Welcome everyone to tonight's council meeting. Uh in this room we have
different views, different ways of expression, different emotional
intensities and different roads that lead to conclusions. May we combine
clarity of mind with kindness of heart. And may we be impartial without bending
to strong personalities. May we sacrifice self-interest for the good of
the whole. And may we do our work with the love and clarity of vision for the
benefit of those that we represent. And I'd like to start by saying that we are
on the unseated territory of the Quatzen people. And uh welcome our guest to our
meeting this evening. And with that, we'll call the meeting to order. Uh
introduction of late items. We have one late item, Miss McWilliam.
» Thank you, Mayor Staples. We have one late item to be included as uh number
9.3. It's the joint utilities board sewage treatment plan outfall relocation
project update and UBCM municipalities funding risk.
» Excellent. Thank you very much. So, approval of the agenda as amended to
include the late item is there remer. Any discussion? All those in favor?
Motion carries and adoption of minutes from June 8th that the minutes of June
8th be adopted as circulated. Is there a move and a secondary? Any questions,
corrections? All those in favor? Motion carries. And now we will move on to
delegations. So we have uh Neil Puckish. Am I saying your name correctly, Neil?
» Close. >> Close. Close. Mayor, it's Pukish.
» Pukish. >> Okay. Um sorry for
» for incorrectly. Uh welcome.
» Thank you. Uh good evening, mayor and council. I'm pleased to be here tonight
to along with Steven Sluida, who's on uh the television screen here from RC
Strategies to present the findings of the regional needs assessment uh review
for the recreation in the Kawajin Valley region. And before I pass it over to
Stephen or Mr. Slooa, I just want to let you know that this is a pretty big
document. I think it was about 191 pages. There's lots of information there
to digest. Um, but what we're doing right now is we're doing a bit of a road
show through the Cowin Valley. Uh, this is our last stop with the municipality
of Duncan, uh, to give the, you know, give the information to you and as well
to seek feedback. So, we've been to the CBRD board. We've gone to municipality
of North Kawichin, uh, town of Lady Smith, uh, Lake Cowin, and now here's
our final stop. So, at this time, we're gathering a lot of feedback, and we're
going to use that feedback to help inform future decisions for what the
region needs in terms of recreation facilities. uh 10, 15, 20 years into the
into the future. The good thing is is that right now things are in really good
shape. Our facilities are well prescribed and there's a big emphasis
right now on asset management. You may have heard about this uh over the last
several years, but this is something that we're focusing on. But I'm going to
hand it over to uh Mr. Sluda and he's going to walk you through the process
that we went through and I'm uh here to uh answer any questions that you may
have afterwards. >> Wonderful. Thank you very much and
thanks for saving the best to last. We always appreciate that. And uh over to
you. >> Great. Thanks uh thanks Neil and and
members of council. Can you hear me? Okay. Just want to do a quick sound
check there. >> Absolutely. Yeah.
» See some nods. Great. I'm just going to share my screen here.
And um if someone can give me a thumbs up just to confirm you can see my my
screen there, that'd be awesome. >> Great. Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Um
yeah. Well, good evening and uh and really have really excited to have the
opportunity here to to share a bit of a summary or synopsis of the recreation
needs assessment that our team undertook. So, as Neil mentioned, uh my
name is Steve Sluda. I'm a partner at RC Strategies and our firm was um retained
undertake the work on behalf of the CVRD and and all the respective partners. Um
in terms of the the presentation itself, really there's kind of three components
here. Uh first, just touching on the process we went through to develop the
needs assessment. what were some of those key inputs? How did we ultimately
land where we landed? U secondly, we'll share at a very high level and Neil
referred to the length of the document. There's a lot of detail there, so we
can't get in kind of to the the real weeds on it, but we'll share a bit of a
synopsis of some of the recommended infrastructure strategies or or
recommendations. And then, um last but certainly not least, uh answer any
questions or or comments that you might have.
Um so, the study purpose really was kind of three-fold. um first being and where
we spend a lot of our time probably about six months was assessing what
we've I guess we call the current state of regional recreation uh in the couch
valley. So that would be looking at things like trends what are the the
changes that have occurred over the last 5 to 10 years. Obviously a lot has
happened um that impacts recreation and related activities within the course of
a decade. Excuse me. Um trying to understand what some of those gaps and
high priority needs are. Ultimately, um the work was was undertaken and intended
to update the the last regional recreation strategic plan which was uh
developed in 2019 and that included a number of five-year priorities. So
obviously those priorities have um have have kind of passed uh given that we're
in 2026. So this work was necessary necessary to revisit and update some of
those priorities and and recommended focus areas. And then really at the end
of the day, um the document is there to be a resource for certainly the CVRD
board, but others as a kind of a point of reference to inform decision-m.
Um it's highlighted in the bottom on the slide there, and I just wanted to make
sure that that this was clear. The needs assessment was looking at regional
recreation. So looking at the the regionally significant facilities, kind
of the regional lens uh was put on recreation. This work was not intended
to, you know, tell the respective municipalities what their local
non-regional priorities should be. So, we recognize that all the different uh
jurisdictions, municipalities have uh their own kind of planning documents and
and that was not within the scope of our work. We're really focused on the
regionally significant facilities. So, just wanted to make sure that was clear.
Uh graphic on the screen on the right there really just shows the process we
went through to undertake the needs assessment. And so as I mentioned spend
about 6 months doing a fairly deep dive into the current state of things and and
what some of those kind of emergent gaps and needs are through research and
engagement. Uh then later uh in 2025 and early into this year kind of made sense
of all that information that we gathered and that led to the the needs assessment
draft and uh a final draft which uh we're we're presenting here uh to all
the different uh entities in the region on the left there. Um that just really
recaps that kind of bubble graphic there just recaps the uh the different inputs.
So we had a number of different engagement opportunities. So we
collected feedback from over a thousand residents through uh a statistically
representative resident survey and some other inperson engagement opportunities.
We engaged with 49 distinct community organizations and groups. So
representing a wide array of recreation, culture and other related interests
across the region. We did some analysis of facility utilization to try to
understand which of facilities are at capacity, underutilized and and so
forth. Looked at population and demographics. Looked at kind of broader
provincial, regional, national trends. Uh undertook some spatial analysis and
mapping to understand maybe where some of those g those spatial or geographic
gaps are. And then looked at benchmarking with some comparator
regions as well. So that leads us into uh kind of the
second part of the presentation here which is a summary of the
recommendations and priorities. And what we wanted to ensure that we did is um
come up with these priorities and these recommendations in a really transparent
datadriven way. So we used a three-step prioritization framework as the graphic
illustrates. So the first step in that framework was to come up with a series
of criteria uh and then weight those criteria. So um figuring out what some
of those things we can score different potential amenities and projects
against. So um those criteria, waiting them and then actually scoring in step
two all those different uh amenity types that could represent potential
priorities projects focus areas for for capital infrastructure investment. And
then step three um we use that to then apply uh some practical considerations
to come up with those strategies themselves. So sequencing resource
requirements, land and and so on. So, uh, on the following slides here, we've
put the the priorities and and the strategies into a few different buckets.
Um, but I just wanted to touch on kind of the way that we got to those
different priorities that we'll talk about on the following slides here.
So, uh, as mentioned, there's kind of three slides here that represent three
buckets of, uh, of infrastructure strategies, priorities, recommendations.
Um, Neil touched on this in in his opening remarks there. Um, sort of under
the strategies aimed at sustaining aging infrastructure. Um certainly majority of
the facilities have have been wellmaintained and you know through good
asset management practices and I'm talking about the regionally significant
facilities for sure. Um but we're suggesting in the regional recreation
needs assessment that that needs to be an overarching priority moving forward.
So certainly there's demand and and desire for a lot of new types of
facilities, new better as there always is, but really important to kind of lock
down and ensure asset management protects um the the wealth, the hundreds
of millions of dollars uh in infrastructure that already exists. So
that's kind of an overarching recommendation there. In terms of
specific focus areas for that reinvestment, certainly the existing
arenas that exist across the region, um the two existing aquatics facilities,
the two pools, community programming spaces, and there's a variety of those,
the sports plex, and then the Kouchin performing arts center. So, those real
key uh infrastructure spaces need to make sure that they're sustained again
through good asset management practices to to sustain those service levels and
ensure they're available for residents to enjoy moving forward.
Um the the next bucket of uh strategies here are looking at some of those bigger
longer term potential investments or what we've turned kind of termed kind of
the next generation of regional facilities. So uh a few that we just
wanted to touch on here. The first being looking at arenas or or ice arena ice.
Um so the the strategy uh here uh that is recommended in the needs assessment
is to look at working towards one to two new ice sheets by 2040. So about a
15-year kind of outlook and ideally doing that as part of a multi-heet
facility. So there's there's kind of economies of scale. Um and also just
programmatic benefits by having multi- sheet arena facilities. They can share
mechanical systems. They can support tournaments better. So we haven't
exactly said where or how this should occur. Um but we've kind of opened the
door for some further uh review of how that could occur. Is it adding a second
sheet onto an existing facility? Is it looking at eventually um scaling down
operations at an existing facility when it's at end of life and building a new
double arena? Um so those approaches would need to be further refined through
through subsequent work, but ultimately looking over the long term to have a
multi- sheet facility um that delivers one to two new sheets of ice incremental
to what already exists. Um second bullet there. Um so we've suggested doing some
concept planning and cost validation for a third regional indoor aquatics
facility to serve the south. Obviously, a lot of uh growth is occurring in the
south part of the regional district. Um so, not suggesting that that gets built
and and or approved and built uh in the near future, but just doing a bit of an
update to uh some of the previous planning that's been done in terms of
what that type of facility could be. Is it a small pool? Is it a medium pool?
What's the cost to both build and operate that? So, that's a strategy
recommended around aquatics. Um third point there um looking at options for a
smaller scale performing arts venue um to complement the the current one. Um
the current facility is obviously a great facility but it's quite large and
it's not really well suited to u providing kind of basic community
program space uh or performing arts space for some of those smaller
functions dance groups community theater and so on. So we've identified um as a
strategy to look at options um for that space and that space being a priority.
Um and then lastly, you know, as or if some of these majunities
to meet other needs that we've identified through the recreation needs
assessment. So a few of those space needs that we've flagged as being
warranting further consideration is gymnasiums, indoor walking tracks, and
fitness spaces. So, you know, as new arenas or a new pool uh gets considered
and potentially developed, looking at opportunities to kind of tack on or tag
on some of these other amenities that are part of the last bullet there on the
screen. And then the last bucket here um is just
some additional strategies um more focused on kind of trends monitoring and
further validating needs moving forward. So the previous slides kind of uh
identify strategies around um needs that have been kind of validated or amenities
that are are sort of validated as priorities moving forward. There's a few
other facility types that require a little bit more exploration. Um the
first bullet there refers to looking at pickle ball um and undertaking either a
feasibility study or developing a regional pickle ball strategy to explore
kind of a major regionally serving pickle ball site. So something that
could um kind of fulfill that need across the region and you know through
that planning work identify you know is pickle ball even something that we want
to include in the regional cadre of of regionally significant facilities or is
it best left to the individual communities to provide. Um so that that
planning work would kind of answer that question and also sort of cost out or
potentially validate the broader need for kind of that major you know 12 16 30
court size facility that could be kind of a a tournament draw for the region.
Um the second point there um Couchin Sportslex. So there's a number of
investments that we've suggested warrant some further consideration. Um, one
would be potentially covering the existing sports blocks there to get more
full season use out of that and and potentially meet some of the needs for
for dry floor space. Uh, and then also looking at improvements to the the
natural surface infield um that is uh inside the track. So the track needs to
certainly be replaced, but there's opportunity to to squeeze a little bit
more usage out of that natural surface field as well um through some potential
improvements. Things like improving the surface, drainage, um lighting it
potentially as well. So um these are ultimately a few things that require a
bit more review, a bit more exploration. And then lastly again highlighted in red
to kind of bring some emphasis to it overall uh just improving data
collection man data collection and management approaches across the region.
So when this work's done again in whenever that is 5 or 10 years there's
even more data to draw from um particularly with things around
spontaneous or casual use um things that are a little bit harder to track. So
always a chance to have more data to make more informed decisions. So, we
just wanted to highlight that as well and appreciate the time and and
listening through that and and happy to take any uh comments or questions that
you might have. >> Excellent. Thank you so much for that.
Are there any questions from council or comments?
No, I see no hand raised. Thank you for answering all of our questions about
what the future might need. I Yeah, the two ice sheets. Is there would those be
in South Couch? I you mentioned that not necessarily, but would does that kind of
lean towards making the most sense? >> Yeah, through the mayor. Yeah, great
question. Um, we we haven't specified exact location or the delivery approach
for those. We we but we kind of looked at it with a regional a regional lens
there as well. So, that would be something that would need to be further
reviewed in terms of kind of where and how um we just kind of looked at it
broadly as as the need for that many sheets across the the Kawichin Valley.
Excellent. Thanks. And I appreciate the pickle ball conversation. I know that
that brings out more people to council meetings than almost anything else. So,
» no doubt. Yeah. >> Yeah. Thanks very much. All right. I
see. >> Thank you.
» Thank Thanks very much for your report and for the work that you're doing and
there's no questions. So, we will move right along.
And we are over to you, Mr. Diverti. >> Thank you, Mayor Staples.
Uh just an update. Uh the Coronation Avenue bike lanes still just a few
deficiencies left to be addressed. The pedestrian activated crossing lights
have been installed at Coronation and Era and there is now also a pedestrian
crosswalk ahead sign up at the top of the Coronation Hill. The Canon Avenue
complete streets progress uh complete streets project sorry is progressing and
the speed reader board has been installed on street to address some of
the concerns around uh speeding through that detour. RCMP have also been up to
Alley Street where they have issued another number of fines and RCMP tell us
that they'll they'll be attending again periodically throughout the construction
detour to try to keep those speeds down. We do have the potential to add some
other traffic calming measures as well. The couchway traffic signals a good
update there. The new timing signals by Ray have been approved by the traffic
engineer and in the coming weeks we'll be implementing those. The lights will
then finally after many many years utilize the actual traffic loops and and
decrease time allocated to a particular leg if that of the intersection when
that traffic is actually light for that leg. So uh no longer would you see say a
25-second uh green light when there's only two cars going through. So that
should improve traffic through through there and we'll obviously watch as we've
not had we've had a few hiccups as we've tried to implement this in the past. So
hopefully this one goes w without hiccups.
update on the 261 263 Third Street project. As council is aware, you
approved a rear parcel line setback variance on June 8th. So that's uh and
that's as because the applicant has revived their revised their proposal now
seeking approval for a five-story 17 unit uh residential building which was
intended to be a strata. And so as a result of that, they no longer require a
zoning by amendment. So the next step for them is to uh revise their
development permit application drawings and resubmit those to city staff for
review and consideration of approval. And lastly, the 2026 property tax
deadlines uh approaching very quickly. That deadline is coming up on June 2nd.
So we need to get everyone to get their property tax notices uh paid up and as
well uh if you have a home or grant need to get that uh signed off on for the
province as well. Any questions, please contact city hall at 7466126 or just
email taxes duncan.ca. Thanks.
» Why thank you. Are there any questions for Mr. Dvert about his report?
Councelor Newington, go ahead.
» 50 Coronation. I had an opportunity to drive past that
location and with the unit that is planned to go in there. Is there going
to be enough parking for that? Like it's kind of a keyhole.
» Yeah, at this point we don't have a lot of details on the conceptual drawings,
but uh I believe an underground parkade was was intended.
» Thank you. Any other questions for Mr. Dvertai?
Seeing none, uh, that council receive the June 2 or 20 22nd 2026 report of the
chief administrative officer for information only. There's a mover and a
seconder. All those in favor? Motion carries. Thank you very much for your
report tonight. We'll move to invite Miss Hodins up for the accessibility
plan.
Thank you, Mayor Staples. So, this report presents the 2026 accessibility
plan. Uh, under the Accessible BC Act, the city is required to review and
update its plan at least once every three years, and the city adopted its
first accessibility plan in July of 2023.
Um, the city's accessibility advisory committee reviewed progress on the 2023
plan last year and made additional recommendations at that time to improve
accessibility of city services. A draft of this 2026 plan was presented to the
committee on May 4th of this year which in included those recommendations and at
that time the committee made some further recommendations which have now
been incorporated into the plan before you. Um so and one of the key items that
the committee raised um at the last meeting was to include our accessibility
for businesses brochure in the uh business license notices annually. So
that's something that's been incorporated that's new from the last
plan. So, this plan reports on accessibility improvements over the past
three years and sets a list of actions to work on until the next review period
in 2029. Thank you. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. Are
there questions for Miss Hodins about the plan at all? Comments? Council,
anyone, would you like to say anything about it?
» Well, I just wanted to thank Miss Hodins. She's worked very diligently
with the committee on this. And the other thing is that we are going to do
be doing a walkabout through the city to identify any issues that um the city can
manage and bring up to date. So um we're probably going to do that in July, I
would think. And but once again, thank you so much for all your help.
Thank you. Will you invite council to that as well? Will you invite council to
the >> Absolutely.
» Wonderful. Excellent. Thank you. Uh so that council adopt the 2026
accessibility plan as reviewed and amended by the accessibility advisory
committee on May 4th, 2026. A mover and a seconder for that motion. Any further
discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries. And again, yes. Thank you very
much for all your work on that, Miss Hogins. And we're going to move over to
the temporary use permit application for 610 Trunk Road, otherwise known as the
village. And we are going to welcome Mr. Young up to the microphone.
Thank you, Mayor Staples. This is a temporary use permit application for 610
Trunk Road.
The purpose of the temporary use permit is is to authorize the village
supportive housing project um that exists on the site now to continue for
an additional three-year term from December 31st of this year to December
31st of 2029. And the village uh supports up to 40 unsheltered people and
up to 40 modular sleeping units.
In terms of a a brief history, so the temporary use permit was first
authorized uh by council in December of 2021 uh
with the uses beginning in in January 2022. The site has been in operation
since that time. Uh the current temporary use permit expires at the end
of this year. Uh the proposed uh new TUP would which
would be the fourth temporary use permit for the site would authorize the uses
for an additional three-year term. Uh the couch and housing association was
the original applicant for for the village site uh with Lookout Housing and
Health Society as the operator and Lookout is still the operator of the
site today. Um, one thing that's changed is that uh rather than CHA or Lookout
being the applicant under previous TUPs, BC Housing is now the applicant for the
new TUP and the the extension is proposed to be funded under the homeless
encampment action response temporary housing or hearth program
uh with Lookout continuing as the operator.
The site is zoned high density residential. That's the brown color. Uh
the pink areas are the highway corridor commercial zoning to the west. And then
uh to the east is medium density residential zoning. The air photo on the
right you can see the the pods. Uh this is a relatively recent air photo. So you
can see the the site isn't currently in operation. It's outlined in yellow.
few site photos from from Trunk Road back towards the site. It's uh
surrounded by a security or or safety fence with a a netting material.
This is the entry way to the site.
Uh this is from the sidewalk along Trunk Road looking um east towards the site.
This is the the parking lot on the commercial properties behind the
village. And just another another image. So the
the grass area are properties um um single family residential properties
zoned highway quarter commercial that frontal to Dobson road.
Uh the proposal is to revitalize the site uh under a new three-year term
which includes renovating and replacing some of the existing units.
um potentially adding an indoor amenity space for the residents,
a new fenced perimeter. So, uh my understanding is is um the uh metal
safety fence with that fabric material would be replaced with a more durable uh
fence around the perimeter of the site as well as additional lighting and
cameras for site security. Um, of note, the previous TUPS included
a commitment for broader neighborhood walks by lookout staff and peer-to-peer
outreach. Um, unfortunately, uh, the Hearth program does not fund
neighborhood security or security offsite.
the the temporary use permit and we'll talk about that a little bit more on the
next slide, but the temporary use permit includes the letter of intent, a letter
of commitment which which includes um a number of commitments by BC Housing U
but again unfortunately does not include um neighborhood security
as part of the application. Uh staff referred the application to the RCMP.
Um, and I just wanted to to read a brief summary. This is my summary of of the
information that was provided by the RCMP in response to this application.
Uh, so since its opening in 2022, the RCMP has seen an increase in call
volumes within a oneb block vicinity of 610 Trunk Road beginning in 2024 and
2025. With the primary issues in the area
being unwanted persons, mental health calls, bylaw issues, assaults, and
missing persons. 610 Shrunk Road, the subject property is the primary call
generator in the area, but the number of calls at the site has generally remained
stable since 2022, since the site's opening,
except for a spike for call uh in 2025.
Um so based on the feedback from uh from the RCMP and uh you know based
on our observation that the increase in calls for service seems to coincide with
a reduced presence in the broader neighborhood staff feel that those
neighborhood and peer-to-peer walks um are an important part of the success of
the village.
Um as the long-term plans for the property have not yet been determined.
um staff are supportive of the new TUP subject to adding neighborhood security
checks as an as as a condition of the TUP.
Now, the staff recommendation is that council amend the temporary use permit
for 610 trunk road by adding the following condition. The site operator
must conduct neighborhood security checks within a 60 meter radius of the
land with the nature and frequency of the security checks to be determined in
consultation with the city's bylaw compliance department and approved by
the city's chief administrative officer and that council issue the temp permit
as amended.
» Thank you. Are there questions for Mr. Young at this time? Council
Newington, >> is there somebody here from Lookout that
is going to speak to this? Okay. And um what about BC Housing?
» BC. >> Your BC housing.
» Okay. Yeah. It's just um I feel that um I and probably a lot of the neighbors
need some sort of guarantee um that the patrols are going to be
done. this I mean this was one of the things that we said right from the very
beginning that needed to be done in the area and it was done and it improved the
area. Um there was garbage cleaned up. I had people that lived in the area coming
to me and saying it's never been as clean as what it is since they moved in.
So it's wonderful. Um but it seems to have fallen kind of downward in the last
little while. And before I can support this, I would like to have some
guarantees from both BC Housing and from Lookout that these patrols are going to
be done regularly daily in the evening when people are trying to settle in.
Thank you. >> Anyone else from council?
Seeing no other questions, did you have something? Councelor Duncan, go ahead.
» Thank you. uh your worship. Um I live within about 200 meters of the facility.
Um quite often when I'm driving by, if I see people there, I contact our CEO. Um
if I drive by a couple of times and they're still there after half an hour
or so, then I get concerned. I'm living in the area. I recognize that in
probably 90% of the cases, these people don't live in the village and it's about
moving them on. uh we you know we've set up a a facility there so that we can
provide shelter for unhoused people uh you know it's time for the I think for
the police to start doing something more and I think that uh you know as
councelor Newington said at the beginning it was great I actually had
people come up to me and apologize uh after you know arguing with us here in
the meetings about giving the initial first permit so uh but I have noticed as
someone that lives very close by that there seems to be more people hanging
around. So that I think requires uh uh more frequent uh patrols.
» Thank you. Anyone else? All right. Pardon me.
Okay. Um so the next up >> Oh, sorry. I did not see that cow or
sorry, Mr. Young. Go ahead. >> Thank you, Mayor Staples. I should have
mentioned this before, so I'm happy to answer any questions the council has on
the technical aspects of the TU, but BC Housing and Lookout are here and may
wish to to speak to their proposal as well.
» Excellent. Thank you. So, next up I have um Naomi Brunmeer, is that correct? And
Jennifer Fox, both from BC Housing. And then following that is um uh Shane
Williams from Lookout. So, we'll have an opportunity to ask questions of BC
Housing first, though. So, welcome. >> H welcome. Uh, thank you so much for
having me. I'm uh somewhat new to the role of regional director for Vancouver
Island and I've uh really enjoyed working collaboratively with your staff
uh and getting to know your community. Uh and uh I want to congratulate you on
your trailblazing with the village. Uh I can tell you the envy of many other
communities around the tiny village concept and uh I just wanted to
congratulate you on taking that brave initiative and that step. What the
temporary use permit extension is is um offering is a renewal of the entire
asset. So you may know that um BC housing uh only provided operating
funding to the first phase of the um the village. Uh the units were already
created and donated by the cow and housing association.
um they've uh maybe uh had some wear and tear over the last uh several years and
uh when we did a site tour, we felt that it was time for us to renew um the
village and so our proposal is actually to renew um the entire village. Uh we
wanted to keep it open to say renovate or or renew. Uh but based on our
findings, we feel that um it's just best for us to start with a clean slate and
to actually uh renew each of the 34 units knowing we have that expansion
room under the temporary use permit up to 40 uh which could be an ongoing
conversation. And so we wanted to make sure um that BC Housing was the
applicant to the temporary use permit. We wanted to have a relationship
directly um with the city of Duncan as opposed to through our operator. And so
that's why there's been a shift. Uh, and that's also um the content of the letter
of commitment that um Kyle spoke to is is talking about our intentions. So,
we're the funer and we have expectations of our operator. And so, that's how we
structured it this time is to make sure that we have a government-togovernment
relationship. So, we've um started the process of the procurement for the
modulars to update the site. Um there is approval in hand for funding both from a
capital and operating side. And so that's why we need this necessary step
to do that that investment is to extend that temporary use permit as it was
stated by Kyle uh PRC. So that's the BC housing landowning arm. We own the site
uh and we currently um don't have have uh a concrete plan for what that
redevelopment looks like and we feel that this model has been successful in
this community and that we wanted to continue to um house folks in this this
model and in this manner at this location. Uh we have since um opened the
uh White Road supportive housing facility uh also operated uh by the same
team and uh have been seeing moveins and tenanting uh increase uh in the last few
weeks and are intending to definitely create a positive flow from the village
for those people who would like to move on. So trying to create a broad range of
housing options in your community. Um I'm also joined by so I'm on the
development side. um I do the building and the construction and I pass the keys
over to my lovely colleague um Jen Fox who's the regional operations manager.
So I'm going to pass it to her to speak more about the operating model and what
we can and can't make commitments around around the hearth funding. Um and then I
know that Shane is here as well. He's the CEO of Lookout um who can speak um
from an operations perspective as the on the ground folks and of course you
probably know better than I do um your local team here from Lookout. Lee and
Elliot. >> Thank you. And I I do believe the White
Road site is not operated by a lookout. It's operated
» connective. >> Yeah, connective. That's okay.
» Thank you for the correction. Hi everybody. I am still the regional
director of Vancouver Island region uh for BC Housing, not the regional office
manager, but thanks Naomi. Uh thank you everybody for the opportunity to be here
tonight and have this conversation about uh T renewal for the village. Uh we're
joined by Shane Williams, who's the CEO of Lookout, who will provide uh more
information and context with respect to the boots on the ground work that's
happening. But I just wanted to touch on the uh draft letter of commitment. It's
state's intentions by BC Housing to work with the city to partner to continue to
operate the village. Uh the province is providing the funding through the
homeless encampment action response temporary housing fund. And that funding
allows for a certain staffing level. It allows for the meals and it allows for
other services to be provided. It does not provide funding for neighborhood
security. So that's not part of the program. However, Lookout operates a
peer program where they partner with their tenants who are interested in
doing volunteer work for an honorarium to have that site cleanup for a
neighborhood um being a good neighbor. And so I'll turn that over to you,
Shane. >> Thank you. Uh welcome Mr. Williams.
» Thank you your worship and thank you to my BC Housing colleagues for the intro
and uh and setting the stage. Uh and thank you m council for uh hearing us
out on this and considering uh the temporary use permit extension. Um just
a couple of things. Um uh you know first and foremost uh the province
reinvestment in this project really speaks to the success and the fragility
of the people at the at the site that are getting good ongoing support um from
our local team and the staff that we employ uh to to do this service on a
day-to-day basis. It's true um that uh in the last year we have had some
difficulty uh with the perimeter walks um largely to do with a union grievance
um that um uh uh that was uh brought forth by one of our staff members um who
were was participating in the walks on a regular basis and noted that it was
outside of their current job um job description. uh and uh having people
doing the checks uh that the way the way that they were um was actually uh taking
away supports from the site um uh and taking them off site. So that was
causing some duress and some some some challenge for some of the staff uh at
the at the job site itself. I can say quite a bit about uh this application uh
but from the BC housing perspective uh the renewal of the units uh the indoor
amenity um fencing lighting cameras all speak to security all speak to uh staff
capability and function uh will which will go much higher as a result of of
these um um um really great supports. um the peer program that Jen was talking
about. Um there is a lot of interest um and and you know we're looking at trying
to expand that to uh to um um bring the neighborhood um um back to a spot where
they be clear support. Uh you know much of the ongoing operational challenges at
the site are a little bit outside of the scope of what Lookout can do um um you
know through the village operations alone. um you know you've seen uh uh a
little bit of a different approach to civic uh camps um and and and
interventions on those camps which is displaced people I think in the
community uh a little bit differently than before. Uh and uh you've also seen
um an a different approach um from Kouchin tribes on the indigenous uh
folks that may be struggling on reserve uh and them no longer being on reserve
has actually put a lot of lot more pressure I think on all of the
operations of the various uh um nonprofits in in the community. Um and
we're hopeful that you know White Road um as it's tened it up um and other
amenities and and and future BC housing projects and potentially um you know the
uh uh uh uh this project reaching its its 40 um um uh uh occupancy and um uh
and a renewal of the of the temporary use permit. We are we are we are
anticipating that we're going to see some some some um um uh return to the
the trust that the organization and and that the tenants of the village had
earned from the from the greater uh community uh uh area.
Um I appreciate the council I think was councelor to Tom that talked a little
bit about the police role in um um uh the congregation in front of the
village. Um it is really hard for um uh you know a staff member uh that has very
little leverage um very little um uh control over somebody saying I'm not
moving and you can't make me move and there's nothing that you can do about
that. Um there's really not a lot more our team or that can be expected of our
team. Um calls have increased at the site because
we we're calling for help and people aren't moving along when prompted. Uh
and so that can cause um you know this notion that it's there's more unsafety
in the community um when really we're just trying to um live up to uh the
expectation of the community which is to try to bring down the congregation of
people outside the site. Um so so that I think has put a little bit more um maybe
duress on our on our policing partners um as does uh the missing persons. And
so you noted in in the report from staff that the missing person's uh data uh um
was was noted as as as part of the police calls. Um that that's something
that our team would regularly report a missing person's uh if if they haven't
if if if a tenant of the village hadn't been at um um their uh uh pod in the
last 24 hours um we get concerned about them. uh they are vulnerable um in some
cases live al alternative lifestyles. It's important that we're flagging that
this person is missing and that we need to reconnect with them. So we will use
our local police so that you know the police who often know some of the folks
that that live at the village. Um we'll keep an eye out for them uh and that we
together can make sure that that individual safe in our community. Uh
again, this this can lead to inflated um um data from from local RCMP and other
policing across the province, and we've noted this in our other other projects.
Uh and just something that I think council needs to be um uh mindful of or
at least understand uh um before um you know uh uh casting a vote in in the TUP.
Um I think I've addressed uh questions so far, but I'm open to anything else
people might have. Thank you. Are there questions right now
for either Mr. Williams or Fox? Councelor Caps, go ahead.
» Thank you very much and thank you for coming tonight. I'm really pleased to
hear about this like really tangible investment like really it sounds like
really understanding and appreciating how important this is. And so so to have
that investment in the renewal is is really exciting. I' I've been a huge
supporter of this project from the very beginning. And so it's yeah, I'm just
I'm grateful that you're here tonight. Um, I'm just cur I just had a a couple
of questions and I'm not sure exactly who it would be for, but in I'm just
reading through the letter here and when it says um ensuring the housing operator
conducts perimeter checks between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. to support community
safety, monitoring, and cleanliness in their surrounding neighborhood, what
exactly would you say does a perimeter check involve? And where does it take
place? Is it on the property only? Is it just outside? How far? And then I have a
couple other follow-ups after. Thank you.
through the chair. Um what we are able to offer is uh in partnership with
Lookout, we are exploring additional FTE resources. So Shane spoke to some of the
um limitations through the collective agreement and so looking at having
another position that is responsible for providing leadership for the pre peer uh
peer organization that comes to do those patrols. There's also the opportunity
that we've been in discussion about with connective as well as with uh Squamo
operations about some kind of larger peer group that could be doing this
together. In terms of what we can expect from the perimeter checks is is really
about a few things. First, it's making sure that we're not handing out
resources to people who don't live at the village. So, discouing discouraging
people from coming. It's looking at a guest policy to prevent foot traffic
from coming in and out of the current village. We're also looking at
repositioning the front gate area. So that's that um staffed booth would move
forward where the entrance is. We'd have the new fence and more importantly, we
would be working together with Lookout to have more honorarium funding to be
able to provide through that volunteer work to discourage people from
congregating. And so to Shane's point, Lookout doesn't have the ability to
enforce uh make people leave the sidewalk that is technically city
property. However, there's an opportunity to share resources. Hey, you
can find something over here. You could maybe get a sandwich over here or
something like that to redirect people to other resources within community and
discourage that congregating. Those are just a few things.
» Thank you. Thanks. I really appreciate that. And I do really um I appreciate
the emphasis as well on the the the peer-to-peer interaction. I think these
relationships are are really important. I think helping people connect with
residents and and and so I I I really appreciate that aspect of it. I'm
curious whether any other similar projects or any projects through
this funding or similar funding through BC housing. Have any in other
communities found any ways to in addition to these fantastic, you know,
peer-to-peer initiatives? Um, have there been any other, you know, creative
solutions to get around this? There's no funding for,
you know, security. There's no funding for for things in the neighborhood. I
understand in in certain cases, absolutely. there's union restrictions,
but have there been for any other projects, have there been any other
creative ways that that has been able to be addressed? Because I think I'm I'm
hearing from my colleagues that that's something that's quite important is to
just get a commitment at this stage in the TUP. And I understand why, you know,
for a number of reasons, not just for the residents in the neighborhood, but
also maintaining that positive relationship in the community. I I I
really worry sometimes when you know over the past few years seeing instances
of violence against unhoused people the the sort of discrimination and and you
know I think having a a positive relationship and a and a positive idea
of uh of the of the area of the facility is really important and for the safety
as well because what yeah again like what we're talking about is it's not
you're not able as as staff working on the site at the facility to control
people who are outside but nearby due to the nature right so how Can we look
outside of that immediate staff who's there trying to provide those really
critical services to people that can look out for the safety as well of the
the residents that are there as well as the overall well-being of the immediate
neighborhood. Anyway, sorry, long-winded way to say, have there been any
instances in other communities where BC housing operators have been able to find
ways to fund something similar to what we're asking for?
» Thank you for the question through the chair. um we have seen great
partnerships happen and so in some cases directly with uh operator NBC housing we
look to get creative and so the example that I would share is what I was I I
said previously which is we have the opportunity to provide some additional
funding to look out to have additional FTE resources to be able to oversee this
type of program um not fully full-time but part of that role could include this
type of work and also providing an increase so they can do that honorarian
And the other piece I would say and Shane can speak more more to this, but
there is the homelessness response leadership table in Kawachin right now.
And so we do have the opportunity through that table to have conversations
as partners about how we do this together. And so what that could look
like is partnering with um Couchin Housing Association or with outreach
partners or with BC Housing's own encampment response team to be able to
partner on how we address specific issues. So, it's one thing for Lookout
uh not to be providing resources to people who aren't living at the site and
to encourage people with a handout or information to be able to go seek
services elsewhere, but really about partners coming together in community.
We've seen that work where outreaches together and different service providers
and talking about the resources we collectively have in a community and how
we can deploy or allocate those where the emerging need is. And so, that's
what we've seen work as well. And I believe that the for the first few
years that the village operated that is what was done. We were sort of a
template for that in the region. Is that am I correct um Shane on that? That's
that was something that we did but then funding started to shift and change
around and now what we're asking what I'm hearing is that we're moving back to
reimplementing that model in a in a more robust way with staff hours that you're
talking about to go towards that. So it is something that we did do as as part
of the beginning of this for a number of years. So am I hearing that correctly?
» Absolutely. Mayor Staples, you are hearing that correctly. We would love to
um bring it back to that. You will remember that the table had applied um
um for peer funding um through other other means. Um and so we had some
one-off grants that were that were augmenting peer service for a long time
and certainly we've missed that. Um um the other thing I think that's so
important to note is as there are different approaches to uh the
homelessness within the region and that people are are are kind of um uh
disrupted in maybe how they would have camped rough before or stayed on on
couch and land. Um folks folks are they're figuring out a
new pattern. Uh, and it's really important that we um uh continue to work
alongside our tenants and residents who feel somewhat sometimes a little guilty
for for having um um a pod uh and and and and living within the village when
some of their friends are still very rough on the streets. Uh and so they um
um will sometimes um you know try to support their friends on the streets by
bringing them you know some of the sandwiches from the site. Um um and and
we have to educate and and make sure that they understand that if you do this
more will come uh and the impact on the community is hard and and it's um um you
know people don't always put their refuge in in the buckets and and and
that kind of thing. And so um you know reminding the tenants and educating the
tenants and letting them know here here are the decisions we'd like you guys to
make and here's why. Um it does take a while sometimes to change some of those
some of those behaviors. Sure. Can I just say something to that? I I
think too that that's one of the things with the village that we have managed to
do as a community as well uh is to recognize that you know there is going
there are times where we have to relook at things and we have to reimagine
things and we have to the ch everything is changing around us and it sounds like
we're you know back on that road again and and so um I I believe that when we
do presentations about this one of the things that we talk about all the time
is the the ability to you know to not do things well and but address those needs
and address those changes so that we know everything isn't always going to
run smoothly. As you know, Shane has pointed out the community has changed.
We've seen that. I've seen that everywhere. And so, uh, but it it is
important for us to pick that up and, you know, make sure that we're
addressing that. And that is what I'm hearing uh being spoken today and being
shared today. And I for one am, you know, really grateful to hear that
because it is, as we've said throughout this whole process to to all of you at
BC Housing, um to the to the province, that's such a core component of making
this successful. And so I just wanted to add that while we were on topic and I'm
going to pass it back to um councelor Caps.
» Absolutely. Thank you so much. So just looking at the amendment that's been
proposed here, just I'll just read it out. It just says that the site operator
must conduct neighborhood security checks within a 60 meter radius of the
land with the nature and frequency of the security checks to be determined in
consultation with the city's bylaw compliance department and approved by
the city's chief administrative officer. And I'm not sure if perhaps this is a a
question for Miss McMilliam or Mr. But just does it sound as though based
on the discussion that we've just been having about um some of the possible
ideas or the ways that that could look. Does it sound as though
it doesn't sound to me as though this amendment would prohibit these
discussions? It sound actually like we're quite on a similar page in terms
of what we're looking for. Um does it sound as though those types of
discussions and things that are being had would be that's what we're trying to
be able to have with with having this amendment if that makes sense?
Thank you through Mayor Staples to councelor Caps. We had a similar
discussion at a staff level about what exactly the um the language around
perimeter checks that was included in the letter of commitment meant. And our
our concern is that um exactly as you raised, our hope was that the there
would be a commitment made to ensuring that the congregation that has from time
to time occurred adjacent to the site would be addressed even if it was just
past the perimeter of the of the location. So the 60 meters would bring
us around the site where we have been from time to time encountering some
issues and the hope there is that a conversation could occur and people
could be encouraged to to relocate and if that's not successful of course
there's a willingness and an interest in providing support and hoping to see the
site continue to succeed. So, um, yeah, I think what has been included as an
amendment to the temporary use permit aligns well with what's being discussed
around a peer patrol um or arrangement and whether that's specific only to this
site or whether that's something that could be carried out for all of the the
support sites that are in the community that would that would also align. I
think >> have another question another followup
» sort of line. So, thank you but but go ahead council caps. Um, thank you so
much through the chair to Miss McWilliam. So, yeah, in my mind, this
this amendment uh is not overly prescriptive. I think that what it is
asking for is very reasonable and and not misaligned with the discussion we've
been having tonight. Um, and I think I I really do I really want to support this
um this renewal, this this application. I really want to support it. Um, and I
think supporting it as amendment as as amended here, the staff recommendation
allows uh staff and BC housing and the operator and everyone to work together
to come up with something that's going to work well for the residents of the
village, the the neighborhood, and uh the broader community and all the
organization. So, I yeah, I plan to uh vote in favor of this, but I'll let
everyone else speak before I start moving things over here.
Uh, councelor Duncan.
We'll go to councelor Newington was first I believe.
» I just have a question about um when you're going to be move um putting in
new pods. So you're doing it on like four or five pods at a time. Is that
what you're doing? Okay. I just didn't want to have all those people without
their home. We're definitely going to be taking
advantage of some of the tenanting to White Road to be able to create a little
bit of vacancy and then move through the pods as we Yeah, absolutely. We don't
want to accomplish that that either. >> Thank you, Council McKinley.
» Regarding the fencing and the security and the lightings, so if you're putting
in a new fence, is it going to be a gated community now or is it going to be
open? because you said you're moving the office forward to closer to the street
side. So I just question that way and the security would be cameras on all
corners. Correct. >> Uh thank you for the question. So we are
still working through with the operator to make sure that what we're proposing
doesn't limit the ongoing operations of the site. So that is one of the
questions around the gate um having it open for staff vehicles to come in etc.
So we are still working on that. We're currently um sourcing for another
project a gate that has the ability to roll. Uh so certainly um going to have
that conversation with Lookout and the placement of the cameras is going to be
based on where we move the pods in the amenity space. So absolutely the point
of putting in cameras would be able to have maximum visibility as well as
lighting. So we're also going to um I think move the position of the fence. I
think there was a request to to move it slightly. So we have the opportunity to
do that. that was brought up by uh by uh city of Duncan staff and I believe
Lookout also supports the movement of the fence. So there's going to be a
couple of tweaks in that sense too and plus some of the fencing interior to try
to create a little bit of a sense of community sort of separate the groups of
pods together. So lots of different combination of things um that we're
happy to continue to work with your staff on as we establish them.
» Excellent. Thank you. Is there any other questions? No. Councelor Duncan,
» thank you your worship. Um, so if I understand correctly and I heard you
correctly, there is some money for an FTE that would work with the peers. Is
that correct? >> BC Housing and Lookout are having a
conversation about what additional FTE hours can be added to the site to be
able to provide that support. >> Yeah.
» Okay. And uh um one more. So what is the process? Because right next door to the
village was the old youth center and when I drive by I usually see three or
four people laying on the ground uh doing drugs. uh what is your your
procedure if when you go if you happen to run go out at the time do you tell
them move on or do you say we're going to phone the police or we're going to
phone the bylaws or you know uh the other thing I was wondering is is there
some way for um lookout to assume what I I think you get permission from a
property owner to move people along we similar to what we did at the ENN
so is there some way that you guys could say you know work with the property
owner that's complaining that people are out there all the time to get
enforcement faster >> through the chair. So, Lookout's being
contracted by BC Housing to operate the village. And so in terms of moving
people along who are sheltering or gathering in front of a private business
or another building, that's not what we're contracting Lookout to do. But we
are interested in having a community conversation together with service
providers about what we can do together to provide support. I just I just want
to respectfully manage expectations for what Lookout will be able to do and
where we need to put some um boundaries in terms of the expectation that they'll
be doing all the things related to homelessness in Duncan. Really, if we're
seeing people who are gathering outside the area of the village where it's
located because maybe they're trying to come and talk to their friends or they
were here last time and their friend gave them their lunch. But it's really
about lookout referring people to other resources that are available in
community and just discouraging people from gathering in large groups. So I'm
just Yeah, it would really be about that conversation with community and service
providers and outreach partners on how we're looking after people who are
actually living outside. >> Yeah,
» thank you. >> Yeah, if I may add to that. Um uh yes.
So if they are tenant um uh uh councelor Tom if they're if they're if they're
tenants of the village uh and we can identify that they're tenants of the
village then it gets into a larger educational piece a conversation. Hey
listen how do you think the neighbors feel about that? How do you think the um
you know the the the businesses next to us um uh you know do do you think that
that's a good positive kind of community element? Um and and and you know we
these conversations sink in for the tenants and we've got you know lots of
leverage and lots of ability to educate and help people that are living at the
site. That's you know and that's our focus and that's exactly what BC Housing
wants us to be doing. Um you know we've had conversations with with the the the
um neighbor directly beside us. Uh one of the big reasons why people were
congregating was the shade of the trees um and and people wanting to be around
those trees. Um, and we had talked about, you know, expanding the fence to
go around those trees. Um, and and that that neighborhood didn't want that to
happen. Um, um, you know, we've tried to be a bit more proactive. There seems to
be some hesitancy there to um, uh, look at, you know, a larger uh, uh, solution
to some of those ongoing issues. Um um but you know what I think we normally
see through our through our through our checks uh through our perimeter checks
are people that that that we're not familiar with or that we have some
rapport with. Uh and our approach would look like this. Hey, how you doing
today? Um yeah, you know, this is private property. Uh you know, you're
not supposed to be here. Um you know, can you pack it up and you know, can you
head head on down to um you know, uh warmland? You know, the local shelter is
just down this way. Sometimes people don't know. So you want to give them uh
resources. I think what what Jen's um what BC Housing is uh uh um suggesting
is that we you know um um work with other providers and have you know some
resources that we can hand to somebody to help them on their journey um to to
wellness whatever that looks like but it can't be where you're currently at. Um
and then that can be met with okay yeah no problem I'll be gone and they're gone
in 2 minutes. or can be met with uh some hostility and some you know we don't
have to listen to you and you know some harsh words in which which case our
staff would typically back off and make a phone call to um um um you know our
our our policing partners if it was folks in danger um you know maybe uh
ambulance if somebody was overdosing and and you know we had given an oxen and
they're up again um you know because he did say that they were using drugs um uh
or maybe bylaws um if you know that they're uh um if if they have capability
to help us in that moment. So um there'd be you know we go run through the list
of of folks that maybe be able to help but um uh uh you know and that's met
with you know some success and sometimes it takes a while for you know our our
policing partners are busy on other things and so not they don't always get
there. So you might see those same people hanging there a half an hour or
45 minutes later. Um, and that's usually around a local capacity.
» Yes, I am definitely supportive. I just see this as let's nip this in the bud,
as they say, before it gets to be uh Lewis Street issue.
» Uh,
Stacy, I just lost my mind.
» Thanks. Um, yeah, I appreciate, uh, everything that's being presented. Um,
and I'm kind of in a unique position, um, having worked front lines for many
years. Um, and you know, I often think back to when I first started out in the
in my work and um, you know, you're like a heart, you know, advocating for your
clients are homeless and you want the, you know, and all those things and I see
it every day in my work. um where I think staff just sometimes
either they're they just don't have the training or it's not leadership doesn't
bring that forward where like they don't understand their whole focus is on their
clients and um they don't always understand
the whole concept of like making sure that the neighborhood
is happy in order to have this site. and how that helps people that live there.
And so I think sometimes there's um sometimes
I know there's a lot of that conversation also with the clients that
live at the village and um you know a lot of them take ownership for for that
place and I know we used to always hear stories about them helping out neighbors
and taking you know lots of things great stories have come out of there. Um,
yeah. I think just on top of and I get that you're you're going to come up
against people that don't want to move and all those things, but I think
sometimes it just comes down to if the staff have a really good understanding
at all the le levels of staff around um, you know, what kind of what we're asking
for and what why it's important because you don't you don't unless you're in
this work or in your you know, land work, you don't always know those
pieces. and you're just like hardcore wanting to help your clients and and so
that piece gets forgotten or they don't know about it. So it's always like oh by
the city or RCMP like they're the bad guys but really they're just like a we
have a kind of a difficult seat too where we're trying to we want to support
this because we know it's doing a great thing for the people that are living
there and at the same time we're also responsibility responsible to the rest
of the community and so we have to in some kind of balance. Of course, we
can't say there's never going to be anyone outside the gate waiting for
somebody or whatever, right? It's going to happen time to time, but it's just
overall, I think if the staff have a better understanding
of those pieces and like why that's important. Um, then I think that that
would go a long way.
» Thank you. Anyone else? No. Okay.
Thank you uh everyone for um for your presentation. Is there anything else
that any of the presenters would like to say at this point in time?
No. Okay. And so now if there's anyone here who believes that their interest
may be affected, um this is the opportunity for you to come up to the
microphone. Do I have to do it three times?
Three.
There's different procedures for different things. So, I just wanted to
make sure. Okay. So, I'm not seeing anyone else um come up to the
microphone. And I just would like to just make a comment about this before I
read out this very lengthy motion. Um, but
I know that the people that are here recognize the the value of the village
and what it brings to the people who are there and also to our community and how
it's changed. And I also really want to um thank you all for all of the work
that you've done and for all of the hurdles that you've all overcome through
this process. We've had some pretty intense conversations over the last how
many years has it been now? Five years. uh at multiple times in multiple stages
of this. Some of them have not gone well. Um but I believe that they've all
they've but we've gotten through all of those and this has not been easy. It's
breaking ground on something that's different and and and I really just want
to thank everyone for going through that because it's not easy. These
conversations are not easy to our staff as well. you. Our staff has done an
incredible job um at addressing this and going above and beyond uh to to ensure
you know to ensure that we're we're even though things can be struggle sometimes
that we're trying to figure out a way to to have solutions instead of just saying
you know what forget it we're not doing this. There's so many times along the
line that that could have happened and we persevered and people figured out
ways of having different conversations and figured out ways of different ways
of advocating and um and our council has brought multiple motions to UBCM around
this and I've been very proud to be a spokesperson on behalf of this all
across the country and uh and and it's those and and one of the things that I
always go back to is that this is not something that is simple. It is has to
be, you know, there there's always going to be things that we have to overcome
and deal with. And it's how we do that. And we don't always do that, you know,
we do that to the best of our ability at the time, but we definitely um continue
to move forward with this. And so I'm just grateful for everyone and to our
council who continues as well um to and to our community members that support
this. Right. But council, you've been huge advocates and leaders in this and
and that people talk to me about that all the time too when I'm presenting in
different communities because it is not easy in these seats to make decisions
that are super unpopular sometimes and come at a real cost in lots of in lots
of different ways in our lives. But I'm just proud of us for car carrying on
this path and um and continuing to to be willing to stand in this. And so just
thanks to everyone for everything we've done up to this point.
And now I will read out this very long motion. Actually, it's not that long.
I'm being dramatic. It's been a long week.
I know. I think this is my 17th day in a row. So
it's uh always just one one uh run-on week for me lately. So that council
amend temporary use permit number TUP 2026 for 610 trunk road by adding the
following condition. Uh 10. The site operator must conduct neighborhood
security checks within 60 meter radius of land with the nature and frequency of
the security checks to be determined in consultation with the city's bylaw
compliance department and approved by the city's chief administrative officer.
And that trunk that no and that council issue temporary use permit number TUP
2026014610 Trunk Road as amended to facilitate the
temporary accommodation of up to 40 unsheltered people in up to 40 modular
sleeping units for a three-year term beginning December 31st, 2026 and ending
December 31st, 2029. Do I have a mover and a second for this motion? Is there
any further discussion on this motion? Seeing no hands, all those in favor?
Anyone opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you all again so much
for all the work that you do in our community and all the work you've done
um on this. We'll just give everyone a moment
before we carry on to our agenda.
Thanks Shane. Oh, he's gone. That was too fast. Okay, so Miss Crosman for the
annual report. Thank you, Mayor Staples. So you have in
front of you the 2025 annual report. All the departments at the city have a hand
in creating this report for the previous year. It's legislated by the community
charter that it be received by council before June 30th of each year. And um we
can go through it page by page if you'd like. I'm just
kidding. There's 138 pages.
» Happy to take any questions if there are any.
» Thank you. Are there any questions for Miss Crossman about the report?
There's no request for her to read out every page. No. You have a question now?
» Yeah. >> Okay. Go.
» Didn't we win an award for this report or did we want we won an award for your
financial work this year, right?
Guys, we have won awards for the previous 14 years in a row. We haven't
won an award for this one yet because it hasn't been submitted, but I'm confident
that we will.
Oh, sorry. It's over to me, isn't it? That was it. All right. I was expecting
more than that. Okay. Okay. The council received the 2025 annual report is
attached uh from the director of finance.
All those in favor? Motion carries. And statement of financial information. That
must be you again, Miss Craftman. >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor Staples. So, this
again is a legislative requirement that the city prepares a statement of
financial information uh must be completed by June the 30th.
So this um records a schedule of debts of which we
have none. Schedule of remuneration and expenses for elected officials and for
employees. A schedule of severance agreements and
suppliers of goods and services of which we've paid over $25,000.
And then the approval and the financial statements. So, this is just on for uh
approval by council.
Any questions for Miss Crossman? I see no hands. So, the council approved
the 2025 statement of financial information as attached to the June
22nd, 2026 report by the director of finance. Move in a second. All those in
favor? Motion carries. And we'll move now to the December field booking fee
reduction for the Couch and Valley Football Association.
And that one is over to Miss Mc William. Miss Crossman, you're off the hook for a
moment.
Thank you, Mayor Staples. We have received a request from the Cavan Valley
Football Association for a reduction on their invoice from December of last
year. Um there was a a mistake made around the field booking and they did
inadvertently did not cancel cancel their December field usage times. Uh
they fully recognized that the process was just there was a learning curve
involved and they just needed um they were unfortunately did not communicate
with us on on their end around the cancellation.
Um, we given that it was December, it it is
very unlikely that there were other user groups that were intending to use it, we
didn't leave the field lights on. Um, they've
made sure that they've made a commitment to following the process going forward.
So, over to you for consideration. All right. Are there any questions about
this one? So, the council reduced the Couch and Valley Football Association's
December 2025 field booking fees from $1,1949
to $989. Recognizing that the booked field time was not used. Is there a
mover and a seconder? Any discussion? All those in favor? Motion carries.
Strategic plan actions. And that is over to Mr. Dvertai.
Thank you, Mayor Stipples. Um, so a bit of an update. I won't go through the
entire uh entirety of the update report, but uh just for for reminder that the
items or the actions that are complete have been listed in black. items that
are on track or or largely now complete are less than in green and actions that
are somewhat behind uh are on the scheduleled as uh as orange. So maybe
I'll just highlight a couple of there's actually been a number of uh items over
the last uh 6 to 12 months that have progressed quite quite significantly.
Not the least of which uh more recently is the initiation of the boundary
realignment study that's been on council strap plan for well over 10 years now.
Uh some good progress on the heritage program now approved. The Canada Avenue
complete streets project is now well underway. The Cornation uh Queens bike
lanes are are now um largely complete and we made some good good progress very
recently on the items such as the Transcatter Highway landscaping plan.
Unfortunately, that won't be in a position to construct those until those
improvements until the fall, but it's just definitely um moving moving along
in and some good progress in a lot of projects in the last um in the last
while. So, happy to answer any questions.
» All right. Are there any questions for Mr. Dvertai at this time? I don't see
any hands up. You're getting off easy tonight. The council received the June
uh 2020 Why do I keep saying that? the June 22nd, 2026 strategic plan action
status update report for information only. Mover and a second. All those in
favor, everyone put their hands up all at once. All right. Thank you very much.
And now back to you, Miss Crossman, for the climate action report for 2025.
Thank you, Mayor Staples. As you can see, I've been doing a lot of reporting
work for the previous year. This most uh recent report is concerning the city's
emissions and the commitment to being carbon neutral. And so I've um listed
out here the emissions that we've done from our direct services as well as the
emissions from contractors that we've hired to do infrastructure projects in
the city and calculated that we would need to purchase 300 offsets in order to
be carbon neutral. slightly higher than some previous years. Couple reasons for
that. Um the the first one is that the province has changed the calculation of
how much emissions uh the use of hydro is worth. Um I don't
know a lot about how they calculated but it has somewhat to do with um water use
and the needing to get hydro from outside of the country. Um so this is a
a year that they've calculated that hydro is worth more emissions. So that
has brought our totals what would have been under the old calculations we would
have had 156 emissions we this year we have 193 and that's mostly because of
that change. Uh and then we our contracted services have also increased
and that's just attributable to the uh capital projects that we did last year.
We had some big ones. Um so we're looking for direction from council to
purchase 300 carbon credits at an approximate cost of 9,450.
and staff are again recommending the um Great Bear car forest carbon project as
the project that is closest to home. >> All right. Is there any questions?
Councelor Newington, go ahead. >> Um I do have one question. So the people
that we have contracted with the city um do is there some sort of restriction for
how much do they buy carbon credits as well or do we have that in in our policy
of hiring somebody? Uh, no, we don't have that in our
policy, but we just we have in our um when we hire them, we state that they
will need to submit to us a calculation of how many liters of fuel they used,
both diesel and gas, while doing the project. And then the city then counts
those as our emissions. But we don't um state that they have to be carbon
neutral themselves.
Fantastic. No other hands. So, the council received report climate action
plan report 2025 dated June 22nd, 2026 for information only and the council
direct staff to purchase 300 carbon credits at an approximate total cost of
9,450 to be funded from local government
climate action program reserve. Mover and a seconder. Any more discussion? All
those in favor? Motion carries. Thank you very much for that. and we're going
to move on to new business. Um, so we have the elect respect pledge. I'm not
sure if everyone's had a chance to read that, but at the uh annual Vancouver
Island and Coastal Communities Conference, they had a table there. Um,
it was the Mayor Wells that brought uh brought the group there and essentially
as abuse is uh at a bit of an all-time high for elected officials. And actually
at the recent um conference that councelor Duncan and councelor Capsner
were at for the federal municipalities conference, there was a number of
sessions on um how challenging that is getting across Canada
and harassment and abuse are undermining uh they're undermining conversation uh
and also democracy. Okay. And so we have a resolution around electrospect
to try to start to shift the discourse back to you know we can we can we need
to do this work in different ways and uh we need to do it in respectful ways. And
so the resolution I'll read out uh is whereas democracy is healthy when
everyone is able to participate fully and safely and contribute to the
well-being of their community and whereas we are witnessing the
dissolution of democratic democratic discourse and respectful debate across
all levels of governments and in neighboring jurisdictions and whereas
Ontario's mun municipally elected officials are dealing with so this would
be British columbombians I guess in this case elected officials are dealing with
uh increasingly hostile, unsafe work environments and facing threats and
harassment. And whereas social media platforms have exacerbated disrespectful
dialogue, negative commentary, and toxic engagement, which de disincentivizes
individuals, especially women and candidates from diverse backgrounds,
from running for office. And whereas better decisions are made when democracy
is respectful and constructive and the voices of diverse genders, identities,
ethnicities, races, sexual orientation, ages, and abilities are heard and
represented around municipal council tables. And whereas the Association of
Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities, is that the one that we
would be doing it under or would it be UBCM?
We're not. Okay. AVIC. Okay. um
sorry uh has identified concerning trends with fewer people voting in local
elections and running for municipal office and whereas in 2024 female
elected representatives from across Hamilton formed a group called her um
it's a Hton elected representatives which pledged to speak out against
harassment and negatively negativity in politics and called on elected officials
to uphold the highest standards of conduct and whereas her has launched a
campaign called elect respect act to promote the importance of healthy
democracy and safe, inclusive, respectful work environments for all
elected officials that encourages individuals to participate in the
political process. And whereas on June 5th, 2025, the Canadian Association of
Feminist Parliamentarians launched a nonpartisan par parliamentary civility
pledge to encourage all parliamentarians to commit to end workplace harassment
and increase civility on Parliament Hill, modeled after the pledge developed
in Halton by representatives of her. Now therefore be it resolved that the city
of Duncan Council supports the elect respect pledge and commits to treat
others with respect in all spaces public, private, and online. Reject and
call out harassment, abuse, and personal attacks. Focus on debate. Focus debate
on ideas and policies, not personal attacks. Help build supportive culture
where people of all backgrounds feel safe to run and hold office. call on
relevant authorities to ensure the protection of elected officials who face
abuse or threats and model integrity and respect by holding one another to the
highest standards of conduct. And that the city of Duncan Council calls on
elected officials, organizations, and committee members to support the
Electres Respect campaign and sign the online pledge at www.electrespect.ca
CA and that this resolution, a copy of this
resolution be sent to the Association of Vancouver Island Coastal Communities,
uh, the Federation of, uh, BC or sorry, the Federation of Canadian
Municipalities.
Do I keep reading this? No. Okay, leave it at that. Okay, sorry, I'm reading the
their from their page. Uh so that is the resolution uh that uh if we sign on the
elect respect pledge that council will be adopting this evening. So is there
any discussion or comment about this? Councelor Newington and then councelor
caps and then councelor Dun. Yeah, I attended one of the um
well, I guess they were seminars at um FCM last year and um I was actually
appalled at the number of incidents across Canada of particularly female
elected officials that have been harassed and threatened and bullied. It
is just it's outstanding um how badly it is. So, I'm 100% behind
this. Absolutely. >> Thank you, Council Caps.
» Thank you. Yeah, it was really great to meet um Mayor Maryanne Me Ward from
Burlington who was sort of championing spokesperson of this that uh that the
mayor of Courtney brought to AVIC um and to talk to her about some of the
experiences that led to this the creation of this. And I'm so pleased
that it's starting to be adopted like I know I know Courtney has adopted it and
uh other communities are are beginning to as well. Um, at the FCM convention
recently, I went to a session not specifically on social media, but on the
ways that local government can be inaccessible uh, for women and a lot of
it came back to there there are lots of different things, right? It was really
an interesting session actually. But the parts of it that were relevant to this
were just the the vast number of elected women in the room speaking about the the
amount of harassment, the severity of the harassment that they've received
since being elected or that has prevented people they know from running
for office. I know that locally we've seen some really heinous instances of
this uh somewhat recently with members of our regional district, female members
of our regional district being absolutely bullied, harassed, um people
using really horrific threatening language and and slurs towards them
online primarily. And so I think it's really important that communities sign
on to pledges like this and stand up and take a stance and say that that's
completely unacceptable and uh and pledge to conduct ourselves in a
respectful manner and and call out people who aren't. So yeah, totally
support >> council Duncan.
Uh thank you, Madame Mayor. So more a process and procedure. um you know the a
lot of the whereases referred to Ontario will that be all corrected or you know
because I in the the therefore be resolved is fine. Uh but my pre my
question is process and procedure we just read out a bunch of stuff that
relates to Ontario. >> Yeah. Thank you uh councelor Duncan
through Mayor Staples. The electrespect.ca
website doesn't allow us to adapt the pledge. So it's more about signing on.
Unfortunately, the wording doesn't isn't entirely universal, but it the the
sentiment is there and so they're looking for signitories to the pledge as
it exists on their website.
Uh yeah and uh I think that you know as as over the years we've been going to
more every I don't think there is a conference for the last five or six
years that does not have increasingly um large sessions on and growing sessions
on this type of challenge that people are facing and it's also staff it's
directed at female staff often um and other staff members as well but uh
predominantly what what came up was around female staff members and in other
jurisdictions and I know in ours um both female and male um
in some of the uh references that councilor caps is making recently and it
is a it's it's a challenge people should not have to feel unsafe you know when
they go to work and they should not have to be uh subject to uh to the abuse that
is that is coming in it's you know it's if people don't like a decision that is
made or a decision that's on the table there are respectful ways to have that
discussion full stop. And so just to bring awareness to this is really
important. And it's getting into election season which is making it a lot
uh more aggressive and a lot worse. And we, you know, I know so many people who
uh would love to join into, you know, considering running in different
different areas. It just simply refuse to now because of how bad it is and
because of fear around that. And so, yeah, this is important for us to make a
standard and uh and it just is not there's so many better ways that we can
we can uh agree to have differences and work through
um to get to a better outcome. So on that note, uh all those in favor,
thank you very much and thank you for bringing for uh bringing this to us as
well. I know that we some of us what after we went to ABSC brought this
forward and thank you staff for following it up and and uh bringing it
here, Miss McMillian. Much appreciated. And so the next is that council
proclaimed September 2026 as childhood cancer awareness month in the city of
Duncan. Do I have a mover and a seconder for that? All those in favor? Motion
carries. Thank you. And we'll move into our uh late edition, the Joint Utilities
Board Sewage Treatment Plant Outfall Relocation Project Update and Union of
British Columbia Municipalities Funding Risk. I will pass the floor to Miss
McWilliam before I consider reading out this lengthy motion. Um over to you.
» And thank you, Mayor Staples. There was recently a joint utilities board meeting
that took place on June 1st. Uh at the meeting was called to consider a letter
that has been received from the union of BC municipalities.
They have previously made a commitment to funding $6 million towards the sewage
outfall relocation project. However, the timeline and increasing costs of this
project have uh caused them to ask that the project be rescoped. So,
they ask the joint utilities board to consider narrowing the scope of the
project within 60 days and provide an update to UBCM otherwise risk losing
that funding. Now through the course of the discussion at the at the job the
conversation took place around the potential of uh allocating that funding
towards a a pump station or a portion of the project. However, unfortunately the
cost shortfall is so great at this time that it it did not the joint utility
board did not deem that to be feasible. So you have before you a recommendation
coming from the board at that meeting uh suggesting that they advise UBCM that
the project will not be rescoped uh and that staff be directed to
continue to work to secure the balance of the funding hopefully from the new
building Canada fund and to seek funding through the new building oh sorry the
build community strong fund or any other applicable fund for the construction of
the project. And finally, draft a letter to the province of BC and Canada for
jointly to come from the mayor of North Kawich and the mayor of the city of
Duncan, the board chair of the cowin valley regional district and the chief
of cow and tribes to provide an update around the project funding requesting
support for funding to complete the design and construction of this project
to include some following points that should they be able to retain the new
build Canada fund, the project we will complete the acquisition of
approvals and design with the intent of requesting additional funding for the
construction of the project. But if unable to uh retain the NBCF funding,
then this the Joe utility board which is administered by North Kawin will stop
design process.
Questions?
» No questions. Oh, councelor Duncan. So would this be like number four?
» It's all four. So it's a bit of a long-winded one. It essentially saying
that it and it's >> not going to be achievable to to make
the timeline that UBCM is requiring of the joint utility board to be able to
rescope the project and that in order to continue to proceed with the design
work, it would require some additional funding through the new build Canada
fund. So, I just think that this is just too
much money. Uh, I'd have to say it's time to shelf this project. Is there
some way that we can continue to investigate any alternatives? Uh, you
know, as as the future comes down rather than this route that goes all the
way out to the middle of Coway. >> Um, thank you. Um, to councelor Duncan's
question. Maybe a few different things within the
the report here is that that so item one is just addressing that that aspect of
sort of abandoning that that $6 million because in order as as Paige mentioned
in order to get that you got to probably spend like 11 11 to 17 to secure that
one. So that's that's a pretty pretty costly ask and essentially the
discussion of the GB was to really hold off and ask for greater grant funds to
be able to do the whole thing as opposed to a portion of it that without the
outfall doesn't doesn't really do too much. Um the next one uh item two there
is around so there is six million there was two grants that were received or or
approved one was the six million through UBCM and then the other was 6 million
through this new build candidate fund they're just wanting conf confirmation
that they continue to use that just from the design perspective just use the six
million for design only and just get that as done as we can and then the
items three and four are really around and if and then continue to to try to
get other grants whether that's through this build community strong fund or just
directly in in uh approaching the province directly as to to find it from
whatever program they want to they want to come up come up with. um to the
question around can we just do something else that came out there was quite a bit
of discussion at the at the GB uh around that um and essentially there there's so
much volume in the in the winter months that it has to go somewhere like there
isn't you know any other use of it requires some sort of of marine outfall
currently it's into the river and then gets to the marine outfall there isn't
there's just too much volume through the winter months for it to be say for
example taken on farmers fields or or reused in any fashion. So there was a
bit of discussion as well around, oh well, could we reuse it? You know, some
places like in in Palm Desert, Palm Springs, they actually recycle their
water. Well, in order to do that, you're spending millions and millions of
dollars of creating the a purple pipe system where you're piping it back into
community. So also not maybe a great project, but also extremely expensive.
And in order to do that, you're probably talking treatment plants or or an extens
not just the distribution pipe but the actual treatment. And then none of those
as as Mr. Reeds often rec brings up during these discussions is none of
those addresses that sort of there's this um contaminants of emerging
concern. So whether that's pharmaceuticals or whatnot that enter
into the enter into our waist stream even the most advanced treatment plant
you can't foresee what might come next as as a something you may not be able to
treat. So you may may take it to a certain level. So that's why ultimately
the best location for it to go is when it's possible is into a unfortunately
into a very expensive marine outfall. So there was quite a bit of discussion and
um ultimately the JB did did recommend that that that we move forward in this
fashion because the project costs have ballooned
from what were originally in the 20,000 20 million range to 96 million now is
kind of where we're current and that and that's not even the most current. So it
could be even higher at this push any so that's a a big challenge.
» So 20 million to 96 million in how many years?
» Oh it's been a number of years we've been at it. I'd have to look
specifically to
Yeah, I'd have to I'd have to email that. I'd be um pick a pick a year
that's but it's it's been I mean essentially since almost since my entire
time we've been talking about moving the outfall uh from the river in the
conversations with couch and tribes and in the current lease agreement and so
we've been certainly making as is listed in the lease best efforts to do so but
the uh consult consultation process in order to have a marine outfall with a
number of first nations that are um interested in in in the marine outfall
was was pretty significant and it's it's still not complete entirely.
» Yes, council. >> So, does that affect our lease with the
couch and tribes as as you know using the river will if
we put a stop to this which obviously we have to um how does that affect moving
forward? >> Yeah, thanks for the question. the the
lease just talks about the city and North Couch and well the JB itself which
is an entity and of itself which uh we're all cauter in both CBRD and couch
and tribes all cost share in it but with the lease talks about making best
efforts and we're continue to do so we don't have enough funds to construct it
right now it's it's just that expensive of a project so um you know it would
depend on the discussions with couch and as to whether they feel like we're
making best efforts and discussions around that. So,
» any other questions, comments? Seeing none, I'm going to start to read this
out. The council directs staff to undertake the following in relation to
the joint utilities board sewage treatment plant outfall relocation
project. Advise the Union of British Columbia Municipalities that North Couch
and Duncan will not be rescoping the job SDP outfall relocation project in order
to retain the 6 million of UBCM funding. two, continue to work to secure the
balance of the new building Canada fund funding. If the NBCF funding is secured,
staff will complete the design. Or B, if the NBCF funding is not secured, staff
will come back to the job for recommended direction as to whether to
continue or not continue to the design. Three, seek new funding through the
build community strong fund or any other funding that may be applicable to fund
the construction of the project. A if staff are not successful in obtaining
additional funding for the construction of the project
then staff will come back to the JUB for recommendation direction related to the
construction phase of the project. Four, draft a letter to the province of BC and
Canada for from the mayor of North Couch and mayor of the city of Duncan, the
board chair of the Couch and Valley Regional District and the chief of couch
and tribes to send providing an update around the project funding and
requesting support for funding to complete the design and construction for
this project to include the following points. A, if we are able to retain the
NBCF funding, we will complete the acquisition of approvals and design with
the intent of requesting additional funding to construct the project. And B,
if we are unable to retain the NBCF funding, we will stop the design
process. Is there a mover and a seconder for that? Any further discussion?
I absolutely hate that we're here after all of these years and all of this time.
I mean, I can't even imagine how many thousands of hours has been spent on
this. Um, yeah, and all of the other repercussions
of it. So, it is with great duress that I call the motion on this. All those in
favor? Any opposed? Motion carries. Thank you very much. And we'll move down
to reports. Are there any council members who wish to make a report this
evening? Councelor Caps. Anyone else? Councelor Duncan. Going once, going
twice. Councelor Caps, over to you. >> Thank you. Um, it's been too long. We've
had a meeting since the FCM, so I won't go I won't speak to that, I don't think.
But, uh, the most one of the most exciting things recently was getting to
take part in the amazing race cowin um, with our team for the city, Mayor
Staples and Mr. Deverai, Miss McMilliam. And it was a really cool experience. 19
different challenges uh, and 14 different teams, different organizations
and businesses. and we got to go all over the valley and do some really cool
activities and I learned about even a couple of places that I didn't know
existed before. Um, and we learned that uh I'm really bad at hula hooping and
Mr. Dvertai is even worse. Uh, but we're all really good at bowling. So, that was
really fun. Uh, fantastic. Really cool. I'm really grateful to everyone that
helped organize that and uh it was really really awesome to participate in
that. Uh, interestingly enough, on a lot of the clues we were given, it said for
this one you're heading back to Duncan. Uh but not a single one of the
challenges was actually within Duncan's borders. So hopefully next year we see
some Duncan businesses and organizations um taking parts. It was super fun. And
then yesterday along with uh again Miss McWilliam and Councelor Duncan and I
believe councelor Newington was there as well uh attended the Couch and Pride
Society parade and festival and it was super fun, really nice, high energy day.
Um, lots of uh lots of again like really cool community organizations and
businesses were out supporting and individuals and families. And I thought
it was really sweet because it was also uh as well as being indigenous people's
day, it was also Father's Day. And I saw a couple of really sweet t-shirts of uh
of some dads that were there. Things like free dad hugs and and things like
that, which is really nice. So, a lot of people brought their brought their dads
to Pride, which I think is very sweet and wholesome. Uh, and it was yeah, a
really nice family event downtown. And what else? I think that's about it.
Yeah, that's it for me. Thank you. >> Thanks, Councelor Caps. Councelor
Duncan, >> thank you. Yeah, I missed the last
meeting, but just a couple of points from the FCM. I went on a tour uh out to
the suburbs. Uh definitely a lot of construction going on around Edmonton.
Uh but I don't know if it's affordable housing. Uh people talk about affordable
housing. These are town houses and condos that are starting at $500,000.
So, I don't know too many people starting out that unless they've got
some help or win the lottery, they're going to be able to get too much
affordable housing for that price. But also on that note, the new NDP leader
Avi Lewis spoke and he spoke about affordable housing. uh one of the things
he said is that you know we actually the government actually has to start
building the houses instead of giving the money to developers so that they can
build condos like the 4600 that are sitting empty in Vancouver. Uh it's time
to actually have the government assume the role as the landlord, the builder,
and take care of the tenants. That's the only way we're going to get out of this
mess as far as I'm concerned. Um, I also attended it was like I guess you would
call it military week for me or I I was at the uh 744 aircadet squadron annual
re review uh and I was also at the cadetses annual review and I was also at
the army cadetses uh standard review. But it was interesting
because I was a CC cadet back in like 1970 or 71 and I actually found out from
going to these that I was part of the Fraser unit at the time. So because I
remember that and it was nice to run into a lot of these young kids and talk
to them uh about the advantages of taking taking up the education that the
armed forces offered. You know uh in the past one of my uh my ex-in-law he took
that and you get four years of free education. you give them three or four
years back and you know away you go. So certainly something there was as usual
there was two or three uh outstanding cadetses uh that won a lot of the awards
but it was great
on the pride parade we had I counted the booths it was 30 booths here so it was
the equivalent of having another Saturday market but there was tons of
people in town so >> that is so great to hear. I was really
sad to miss the pride parade yesterday. I was at work on Salt Spring on and off
all week uh for my day job and we were doing um something for indigenous
people's day around understanding the impacts of um colonization in Canada.
And so uh we were I was doing that and I could not make it back in time but it
was great to see the pictures. Thanks for sharing them.
And uh and one thing when after we were at FCM, I I went uh and drove the
prairies, which I've never done before, and I went from Edmonton to Winnipeg.
And uh one of the things that really surprised me, there was a number of
things. One was though we we hear so much and kind of going back to our um
earlier motion or um about respect. We hear so much negative discourse
and so I sometimes think that you know the world out there is more negative
than it actually is. And so when I was driving into these really tiny little
places, like it's my first time going between Edmonton and and uh I've never
been to Saskatchewan before, never been to Manitoba before, and there's these
tiny little towns, like tiny tiny tiny little towns that I didn't even know a t
a town could be that small. Um and and going into those towns and there was not
one town that I went in where I did not see a pride flag or a pride banner or a
pride sign. Not one town. And I would not because of the social
discourse that I am exposed to. I would not have thought that. And I apologize
to all of those provinces for my ignorance on that. Um, but I would not
have believed that based on the things that I hear. And so I felt uh every time
I would see one, I took a whole bunch of pictures of them because I was just like
there's, you know, yeah, there's this comedian on SNL and I won't say exactly
what he says, but because I can't here, but one of the
things that he talked about uh recently was someone asked him how as a comedian
did he not have a lot of rage about the world? and he's American and he well
says so that's obvious I guess but he said I do he said but I'm a comedian so
I get to share it that's part of what I get to do and uh and then he he said but
actually he said when you when you go into some of those pockets you know the
internet does a lot of good things I'm not I use it all the time I use social
media all the time there's a lot of ways that it connects people it does a lot of
good for the world it also has a lot it also has some negative little little
dark holes you can go down. And and he said he said you he said when you go
down those dark holes, he said it's like you're in you got to imagine like you're
in an asylum. It's just like that it pulls you into this hatred and and the
worst possible things that could happen in the world. He said but when I go
travel across the states on tour, he said that are those are not the people
that come and talk to me on the street. Those are not the people that is not
what I hear when I'm out in the world. And it was sort of during this time that
I was doing this traveling that I'd heard that and I thought about that
because you know we hear we were in Edmonton for what like five or six days
and there was some you know there was a lot of pride about being Canadian in
Edmonton in Alberta. There's a lot of and and that's not again a lot of what
we get to hear in in social media and some of those dark holes and and as I
was sort of traveling through other parts of the prairies too like I the
same thing was just so apparent to me that people are really um there was kind
of like a doubling down almost on this pride of being Canadian which maybe
that's there all the time. I don't know because I haven't been there before but
it was definitely something that I heard along the way. But then also this, you
know, this openness that mult like places like Winnipeg are like incredibly
multicultural. I didn't know that living here. That's
not what I hear. Right. And so it was just it's good to travel in our own
country as much as we can, but also it's just a good reminder that, you know,
there's it's easy for us to get taken taken away down to these places that,
you know, are not real to everyone. And there's this whole other uh huge world
and amazing people. Uh, everyone was so friendly and accommodating and I ended
up having some of the most amazing experiences on that on that um that
little side road trip and people were kind and generous and excited to share.
Uh, I rented a car in Edmonton, but for some reason it had BC plates and I
didn't know that for the first like five days and and everyone kept talking to me
about being from BC and I was like, do I just look like I'm from BC? And then I
realized that I had a BC place on my car. uh and and there's all this history
in these spaces and and at the conference that we were at, one of the
things that they kept talking about was sense of place and and all these places
in that I saw are places that you know were really vibrant and alive a long
time ago and are undergoing massive change and Edmonton like every city you
go into it's just building and building and building and building and and so I
think in the next 10 years there's going to be such a difference of the way that
communities look in Canada because there's so much money going into new new
builds and changing the way that the cities are. And so I really appreciate
that I got to kind of go and sit in those places where, you know, that sense
of place is still connected to a few decades ago. And and you can see it
starting to, you know, change and new businesses and new people coming into
these communities. And I don't know what it'll look like. Um, but I'm happy that
I got to see what it did look like and as it's going through this transition
because I think that's important. It's important for me to remember and uh and
not to go down those those dark tunnels and not to let them into the rest of the
world either. So that was part of my little journey
down there. Um and I also at FCM again had some excellent speakers. Uh
Avi Lewis from the NDP and Elizabeth May from the Green Party fantastic speakers.
Uh Minister Gregor Robertson uh also spoke. He did a session on housing which
was great and the uh chair Sagal and I from the regional district got to have a
one-on-one for 45 minutes with um the minister about the housing needs in our
area. They're investing a lot of money into infrastructure here. So it was a
really productive meeting about the needs of our region, not just the city,
but you know homelessness is a regional issue. It's not just our issue. And so
it was good to have that um to have those connections and looking forward to
some follow-ups on that. And uh and then also you know
last week or just a few days ago I think there was um the premier no the prime
minister was here with the premier and minister Bole and they did the uh some
announcements on looking at doing something with condos around creating
some sort of more affordable housing. So I'm curious to see about what that uh
what that brings. And I was also got to meet with Minister Ma at the hospital.
um she came to do a a site tour of the hospital again and we didn't get to go
on the tour but we did get to visit afterwards and also um speak to her
about some of the infrastructure needs that we have. So lots of great sort of
you know those short meetings that you're not anticipating and and great to
have that long with um the Minister of Housing federally. And then today I got
a a message last night uh for an invite to uh go to um an event with uh with
Diana Fox Carney uh which was really wonderful and I got to speak to her. I
tried not to talk to her too much about the things that we have because she's
not the, you know, she's not the um prime minister, but but also just
curious about some of the, you know, some of her thoughts and really good to
hear about some of her thoughts about uh, you know, what is happening and and
what it's like from her perspective and where Canada is at from the things that
she sees. So, it was really just always good to have those take those
opportunities when we can to do that. And uh because we're, you know, when you
again just on reflecting on my travels, we're we're huge. We're this massive
country, but we're also this really small country. And so, I think that
those connections are really important because they connect all of us. And some
of the best times we had were the coasters, the Newfoundlanders and the
Vancouver Island uh coming together to really yeah celebrate and and uh have a
lot of good laughs together. So it was good good to make those those that time.
So much appreciated to everyone for that. And uh with that we'll go into
question period. I'm sure there's thousands of questions people have right
now for us after this meeting. So now's your opportunity.
I'm hearing nothing. So we'll go into close that the meeting be closed to the
public under the following sections of the community charter to discuss matters
related to personal information. Section 91A personal information about an
identifiable individual who holds or is being considered for position as an
officer, employee or agent of m of a municipality or another position
appointed by the municipality. Is there a movement or second to do
that? Any further discussion? All those in favor? We'll take five minutes and
then we will come back and we will carry on. And thanks for all of you for being
with us this evening.