and you know we had given an oxen and

[1:06:21] they're up again um you know because he did say that they were using drugs um uh

[1:06:26] or maybe bylaws um if you know that they're uh um if if they have capability

[1:06:32] to help us in that moment. So um there'd be you know we go run through the list

[1:06:36] of of folks that maybe be able to help but um uh uh you know and that's met

[1:06:41] with you know some success and sometimes it takes a while for you know our our

[1:06:45] policing partners are busy on other things and so not they don't always get

[1:06:49] there. So you might see those same people hanging there a half an hour or

[1:06:53] 45 minutes later. Um, and that's usually around a local capacity.

[1:07:00] » Yes, I am definitely supportive. I just see this as let's nip this in the bud,

[1:07:05] as they say, before it gets to be uh Lewis Street issue.

[1:07:12] » Uh,

[1:07:15] Stacy, I just lost my mind.

[1:07:19] » Thanks. Um, yeah, I appreciate, uh, everything that's being presented. Um,

[1:07:26] and I'm kind of in a unique position, um, having worked front lines for many

[1:07:32] years. Um, and you know, I often think back to when I first started out in the

[1:07:37] in my work and um, you know, you're like a heart, you know, advocating for your

[1:07:45] clients are homeless and you want the, you know, and all those things and I see

[1:07:49] it every day in my work. um where I think staff just sometimes

[1:07:57] either they're they just don't have the training or it's not leadership doesn't

[1:08:01] bring that forward where like they don't understand their whole focus is on their

[1:08:07] clients and um they don't always understand

[1:08:12] the whole concept of like making sure that the neighborhood

[1:08:17] is happy in order to have this site. and how that helps people that live there.

[1:08:22] And so I think sometimes there's um sometimes

[1:08:27] I know there's a lot of that conversation also with the clients that

[1:08:30] live at the village and um you know a lot of them take ownership for for that

[1:08:35] place and I know we used to always hear stories about them helping out neighbors

[1:08:38] and taking you know lots of things great stories have come out of there. Um,

[1:08:42] yeah. I think just on top of and I get that you're you're going to come up

[1:08:48] against people that don't want to move and all those things, but I think

[1:08:51] sometimes it just comes down to if the staff have a really good understanding

[1:08:56] at all the le levels of staff around um, you know, what kind of what we're asking

[1:09:03] for and what why it's important because you don't you don't unless you're in

[1:09:08] this work or in your you know, land work, you don't always know those

[1:09:11] pieces. and you're just like hardcore wanting to help your clients and and so

[1:09:15] that piece gets forgotten or they don't know about it. So it's always like oh by

[1:09:21] the city or RCMP like they're the bad guys but really they're just like a we

[1:09:26] have a kind of a difficult seat too where we're trying to we want to support

[1:09:30] this because we know it's doing a great thing for the people that are living

[1:09:34] there and at the same time we're also responsibility responsible to the rest

[1:09:38] of the community and so we have to in some kind of balance. Of course, we

[1:09:43] can't say there's never going to be anyone outside the gate waiting for

[1:09:45] somebody or whatever, right? It's going to happen time to time, but it's just

[1:09:49] overall, I think if the staff have a better understanding

[1:09:53] of those pieces and like why that's important. Um, then I think that that

[1:10:00] would go a long way.

[1:10:04] » Thank you. Anyone else? No. Okay.

[1:10:10] Thank you uh everyone for um for your presentation. Is there anything else

[1:10:16] that any of the presenters would like to say at this point in time?

[1:10:21] No. Okay. And so now if there's anyone here who believes that their interest

[1:10:25] may be affected, um this is the opportunity for you to come up to the

[1:10:29] microphone. Do I have to do it three times?

[1:10:34] Three.

[1:10:46] There's different procedures for different things. So, I just wanted to

[1:10:49] make sure. Okay. So, I'm not seeing anyone else um come up to the

[1:10:52] microphone. And I just would like to just make a comment about this before I

[1:10:57] read out this very lengthy motion. Um, but

[1:11:02] I know that the people that are here recognize the the value of the village

[1:11:07] and what it brings to the people who are there and also to our community and how

[1:11:12] it's changed. And I also really want to um thank you all for all of the work

[1:11:18] that you've done and for all of the hurdles that you've all overcome through

[1:11:21] this process. We've had some pretty intense conversations over the last how

[1:11:26] many years has it been now? Five years. uh at multiple times in multiple stages

[1:11:31] of this. Some of them have not gone well. Um but I believe that they've all

[1:11:36] they've but we've gotten through all of those and this has not been easy. It's

[1:11:41] breaking ground on something that's different and and and I really just want

[1:11:47] to thank everyone for going through that because it's not easy. These

[1:11:50] conversations are not easy to our staff as well. you. Our staff has done an

[1:11:54] incredible job um at addressing this and going above and beyond uh to to ensure

[1:12:02] you know to ensure that we're we're even though things can be struggle sometimes

[1:12:08] that we're trying to figure out a way to to have solutions instead of just saying

[1:12:12] you know what forget it we're not doing this. There's so many times along the

[1:12:15] line that that could have happened and we persevered and people figured out

[1:12:21] ways of having different conversations and figured out ways of different ways

[1:12:25] of advocating and um and our council has brought multiple motions to UBCM around

[1:12:31] this and I've been very proud to be a spokesperson on behalf of this all

[1:12:35] across the country and uh and and it's those and and one of the things that I

[1:12:42] always go back to is that this is not something that is simple. It is has to

[1:12:46] be, you know, there there's always going to be things that we have to overcome

[1:12:49] and deal with. And it's how we do that. And we don't always do that, you know,

[1:12:54] we do that to the best of our ability at the time, but we definitely um continue

[1:12:59] to move forward with this. And so I'm just grateful for everyone and to our

[1:13:03] council who continues as well um to and to our community members that support

[1:13:09] this. Right. But council, you've been huge advocates and leaders in this and

[1:13:14] and that people talk to me about that all the time too when I'm presenting in

[1:13:17] different communities because it is not easy in these seats to make decisions

[1:13:21] that are super unpopular sometimes and come at a real cost in lots of in lots

[1:13:27] of different ways in our lives. But I'm just proud of us for car carrying on

[1:13:31] this path and um and continuing to to be willing to stand in this. And so just

[1:13:39] thanks to everyone for everything we've done up to this point.

[1:13:44] And now I will read out this very long motion. Actually, it's not that long.

[1:13:48] I'm being dramatic. It's been a long week.

[1:13:54] I know. I think this is my 17th day in a row. So

[1:13:59] it's uh always just one one uh run-on week for me lately. So that council

[1:14:05] amend temporary use permit number TUP 2026 for 610 trunk road by adding the

[1:14:11] following condition. Uh 10. The site operator must conduct neighborhood

[1:14:15] security checks within 60 meter radius of land with the nature and frequency of

[1:14:19] the security checks to be determined in consultation with the city's bylaw

[1:14:23] compliance department and approved by the city's chief administrative officer.

[1:14:27] And that trunk that no and that council issue temporary use permit number TUP

[1:14:32] 2026014610 Trunk Road as amended to facilitate the

[1:14:36] temporary accommodation of up to 40 unsheltered people in up to 40 modular

[1:14:40] sleeping units for a three-year term beginning December 31st, 2026 and ending

[1:14:45] December 31st, 2029. Do I have a mover and a second for this motion? Is there

[1:14:50] any further discussion on this motion? Seeing no hands, all those in favor?

[1:14:55] Anyone opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you all again so much

[1:15:00] for all the work that you do in our community and all the work you've done

[1:15:03] um on this. We'll just give everyone a moment

[1:15:08] before we carry on to our agenda.

[1:15:16] Thanks Shane. Oh, he's gone. That was too fast. Okay, so Miss Crosman for the

[1:15:21] annual report. Thank you, Mayor Staples. So you have in

[1:15:27] front of you the 2025 annual report. All the departments at the city have a hand

[1:15:33] in creating this report for the previous year. It's legislated by the community

[1:15:38] charter that it be received by council before June 30th of each year. And um we

[1:15:46] can go through it page by page if you'd like. I'm just

[1:15:52] kidding. There's 138 pages.

[1:15:59] » Happy to take any questions if there are any.

[1:16:03] » Thank you. Are there any questions for Miss Crossman about the report?

[1:16:09] There's no request for her to read out every page. No. You have a question now?

[1:16:14] » Yeah. >> Okay. Go.

[1:16:15] » Didn't we win an award for this report or did we want we won an award for your

[1:16:20] financial work this year, right?

[1:16:24] Guys, we have won awards for the previous 14 years in a row. We haven't

[1:16:31] won an award for this one yet because it hasn't been submitted, but I'm confident

[1:16:36] that we will.

[1:16:41] Oh, sorry. It's over to me, isn't it? That was it. All right. I was expecting

[1:16:46] more than that. Okay. Okay. The council received the 2025 annual report is

[1:16:50] attached uh from the director of finance.

[1:16:54] All those in favor? Motion carries. And statement of financial information. That

[1:16:58] must be you again, Miss Craftman. >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor Staples. So, this

[1:17:02] again is a legislative requirement that the city prepares a statement of

[1:17:07] financial information uh must be completed by June the 30th.

[1:17:12] So this um records a schedule of debts of which we

[1:17:17] have none. Schedule of remuneration and expenses for elected officials and for

[1:17:23] employees. A schedule of severance agreements and

[1:17:28] suppliers of goods and services of which we've paid over $25,000.

[1:17:34] And then the approval and the financial statements. So, this is just on for uh

[1:17:40] approval by council.

[1:17:46] Any questions for Miss Crossman? I see no hands. So, the council approved

[1:17:52] the 2025 statement of financial information as attached to the June

[1:17:56] 22nd, 2026 report by the director of finance. Move in a second. All those in

[1:18:01] favor? Motion carries. And we'll move now to the December field booking fee

[1:18:05] reduction for the Couch and Valley Football Association.

[1:18:09] And that one is over to Miss Mc William. Miss Crossman, you're off the hook for a

[1:18:14] moment.

[1:18:19] Thank you, Mayor Staples. We have received a request from the Cavan Valley

[1:18:23] Football Association for a reduction on their invoice from December of last

[1:18:28] year. Um there was a a mistake made around the field booking and they did

[1:18:34] inadvertently did not cancel cancel their December field usage times. Uh

[1:18:40] they fully recognized that the process was just there was a learning curve

[1:18:44] involved and they just needed um they were unfortunately did not communicate

[1:18:51] with us on on their end around the cancellation.

[1:18:54] Um, we given that it was December, it it is

[1:18:59] very unlikely that there were other user groups that were intending to use it, we

[1:19:02] didn't leave the field lights on. Um, they've

[1:19:06] made sure that they've made a commitment to following the process going forward.

[1:19:10] So, over to you for consideration. All right. Are there any questions about

[1:19:14] this one? So, the council reduced the Couch and Valley Football Association's

[1:19:18] December 2025 field booking fees from $1,1949

[1:19:22] to $989. Recognizing that the booked field time was not used. Is there a

[1:19:27] mover and a seconder? Any discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries.

[1:19:32] Strategic plan actions. And that is over to Mr. Dvertai.

[1:19:39] Thank you, Mayor Stipples. Um, so a bit of an update. I won't go through the

[1:19:43] entire uh entirety of the update report, but uh just for for reminder that the

[1:19:48] items or the actions that are complete have been listed in black. items that

[1:19:53] are on track or or largely now complete are less than in green and actions that

[1:19:58] are somewhat behind uh are on the scheduleled as uh as orange. So maybe

[1:20:04] I'll just highlight a couple of there's actually been a number of uh items over

[1:20:08] the last uh 6 to 12 months that have progressed quite quite significantly.

[1:20:11] Not the least of which uh more recently is the initiation of the boundary

[1:20:15] realignment study that's been on council strap plan for well over 10 years now.

[1:20:20] Uh some good progress on the heritage program now approved. The Canada Avenue

[1:20:25] complete streets project is now well underway. The Cornation uh Queens bike

[1:20:30] lanes are are now um largely complete and we made some good good progress very

[1:20:36] recently on the items such as the Transcatter Highway landscaping plan.

[1:20:41] Unfortunately, that won't be in a position to construct those until those

[1:20:45] improvements until the fall, but it's just definitely um moving moving along

[1:20:49] in and some good progress in a lot of projects in the last um in the last

[1:20:53] while. So, happy to answer any questions.

[1:20:56] » All right. Are there any questions for Mr. Dvertai at this time? I don't see

[1:21:00] any hands up. You're getting off easy tonight. The council received the June

[1:21:04] uh 2020 Why do I keep saying that? the June 22nd, 2026 strategic plan action

[1:21:11] status update report for information only. Mover and a second. All those in

[1:21:16] favor, everyone put their hands up all at once. All right. Thank you very much.

[1:21:20] And now back to you, Miss Crossman, for the climate action report for 2025.

[1:21:25] Thank you, Mayor Staples. As you can see, I've been doing a lot of reporting

[1:21:29] work for the previous year. This most uh recent report is concerning the city's

[1:21:36] emissions and the commitment to being carbon neutral. And so I've um listed

[1:21:43] out here the emissions that we've done from our direct services as well as the

[1:21:48] emissions from contractors that we've hired to do infrastructure projects in

[1:21:53] the city and calculated that we would need to purchase 300 offsets in order to

[1:21:59] be carbon neutral. slightly higher than some previous years. Couple reasons for

[1:22:05] that. Um the the first one is that the province has changed the calculation of

[1:22:12] how much emissions uh the use of hydro is worth. Um I don't

[1:22:18] know a lot about how they calculated but it has somewhat to do with um water use

[1:22:24] and the needing to get hydro from outside of the country. Um so this is a

[1:22:31] a year that they've calculated that hydro is worth more emissions. So that

[1:22:37] has brought our totals what would have been under the old calculations we would

[1:22:42] have had 156 emissions we this year we have 193 and that's mostly because of

[1:22:49] that change. Uh and then we our contracted services have also increased

[1:22:54] and that's just attributable to the uh capital projects that we did last year.

[1:23:00] We had some big ones. Um so we're looking for direction from council to

[1:23:06] purchase 300 carbon credits at an approximate cost of 9,450.

[1:23:13] and staff are again recommending the um Great Bear car forest carbon project as

[1:23:20] the project that is closest to home. >> All right. Is there any questions?

[1:23:28] Councelor Newington, go ahead. >> Um I do have one question. So the people

[1:23:33] that we have contracted with the city um do is there some sort of restriction for

[1:23:41] how much do they buy carbon credits as well or do we have that in in our policy

[1:23:48] of hiring somebody? Uh, no, we don't have that in our

[1:23:52] policy, but we just we have in our um when we hire them, we state that they

[1:23:58] will need to submit to us a calculation of how many liters of fuel they used,

[1:24:03] both diesel and gas, while doing the project. And then the city then counts

[1:24:09] those as our emissions. But we don't um state that they have to be carbon

[1:24:16] neutral themselves.

[1:24:21] Fantastic. No other hands. So, the council received report climate action

[1:24:25] plan report 2025 dated June 22nd, 2026 for information only and the council

[1:24:31] direct staff to purchase 300 carbon credits at an approximate total cost of

[1:24:35] 9,450 to be funded from local government

[1:24:38] climate action program reserve. Mover and a seconder. Any more discussion? All

[1:24:44] those in favor? Motion carries. Thank you very much for that. and we're going

[1:24:48] to move on to new business. Um, so we have the elect respect pledge. I'm not

[1:24:54] sure if everyone's had a chance to read that, but at the uh annual Vancouver

[1:24:59] Island and Coastal Communities Conference, they had a table there. Um,

[1:25:03] it was the Mayor Wells that brought uh brought the group there and essentially

[1:25:10] as abuse is uh at a bit of an all-time high for elected officials. And actually

[1:25:15] at the recent um conference that councelor Duncan and councelor Capsner

[1:25:19] were at for the federal municipalities conference, there was a number of

[1:25:22] sessions on um how challenging that is getting across Canada

[1:25:28] and harassment and abuse are undermining uh they're undermining conversation uh

[1:25:34] and also democracy. Okay. And so we have a resolution around electrospect

[1:25:40] to try to start to shift the discourse back to you know we can we can we need

[1:25:48] to do this work in different ways and uh we need to do it in respectful ways. And

[1:25:53] so the resolution I'll read out uh is whereas democracy is healthy when

[1:26:00] everyone is able to participate fully and safely and contribute to the

[1:26:03] well-being of their community and whereas we are witnessing the

[1:26:06] dissolution of democratic democratic discourse and respectful debate across

[1:26:10] all levels of governments and in neighboring jurisdictions and whereas

[1:26:14] Ontario's mun municipally elected officials are dealing with so this would

[1:26:19] be British columbombians I guess in this case elected officials are dealing with

[1:26:23] uh increasingly hostile, unsafe work environments and facing threats and

[1:26:26] harassment. And whereas social media platforms have exacerbated disrespectful

[1:26:31] dialogue, negative commentary, and toxic engagement, which de disincentivizes

[1:26:36] individuals, especially women and candidates from diverse backgrounds,

[1:26:39] from running for office. And whereas better decisions are made when democracy

[1:26:43] is respectful and constructive and the voices of diverse genders, identities,

[1:26:48] ethnicities, races, sexual orientation, ages, and abilities are heard and

[1:26:53] represented around municipal council tables. And whereas the Association of

[1:26:58] Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities, is that the one that we

[1:27:01] would be doing it under or would it be UBCM?

[1:27:04] We're not. Okay. AVIC. Okay. um

[1:27:12] sorry uh has identified concerning trends with fewer people voting in local

[1:27:16] elections and running for municipal office and whereas in 2024 female

[1:27:21] elected representatives from across Hamilton formed a group called her um

[1:27:25] it's a Hton elected representatives which pledged to speak out against

[1:27:28] harassment and negatively negativity in politics and called on elected officials

[1:27:32] to uphold the highest standards of conduct and whereas her has launched a

[1:27:36] campaign called elect respect act to promote the importance of healthy

[1:27:39] democracy and safe, inclusive, respectful work environments for all

[1:27:43] elected officials that encourages individuals to participate in the

[1:27:46] political process. And whereas on June 5th, 2025, the Canadian Association of

[1:27:51] Feminist Parliamentarians launched a nonpartisan par parliamentary civility

[1:27:55] pledge to encourage all parliamentarians to commit to end workplace harassment

[1:28:00] and increase civility on Parliament Hill, modeled after the pledge developed

[1:28:04] in Halton by representatives of her. Now therefore be it resolved that the city

[1:28:08] of Duncan Council supports the elect respect pledge and commits to treat

[1:28:11] others with respect in all spaces public, private, and online. Reject and

[1:28:16] call out harassment, abuse, and personal attacks. Focus on debate. Focus debate

[1:28:20] on ideas and policies, not personal attacks. Help build supportive culture

[1:28:25] where people of all backgrounds feel safe to run and hold office. call on

[1:28:29] relevant authorities to ensure the protection of elected officials who face

[1:28:33] abuse or threats and model integrity and respect by holding one another to the

[1:28:37] highest standards of conduct. And that the city of Duncan Council calls on

[1:28:41] elected officials, organizations, and committee members to support the

[1:28:44] Electres Respect campaign and sign the online pledge at www.electrespect.ca

[1:28:50] CA and that this resolution, a copy of this

[1:28:54] resolution be sent to the Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities,

[1:28:59] uh, the Federation of, uh, BC or sorry, the Federation of Canadian

[1:29:02] Municipalities.

[1:29:05] Do I keep reading this? No. Okay, leave it at that. Okay, sorry, I'm reading the

[1:29:11] their from their page. Uh so that is the resolution uh that uh if we sign on the

[1:29:21] elect respect pledge that council will be adopting this evening. So is there

[1:29:25] any discussion or comment about this? Councelor Newington and then councelor

[1:29:30] caps and then councelor Dun. Yeah, I attended one of the um

[1:29:36] well, I guess they were seminars at um FCM last year and um I was actually

[1:29:44] appalled at the number of incidents across Canada of particularly female

[1:29:50] elected officials that have been harassed and threatened and bullied. It

[1:29:57] is just it's outstanding um how badly it is. So, I'm 100% behind

[1:30:03] this. Absolutely. >> Thank you, Council Caps.

[1:30:07] » Thank you. Yeah, it was really great to meet um Mayor Maryanne Me Ward from

[1:30:12] Burlington who was sort of championing spokesperson of this that uh that the

[1:30:15] mayor of Courtney brought to AVIC um and to talk to her about some of the

[1:30:19] experiences that led to this the creation of this. And I'm so pleased

[1:30:23] that it's starting to be adopted like I know I know Courtney has adopted it and

[1:30:28] uh other communities are are beginning to as well. Um, at the FCM convention

[1:30:34] recently, I went to a session not specifically on social media, but on the

[1:30:38] ways that local government can be inaccessible uh, for women and a lot of

[1:30:45] it came back to there there are lots of different things, right? It was really

[1:30:48] an interesting session actually. But the parts of it that were relevant to this

[1:30:51] were just the the vast number of elected women in the room speaking about the the

[1:30:56] amount of harassment, the severity of the harassment that they've received

[1:30:59] since being elected or that has prevented people they know from running

[1:31:02] for office. I know that locally we've seen some really heinous instances of

[1:31:06] this uh somewhat recently with members of our regional district, female members

[1:31:10] of our regional district being absolutely bullied, harassed, um people

[1:31:15] using really horrific threatening language and and slurs towards them

[1:31:18] online primarily. And so I think it's really important that communities sign

[1:31:23] on to pledges like this and stand up and take a stance and say that that's

[1:31:28] completely unacceptable and uh and pledge to conduct ourselves in a

[1:31:32] respectful manner and and call out people who aren't. So yeah, totally

[1:31:35] support >> council Duncan.

[1:31:39] Uh thank you, Madame Mayor. So more a process and procedure. um you know the a

[1:31:45] lot of the whereases referred to Ontario will that be all corrected or you know

[1:31:51] because I in the the therefore be resolved is fine. Uh but my pre my

[1:31:56] question is process and procedure we just read out a bunch of stuff that

[1:32:00] relates to Ontario. >> Yeah. Thank you uh councelor Duncan

[1:32:03] through Mayor Staples. The electrespect.ca

[1:32:07] website doesn't allow us to adapt the pledge. So it's more about signing on.

[1:32:11] Unfortunately, the wording doesn't isn't entirely universal, but it the the

[1:32:16] sentiment is there and so they're looking for signitories to the pledge as

[1:32:19] it exists on their website.

[1:32:25] Uh yeah and uh I think that you know as as over the years we've been going to

[1:32:32] more every I don't think there is a conference for the last five or six

[1:32:35] years that does not have increasingly um large sessions on and growing sessions

[1:32:41] on this type of challenge that people are facing and it's also staff it's

[1:32:45] directed at female staff often um and other staff members as well but uh

[1:32:51] predominantly what what came up was around female staff members and in other

[1:32:54] jurisdictions and I know in ours um both female and male um

[1:33:00] in some of the uh references that councilor caps is making recently and it

[1:33:05] is a it's it's a challenge people should not have to feel unsafe you know when

[1:33:09] they go to work and they should not have to be uh subject to uh to the abuse that

[1:33:14] is that is coming in it's you know it's if people don't like a decision that is

[1:33:19] made or a decision that's on the table there are respectful ways to have that

[1:33:23] discussion full stop. And so just to bring awareness to this is really

[1:33:28] important. And it's getting into election season which is making it a lot

[1:33:33] uh more aggressive and a lot worse. And we, you know, I know so many people who

[1:33:39] uh would love to join into, you know, considering running in different

[1:33:46] different areas. It just simply refuse to now because of how bad it is and

[1:33:50] because of fear around that. And so, yeah, this is important for us to make a

[1:33:55] standard and uh and it just is not there's so many better ways that we can

[1:34:02] we can uh agree to have differences and work through

[1:34:07] um to get to a better outcome. So on that note, uh all those in favor,

[1:34:17] thank you very much and thank you for bringing for uh bringing this to us as

[1:34:22] well. I know that we some of us what after we went to ABSC brought this

[1:34:26] forward and thank you staff for following it up and and uh bringing it

[1:34:29] here, Miss McMillian. Much appreciated. And so the next is that council

[1:34:33] proclaimed September 2026 as childhood cancer awareness month in the city of

[1:34:37] Duncan. Do I have a mover and a seconder for that? All those in favor? Motion

[1:34:42] carries. Thank you. And we'll move into our uh late edition, the Joint Utilities

[1:34:47] Board Sewage Treatment Plant Outfall Relocation Project Update and Union of

[1:34:51] British Columbia Municipalities Funding Risk. I will pass the floor to Miss

[1:34:56] McWilliam before I consider reading out this lengthy motion. Um over to you.

[1:35:06] » And thank you, Mayor Staples. There was recently a joint utilities board meeting

[1:35:10] that took place on June 1st. Uh at the meeting was called to consider a letter

[1:35:15] that has been received from the union of BC municipalities.

[1:35:19] They have previously made a commitment to funding $6 million towards the sewage

[1:35:25] outfall relocation project. However, the timeline and increasing costs of this

[1:35:31] project have uh caused them to ask that the project be rescoped. So,

[1:35:39] they ask the joint utilities board to consider narrowing the scope of the

[1:35:43] project within 60 days and provide an update to UBCM otherwise risk losing

[1:35:50] that funding. Now through the course of the discussion at the at the job the

[1:35:57] conversation took place around the potential of uh allocating that funding

[1:36:00] towards a a pump station or a portion of the project. However, unfortunately the

[1:36:06] cost shortfall is so great at this time that it it did not the joint utility

[1:36:11] board did not deem that to be feasible. So you have before you a recommendation

[1:36:15] coming from the board at that meeting uh suggesting that they advise UBCM that

[1:36:22] the project will not be rescoped uh and that staff be directed to

[1:36:28] continue to work to secure the balance of the funding hopefully from the new

[1:36:32] building Canada fund and to seek funding through the new building oh sorry the

[1:36:37] build community strong fund or any other applicable fund for the construction of

[1:36:41] the project. And finally, draft a letter to the province of BC and Canada for

[1:36:47] jointly to come from the mayor of North Kawich and the mayor of the city of

[1:36:50] Duncan, the board chair of the cowin valley regional district and the chief

[1:36:53] of cow and tribes to provide an update around the project funding requesting

[1:36:58] support for funding to complete the design and construction of this project

[1:37:02] to include some following points that should they be able to retain the new

[1:37:07] build Canada fund, the project we will complete the acquisition of

[1:37:13] approvals and design with the intent of requesting additional funding for the

[1:37:16] construction of the project. But if unable to uh retain the NBCF funding,

[1:37:23] then this the Joe utility board which is administered by North Kawin will stop

[1:37:28] design process.

[1:37:34] Questions?

[1:37:37] » No questions. Oh, councelor Duncan. So would this be like number four?

[1:37:45] » It's all four. So it's a bit of a long-winded one. It essentially saying

[1:37:48] that it and it's >> not going to be achievable to to make

[1:37:53] the timeline that UBCM is requiring of the joint utility board to be able to

[1:37:59] rescope the project and that in order to continue to proceed with the design

[1:38:04] work, it would require some additional funding through the new build Canada

[1:38:08] fund. So, I just think that this is just too

[1:38:14] much money. Uh, I'd have to say it's time to shelf this project. Is there

[1:38:19] some way that we can continue to investigate any alternatives? Uh, you

[1:38:26] know, as as the future comes down rather than this route that goes all the

[1:38:31] way out to the middle of Coway. >> Um, thank you. Um, to councelor Duncan's

[1:38:38] question. Maybe a few different things within the

[1:38:42] the report here is that that so item one is just addressing that that aspect of

[1:38:48] sort of abandoning that that $6 million because in order as as Paige mentioned

[1:38:51] in order to get that you got to probably spend like 11 11 to 17 to secure that

[1:38:57] one. So that's that's a pretty pretty costly ask and essentially the

[1:39:01] discussion of the GB was to really hold off and ask for greater grant funds to

[1:39:06] be able to do the whole thing as opposed to a portion of it that without the

[1:39:10] outfall doesn't doesn't really do too much. Um the next one uh item two there

[1:39:15] is around so there is six million there was two grants that were received or or

[1:39:20] approved one was the six million through UBCM and then the other was 6 million

[1:39:23] through this new build candidate fund they're just wanting conf confirmation

[1:39:27] that they continue to use that just from the design perspective just use the six

[1:39:31] million for design only and just get that as done as we can and then the

[1:39:34] items three and four are really around and if and then continue to to try to

[1:39:39] get other grants whether that's through this build community strong fund or just

[1:39:43] directly in in uh approaching the province directly as to to find it from

[1:39:48] whatever program they want to they want to come up come up with. um to the

[1:39:52] question around can we just do something else that came out there was quite a bit

[1:39:55] of discussion at the at the GB uh around that um and essentially there there's so

[1:40:02] much volume in the in the winter months that it has to go somewhere like there

[1:40:09] isn't you know any other use of it requires some sort of of marine outfall

[1:40:15] currently it's into the river and then gets to the marine outfall there isn't

[1:40:18] there's just too much volume through the winter months for it to be say for

[1:40:20] example taken on farmers fields or or reused in any fashion. So there was a

[1:40:25] bit of discussion as well around, oh well, could we reuse it? You know, some

[1:40:28] places like in in Palm Desert, Palm Springs, they actually recycle their

[1:40:32] water. Well, in order to do that, you're spending millions and millions of

[1:40:35] dollars of creating the a purple pipe system where you're piping it back into

[1:40:39] community. So also not maybe a great project, but also extremely expensive.

[1:40:44] And in order to do that, you're probably talking treatment plants or or an extens

[1:40:49] not just the distribution pipe but the actual treatment. And then none of those

[1:40:53] as as Mr. Reeds often rec brings up during these discussions is none of

[1:40:58] those addresses that sort of there's this um contaminants of emerging

[1:41:02] concern. So whether that's pharmaceuticals or whatnot that enter

[1:41:05] into the enter into our waist stream even the most advanced treatment plant

[1:41:10] you can't foresee what might come next as as a something you may not be able to

[1:41:15] treat. So you may may take it to a certain level. So that's why ultimately

[1:41:18] the best location for it to go is when it's possible is into a unfortunately

[1:41:24] into a very expensive marine outfall. So there was quite a bit of discussion and

[1:41:28] um ultimately the JB did did recommend that that that we move forward in this

[1:41:32] fashion because the project costs have ballooned

[1:41:36] from what were originally in the 20,000 20 million range to 96 million now is

[1:41:42] kind of where we're current and that and that's not even the most current. So it

[1:41:45] could be even higher at this push any so that's a a big challenge.

[1:41:50] » So 20 million to 96 million in how many years?

[1:41:53] » Oh it's been a number of years we've been at it. I'd have to look

[1:41:56] specifically to

[1:42:03] Yeah, I'd have to I'd have to email that. I'd be um pick a pick a year

[1:42:07] that's but it's it's been I mean essentially since almost since my entire

[1:42:12] time we've been talking about moving the outfall uh from the river in the

[1:42:16] conversations with couch and tribes and in the current lease agreement and so

[1:42:19] we've been certainly making as is listed in the lease best efforts to do so but

[1:42:25] the uh consult consultation process in order to have a marine outfall with a

[1:42:29] number of first nations that are um interested in in in the marine outfall

[1:42:34] was was pretty significant and it's it's still not complete entirely.

[1:42:41] » Yes, council. >> So, does that affect our lease with the

[1:42:46] couch and tribes as as you know using the river will if

[1:42:52] we put a stop to this which obviously we have to um how does that affect moving

[1:42:59] forward? >> Yeah, thanks for the question. the the

[1:43:03] lease just talks about the city and North Couch and well the JB itself which

[1:43:07] is an entity and of itself which uh we're all cauter in both CBRD and couch

[1:43:12] and tribes all cost share in it but with the lease talks about making best

[1:43:16] efforts and we're continue to do so we don't have enough funds to construct it

[1:43:20] right now it's it's just that expensive of a project so um you know it would

[1:43:26] depend on the discussions with couch and as to whether they feel like we're

[1:43:29] making best efforts and discussions around that. So,

[1:43:34] » any other questions, comments? Seeing none, I'm going to start to read this

[1:43:39] out. The council directs staff to undertake the following in relation to

[1:43:43] the joint utilities board sewage treatment plant outfall relocation

[1:43:47] project. Advise the Union of British Columbia Municipalities that North Couch

[1:43:51] and Duncan will not be rescoping the job SDP outfall relocation project in order

[1:43:56] to retain the 6 million of UBCM funding. two, continue to work to secure the

[1:44:02] balance of the new building Canada fund funding. If the NBCF funding is secured,

[1:44:08] staff will complete the design. Or B, if the NBCF funding is not secured, staff

[1:44:13] will come back to the job for recommended direction as to whether to

[1:44:16] continue or not continue to the design. Three, seek new funding through the

[1:44:20] build community strong fund or any other funding that may be applicable to fund

[1:44:24] the construction of the project. A if staff are not successful in obtaining

[1:44:29] additional funding for the construction of the project

[1:44:32] then staff will come back to the JUB for recommendation direction related to the

[1:44:36] construction phase of the project. Four, draft a letter to the province of BC and

[1:44:40] Canada for from the mayor of North Couch and mayor of the city of Duncan, the

[1:44:44] board chair of the Couch and Valley Regional District and the chief of couch

[1:44:48] and tribes to send providing an update around the project funding and

[1:44:53] requesting support for funding to complete the design and construction for

[1:44:56] this project to include the following points. A, if we are able to retain the

[1:45:00] NBCF funding, we will complete the acquisition of approvals and design with

[1:45:04] the intent of requesting additional funding to construct the project. And B,

[1:45:08] if we are unable to retain the NBCF funding, we will stop the design

[1:45:12] process. Is there a mover and a seconder for that? Any further discussion?

[1:45:18] I absolutely hate that we're here after all of these years and all of this time.

[1:45:24] I mean, I can't even imagine how many thousands of hours has been spent on

[1:45:29] this. Um, yeah, and all of the other repercussions

[1:45:33] of it. So, it is with great duress that I call the motion on this. All those in

[1:45:40] favor? Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you very much. And we'll move down

[1:45:46] to reports. Are there any council members who wish to make a report this

[1:45:49] evening? Councelor Caps. Anyone else? Councelor Duncan. Going once, going

[1:45:54] twice. Councelor Caps, over to you. >> Thank you. Um, it's been too long. We've

[1:46:00] had a meeting since the FCM, so I won't go I won't speak to that, I don't think.

[1:46:05] But, uh, the most one of the most exciting things recently was getting to

[1:46:09] take part in the amazing race cowin um, with our team for the city, Mayor

[1:46:13] Staples and Mr. Deverai, Miss McMilliam. And it was a really cool experience. 19

[1:46:18] different challenges uh, and 14 different teams, different organizations

[1:46:21] and businesses. and we got to go all over the valley and do some really cool

[1:46:24] activities and I learned about even a couple of places that I didn't know

[1:46:28] existed before. Um, and we learned that uh I'm really bad at hula hooping and

[1:46:33] Mr. Dvertai is even worse. Uh, but we're all really good at bowling. So, that was

[1:46:38] really fun. Uh, fantastic. Really cool. I'm really grateful to everyone that

[1:46:42] helped organize that and uh it was really really awesome to participate in

[1:46:45] that. Uh, interestingly enough, on a lot of the clues we were given, it said for

[1:46:49] this one you're heading back to Duncan. Uh but not a single one of the

[1:46:52] challenges was actually within Duncan's borders. So hopefully next year we see

[1:46:56] some Duncan businesses and organizations um taking parts. It was super fun. And

[1:47:00] then yesterday along with uh again Miss McWilliam and Councelor Duncan and I

[1:47:05] believe councelor Newington was there as well uh attended the Couch and Pride

[1:47:09] Society parade and festival and it was super fun, really nice, high energy day.

[1:47:15] Um, lots of uh lots of again like really cool community organizations and

[1:47:20] businesses were out supporting and individuals and families. And I thought

[1:47:22] it was really sweet because it was also uh as well as being indigenous people's

[1:47:26] day, it was also Father's Day. And I saw a couple of really sweet t-shirts of uh

[1:47:29] of some dads that were there. Things like free dad hugs and and things like

[1:47:33] that, which is really nice. So, a lot of people brought their brought their dads

[1:47:35] to Pride, which I think is very sweet and wholesome. Uh, and it was yeah, a

[1:47:39] really nice family event downtown. And what else? I think that's about it.

[1:47:46] Yeah, that's it for me. Thank you. >> Thanks, Councelor Caps. Councelor

[1:47:49] Duncan, >> thank you. Yeah, I missed the last

[1:47:51] meeting, but just a couple of points from the FCM. I went on a tour uh out to

[1:47:57] the suburbs. Uh definitely a lot of construction going on around Edmonton.

[1:48:02] Uh but I don't know if it's affordable housing. Uh people talk about affordable

[1:48:07] housing. These are town houses and condos that are starting at $500,000.

[1:48:12] So, I don't know too many people starting out that unless they've got

[1:48:16] some help or win the lottery, they're going to be able to get too much

[1:48:19] affordable housing for that price. But also on that note, the new NDP leader

[1:48:23] Avi Lewis spoke and he spoke about affordable housing. uh one of the things

[1:48:28] he said is that you know we actually the government actually has to start

[1:48:32] building the houses instead of giving the money to developers so that they can

[1:48:36] build condos like the 4600 that are sitting empty in Vancouver. Uh it's time

[1:48:43] to actually have the government assume the role as the landlord, the builder,

[1:48:47] and take care of the tenants. That's the only way we're going to get out of this

[1:48:50] mess as far as I'm concerned. Um, I also attended it was like I guess you would

[1:48:55] call it military week for me or I I was at the uh 744 aircadet squadron annual

[1:49:04] re review uh and I was also at the cadetses annual review and I was also at

[1:49:10] the army cadetses uh standard review. But it was interesting

[1:49:15] because I was a CC cadet back in like 1970 or 71 and I actually found out from

[1:49:22] going to these that I was part of the Fraser unit at the time. So because I

[1:49:26] remember that and it was nice to run into a lot of these young kids and talk

[1:49:30] to them uh about the advantages of taking taking up the education that the

[1:49:36] armed forces offered. You know uh in the past one of my uh my ex-in-law he took

[1:49:41] that and you get four years of free education. you give them three or four

[1:49:45] years back and you know away you go. So certainly something there was as usual

[1:49:50] there was two or three uh outstanding cadetses uh that won a lot of the awards

[1:49:56] but it was great

[1:50:01] on the pride parade we had I counted the booths it was 30 booths here so it was

[1:50:05] the equivalent of having another Saturday market but there was tons of

[1:50:09] people in town so >> that is so great to hear. I was really

[1:50:14] sad to miss the pride parade yesterday. I was at work on Salt Spring on and off

[1:50:19] all week uh for my day job and we were doing um something for indigenous

[1:50:25] people's day around understanding the impacts of um colonization in Canada.

[1:50:31] And so uh we were I was doing that and I could not make it back in time but it

[1:50:37] was great to see the pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

[1:50:40] And uh and one thing when after we were at FCM, I I went uh and drove the

[1:50:47] prairies, which I've never done before, and I went from Edmonton to Winnipeg.

[1:50:52] And uh one of the things that really surprised me, there was a number of

[1:50:57] things. One was though we we hear so much and kind of going back to our um

[1:51:03] earlier motion or um about respect. We hear so much negative discourse

[1:51:11] and so I sometimes think that you know the world out there is more negative

[1:51:15] than it actually is. And so when I was driving into these really tiny little

[1:51:20] places, like it's my first time going between Edmonton and and uh I've never

[1:51:26] been to Saskatchewan before, never been to Manitoba before, and there's these

[1:51:30] tiny little towns, like tiny tiny tiny little towns that I didn't even know a t

[1:51:35] a town could be that small. Um and and going into those towns and there was not

[1:51:41] one town that I went in where I did not see a pride flag or a pride banner or a

[1:51:47] pride sign. Not one town. And I would not because of the social

[1:51:54] discourse that I am exposed to. I would not have thought that. And I apologize

[1:52:00] to all of those provinces for my ignorance on that. Um, but I would not

[1:52:05] have believed that based on the things that I hear. And so I felt uh every time

[1:52:11] I would see one, I took a whole bunch of pictures of them because I was just like

[1:52:14] there's, you know, yeah, there's this comedian on SNL and I won't say exactly

[1:52:19] what he says, but because I can't here, but one of the

[1:52:24] things that he talked about uh recently was someone asked him how as a comedian

[1:52:28] did he not have a lot of rage about the world? and he's American and he well

[1:52:34] says so that's obvious I guess but he said I do he said but I'm a comedian so

[1:52:38] I get to share it that's part of what I get to do and uh and then he he said but

[1:52:45] actually he said when you when you go into some of those pockets you know the

[1:52:49] internet does a lot of good things I'm not I use it all the time I use social

[1:52:53] media all the time there's a lot of ways that it connects people it does a lot of

[1:52:57] good for the world it also has a lot it also has some negative little little

[1:53:02] dark holes you can go down. And and he said he said you he said when you go

[1:53:07] down those dark holes, he said it's like you're in you got to imagine like you're

[1:53:10] in an asylum. It's just like that it pulls you into this hatred and and the

[1:53:14] worst possible things that could happen in the world. He said but when I go

[1:53:17] travel across the states on tour, he said that are those are not the people

[1:53:21] that come and talk to me on the street. Those are not the people that is not

[1:53:24] what I hear when I'm out in the world. And it was sort of during this time that

[1:53:29] I was doing this traveling that I'd heard that and I thought about that

[1:53:33] because you know we hear we were in Edmonton for what like five or six days

[1:53:39] and there was some you know there was a lot of pride about being Canadian in

[1:53:45] Edmonton in Alberta. There's a lot of and and that's not again a lot of what

[1:53:50] we get to hear in in social media and some of those dark holes and and as I

[1:53:57] was sort of traveling through other parts of the prairies too like I the

[1:54:01] same thing was just so apparent to me that people are really um there was kind

[1:54:06] of like a doubling down almost on this pride of being Canadian which maybe

[1:54:10] that's there all the time. I don't know because I haven't been there before but

[1:54:13] it was definitely something that I heard along the way. But then also this, you

[1:54:17] know, this openness that mult like places like Winnipeg are like incredibly

[1:54:21] multicultural. I didn't know that living here. That's

[1:54:25] not what I hear. Right. And so it was just it's good to travel in our own

[1:54:29] country as much as we can, but also it's just a good reminder that, you know,

[1:54:34] there's it's easy for us to get taken taken away down to these places that,

[1:54:40] you know, are not real to everyone. And there's this whole other uh huge world

[1:54:45] and amazing people. Uh, everyone was so friendly and accommodating and I ended

[1:54:51] up having some of the most amazing experiences on that on that um that

[1:54:54] little side road trip and people were kind and generous and excited to share.

[1:55:01] Uh, I rented a car in Edmonton, but for some reason it had BC plates and I

[1:55:05] didn't know that for the first like five days and and everyone kept talking to me

[1:55:11] about being from BC and I was like, do I just look like I'm from BC? And then I

[1:55:15] realized that I had a BC place on my car. uh and and there's all this history

[1:55:21] in these spaces and and at the conference that we were at, one of the

[1:55:25] things that they kept talking about was sense of place and and all these places

[1:55:30] in that I saw are places that you know were really vibrant and alive a long

[1:55:35] time ago and are undergoing massive change and Edmonton like every city you

[1:55:40] go into it's just building and building and building and building and and so I

[1:55:45] think in the next 10 years there's going to be such a difference of the way that

[1:55:49] communities look in Canada because there's so much money going into new new

[1:55:54] builds and changing the way that the cities are. And so I really appreciate

[1:55:58] that I got to kind of go and sit in those places where, you know, that sense

[1:56:02] of place is still connected to a few decades ago. And and you can see it

[1:56:08] starting to, you know, change and new businesses and new people coming into

[1:56:11] these communities. And I don't know what it'll look like. Um, but I'm happy that

[1:56:15] I got to see what it did look like and as it's going through this transition

[1:56:18] because I think that's important. It's important for me to remember and uh and

[1:56:23] not to go down those those dark tunnels and not to let them into the rest of the

[1:56:29] world either. So that was part of my little journey

[1:56:32] down there. Um and I also at FCM again had some excellent speakers. Uh

[1:56:40] Avi Lewis from the NDP and Elizabeth May from the Green Party fantastic speakers.

[1:56:45] Uh Minister Gregor Robertson uh also spoke. He did a session on housing which

[1:56:50] was great and the uh chair Sagal and I from the regional district got to have a

[1:56:55] one-on-one for 45 minutes with um the minister about the housing needs in our

[1:56:58] area. They're investing a lot of money into infrastructure here. So it was a

[1:57:02] really productive meeting about the needs of our region, not just the city,

[1:57:06] but you know homelessness is a regional issue. It's not just our issue. And so

[1:57:10] it was good to have that um to have those connections and looking forward to

[1:57:14] some follow-ups on that. And uh and then also you know

[1:57:21] last week or just a few days ago I think there was um the premier no the prime

[1:57:27] minister was here with the premier and minister Bole and they did the uh some

[1:57:32] announcements on looking at doing something with condos around creating

[1:57:37] some sort of more affordable housing. So I'm curious to see about what that uh

[1:57:41] what that brings. And I was also got to meet with Minister Ma at the hospital.

[1:57:47] um she came to do a a site tour of the hospital again and we didn't get to go

[1:57:50] on the tour but we did get to visit afterwards and also um speak to her

[1:57:54] about some of the infrastructure needs that we have. So lots of great sort of

[1:57:57] you know those short meetings that you're not anticipating and and great to

[1:58:01] have that long with um the Minister of Housing federally. And then today I got

[1:58:06] a a message last night uh for an invite to uh go to um an event with uh with

[1:58:15] Diana Fox Carney uh which was really wonderful and I got to speak to her. I

[1:58:22] tried not to talk to her too much about the things that we have because she's

[1:58:24] not the, you know, she's not the um prime minister, but but also just

[1:58:29] curious about some of the, you know, some of her thoughts and really good to

[1:58:32] hear about some of her thoughts about uh, you know, what is happening and and

[1:58:37] what it's like from her perspective and where Canada is at from the things that

[1:58:40] she sees. So, it was really just always good to have those take those

[1:58:44] opportunities when we can to do that. And uh because we're, you know, when you

[1:58:50] again just on reflecting on my travels, we're we're huge. We're this massive

[1:58:54] country, but we're also this really small country. And so, I think that

[1:58:59] those connections are really important because they connect all of us. And some

[1:59:03] of the best times we had were the coasters, the Newfoundlanders and the

[1:59:06] Vancouver Island uh coming together to really yeah celebrate and and uh have a

[1:59:13] lot of good laughs together. So it was good good to make those those that time.

[1:59:18] So much appreciated to everyone for that. And uh with that we'll go into

[1:59:23] question period. I'm sure there's thousands of questions people have right

[1:59:26] now for us after this meeting. So now's your opportunity.

[1:59:32] I'm hearing nothing. So we'll go into close that the meeting be closed to the

[1:59:36] public under the following sections of the community charter to discuss matters

[1:59:40] related to personal information. Section 91A personal information about an

[1:59:44] identifiable individual who holds or is being considered for position as an

[1:59:48] officer, employee or agent of m of a municipality or another position

[1:59:52] appointed by the municipality. Is there a movement or second to do

[1:59:56] that? Any further discussion? All those in favor? We'll take five minutes and

[2:00:00] then we will come back and we will carry on. And thanks for all of you for being

[2:00:05] with us this evening.

Regular Council - 22 Jun 2026

Transcript