All right, everyone. Good evening.
I'd like to start by recognizing the
land on the unceded territory of the
Quw'utsun
nation and that in this room there's
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 with that, I'll call this
meeting to order. Are there any late
items tonight, Ms. Hodgins?
So, I'll move for approval of the
agenda, uh that council moved the July
27th agenda be adopted as circulated.
Any discussion? All those in favor?
And adoption of minutes, June 22nd,
that we adopt the minutes from June 22nd
regular council meeting as circulated.
Is there a mover and a seconder? Any
discussion? All those in favor?
Thank you. And we have a delegation this
evening.
Uh Callum Matthews is uh going to be
presenting from Tourism Cowichan,
the municipal and regional district tax
five-year plan. Welcome. Welcome.
» Perfect. Thank you so much. I appreciate
the opportunity
There we go.
That's better.
Perfect. Well, really happy to be here
this evening to share some information
about the ongoing renewal of the
municipal and regional district tax
um across the regional district here,
which includes Duncan, of course. Um my
plan for tonight is just to share a
snapshot from a revenue perspective of
what we're anticipating, some highlights
of the 5-year plan, as well as some
highlights for the tactical plan
for the 2027 calendar year,
and wrap it up just letting you know
kind of next steps and general
timelines.
For those of you who aren't aware, the
municipal and regional district tax, or
MRDT, is British Columbia's program to
generate revenue to support tourism
investment. Um it's been around since
the 1980s. It's in place in just about
every community in British Columbia and
on Vancouver Island. And many of you may
be familiar with similar programs in
other provinces or countries. Some
places it may look like an entry entry
or exit fee as you fly in or out, um but
the most common model is similar to
ours, where there is a fee applied to
overnight accommodation.
In British Columbia, we have the option
of either a 2 or 3% tax rate. Currently,
right now in the regional district, it's
being collected at a tax rate of 2%. Um
across Vancouver Island in BC, the
majority of communities have already
moved to 3% or in the process of moving
to 3%, and it's our intention and goal
to move from 2% to 3% as a part of this
renewal. Um the major outcome of that is
it'll enable us to significantly
increase funding to the visitor centers
um across the regional district, which
is an area of need that we've heard um
from stakeholders, from our partners at
the chamber, at BIAs, and also um from
councils.
It's important to recognize that there's
a variety of eligible in ineligible
expenses for the program. Generally
speaking, anything to do with tourism
marketing, um experience development,
supporting operators, visitor centers,
all of that is a typical eligible use.
Where we run into challenges anything
brick and mortar that requires
construction. Um so capital costs are
generally speaking not eligible expenses
with the important exception of
affordable housing, and I'll speak a
little bit more about that in a few
slides.
And we have to renew our MRDT every 5
years, so we're going through this
process because it is a part of the the
legislated way that this program
operates in the province.
This is a snapshot of MRDT renewals over
the past few years going back to 2022.
And it also shows our anticipated
revenue when we move up to uh 3% MRDT.
Um, you can see us a pretty steady
recovery in MRDT revenues coming out of
COVID. And at the 3% we're anticipating
about um 140 or so thousand in
additional MRDT revenue. And about 80
additional thousand dollars in um online
accommodation platform revenue, and
those are the funds that um are
currently going to Cowichan Housing for
affordable housing purposes. So we're
looking at pretty close to additional
quarter million dollars in revenue by
moving from 2% to 3%.
When we look at communities across
British Columbia that have gone to 3%,
we know that there is no change in
visitor decision-making. No one's going
to say, "Oh, Cowichan's, you know, 1%
more than this other community." and
change their plan. Um, so we're really
leaving um quite a bit of revenue um on
the table collecting at this 2% rate.
And our neighbors are um across
Vancouver Island collecting at 3% um
which really gives them a competitive
advantage in terms of tourism
development and marketing.
So next jumping into a bit of an
overview of the business plan.
From the perspective of the vision, the
focus for Tourism Cowichan Society is
that uh tourism will be a significant
contributor to um the community from an
economic as well as a social well-being
perspective. And as a premier
destination for leisure getaways and
vacations, Cowichan is increasingly
known as a place where tourism actively
supports destination development,
stewardship, and industry development
for the long-term benefit of residents
and the local community and visitors.
Our philosophy is really centered on
this idea that a great place to live is
a great place to visit. The real real
reason I think people come to Vancouver
Island is to experience what it's like
to live here. Um so, safeguarding place
and contributing to the vibrancy of
community and the economic and social
development is really important um for
Tourism Cowichan.
The mission for Tourism Cowichan is to
steward the region's tourism industry by
aligning the strategy of Tourism
Cowichan Society and its investments
with community priorities, fostering a
sustainable economy that creates
long-term benefits for businesses,
partners, visitors, and residents
through destination development,
stewardship, industry training, and
marketing initiatives that unite the
region while showcasing the uniqueness
of Cowichan's many communities.
And I think that this is the best
opportunity and challenge that we have
as Tourism Cowichan Society. It's a big,
quite diverse region. Uh we need to have
a central brand and marketing strategy
and cohesive destination and experience
development work, but we also need to
showcase what makes each one of the many
communities in the region special and
unique.
So, jumping into the 5-year plan,
there's four primary goals that have
been identified through fairly extensive
engagement with uh industry over the
past several months. First, to influence
destination development through
collaboration, advocacy, and strategic
investment. Second, to lead in
regenerative tourism and community
well-being. Third, to strengthen
industry collaboration and business
resilience. And lastly, to solidify the
Cowichan region's destination identity
and market position.
A few more details around this first
goal that's centered on destination
development. Uh we want to focus on
informing regional planning and
development. Um
and really the goal there is trying to
find more alignment, more partnership
opportunities with local governments,
um play a role um where it works for us
you know us to work in a synergistic way
with staff at the regional district and
councils to share a tourism perspective.
Um this was something that we heard
really clearly from um tourism operators
during our engagement sessions.
The second area is around supporting and
advocating for tourism-related
infrastructure and services. Uh Tourism
Cowichan is currently working on
accommodation investment, attraction, uh
cycling and hiking trail development. Um
and I think there's a lot of opportunity
for Tourism Cowichan Society to work
more closely um with staff um at
municipalities and the regional district
in pursuit of some I think very common
and shared goals there.
Second, around regenerative tourism and
community well-being, the focus is on
promoting sustainable tourism and
responsible travel practices. That can
look like um sustainability training for
operators,
um stewardship messaging ingrained in
our promotion to visitors, um trying to
instill a sense of respect for the place
that they visit and help them understand
how they can give back and contribute.
Partnerships with community
organizations, and I think the
investment that's a part of this plan in
the visitor centers is a good example of
that. And there's also a desire to have
greater alignment with the Vancouver
Island region's destination stewardship
strategy when it comes to trying to
attract um provincial and federal
funding for tourism projects, alignment
with regional as well as provincial
plans is really important. And it can
help Tourism Cowichan leverage its
resources, uh leverage its funding
against regional dollars and provincial
dollars as well.
In terms of industry collaboration and
resilience, we also heard loudly from
operators um a desire for us to expand
industry engagement and
knowledge-sharing opportunities, whether
it's networking events, but I think more
specifically it was workshops and
training. Um they've had a program
recently that was focused on helping
operators increase their dis- digital
sophistication, find ways to connect um
with consumers on their own and tell
their own story. That was really popular
and, um, something that will be doubling
down on in future years as well as
looking at other training opportunities
for operators.
There's a desire to strengthen
relationships with indigenous partners
in the region, um, specifically around
experience development, and continued
investment in, um, Tourism Cowichan
Society board training. Uh, they can
conduct annual board retreats where they
focus on board governance training, um,
and then also strategy for the
organization.
And goal four, around more that
marketing branding side. Uh, it's main-
about maintaining a unified destination
brand that brings all of our communities
together, expanding collaborative
marketing and storytelling
opportunities, um, cooperative marketing
programs, cross promotion, the
opportunity to help amplify the stories
of individual communities, and working
with partner organizations like chambers
and BIAs in pursuit of that. And then
supporting the delivery of visitor
information services, um, through a
significantly increased financial
contribution. Um, you know, my
perspective is really when there's MRDT
in place, uh, the best use of the funds
is that that helps to bring the greatest
benefit to community as well as offset
other kind of core tax costs for
residents. Um, so, moving to 3% would
enable Tourism Cowichan Society to
provide more funding to the visitor
centers. We know that visitor centers
are really important for the Cowichan
region, and that they haven't had the
funding that they need to operate in the
past. So, um, looking to kind of set a
new really positive course, um, is a
part of this MRDT renewal.
And lastly, a snapshot for what's
planned for the 2027 calendar year.
From a marketing perspective, we're
looking to evolve from 2026 by having a
stronger focus on influencer marketing,
creator partnerships, and really leaning
into organic social media.
We want to continue with enhancements to
improve not just the accessibility of
the Tourism Cowichan and
integrations for people that might have
visual impairments, etc.
Um as well as from an AI readiness
perspective. So, for us that isn't
integrating AI throughout the website
because we know that when um visitors
that are planning a trip spot AI, it
makes them skeptical, you lose trust.
But, we also know that lots of people
are using AI for trip planning, and we
need to
um kind of design the the content within
the website um so that will feed into
those um large language model platforms
and help people that are using those
tools for their trip planning.
Um also looking to align organic social
media with new content pillars that will
help to tell a better story for the
region.
And then looking to redesign the visitor
guide in 2028. We just recently did a
redesign of that, so we'll just be able
to update some content and keep things
simple for 2027, and then as is typical
for us every other year make a a bigger
investment in a refresh.
Uh reducing our budget in collateral
production is also planned for 2027
based on investments made in 2026 and
2025.
Um and then lastly, looking at um
currently there's a handful of different
cooperative marketing programs that we
invest in, uh the BC Ale Trail, the Bird
Trail, um things like that that are
happening provincially. And the that
program through Destination BC is going
through some significant changes. So,
we're going to take a really deep look
at that and make sure that we're getting
best bang for buck um with those um
co-op investments that we're making.
And then lastly, from a destination
development and product experience side
of things, um enhancing training
opportunities and engagement
opportunities for tourism operators. Uh
continuing with accommodation supply. Uh
we know that we do not have enough fixed
roof accommodation properties in the
region. Um looking to attract investment
from that perspective.
Uh there is a huge opportunity to
continue to build out um agritourism and
culinary tourism experiences. Looking to
support regional mobility and active
transportation initiatives, and the
destination stewardship and responsible
tourism initiatives. And finally,
we have been talking to many of the
nations within the regional district,
and there's some exciting partnership
opportunities that we're exploring
currently and hope to be able to move
forward with in 2027 in partnership with
those nations.
And a few of the other tactics, so as
I'd been hinting at,
um we will be increasing the visitor
center funding to a total of 150,000.
Um it's currently at $50,000.
And the OMF, which was formally known as
OAP, um it's essentially Airbnb's,
VRBO's, etc. Uh those funds will
continue to be directed towards Cowichan
Housing Association for affordable
housing-related initiatives. And we're
just in the process right now of
finalizing um their their um
work plan for what will happen with
those funds, and that will be um shared
out with all of the councils um upon
completion by Cowichan Housing
Association.
So this is what we're anticipating in
terms of the budget for 2027. The
numbers don't align perfectly with the
increase from 2 to 3% I shared at the
start. The reason is that by the time
2027 uh by the time our MRDT renewal is
complete and the increase moves to 3%,
we won't have a full calendar year at
3%. It'll be a partial at 2. Um so this
is our our best guess for what total
revenues will look like. MRDT is from
those fixed-roof kind of typical
accommodation properties. There's
funding from the regional district. And
then we also have um the co-op program
from Destination BC, which provides
matching dollars for marketing
initiatives, and a little bit of
additional revenue from some other
programs um
for about a $1.47
uh million dollar total budget. And that
does not include the short-term rental
money that goes through Cowichan
Housing.
And a little bit of a breakdown here, or
sorry, it does include the 400,000 plus
for affordable housing in those numbers
with a kind of full breakdown here
looking about 28% for marketing,
an increase to 25% for destination
development and experience development.
A increase in visitor services from
50,000 to 150,
a modest increase in admin costs, and
the final number there, the 444 is a
provincially mandated program.
They basically at the Ministry of
Finance just skim that off of the top
before the funds go to the regional
district. So that should be about $500
give or take.
And the plan is to have a very small
carry forward at the end of the year.
The goal is really always a zero-based
budget.
We try to budget conservatively and if
revenues are going in the right
direction, the board can look at
adjusting some of its expenditures
midway through the year.
The final thing I just wanted to quickly
mention is that
around the need for increasing from 2%
to 3%.
So Tourism Cache Creek thankfully had a
fairly significant amount of reserve
funds. That was really accumulated
through COVID when we weren't able to
spend money on marketing initiatives and
that's been really helpful to help us,
you know, support visitor servicing,
you know, continue with marketing and
destination development, but we've been
spending about $100,000 on a
deficit budget of about 100,000 every
year. And this was the last year that
we're reasonably able to continue with
that deficit spending while maintaining
a healthy reserve in the event the
organization needs to wind down or
there's an unforeseen event. So without
moving from the 2% to 3%, it makes it
incredibly challenging for us to find a
way of increasing funds for not just the
visitor center, but for other programs
that we have right now.
So we're working really hard to get the
accommodation properties on side with
that increase from 2 to 3% we've
launched that process and I'm hoping
that we'll have a positive outcome
there.
In terms of next steps, we're presenting
to councils right now looking to present
to the regional district board shortly
before elections with a final submission
of the application in February.
We've distributed our draft 5-year plan
and tactical plan far and wide and we're
currently receiving feedback on that
from staff at local governments and
regional districts as well as from
operators.
As I mentioned we're focused on
collecting signatures from those
operators, letters of support from
councils and if all goes well it'll be
submitted on October 1st which provides
a healthy amount of buffer time to
ensure that we receive approval from
cabinet before the current repeal date.
So I really appreciate the opportunity
share that with all of you this evening
and if appropriate I'm happy to answer
any questions you might have as well.
Thank you.
>> Thank you so much. Looking to around the
» Thank you so much. Looking to around the
table for questions.
No, you were so thorough that no one has
a question for you. Oh, Councillor
Bruce, go ahead.
>> Thank you Mayor.
» Thank you Mayor.
Thank you very much for your
presentation.
Um
I was just adding up the the wages and
the um
benefits and I just rough and ready got
to around 200,000 and
when there's more money coming in will
that be going to administration
or will that be going to programs and I
know you covered some of that just now
but it's a legitimate question and if so
what percentage goes to administration?
Um
and the other thing I was just going to
ask if you could answer the money that's
generated in the Cowichan Valley
that's
does that stay here or does that go into
a bigger pot?
>> Okay, so I'll take that question on
» Okay, so I'll take that question on
first Councillor Bruce. So in terms of
all of the revenue that's collected from
short-term rentals as well as the formal
accommodation properties across the
regional district. Um about 99% of that
comes back. Um there's a small fee of I
believe it's $14 per hotel or motel that
the Ministry of Finance collects. Um but
other than that, everything goes to the
regional district. They then provide
that to Tourism Cowichan, and we have to
provide, you know, thorough annual
reporting on, you know, all of the
expenditures associated with that. So,
that's one of the great things about the
program. Um the collection and the
complexity of collecting that 2 or 3%
from the operators is taken care of by
the province in exchange for about a $14
per property fee, and the rest comes
back here.
Um from an admin perspective, uh we
budgeted for about a 7% increase in kind
of those overhead-related expenses for
2027. Um that was based on some slightly
just the general cost of of doing
business, you know, including like IT
costs and things like that. Um we
generally try to keep the kind of admin
and overhead um around that 20% mark. Um
it's about as lean as we can be. The So,
no, as a part of the increase from 2 to
3%, we wouldn't anticipate any
significant increase in operating costs.
Um especially with the lion's share of
that increase being visitor center
funding um to help the visitor centers
deliver their programs.
Yeah, my pleasure.
>> Thank you very much. Any other
» Thank you very much. Any other
questions?
Seeing none. Nope, thank you very much
for your time with us this evening and
for the work that you're doing.
>> Thank you, I appreciate it. Take care,
» Thank you, I appreciate it. Take care,
everybody.
» And I'm going to move to a motion that
council provide a letter of support for
the renewal and of the Cowichan Valley
Regional District as a designated
recipient of the Municipal Regional
District Tax MRDT revenue within the
CVRD
for the period of July 1st, 2027 to July
1st, 2032.
Is there a mover or a seconder for that?
Any discussion on this motion? All those
in favor?
Motion carries. Thank you.
Um, we'll move over to Staff Sergeant uh
Perrett. Welcome.
Did I say your last name correctly?
>> Um
» Um
We have Perrett to mention to you his
name.
>> It depends on what you what you call
» It depends on what you what you call
yourself. Is it Perrett or Perrett?
>> Perrett normally.
» Perrett normally.
>> Perrett? Okay. Well, welcome Sergeant
» Perrett? Okay. Well, welcome Sergeant
Staff Sergeant Perrett.
And you're going over the RCMP annual
performance plan with us.
>> Yes. Thank you
» Yes. Thank you
uh Mayor Staples and council members.
So, yes, as you stated, I'm here to
give you an overview of what our annual
performance plan is for 2026 and 2027.
Um
I prepared a bit of a slideshow just uh
as a bit of a visual.
Um
Really, our annual performance plan
isn't changed significantly from last
year. We've just uh did some stream-
line of reporting and uh realigned some
of our initiatives. Uh
A, to make it less onerous for data
collection and and B, just to make sure
we're capturing
some things that we intend to do this
year. So,
um
First off,
our first objective is crime reduction.
So, in the past, we've had bicycle
patrols, uh
downtown foot patrols, and uh engagement
with the business community.
Uh road safety including uh
school zones and playground zones.
Uh curfew checks and restorative justice
referrals. So,
all those initiatives were important,
but this year
uh we decided to take a little bit
different focus. Uh in the the first
quarter of 2026,
we had a quite a significant increase in
the number of calls for service relating
to unwanted persons or unhoused
individuals.
Uh
So, uh in the
in recognizing that, we've been working
closely with the local bylaw, including
the city of Duncan bylaw, to come up
with strategies in order to
uh
reduce the the strain on the the
business community with these types of
calls and to reduce the the strain on
the local detachment with this type of
occurrence. So, um
So, rather than just having
bike patrols and foot patrols in itself,
we chose to we're going to focus
specifically on uh some joint patrols
that we're going to do with the local
bylaw.
Uh so, we hope you know, at least a
couple times a week to have an RCMP
member paired up with a bylaw officer.
So, uh
you know, instead of having one team, we
can have two. And we can uh
address some of these community safety
issues
uh together. And so,
so, one of our initiatives this year is
to collect data from those patrols and
hopefully, you know, by the end of the
year, compare that to our statistics and
see that there has been a downward trend
in this area.
Uh
road safety is still a priority. Uh we
just um
uh
combined all our traffic initiatives
into one rather than having it broke
down into different compartments.
Um in this fall, we're going to be uh
rolling out a mental health liaison
position at the detachment. Uh we've
been working with VIHA to uh obtain a a
mental health nurse. So, that person's
been identified.
We're still working on identifying the
individual from the local detachment.
So, they'll work as a team
and um
deal with a lot of our mental
health-related calls. So, we want to
track that and see how effective that is
over the the next year.
Uh
restorative justice
that's uh important program for our
detachment, so that that remains
unchanged.
And um
we're going to deal with uh
priority offender management. So,
um some may be
familiar with the Revo program, the
repeat violent offender program. So, the
provincial government has secured
funding for a new program this year
related to property offenders.
So, uh
locally uh
and that program still under
development, so it's not actually up and
running in the the South Island just
yet, but
when that gets up and running, we want
to be able to track how many charges
we're getting against those offenders
and so we can kind of
get a local barometer on on how
effective it is locally. So,
uh our second objective
providing leadership and governance.
Um
that's largely unchanged other than
we've just changed our reporting a
little bit. Um
we find that we're having some
duplication reporting throughout our
our data collection, so we just
rejig that a little bit, so that's
relatively unchanged.
Uh the third objective is employee
wellness and respect.
Last year we chose to focus on
supervisor development and leadership
development.
Uh we're still doing that this year, but
we've added a component in terms of
employee wellness and team building
exercises. So, we want to track those
types of
initiatives, whether it's um
you know, fitness related or mental
health related. So, that's we decided to
include that
as well.
Um
and
the fourth initiative
doesn't pertain to the the city of
Duncan directly. It's it's uh directly
related to Cowichan Tribes. And with
that, we've just uh
changed our reporting a little bit for
the year. So,
uh
I know I was quick.
Hoping not to take up a ton of your
time, but that's really the overview. Um
Like I said, our
our annual performance plan's relatively
unchanged. We just did a little bit of
rejigging this year. So,
uh
we're hoping
um
that uh you know Mayor and Council will
will approve this and
and um
we'll move forward. So, I mean, we just
concluded quarter one of our fiscal
year. So, uh Staff Sergeant Ken Beard
will be reporting on that in the coming
weeks.
Uh so, thus far, we think we're off to a
good start in terms of our
meeting our goals and objectives for
this year.
Um
Does anybody have any questions
regarding
the annual performance plan?
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
Councilor Duncan.
>> Uh thank you, Your Worship.
» Uh thank you, Your Worship.
And thank [clears throat] you for the
report. Um just a question around the
prolific property offenders. Um in the
past, we've sort of heard that Crown uh
is reluctant to proceed on some charges.
Uh
you know, will this result in someone
that's, for example, been caught three
times in a day shoplifting? Will they be
kept in jail until they
until they actually go to court? That's
one question. And the other question
would be on the new mental health
liaison officer. Is that Is that set up
to speed up the process if if uh someone
is picked up and is going to be referred
to mental health?
Is that You know, we heard sometimes
that the police cars would sit at the
hospital for two or three hours. Is this
going to help speed that up?
» Okay.
First question regarding the the C Point
program,
that remains to be seen, but much like
for the violent offenders
repeat property offenders
it's meant to be more onerous for them
to get bail and
thus if they're held in custody
before trial um
you know, the opportunity to commit
further property crime is obviously
removed.
um
But that
is largely at the police hands. That
would be up to the the Crown to pursue
that.
But
and it doesn't just pertain to like
shoplifter types. Like
you know, we have one individual in our
community
isn't committing a lot of theft, but you
know, they have significant mental
health challenges, but
they're often downtown with weapons and
acting in a threatening manner and they
don't actually hurt anybody. So they
wouldn't qualify under the Revo, the
violent offender program. But it's a lot
of mischief related calls and and it's a
public safety issue and this person
generates a lot of calls for service.
um you know, and there's a mental health
component, so we take him to the
hospital for assessment and so it eats
up a lot of VR resources. So uh
we're hoping that that this type of
program
we can target them cuz really they need
to get into your court
um
ordered treatment program to break that
cycle. So
uh so that's
one type of individual that'd be
captured with this program. uh
Yes, some of our chronic shoplifters.
um
Yeah, I mean
it's largely in Crown's hands whether
they're successful again the person I
detained for trial.
In my experience, it's generally harder
to get property offenders detained until
trial compared to violent offenders.
But, um
so the program still in the infancy.
There's been a couple of meetings now
and our detachment and other detachments
South Island were just working through
trying to identify our first few
candidates. So,
um in the first round
this area may not even get a candidate
or it may just get one, but it's it's
going to be a kind of a a staggered
approach.
Um
to me that's a So, hopefully that answer
your question. That's really the best I
can offer.
Um
I can't really speak on behalf of Crown
Counsel, but that's the intention of the
program anyways.
Uh part two regarding mental health.
Um
you know, over the the past short while
we have worked really hard with the
hospital to try and reduce those wait
times and and so we have developed
strategies.
We're much better here than
other places. I I know of other
detachments.
Police officers are still waiting 4 or 5
hours before the doctor. Generally
[snorts] here we're only about an hour.
So, we we've really worked on that, but
um obviously there's still room for
improvements. So, that would be
something that the mental health liaison
officer
works on, but really it's to
to take those calls for service off the
hands of the other officers. And we last
year we had almost 1,500
mental health related calls.
So, we average almost four per day.
So, um you know, mental health liaison
officer, they're not going to be working
7 days a week
and they're not going to be working 24
hours a day, but you know, with their
schedule we're hoping that they can at
least take two a day, one to two a day.
So,
uh take half those off our hands
and
um,
and a lot of times I mean we don't have
specialized training
for mental health related issues. So,
um, you know, if somebody is presenting
as a danger to themselves or others, we
take them for assessment at the
hospital. But by pairing a police
officer with somebody that does have
that training,
they're
likely
and I say likely because it's worked in
other jurisdictions, but we likely will
have less instances where we have to
take people to the hospital. Uh,
they'll have the mental health nurse
will have access to much more detailed
medical records for that individual. So,
working together as a team, they can
come up with a better plan. So, so we're
hoping A, overall reduce the number
of times we have to take somebody to the
hospital and reduce overall calls for
service
because when this liaison officer isn't
responding to mental health calls, they
can take a more proactive approach. We
generally have
two or three at any given time are our
most prolific mental health clients and
um,
you know, it becomes a revolving door
where we take them up to the hospital.
They may be there a short time, they may
not get admitted and they're released.
So, again, by working with somebody who
has that level of expertise in dealing
with mental health,
we may be able to develop strategies
outside of enforcement in order to
perhaps break that cycle and
um, you know, one individual I can think
of is an adult now,
but
uh,
really they need support from Community
Living BC. So, as an example, they this
team could work with Community Living
Community Living BC to develop a
strategy
so we're not getting, you know, three
calls a week from this individual, three
to four
calls per week. So,
» Um, other questions from council
members?
Councilor Bruce.
» Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, thank
you
for your presentation. Um,
uh, not on this report, but uh,
do we have nearly a full complement of
officers in the detachment yet?
Are we or do you know that?
>> We're We're much better off. Um,
» We're We're much better off. Um,
we've been working closely with staffing
and
we're in a much better place than we
were, say, 6 months ago.
Like, when I was talking earlier about
doing the bike patrols, um,
you know, over the last 6 months, we've
had a disband our community safety unit,
which did the bulk of the bike bike
patrols.
And, uh, we've also had to collapse one
other unit, our investigative support
unit, uh, just to keep enough boots on
the ground to
do frontline policing. When somebody
calls 911, just make sure that there's
somebody there at the end to answer the
call. So,
uh,
you know, we've had
uh,
five or
Well, five cadets in the last 6 months.
And we've had some more seasoned
officers transfer in, so
I we probably got about uh, eight or
nine new officers in the last 6 months.
So, yeah, we're in a much better place.
We're still
not where we want to be, but um,
we've brought most of our
hard vacancies covered now, which actual
uh, vacant positions, but our soft
vacancies where people are off for a
variety of reasons, whether it could be
parental leave or, um,
you know, a non-duty injury or we've
still got a fair number off for that.
So,
we're getting there. We're We're better.
We're better than off than we were at 6
months ago, so that's
You're welcome. Other questions?
Councillor Newton, go ahead.
>> Hi. Thank you very much for your report.
» Hi. Thank you very much for your report.
Could you explain a little bit what
>> [clears throat]
» [clears throat]
>> the community safety unit was?
» the community safety unit was?
>> [snorts]
» [snorts]
>> So, the community [clears throat] safety
» So, the community [clears throat] safety
unit would have been the officers you
see on bicycles a lot of time. Uh
mainly they work in the corridor area.
Uh so, I'm sure all aware, but you know,
from
Drinkwater to
say uh
Boys Road and then downtown Duncan. So,
that's that's where they spend the bulk
of their time.
Um
last year they spent a lot of time just
patrolling
York and Lewis area and and
and North Cowichan
um
because of the
the
uh
tent city that it popped up along Lewis
Street, but
um
so, they're there to
uh they do all kinds of proactive
enforcement. Like sometimes they'll
hop in and they'll do a bunch of curfew
checks to make sure that people are
abiding by curfews.
Um you know, they
may take a bunch of files where there's
outstanding warrants for people's arrest
and they'll go around and try and affect
a lot of those arrests.
Uh
like I mentioned earlier, they work
closely with bylaw
uh to address like the unhoused types of
issues in the in the downtown.
Um
>> [clears throat]
» [clears throat]
>> and
» and
they're there to support us. I mean,
you know, if the the general duty
officers are are tied up, they'll help
out with any calls that may come in
during the or in the the corridor area
as well, so so they they cover a lot of
areas, but and they're also a lot of
community engagement like
if there is events at schools, um you
know, they'll go there and deliver
presentations at schools or do bike
rodeos at elementary schools and that
type of thing. So, they have a pretty
broad mandate, cover a lot of community
policing and proactive type of work.
» Um, so sadly, if that unit is now
disbanded, um,
the that work that you've just described
is now falling on the active officers.
Is that correct?
>> Yes, but um, our our staffing levels
» Yes, but um, our our staffing levels
since they've improved, uh,
we're going to start staffing up that
unit starting the beginning of August
here. So,
uh,
that unit used to be four.
Uh, it's still a four-person unit, but
we pieced off one of the the positions
to create this mental health-related
liaison. So, they'll still report to the
same supervisor.
Um,
and the thing is like so much of what we
deal with downtown,
it's mental health-related, right? So,
really they can work hand-in-hand, but
uh, so there'll be a corporal and two
constables
left to to do the the bike patrols.
So, we'll have the corporal in place
here at the beginning of August and
we're hoping by the end of August to
have the two constable positions back.
Um,
away from their secondment back into
their substantive role
and um,
out there
pedaling around.
» Any other questions from council?
Uh, thank you for your report and for
coming here today. And one of the things
I did get to go out on a um,
for a night with the community Is it the
the Sorry, can you remind me of the name
again of that
>> Community Safety Unit.
» Community Safety Unit.
>> the Community Safety Unit
» the Community Safety Unit
uh, last summer, I believe, or last
spring. And what I noticed is a lot of
what you're saying right now, that
essentially our our
we're paying our police force to manage
a situation that isn't being managed
around poverty, mental health,
and
um
that that is the majority of your time
is being
taken up by what other systems are
failing to actually provide for people.
And so and then we're putting it all
under crime.
And
when I went out that night, the thing I
was I think I went out for a 10 to 12
hours, and what shocked me was that
it wasn't like going to police calls
when you watch TV
at all.
>> certainly isn't.
» certainly isn't.
>> What it was was going to um calls the
» What it was was going to um calls the
majority of the calls were people living
in poverty with addiction, um
with mental health challenges in a
system that has no space for them. And
you're just trying to to manage it the
best that you can. And that's what I
experienced when I went out. I I was
asked to come out again, but then they
they did disband, and I would love the
opportunity to go out again with you in
the fall.
Um but I found that so incredibly
disheartening and not at all what your
job should be. Those jobs should be
dealt with by other professionals and
other support services that are lacking
in our system.
» Yeah, unfortunately, it's it's uh not a
a
ideal situation.
Um
you know, this hasn't necessarily
address the the issue, but
uh I know like the the first 3 months of
this year, we're averaging 9 1/2 calls
per day related to the unhoused. And so
um
you know, like I mentioned earlier,
we've been working closely
with community partners, including
your your bylaw
office and
uh
happy to say for the second quarter of
this year,
we're down to about um
a little under five and a half calls per
day. So, we've done a lot of work to try
and reduce the calls for service. Hasn't
necessarily made the issue go away, but
you know, we've tried other strategies
to reduce
uh at least the burden on on your
your first responders on your bylaw and
your local police. So.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
Uh we have a motion that council support
the 2026-2027
North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP Detachment
Annual Performance Plan as presented on
July 27th, 2026. Do I have a mover and a
seconder?
Any further discussion? All those in
favor?
Thank you very much for your
presentation, and I look forward to
hearing back from someone about being
able to go out again.
» Thank you, Worship, and thank you,
council members.
» And Mr. De Verteuil, over to you. Report
of the Chief Administrative Officer for
July 27th.
>> Thank you, Mayor Staples.
» Thank you, Mayor Staples.
Uh so, the Eagle Heights Reservoir
replacement, the old reservoir tank has
now been demolished, so they're just
cleaning that uh site up and I'm final
finalizing up that project. The
unfortunately for the Gibbons Reservoir
relining, due to water restrictions now,
and it's still finalizing the fixes, the
contractor will work to address the
outstanding issues in the closer to the
fall.
Uh reservoir may need to be drained
again to do that final work.
The project for the Coronation and Queen
Street 70 bike lanes is now
largely complete.
The I'm happy to report that the Canada
Avenue
um
complete streets is is well underway.
The the one uh
um
bugaboo seems to continually be the
speed limits on Iley, so we we have
ordered another uh speed reader board
for Iley Street to help with traffic
speeds northbound.
And the RCMP continue to attend to uh
Iley Street periodically.
Uh just a reminder that project's going
to continue on until in into 2027.
Happy to report as well that uh
thanks to the work of Relic staff, we've
finally got the Couch and Way traffic
signals operating more along the lines
of how they should. The new timing
schedules uh by Relic have been
implemented and the lights now utilize
the traffic loops,
uh which decreases time allocated to
particular legs of the intersection if
there's there's no traffic or little
traffic for that uh leg. So, it'll go
down to as little as 10 seconds if
there's
if there's only a couple of cars as
opposed to the full 30 seconds of a
loop.
Uh big thanks to uh Bob Bob Griffin from
Relic who who actually came back out of
retirement to make sure to take that one
across the finish line, so that was
terrific.
Uh construction for Hether's Street
water main, still looking to finalize
the details of that, so that's going to
push into the fall of this year.
Uh we have now installed staff have
installed two transit compliant speed
humps on uh Warrencliff Road, and the
res- residents have already been
indicating they've they've assisted in
reducing speeds in their neighborhood.
The zoning bylaw amendment for 521
Canada Avenue, which was for the
to permit cannabis retail on the
property for the location where they're
currently operating with a temporary use
permit, that's anticipated to come
forward to council at your August uh
24th meeting.
Notices will be out in the paper
relatively soon on that.
2026 property tax notices, so the tax
payments and homeowner grants claimed
were due by
July 2nd. So, if property taxes remained
unpaid after that date, uh 5% penalty
was applied to those outstanding
balances, and uh a second 5% penalty
would be added to any remaining balance
unpaid after 5 4:00 p.m. on September
1st. So, encourage folks to
get those um
uh dealt with.
Just a few last ones. The we are looking
to now plan uh the community community
uh um event with with Cowichan Tribes uh
through the grant funding we got through
UBCM. That'll be placed uh
you know, on council's uh event
after the election now.
The
uh we're happy to report as touched on
by um
Staff Sergeant Perrault there that the
the as part of the community safety
advocacy strategy that the city had been
uh lobbying for uh province-wide
implementation of that C-POI program for
the prolific property offenders and
we're very pleased to see that being
being implemented province-wide now. So,
we we may look to see council withdraw
the resolution that was going to UBCM uh
this coming September since since now
that that's largely been addressed.
Um also on the provincial advocacy front
uh as you may recall council met with uh
with Brittney Anderson, Minister of
State for local government in July to
discuss support for the village model
and corresponding uh long-term funding
commitment for that model,
uh establishment of a recovery oriented
village site uh which would require a
policy of exemption exemption by the
province,
and also some short-medium term uh
that we discussed about potential
regional highway safety improvements,
particularly on the Trans-Canada
Highway.
Um
uh that that that are sort of some
potential low-hanging fruit.
Uh
last couple, the cenotaph refurbishment,
the our Royal Canadian Legion, uh now
the Chemainus Duncan branch, was
successful in its grant application to
the Veterans Affairs Canada for
commemorative partnership program and is
now proceeding with refurbishments to
the cenotaph in the Charles Hoey Park.
They're they're hoping we're planning on
getting that done and completed by
Remembrance Day.
The clan of clan totem of our nations
that was carved by Tommy Hunt that has
been refurbished by Mr. Hunt and was
reinstalled in Friendship Square
July 14th.
And lastly, the city has received a
liquor primary club license for the
Couch and Lawn Bowling Club to permit
the club to serve alcohol to club
members and their guests at the
clubhouse 320 First Street in the next
to the park. Public notice will go out
this week to properties within a 100
meter radius and council consider that
application on August 24th.
That's it.
» Cuz it was already on.
Thank you so much. See it's the opposite
of the CVRD now when it's
it's opposite. It's the colors are
wrong.
So now I'm doing it here the opposite
way of there.
Thank you for your report. Are there any
questions or comments for Mr. de
Verteuil this evening?
Oh, we got hands. Hands to my left.
Councillor Newington.
» I just want to go back to 490 Ipray
and if there's has been any movements I
asked this
as couple of the neighbors have asked me
what is happening.
Mr. Young, do you know?
» Um yeah, so so we do have a building
permit application for that development
and we provided
uh back to the applicant and I think
it's been about a year now that the
applicant's been sitting on that
information.
Um and
our understanding is the applicant is
working to address those deficiencies in
the application and get to the point
where we can issue the permit, um which
we think will happen by the end of this
year.
» Councilor McKinley.
>> Regarding the refurbishment of the
» Regarding the refurbishment of the
cenotaph, did they mention if they were
going to add names, do you know of?
>> Uh I don't recall if Tommy had. I can
» Uh I don't recall if Tommy had. I can
check into that and and let you guys
know.
» Councilor Duncan.
>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh
» Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh
just to go back to the community safety
advocacy advocacy strategy, you
mentioned that we may withdraw the
provincial wide expansion of the chronic
property and public disorder
intervention initiative.
Um I would
ask that we don't withdraw that. Uh we
have yet to see how Crown counsel is
going to react uh to that. So, I think
that we have to keep I guess you would
say someone's feet to the fire here and
keep that resolution on the books. So,
so so so that we can find out what's
going on with Crown because no point in
passing prolific offender stuff if
Crown counsel isn't going to come to the
party.
» Uh
yes, it's up to council. In fact, I
think it's too late to remove it. It's
just a bit would be an act on the floor
at UBCM to to let them know that we we
we withdraw um at that time. It's not I
believe we can check into that, but I
don't believe it's something we need to
advise in advance. It's just on the
um aspect of Crown, the the program
itself adds resources to Crown. That's
the that's how the the violent offender
program works as well, so they give
Crown some additional resources and
capacity um so that they can focus on
the repeat offenders first uh in the
original program with the violent
offenders. And now with this one, my
understanding of that if initially a
pilot and now intended to be rolled out
um
uh province-wide and in process of doing
so as as um Staff Sergeant Pratt talked
about uh that would be again with the
intent of adding that capacity for Crown
to be able to focus on those particular
offenders because the part of it is that
they are um handed a a case file and by
having less case files in general,
they're able to stay focused on those
ones and and see them through as opposed
to normally, as we've heard from from
some representatives of Crown Counsel in
the past, they're spread so thin that
they do have to, you know, triage which
ones that they're focusing on. But with
this particular program,
uh jurisdictions like ours and
all across the province are able to put
forward names of the the most
frequent flyers and be able to address
those directly. So, but we can certainly
wait and see and then, you know, we can
make that call at the time.
» Thank you. Any other hands? Any other
questions? Going once, going twice.
Thank you so much for your report.
So, I'll move that Council receive the
July 27th, 2026 report of the Chief
Administrative Officer for information
only. Do we have a mover and a seconder
for that? Any discussion? All those in
favor? Motion carried.
And we'll move to the Eagle Heights Fire
Services agreement. And Mr. De Verteuil,
you are on this one as well.
>> Thank you. So, the this uh is an update
» Thank you. So, the this uh is an update
to a contract that uh had previously the
the past contract had been in place
since 2003.
Um so, for the past 23 years under this
contract, the city has uh serviced the
Eagle Heights uh service area within the
regional district. Uh
the city, I'm told, has serviced that
area for fire protection for around
somewhere around 50 years in total.
Uh, but that this past contract, which
is obviously quite dated now being 23
years old, has um it just needed a
refresh. So, the approach is largely the
same on how the cost sharing works with
the respect to it being based on
assessment. But, uh just improves or
clarifies language in some service
aspects and um
and just, you know, modernizes the
language, if you will, for the most
part. So, overall, it's it's it's just a
continuation of service. Uh, we do uh in
this one, one of the major changes is
that we we will do some assistance on
the fire investigations uh and on the
fire inspections. Fire inspections in
the real regional district is a little
different than the in the municipality.
Municipalities are required to have a
system of fire inspections. In the
regional district, it's on a complaint
basis, so it's not a re-owners owner
onerous requirement to provide that uh
on a limited basis when the when the
time arises. And we do have to do
pre-fire plans within that area anyway,
so we we are off we'll be often in those
buildings already, so.
» Thank you so much. Are there any
questions on this for Mr. Doratty? So,
the council authorize mayor and chief
administrative officer to sign the fire
service agreement with the Cowichan
Valley Regional District as attached to
the July 27, 2026 report of the CAO to
provide fire services to the Eagle
Heights area for a 5-year term
commencing June 1st, 2026 and ending
June 1st,
2031. Mover and a seconder? Any further
discussion? All those in favor? Motion
carries.
Thank you.
And we'll move to the grant application
to the Build Communities Strong Fund.
And that one is over to you, Mr. Young.
Welcome. You don't sit up here that
often. It's good to actually be able to
see you.
>> It's an honor.
» It's an honor.
Uh, thank you, Mayor Lefebure.
>> Uh,
» Uh,
the primary purpose of this report is to
seek council support for a grant
application to the federal Build
Community Strong Fund, the Local Impact
Stream, which is being administered
through Pacific Can.
The Pacific Economic Development Canada
agency
uh for the Third Street Renewal Project.
In general terms, the renewal project is
uh a complete reconstruction of Third
Street from Canada Ave to Centennial
Park, including replacement of
underground utilities, as well as new
paving, sidewalks, street trees, uh
street lights in general terms.
Uh
the project
is and and has been for a number of
years partially funded uh in the in the
capital plan. There's a shortfall of
approximately 1.5 million dollars, and
staff are recommending that an
additional uh
approximately 450,000 be funded from the
Housing Accelerator Fund, as well as the
uh 1 million-dollar grant from the Build
Communities Strong Fund if we're
successful.
I'm happy to answer any questions
council might have.
» Thank you so much. Are there questions
from council?
I'm going to go over to you this time
first. No, you go ahead, Councillor
Duncan. It's okay.
It's all fair to go.
>> Okay, now I almost forgot what I was
» Okay, now I almost forgot what I was
going to ask. Uh
just
what when is the grant application
period open to close?
» Um from what we can tell on on the
information online, it's it's the grant
will just remain open um until the funds
are fully allocated, and they anticipate
making funding decisions as applications
are received. So, the earlier we get the
application in, the better.
» Councillor Newington, that was your
question? Oh, look at that.
Go ahead.
Councilor McKinley.
>> I just have one question.
» I just have one question.
Are you taking everything that's in the
ground out and replacing it or cuz we're
not going to leave all that
multiple layers of piping in there,
correct?
» Yeah, I think I think we still need to
to look into that. I mean
Mr. De Verte and I were were looking at
the mapping before the council meeting
and yes, there's a lot of
infrastructure, existing infrastructure
including I think there's sections where
there's there's four sets of storm mains
along Third Street and so I think we
have to to
and of course it's you know, a limited
right of way with and and if we're
you know, putting new infrastructure in
I I think for some of it where it's
going to be removed, some of it might
remain,
but we we haven't got to that level of
of design detail yet.
» Thank you.
Councilor Burris.
>> Thank you, Mayor.
» Thank you, Mayor.
What what
what would be our game plan if we did
not get that uh
that grant?
» Uh well, I I would think we would have
two options. One would be to continue to
apply for additional grants to cover the
budget shortfall or we reduce the scope
of the project
to reduce certain elements.
» Yeah, this one this one has been on the
books for quite a few years as I
remember and uh
um I just hope we're getting closer
because
the actual top surface needs help too
and you don't want to do that without
fixing the bottom.
But uh
I just hope that we're successful in
in getting our application in and grants
coming to us.
» Thank you. Any other questions?
All right, the council supported grant
application to Pacific CAN under the
Build Community Strong Fund Local Impact
Stream in the amount of 1 million to
proceed with the Third Street Renewal
Project. The council allocate 449
1,206. That is a very exact number from
the Housing Accelerator Fund reserve and
direct staff to increase the project
budget in the 2027 capital plan
from
uh 2 million
1,204,223,371,782
with a 449,206
funded from the HAF reserve and 1
million from the Build Community Strong
Fund.
I like the dollars in there. Uh is there
a mover and a seconder for that?
Any more discussion?
All right, let's be hopeful that we get
this one. All those in favor?
Motion carries. Thank you.
We'll move to Miss Hodgins uh who is
here
um sitting in for Miss McWilliam.
Welcome also you to the
the space in the room.
And
uh over to you for the City Awards early
nomination deadline.
>> Thank you, Mayor Staples. Um so very
» Thank you, Mayor Staples. Um so very
briefly, this report is seeking a
council resolution to advance the
nomination deadline for the Arts Award
and the School of Honor to September
15th so that council can consider the
nominees on September 28th, which is
council's last meeting of the term.
Thank you.
» All right.
Do you have a mover and a seconder? Or
do you have a question, Gary Russ? Go
ahead.
>> It's probably in here somewhere. I
» It's probably in here somewhere. I
didn't do a good job on this one, but
what are what are the dates of this now?
What are we What are we changing it
from?
>> Yeah, so uh normally it would be October
» Yeah, so uh normally it would be October
15th each year would be the nomination
deadline.
» Right, any other questions?
Okay, the deadline to submit a
nomination for the city of Duncan Arts
Award or School of Honor Award for 2026
will only be advanced to September 15th,
2026. So, mover and seconder.
All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion
carries. Thank you very much. Thanks,
Ms. Hodgins. Building summary reports.
The council received the summary of
building permits June 2026 report of the
building inspector for information only.
Is there a mover and a seconder for
that? Are there any questions? Seeing
none, all those in favor?
Motion carries. We'll move on to Mr. De
Verteuil for bylaws for second and third
reading of the 2026 financial plight
plan bylaw amendment.
» Thank you, Mayor Stables. This is just a
bylaw amendment to
bring into the budget for 2026 the a few
of the
projects or changes approved by council
at previous meetings. So, one of which
was one I spoke to earlier in the
meeting, the Eagle Heights Reservoir
decommissioning. So, council added
$40,000 to that budget to allow for the
decommissioning of that old tank since
we already had contractors on staff or
sorry, on site.
The
the second one was an amendment to add
10,000 for some communications funding
for the boundary realignment study.
The third was adding an
some budget to for the L&B Road water
main, which was not an anticipated
project, but council approved some
funding towards the Ministry of
Transportation's request for that
upgrade.
And then lastly, the approval of
170,000 to the fire hall renovations
that we were very close to getting
started on Um imminently.
» Thank you. Are there questions for Mr.
de Verteuil on this? Councillor Bruce,
go ahead.
>> Thank you, Mayor. I I would
» Thank you, Mayor. I I would
I'd vote against against this because
I think we
we actually should abort our program on
realignment with the municipality of
North Cowichan, and I think we should
save the money,
not spend any more, pull out of it now,
cuz I don't think we have a hope in
getting it through. And I know we're in
the preliminary stages of going to see
the municipality of North Cowichan over
it, and um
and I I believe we're spending money
that we should not be spending on this
study, and I voted for it at first, and
I I'm sorry I did that now, and I would
like to uh
is there any appetite for any of us to
re- re-look at that and pull out without
spending any more money?
Thank you.
» Councillor Cups.
» Thank you. Um sorry about my voice. Um
I think perhaps just it might be prudent
to remember that the goal of the of the
realignment study is not necessarily to
realign the boundary, but
rather to study all of the complex
factors that would go into a decision
like that. I know I'm certainly not um
I supported the city embarking on this
not because I have a a prescribed
outcome that I'm hoping for, but because
it's what the citizens voted for was for
us to get more information. And so I
think it might be
a little short-sighted perhaps to
uh to want to reverse that decision
um based on
Well, I guess I can't I can't say why
why uh why one's motivations might be,
so I won't, but just I think uh
I think it would be a bit
We voted to pursue this because it's
what uh we were asked to do by the
residents, so I still I still support us
going through with it. Thank you.
» Okay.
Uh I'll read out the motion.
But
Yes, you certainly can.
>> If we spend all the money on this um
» If we spend all the money on this um
this
discovery
uh
program we're on, how much will the
total be
for this study?
» Uh the total was uh 40 for the study and
10 for the communications.
» Well, I would I would like us to discuss
the
I I feel that we're really on the wrong
wrong track, and I don't I don't want to
spend that money now. And um I don't
know if there's any other appetite for
that, but
and we you're you're asking for another
10 grand right now, is that correct?
>> So so largely uh Council Bruce, we're
» So so largely uh Council Bruce, we're
Council's already approved the
expenditure, so we've already committed
to those funds with the contractors uh
pulling out of the stage,
largely commit to all I wouldn't say
necessarily all of it, but a lot of it's
well underway.
Um this is an amendment to the budget as
directed by Council at the time.
So um
if Council was to change your minds, you
you'll you know, frankly, you would uh
have an expenditure without any outcome,
like without any information. So you're
well over probably half of the
expenditure to date.
Um with not much to show for it if you
stop now, anyway.
>> I would still like to save the 20 grand
» I would still like to save the 20 grand
that we haven't spent then.
» Councillor Duncan.
>> I think this is out of order. Um, we
» I think this is out of order. Um, we
have a motion on the floor dealing with
the Allenby Road water main, the fire
hall, uh, the communications
uh, around the boundary realignment.
There's only $10,000 in here still, so
um, you know, this there is no way to
withdraw. We've already voted on it, so
I think we're all we're talking about
here is the additional 10 required
10,000 required for
communicating the results of the study
to the people
in Duncan that asked for it to start
with.
>> Thank you.
So, that council gave first three
readings to financial plan amendment
bylaw number 3263012026, a bylaw to
amend the financial plan for 2026 to
2030. Is there a mover and a seconder?
So, any discussion on the motion that's
on the floor?
All those in favor? Any opposed?
Councillor Bruce opposed. That carries.
Thank you very much. We'll move to fees
and charges bylaw amendment, Miss
Hodgins.
» Thank you, Mayor Staples.
So, the city's utilities department has
identified that the current fees for
conducting fire hydrant flow testing
does not adequately cover the city's
costs to perform this work.
This fees and charges bylaw amendment
seeks to increase the fee for this
service to adequately cover the city's
costs.
The proposed amendment bylaw also
recommends removing the fee for property
information packages. City staff
routinely provide information to the
public on a variety of topics,
and the amount of staff time required to
respond to the property information
requests is minimal and not
significantly different from other
information requests where a fee is not
charged. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
Did council give first readings to the
fees and uh charges amendment bylaw
number 3212.13
2026 the bylaw to amend fire hydrant
flow testing report fees and other house
keeping housekeeping amendments. Is
there a mover and a seconder?
Any discussion? Questions? All those in
favor? Motion carries.
Uh new business, we have the British
Home Children Day Proclamation request
that council proclaim September 28th,
2026 as British Home Children Day in the
city of Duncan. Is there a mover and a
seconder?
Any discussion?
Councilor Bruce, go ahead.
» [clears throat]
>> I'm just I know that we have a lot of
» I'm just I know that we have a lot of
these these proclamations
and
they mean nothing and I and I'm just
wondering
could we have a list of all the
proclamations that we have put put
through um this council in the last I've
been here 8 years now been here and uh
there must be a pile of them and I don't
know that they mean anything to anybody
and uh
I I
I vote for these things generally
speaking but is it not time to uh
uh halt some of this British Home
Children Day Proclamation request? Um
what is that?
» Uh thank you through Mayor Stable to
Councilor Bruce. So, um this is a day of
recognition to recognize um children who
were sent to um to Canada
um orphans who were um uh sent to
families in Canada and um often their
uh treatment maybe wasn't wasn't very
good and so there is this day to
recognize um what they experienced um
those children coming to Canada. Um we
do have a list of all the proclamations.
Um when council approves a proclamation,
it does go on our website so we do have
a list and I'd be happy to circulate
that to council so you can see the ones
that we've done.
» And I would just like to say that they
do mean something to the people that
bring them forward and to the people's
families and to the people affected by
this. I've sat with um with families um
uh and learned a lot about the British
Home Children over the years and so um
yes, they it definitely has deep meaning
for a lot of people in our community. We
were one of the communities that people
were sent that children were sent to.
Uh is there any further discussion about
the motion on the floor and not
proclamations in general?
Councilor Bruce.
>> Um does it does it take staff time
» Um does it does it take staff time
to do all to do the these proclamations?
Does it take staff time?
>> So that would be a discussion about
» So that would be a discussion about
proclamations.
Specifically, if we'd like to have a
discussion about proclamations at the
table, we can ask staff to bring the
list of proclamations and have a
discussion. Um but the the staff is also
welcome to answer the question as it's
come up.
» Uh through the mayor to Councilor Bruce,
um it's fairly minimal. The requestors
are required to provide the uh
proclamation that they would like, so
it's not uh us drafting those and so we
present it to council for consideration.
» Thank you.
And there's a motion on the floor. Um
all those in favor.
Any opposed? Motion carries.
Uh Councilor Kaps, over to you for 9.2.
» Would you like me to read?
>> Hi.
» Hi.
Sorry, [clears throat] apologies. Just
my voice is a little bit rough because
I'm homesick. Um
>> It's okay.
» It's okay.
>> I didn't know I would need to introduce
» I didn't know I would need to introduce
uh this one, but it's uh
>> Read out the motion. To read out the
» Read out the motion. To read out the
motion.
>> Sorry, pardon me. The council declare
» Sorry, pardon me. The council declare
the
city of Duncan an apartheid free city
and sign the apartheid free city pledge.
Which I believe was attached. Thank you.
>> Is there a seconder for that? Is there
» Is there a seconder for that? Is there
any discussion?
All those in favor?
Motion carries. Thank you.
And we'll move to reports of mayor and
council. Are there any council members
who wish to make a report this evening?
Anyone else?
Councillor Newington?
Anyone else?
So, we'll start with Councillor Duncan.
>> Okay, thank thank you, Your Worship. Um
» Okay, thank thank you, Your Worship. Um
yeah, on behalf of uh Duncan Council, I
attended the opening of the 39 Days and
welcomed the people to come to town and
spend their money.
Uh
and I also attended with other members
of council the fire department night, an
opportunity to meet some of our new uh
firefighters,
uh and to see some of the equipment in
use, uh and took a ride up on the
ladder.
And I also attended the with other
council members the Minister of State uh
meeting. Um one of the things that I
spoke about there was the traffic
conditions. We really, and it's been
brought up that you know, this is the
I guess the the knot between the two
large uh
cities on the island, and there doesn't
seem to be a way to deal with it. We
don't, you know, we pointed out that
we can't really look at expanding the
road between the bridge and and Beverly
uh
and also we spoke to her about uh the
village and how we we feel that it's a
success it's a success, and also
uh that it should be added to the
continuum of housing with BC Housing.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
Councillor Newington?
>> Well, Councilor Bruce has still stolen
» Well, Councilor Bruce has still stolen
my thunder. Cuz those are basically the
same what I was going to say.
Oh, Councilor Duncan, I'm sorry. I'm
looking at Councilor Bruce. Councilor
Duncan.
Um
Yeah, the other thing I want to say is
it certainly has been wonderful with 39
days this year. Um there've been some
great local people
and particularly the dancers. I don't
know if anybody's had an opportunity to
see any of the dancers.
Um but the young people that have been
dancing have just been absolutely
wonderful.
Um but yes,
we've all done
what Councilor Duncan said. We just let
him be our spokesperson. Thank you.
» Thank you. Is there any other councilor
who'd like to make a report about
anything?
No? Okay.
I will move on to my report, which will
actually be very brief this evening.
I think anyways.
Um because it feels like there's been a
lot happening and uh and also I I feel
like it's hard to even gather my
thoughts around everything. I would like
to just acknowledge that Brittany Anders
uh Minister Anderson's visit. It was I
got to be with her at the CVRD and here.
And uh for those of you who don't know
her, she is incredibly understanding and
recognizes the challenges and really
does advocate well on our behalf in her
role. And I really appreciate uh working
with her and she does open up a lot of
space for us to bring issues to her. And
she does follow through um
with the the channels going through the
channels that they need to be brought
forward in and uh yeah, I just really
acknowledge and appreciate her.
I also want to acknowledge our fire
department uh for the the the fire that
happened the other day um and our
neighboring fire departments who came
out to support.
Uh and you know, there is a lot of sort
of talk in communities about the places
that um
that we don't work together. Um there's
little recognition of all of the times
that we do. We work together far more
often than we do not.
And we may disagree on things, and we
may not look at things the same way, um
but we are always there for each other.
And that was demonstrated again um by
that fire and the way that that fire was
managed. I believe there was 30
firefighters on site that day. Uh they
had to rotate out because of the
temperature outside as well as the
temperature of the fire, so they were
rotating in and out. And uh
and you know, they saved that building
from being damaged much, much worse than
than it was. Um that just the the way
that the community came together and the
the responders that deal with um
um
that deal with the people who are being
displaced from their homes and how well
they everyone was taken care of. I heard
comment after comment after comment of
people sharing with me um just all the
things that they saw were about people
taking care of each other and people
helping and supporting each other.
And you know, these are things that it I
did mention this in in some recent
social media.
And uh and these are things that people
still don't seem to
I'm not sure why, but you know, want to
recognize in community. We heard from
the RCMP uh staff sergeant today about
the challenges and and what they deal
with on a daily basis and a monthly
basis. And we know those things, and
we're well aware of them.
And often times issues of um of uh that
that are, you know, failures of our
system that we're witnessing right now
um with not having enough housing, not
having mental health supports
um with the growing issue of of um
income disparity um with with with so so
many systemic issues piled on top of
each other and systems that are under so
much pressure, we don't acknowledge that
the wrong people are dealing with these
issues right now. The police is dealing
with them because there's no one else
dealing with them.
And and so um
you know, we continue to advocate for
the needs of our community. We've done a
great job of advocating for our
community, and yet we still see the
problems getting bigger.
And we still see the wrong people having
to be, you know, having to be dealt or
having them dealt with in the wrong way.
And so um people like, you know, um
Minister Anderson when she comes, she
understands that and there are very
there are other ministers that do as
well. But we really
need more so than ever to remember as a
community
um
you know, how to
how to support each other, which we
do often, but also how we speak about
each other and the community that we
live in.
That's also very important. And it gets
a bit
exhausting, I guess is the one word. Um
but it's disappointing to see people rip
apart their community because of
um when all of these people, you know,
hundreds and hundreds of people are
coming together to try to do what they
can to take care of of what they can in
ways that just are not being as
effective as they are because it's
simply
there is not the support where it needs
to be.
And so I just, you know, implore people
to redirect that energy into um you
know, letter writing
phoning, doing whatever you can to the
levels of government that need to invest
into those those needs in all of our
communities, not just ours.
And when we're out in community, you
know, to to
make sure that we're acknowledging the
beauty of the place that we live in,
too. Because two things, you know, can
be true at the same time. And there's a
lot of people suffering and it's I can't
imagine
being in those positions of suffering
that much and um and constantly having
to read that how you are the problem
when
it is a system that is failing you that
is the problem. And
what we're seeing is the results of
that.
So, that is my soapbox for this evening.
Uh thank you, and
uh there's 6 days left, I believe, of
the 39 days of July. Look at me get that
right for the first time in years.
I have this 39 days of summer thing
stuck in my head, and I just can't get
it out. Um but yeah, make your way out
if you haven't already. It's been
incredible. The Long John and his team
have done a phenomenal job, as always.
And there is nothing like seeing City
Square in the parking lots and
uh and the parks filled up with uh
people
uh laughing and enjoying themselves and
dancing and
uh yeah, reminding us of all the good
things in our community.
So, we will go into
uh question period. Do we have any
questions, Ms. Hodgins?
Okay.
And we'll go into a motion to 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 of personal information about an
identifiable individual who holds or is
being considered for a position as an
officer, employee, or agent of the
municipality, or another position
appointed by the municipality. Employee
relations, sections 91C, labor
relations, or other employee relations.
We'll take a 7-minute adjournment. 8
minutes. Let's come back at 7:30 and
give people a chance to stretch. Thanks,
everyone.