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Thank you very much, Sergeant Adams. And welcome everyone in the gallery, colleagues, it's nice to see you today. And welcome everyone watching distantly. We're gathered today for the Tuesday, August 25th, 2026 meeting of the Halifax Regional Council.

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Halifax Regional and Municipality is located in MacMaggy, the ancestral and traditional lands of the MacMag people. The municipality acknowledges the peace and friendship treaties signed in this territory and recognizes that we are all treaty people.

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The Halifax Regional Municipality also recognizes the unique history, heritage and enduring

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presence of African Nova Scotians, whose roots in Nova Scotia span more than 400 years.

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We celebrate the significant contributions of African Nova Scotians to the social, cultural,

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economic and civic life of our municipality, and acknowledge the leadership, knowledge, and excellence

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that continue to enrich our communities.

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This affirmation reflects our commitment to honoring the legacy and ongoing contributions

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of African Nova Scotians in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

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And with that, colleagues will come to order and we'll jump right, oh, why don't we have

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a moment of silence, actually?

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We'll start that way, would invite everyone to have a moment of silence for prayer or meditation

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or choir reflection.

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And we'll move right into item two, special community announcements and acknowledgements.

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And I'll just wait for any names to populate on the board and I see Councillor Gillis

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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I'm pouring everyone and for everyone watching at home, I'd like to announce that our MP

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bringing Clark is hosting a series of town halls throughout the communities in HRM.

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And he'll be hosting one with myself, my fabulous colleague here from Fall River and the MLA

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Brian Long, this Thursday, August 27th at the Beaver Bank community contact community center from 6-730.

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Hope to see everyone there. Thank you.

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Thank you for that, and we'll move on to Councilor Declan again, please.

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Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, but I'll last two or three weekends.

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I think I've spent them with hundreds of volunteers.

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And so congratulations to the volunteers and organizers of the Close Committee.

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That's in Fall River and Windsor Junction, and to the Halifax County Exhibition.

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I'm of well over 10,000 attendees, I believe, at the Halifax County Exhibition.

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So it was pretty great, and Annie's tea in Waverley.

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So that's all about working with the volunteers,

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but today what I really wanted to speak about as well

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was we have one of our staff who is retiring after 28 years.

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And I'm sorry, P.J., we got you here

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under false pretenses, maybe.

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He j, P.J. Temple has been with us for 28 years

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and coordinating the grants program.

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And of course, having spent 40 years

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in the non-profit sector.

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I've had a connection with PJ and the work that she's done.

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But I also want to say that PJ has grown the non-profit sector

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in a way that maybe she doesn't even realize

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because of her work.

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She's really assisted many non-profits in HRM to be better,

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to be sustainable, challenge them when it came

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to some of the financial stuff.

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My personal story is when we were looking

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from land that desk, P.J. I remember this one, and it wasn't looking good in the beginning,

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but P.J. had the right questions, and because she had the right questions, it forced us

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to make an even better proposal, and that's now exists, and it's a show place in Atlantic Canada,

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even across the country, as a show place for persons with disability, and then kind of environment

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that they deserve and need to be, and P.J. has played a big role in that, and I think there's

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not enough, thank you's to be able to be said. So P.J. is just a small thing, just a couple

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of flowers for you. Thank you.

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Bravo, Petta, Jane. Thank you very much, Councillor David again, and for that beautiful

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acknowledgement. We will certainly miss you around here, P.J. Thank you. And we will move on to

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to also acknowledge that MP Braden Clark, MLA Rick,

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Brandon, myself will be holding Town Hall at the Upper Hamist Plains Community Center,

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7-11 Park Park for Oak on Wednesday, the 26 August from 6 to 730. All of welcome in the community to come

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Thank you very much and Councilor Hinch, please.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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I wanted to proudly announce my sister-in-law,

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Barb Hamilton Hinch, who has been named

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2026 Order of Nova Scotia, recipient.

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I just want to say, Dr. Hamilton Hinch is an assistant vice provost,

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Equity and Inclusion at Dalhaal's University and Professor in the Dalhaal's School of Health

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And human performances,

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I'm so proud of my sister and law and all the accomplishments that she has made over the years, and what she has given to our community,

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I have a discussion community, and we'll continue to give. So I just wanted to acknowledge her today, because I'm so proud of her.

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That's wonderful. Councillor Hayes, thank you very much for that. And we'll move on to Councillor Manzini, please.

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Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, everyone. I like to acknowledge one of our own

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is having a big birthday tomorrow. Half-act regional council's happiest council

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or Billigio is going to be 51 tomorrow. Now, the surprisingly thing of that, I thought he was

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at least could be turning 70, but nevertheless, just once since we're not going to be gathered

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tomorrow, which Billy Happard birthday, buddy. And as tradition is here in council chambers,

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you buy the round of coffee later on.

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I have to be birthday Councillor Gilles.

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And we'll move on to Councillor Hensby, please.

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Thank you much, Mr. Mayor, and follow up from Councillor Gilles.

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We have knowledge, post-seminously, with the Yodermno Scotia. The fact that it was either initiated the Yodermno Scotia with the premier, back, back on the days, and I'm very proud of that accomplishment.

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I'd also like to thank the organizers that we had to cancel the Sancastle Day on Sunday because the forecast of the rental rains.

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It's sad that last year we had a drought and wildfire threat. In this year we got rained out. So it seems that we get the best or the worst of both worlds.

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but hopefully the 45th annual San Calesal Day

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will be three times the term next year.

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Also the next largest event on the eastern shores

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will be this Saturday.

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I hope for wildlife's open house from 12 to four in C4th.

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It's always been a great crowd attraction.

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And I just hope that people respect the no parking

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signs and one side of the road to make sure

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we have safe travel along the 207 highway.

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Thank you.

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Thank you very much, Councillor Hensby, we'll move on to Councillor Santa Monica, please.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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I know you've had the pleasure of meeting Bedford's Darcy Egan.

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He is a young man that graduated from St. Mary's and over the course of 23 days, ran

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23 ultramarathons in support of feed Nova Scotia, raising $15,000, he had set a rather ambitious

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goals in taking that on, running effectively from point to point in Nova Scotia and doing

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a considerable distance, 1,000 kilometers over the course of 23 days. Just a monumental

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achievement and a very ambitious event to undertake, and so I'd like to congratulate

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him on a very successful run and thank him for the tremendous support that he has provided

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to feed Nova Scotia and trying to help those that are facing food insecurity.

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Thank you very much, Councillor Sanyam, yes, from the tip of Cape Breton Island to the

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Lighthouse in Yarmouth, quite a feat, really, quite amazing.

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Colleagues, it's been a few weeks since Pride Week in Halphax, but we haven't had a

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council meeting in which to acknowledge the great work done by all involved in another successful

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Pride Festival.

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Pride brought, as they always do, thousands of people together across our region to celebrate

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to us LGBTQ and the growing community here in Halifax while creating opportunities for connection

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and for visibility and for celebration.

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And we know that events like Pride are only possible by through a tremendous amount of work

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that goes on behind the scenes.

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So on behalf of the Regional Council, I want to say thank you to the organizers, to the volunteers,

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to the sponsors, the performers, the businesses involved, everyone who helped to make this

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your success and I would like to make sure that everybody knows that next year there's even

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more to look forward to as health acts will host Canada Pride and that's going to bring

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many, many thousands more people from across the country into our municipality giving us an

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opportunity to showcase this amazing place that we call home. So again, congratulations to

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health acts pride on a great festival and we look forward to welcoming Canada to Halifax next year's

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One more colleague's earlier this month, we had the honor of welcoming officers and sailors

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from the Japan maritime self-defense force to city hall during their visit to the

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AlphaX Regional Municipality. Canada and Japan share a long-standing friendship built on

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cooperation, mutual respect and a deep connection to the sea. As Canada's defense city and home

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to the country's largest naval base, AlphaX is proud to play a role in strengthening those

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relationships. The reception was followed by a concert in Grand Parade featuring the joint

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performance of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Band and the Stata Cone Band, a wonderful

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demonstration of the friendship between these two nations. So thank you to all involved there as

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well. And I see we do have some more names on the board now. Councillor Kent, over to you.

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Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor. It's good to see everybody. We don't always see each other through the

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so hope you've all had a nice good rest and you're ready to rock and roll. I just want to mention that

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next week in September 5th we will be having hosting a community event acknowledging the opening

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of a new playground at Soath Woodside Community School. What's particular interesting for me is that

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I was a counselor when the one that was removed was installed and this was with a significant

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contribution from Imperial Loyal at the time. They had contributed quite a lot to the

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community school and there is a little plaque there showing that one and now this one that was

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replaced. I'm just so pleased that Parks made sure that there was another playground installed

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that had the significance of a larger space for that school.

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It's a small school, but they deserve to have something similar to what they had.

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And I'm really pleased that Parks acknowledged that with replacing it with something larger.

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So, April 5th at 4th, sorry, September 5th at 4.30 for treats and ribbon cutting.

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Thank you.

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Thank you very much for that.

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Councillor Stamon, back to you.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Now we haven't had a meeting in a little while, and so there are some dates that we've managed to miss, including

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LaFette Nassana de LaCadille on August 15th. And in my role on council, I was honored to be selected as the official representative for HRM and for this body,

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to the francophone and a Canadian communities in Nova Scotia, and specifically in Halifax.

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And so I thought since we haven't had a meeting since the 15th, I would share the

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the proclamation that the mayor provided on that date when we conducted a flag raising

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for the Acadian community here at City Hall in Grand Parade. So, the proclamation for the

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for the Fett Nassian out de la Cadi reads as follows. And forgive me, I'm going to do this when

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in French as seems very appropriate given circumstances.

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Colleys Akkadian, part of the region, the restory, the development of Constitula, the first

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colony of the France, a set-up leader, the Fasson permanent, or Canada, is retrieved

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maintenance on all the province, a territory of Canandian.

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Colleys, part of Akkadian, is a country-be-way, the pre-Pu-de-Catson on a vitality, economic,

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cultural, and social, or Canada.

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Could the pre-milwitzon-Catrovainer, the Pepka Akkadian Serb, the Kains-U,

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from the Jornay, the Lafette, the National de la Cadi,

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could the Pepka Akkadian define the identity of the long-circuiture and secutum?

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Could the Lainter Red, the Toulicanadian, the Pouvoir-Palthagel,

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Rich Patrimon, is a historic, and could the Lainadian,

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and, in the end, all the manifestations, also come to an end,

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that we can understand, that it is important to encourage

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the Acadienians and Acadienians to be proud of their heritage.

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This is why it is the absolute pleasure that I,

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Jean-Saint-Tamont, is known to be one of the most beautiful films

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and the original concept of the...

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Thank you for that.

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Thank you very much. Thank you for the council.

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to settle on for recognising the academy and heritage months this month as well as I want to acknowledge

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that the faculty, the Chesapeake Club, is also recognising it's 30th anniversary this month

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and I want to wish him a happy birthday and happy celebration.

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Thank you.

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Thank you very much for that.

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I don't see any of the names in the board for announcements.

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So we will move along to item three approval of the minutes of July 14th, 2026.

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Could I have a motion?

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in the Councillor.

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Gillis seconded by Councillor Sainum I, and is there any discussion on those minutes?

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Not seeing any show of hands in approval of the adoption of those minutes, and they are

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approved.

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Thank you very much.

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That brings us to the approval of the order of business and approval of additions and

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deletions.

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There are some things to add, and some things to jostle around here today.

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Madam Clerk, would you like to walk us through that?

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Yes, so there is a request to add the following items, item 18.1, executive standing committee,

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2027, Halifax Regional Council, and 202728, or sorry, 2028 proposed budget meeting schedules,

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as well as item 21.7 proclamation, National Days, Acadians, National Acadian Day, August 15,

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There's also a request that if there's any in-camera items that Council wishes to test in public to consider these items following item five consent agenda.

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If Council wishes to convene in-camera to discuss an item, they would not be moved up and remain in the current agenda order.

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Okay, thank you very much for that. I think that I'll make sense. There are some other folks on the board and we'll start with the deputy mayor, please.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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So I have a couple of things.

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One is item 15.1.3 proposed amendments to amend order 2018-003 ADM respecting private road maintenance.

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I'd like to either move a request that that be deferred to a future meeting of council.

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I was in conversation through email with Vicki several times yesterday about looking at the criteria that's in the report.

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There is no rationale right now for the 10 and in conversation with some of my residents that live on private laneways and drives.

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I just, before we move this forward, I would like to have further conversations with Vicki,

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so I can come up with a amendment that makes sense and can be supported, so I would like

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to move that that be deferred.

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Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor.

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We will need a seconder for that, perhaps.

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I saw Councillor Steele there very promptly, and all in favor of deferral.

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Show of hands, please.

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Okay.

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That deferral pass.

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Thank you for that.

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Okay.

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Thank you.

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And I don't know if this is the time to move the consent agenda that's in the in-camera

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or to do that.

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Where's the in?

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Please, hold.

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I guess that would move to consent.

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I'd add that to consent.

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We will, yeah, we'll come back to the in-camera momentarily.

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I can't say that.

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Councillor Austin, please.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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I'd like to move that we defer 15, 3.1.

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headstart tennis dome. This is in Councillor White's district and she's not available to join us and

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that could do better if we consider this at our next meeting.

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I think Councillor Hartling was quick on the second there and all of the favor of deferring

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1531 show of hands please and that passes. Okay that's deferred. Thank you very much. Then we'll

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carry on to Councillor Mancini please. Thank you Mr. Mayor colleagues I'm asking that an item

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16.1 which is Council Hartlings. If we could discuss that earlier in our agenda, either

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just before our lunch break or just after our lunch break, unfortunately I have to leave early

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and I want to be around for that conversation so we could have earlier in the agenda that

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would be appreciated.

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Thank you very much. I don't think that requires a motion, does that? No. How about we put

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Councillor,

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just before 15-1. Is that too everyone? Just before 15-1.

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Okay,

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good, very good. Thank you. Councillor Steele, please.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I would like to request a presentation for a future meeting for

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the Chief Administrative Office, Sir, concerning the Nova Scotia Cap Assessment Program impacts.

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And the future meeting I was looking toward was not the September 15 meeting but September

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29 due to staff availability.

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Okay, so the request is to bring forward the information item, which is number 21.3.

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Thank you, 21.3.

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to a future meeting date of September,

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if I don't have too many pages here, 29?

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Yes, and I would like a presentation.

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Presentation, okay.

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Thank you.

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We've got that noted now.

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You're welcome.

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Okay, let's just make sure we cover everything here.

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Right, so that looks like we have an amended agenda.

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Oh, do I see a hand up over there?

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Okay, thank you.

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Councillor Cleary has moved the agenda is seconded by Councillor Sainaman and all in favor of that, please.

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And that we have now adopted that and that can now come back to the in-camera question from the Deputy Mayor, I believe.

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Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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So I'm just trying to pull up the right

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item here, and second, it's no it's 17.5 I think.

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Yeah, so I know that usually we wait until we get to the end of our agenda to move in camera items that we'd like to pass on consent.

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This morning I'm going to try to move 17.5 right now the reason being that if there is nobody who is interested in pulling this out for discussion by moving and approving this now, then we'll enable staff to get on with their day and we won't tie them up waiting for us to get to this item.

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You're on one second. Okay, so I would like to test council by moving item 17.5 on the consent agenda.

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First, the motion's been seconded by Councillor Hinch, and Madam Clerk, I will seek your guidance on if we're going to have a hand vote on this or how to hear a recorded vote. Thank you very much.

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So we'll proceed to a recorded vote right now.

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The motion carries. Thank you very much.

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deputy mayor. We will now come to the consent agenda. There are a few items on today's consent

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agenda. Fifteen one centralized grants reporting concept. Fifteen two one TMR tool by bigger part

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TMR2 dual band radio 2026 slash 2027 capital budget transfer, 1531 has been deferred, 15.3.2 affordable housing strategy. I would like to remove that from consent. 15.3.3 Dartmouth regional pickle ball facility and 15.4.1 major events policy framework and looking at the board. I see the deputy mayor please.

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Oh, nope, that wouldn't, I think that's a love deal for it.

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That's a remnant, okay.

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Thank you.

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Any other comments on the consent agenda, Alex?

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Okay, so affordable housing.

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Okay, there's a motion from Councillor.

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It's way to everyone catches up.

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Yeah, the only removal would be 1532.

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And there's a motion from Councillor Clery to approve the consent agenda

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in the second bid by Councillor Steele, and we will go to a recorded vote.

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In the amended consent agenda is approved. Thank you.

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Item 6 business arising out of the minutes, I don't believe we have any today.

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Item 7, call for declarations of conflicts of interest, colleagues, anyone.

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Seeing none.

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Item 8, motions of reconsideration. There are none.

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Item 9, motions of recision. There are none today.

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Item 10, consideration of deferred business.

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from July 14th, 2026, we have item 10.1, which was deferred to the request of Councillor

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Hensch.

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The item is dismantling racism and hate strategy, and the purpose of Councillor Hensch's

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deferral was to request a presentation, which I understand one is forthcoming.

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And welcome, Russell, and the floor is yours when you are ready to do your presentation,

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and once you're concluded, we'll ask Councillor Hensch to put the motion on the floor.

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So, good morning, Mayor Fillmore, and members of Council, I'm here to provide overview of the dismantling racism and hate strategy.

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So, this serves as a coordinated municipality wide framework to advance equity, accountability, and systemic change.

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So, I will attempt to proactively kind of answer as many of assumed questions that you may have throughout the presentation.

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So the first question that I'm attempting to answer for you folks this morning is why this strategy and why now?

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So Bill 96 is the legislation that became Nova Scotia's dismantling racism and hate act.

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And that act requires prescribed public bodies, including Halifax regional municipality to create and maintain a plan addressing systemic racism, hate and inequity.

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And so, this really serves as an opportunity for health and external municipality to really align existing efforts.

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So there are many other pieces of work that are already within the implementation phase.

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And this is a really great opportunity for us to align and coordinate those efforts.

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looking at ways that we can align those existing efforts around equity accessibility, inclusion,

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cultural recognition. It's an opportunity for us to also continue to address barriers,

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so we want to identify and dismantle systemic barriers looking at those barriers that we

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might not always see within our policies, our programs, services, and our organizational operation.

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It's also serves us as an opportunity when we look at accountability.

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So we really want to look at how we're measuring these outcomes.

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We want to look at ways that we can improve our transparency and the ways that we communicate

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and update the progress to community as well as to employees across the organization.

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And also we want to look at our reporting and ensure that we have clear oversight from leadership

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levels all the way down to the frontline staff across the organization, and the last

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point that I just wanted to speak to here was just around our responsiveness. This requires

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a commitment from us, and we need to make sure that we're keeping community voices and

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lived experience central as the implementation you evolve. So this is going to be a living

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strategy. So as things change across our municipality, we want to make sure that this

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strategy reflects those changes so we are going to continuously engage with community

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and make sure that this is in real-time responding to the nature of the realities of those

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folks that call it Halifax home.

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In terms of the structure of the strategy so there are system-wide foundations

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So we have three.

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Which there are six. So under education, culture and public awareness, this is really how we reinforce

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our commitment to education and continuous learning. We're looking at things like training. So we

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want to make sure that these things are prioritized and they will affect how we implement the actions

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within the strategy and how we improve the service delivery of our programs and services to

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citizens and residents. So, number two is community safety, anti-hate response and inclusion.

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So, for folks that are, you know, victims of forms of hate, racism and discrimination,

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this becomes a matter of safety. And we need to make sure that this strategy responds to that

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reality. So we really want to make sure that we're looking at the safety and well-being

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of all citizens and residents as we continue to grow and evolve this strategy and look at the

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ways that it's being implemented and the impact that it's having on the overall well being

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again all citizens and residents. And then we're looking at data, accountability, governance,

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and we just really need to make sure that we're collecting the data we're being intentional about

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the data that we're collecting and we're then using that data to inform the actions and we're

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using that to also inform how this strategy grows and evolves over time. When we look at

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accountability, I think it's important that there is a shared ownership in this work. It can't

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be something that is just carried and shouldered by a few business units. This has to be a shared

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responsibility across the entire organization.

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So when we're looking at accountability and governance, that's how we demonstrate that

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is making sure that this is something that has shared across the organization across

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all levels of leadership, and it's important that that cascades down through the organization.

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Things don't cascade up from front line, it truly cascades down from the leadership of the

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organization.

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And then when we're getting into the equity and belonging pillars, so we have African

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Nova Scotia in African descent communities and residents.

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We also have MIGMA and Indigenous communities and residents, newcomer and immigrants, communities

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and residents, gender equity, accessibility, and disability inclusion, and a cadian and

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francophone communities and residents.

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So what change is in terms of practice?

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So, this is where we really show our commitment to moving from commitment to substantive action

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substantive change.

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So, through these efforts, we want to make sure that we're building capacity.

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So, we're looking at training.

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And when you have training, it speaks volumes when you mandate a training.

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That prioritizes that that puts value on that training.

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So, it really shows where your priorities lie.

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So we really want to look at what are the trainings that we need to de-mandatory, what are the

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trainings that we need to prioritize, how we commit to our ongoing education and learning.

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We want to look at really the public awareness around different cultural, festival, celebrations,

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and then cross-cultural learning initiatives.

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That's really important with how we move this work forward.

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And then also also we want to look at how do we deliver culturally safe and responsive service

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delivery at all levels of service across the organization.

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We also want to look at use of data and equity analysis.

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So we're looking at intersectional data and equity impact assessments.

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And we really want to use that to identify those systemic barriers that aren't always

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easy to see by the eye.

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We really want to look at the policies, the processes, the mechanisms that are guiding all

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of these decisions that are being made.

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And then we want to use that to inform our decision-making and measure the outcomes in terms

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of the impact. Looking at access, we will be looking at multilingual and accessible communications

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and all of the things that will be communicating moving forward. We want to make sure that we're

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looking at our service standards and improving them where and when we need to. We also want to

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look at accessible infrastructure and looking at engagement, it's going to be an ongoing and

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and really what we want to be able to do with the engagement and measuring the engagement or the success of the engagement is we really want all residents to be to feel like they're being reflected in this work.

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Often what we hear when we're developing strategies, we're implementing strategies, you'll always hear folks who say that they don't feel like they're seen or reflected in this work.

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So we want to make sure that as we continue that engagement, we continue to, you know, listen to that feedback so that all citizens and residents feel like they're being reflected and represented in this work.

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In terms of improving our response, so I mentioned earlier about coordinated anti-hate response and really looking at the protocol, really looking at how that's captured, what happens once it's captured and ensuring that it's, you know, it's something that it's consistent.

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It's going to be something that is prioritized and there's going to be a sense of urgency and

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how we respond to any of those, you know, when there is any incident involving hate,

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we want to make sure that we're responding with an urgent sense of urgency, sorry.

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So then we also want to look at, you know, making sure that our reporting is accessible.

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And it's culturally responsive when we have our supports.

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A lot of times we use and throw around a lot of language.

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But saying you have culturally responsible, responsible supports, and offering them as two

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different things.

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So we want to truly make sure that we have those supports available so that when they're

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needed, they can be mobilized, immediately, and it's not something that folks are waiting

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for to further the harm or the impact of whatever it is that they're experiencing.

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And then looking at investing in partnership, there are a lot of great community-led initiatives

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organizations, grassroots groups that are doing meaningful work with a lot of groups in our

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community.

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And we want to leverage that.

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We want to try to work with those folks, build those relationships if there's folks

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out there that we already have relationships with that are service providers and servicing different

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groups in our community.

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We want to make sure that we're growing those relationships where sustaining those relationships

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so that we can utilize that and leverage that to really enhance the impact and broaden

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and it reached throughout this work as we move through this implementation phase.

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And we also want to look at procurement and inclusive procurement.

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There are so many diverse folks across this municipality that are offering great services

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and offering exceptional business and things of that nature.

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And we truly want to provide equal opportunities for those folks to be able to provide

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those services on a municipal platform, and beyond that,

399
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it serves as an opportunity to really amplify your business

400
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when we're able to look at the ways that we're doing

401
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procurement.

402
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We want to remove any barriers that exist.

403
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And then looking at heritage and culture.

404
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I'm already under way that exist, that are really looking at celebrating and recognizing heritage and culture across our municipality and we want to continue to seek out those opportunities as well as amplify and enhance those initiatives that are already existing.

405
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And then the last one here around embedding accountability.

406
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So I think that this is critically important.

407
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When we look at leadership,

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leadership is something that you demonstrate and that you act.

409
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And if we are truly putting value in prioritizing this work,

410
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it needs to start at the CAO's level with the executive leadership group.

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And again, that priority and the value on this work needs to trickle down

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across all business units, so it's really important that that leadership starts at that table.

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And then when we look at how we'll be providing updates and things of that nature like

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there are going to be updates that are provided to the province based on that schedule that

415
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they have already determined, but we'll be coming back to Council annually with updates.

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this is where we will provide the status of the implementation of the strategy, our successes,

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our challenges, or anything that we need to kind of rethink and revisit as we continue to implement

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this work.

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Folks, I always want to know how progress will be measured and reported. So I've

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got you covered this morning. So we're really looking at three main focuses, or sorry, four main

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focuses in how we'll measure and report on this work.

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So the first one is key performance indicators.

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So we'll be working with business units

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and helping them shape and determine what those KPIs

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will look like.

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We wanted to make sure that we're not telling business units

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how to measure this, how to implement these things.

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We want to work closely in partnership and collaboration.

429
00:54:35,050 --> 00:54:37,650
And again, we're looking at that shared ownership here.

430
00:54:37,710 --> 00:54:39,990
So we want to make sure that we're working with the business

431
00:54:39,990 --> 00:54:44,790
it's closely to determine what those KPIs look like and we want to make sure that we're putting

432
00:54:44,790 --> 00:54:49,810
the entire organization in a position to be successful. We don't want to just undertake

433
00:54:50,390 --> 00:54:55,730
this responsibility in these actions with those having some autonomy and say and shaping how we

434
00:54:55,730 --> 00:55:01,630
measure those things. In terms of reporting, as I mentioned, we'll be doing annual reporting back to

435
00:55:01,630 --> 00:55:09,190
you folks and we want to look at the ways that we can provide real-time updates to the community,

436
00:55:09,190 --> 00:55:21,090
whether that's, you know, a public tracing website, dashboard, things of that nature, these are other tactics that are being employed in other municipalities and places across the nation.

437
00:55:21,970 --> 00:55:27,630
So we'll be, you know, exploring those options to see what are the best ways that we can provide those updates to the community.

438
00:55:27,970 --> 00:55:35,590
I think it's important that when we're engaging with folks that we don't wait for them to come back to us, we proactively bring that information back to them.

439
00:55:36,270 --> 00:55:44,390
Under the learn piece, again, we want to make sure that we're proactively committing to education training, continuous learning.

440
00:55:45,170 --> 00:55:51,350
So we want to make sure that we're doing all those things, and then we also want to have that ongoing community engagement and that feedback.

441
00:55:52,090 --> 00:55:55,510
Again, this is going to be a living strategy.

442
00:55:55,870 --> 00:56:00,010
So as we continue to implement this work, we want to be able to go back to the community.

443
00:56:00,010 --> 00:56:04,510
hated we get this right, what is missing, and then take that feedback to shape kind of what

444
00:56:04,510 --> 00:56:10,230
we do next in the future phases of this strategy. And like I said, we always want to make

445
00:56:10,230 --> 00:56:14,790
sure that we're responding to the emerging needs in real time of all citizens and residents.

446
00:56:15,410 --> 00:56:22,230
And then when we're looking at how we will continue to strive for improvement, we'll

447
00:56:22,230 --> 00:56:28,830
continuously be refining our actions and the strategy over time. There will be a formal strategy

448
00:56:28,830 --> 00:56:36,570
review with the province and that's scheduled for the spring of 2028 and you know I just

449
00:56:36,570 --> 00:56:40,510
also have here that accountability needs to be built into the strategy. We want to measure

450
00:56:40,510 --> 00:56:46,130
what matters. We want to report transparently and listen continuously so that we can make those

451
00:56:46,130 --> 00:56:54,450
adjustments and reflect the voices of all citizens and residents. So before I kind of get to

452
00:56:54,450 --> 00:56:59,090
you know, the motions here. I also want to kind of make sure that I acknowledge these

453
00:56:59,090 --> 00:57:03,650
pieces here too in terms of the implementation considerations. A lot of times, you know,

454
00:57:03,770 --> 00:57:09,990
we know that money and resources is a big question that folks have when you're undertaking

455
00:57:09,990 --> 00:57:17,030
this work. Today, we are not seeking money, you know, to endorse this strategy as it stands.

456
00:57:18,890 --> 00:57:22,770
Following the approval, we will be working with business units to determine the timelines

457
00:57:22,770 --> 00:57:28,210
in the cost for specific initiatives, so there are some business units that have identified

458
00:57:28,210 --> 00:57:33,890
that they may have funding allocated within their budget that will be able to resource some

459
00:57:33,890 --> 00:57:41,130
of the actions going forward in the strategy, but we will also be applying for funding. A lot of

460
00:57:41,130 --> 00:57:50,090
the work that is being implemented under the dismantling racism hate work is being funded by

461
00:57:50,090 --> 00:57:55,130
grants and other funding opportunities at the provincial and federal level.

462
00:57:55,570 --> 00:58:01,430
So we will be applying for funding to find a lot of these actions and action items.

463
00:58:02,550 --> 00:58:04,770
And the other piece there just around the community engagement.

464
00:58:05,250 --> 00:58:06,750
It's going to be something that is continuous.

465
00:58:07,070 --> 00:58:09,310
It's not something that we're just doing one time.

466
00:58:09,950 --> 00:58:12,310
And that's all we're using to inform this strategy.

467
00:58:12,810 --> 00:58:16,650
And the other thing that I think is worthwhile mentioning too is that

468
00:58:16,650 --> 00:58:22,870
many of the action items that are already in the strategy that's being presented here today

469
00:58:22,870 --> 00:58:27,570
have been shaped by engagement in the past. So the office of diversity inclusion

470
00:58:27,570 --> 00:58:35,910
folks around cultural heritage priorities plan public safety we have used the feedback that

471
00:58:35,910 --> 00:58:40,170
they've received that shape the existing work that they're all doing to make sure that we're

472
00:58:40,170 --> 00:58:44,390
not exhausting folks in terms of how we're doing engagement, but we do realize that there are

473
00:58:44,390 --> 00:58:50,610
folks that don't feel like they're reflected in the strategy that we're bringing before

474
00:58:50,610 --> 00:58:51,130
you today.

475
00:58:51,850 --> 00:58:56,290
And we have a commitment to making sure that we reach those folks and that the feedback

476
00:58:56,290 --> 00:59:02,310
and engagement that we are going to do moving forward will reflect all voices and live

477
00:59:02,310 --> 00:59:06,030
experiences of residents and citizens across our municipality.

478
00:59:07,290 --> 00:59:30,970
So with that we have the two motions here that we're bringing forward today, so the first one is just around approving the dismantling racism and hate strategy as set out in attachment one and then number two is to direct the chief administrative officer the CIO to provide annual updates on the progress of this strategy.

479
00:59:31,850 --> 00:59:38,350
Thank you very much for a thorough presentation and Russell, very well done, and all the work behind it as well, so thank you.

480
00:59:38,610 --> 00:59:41,130
We'll go to Councillor Hinch to put the motion on the floor, please.

481
00:59:42,530 --> 00:59:45,950
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Russell, for the thorough presentation.

482
00:59:48,210 --> 00:59:52,990
It is recommended that Halifax Regional Council want to prove the dismantling racism and hate strategy,

483
00:59:52,990 --> 00:59:56,950
as settled in the attachment one of the staff report and two.

484
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:02,400
Day on progress of the strategy.

485
01:00:03,620 --> 01:00:05,260
Seconded by Councillor Minceini.

486
01:00:07,170 --> 01:00:08,690
Can I still? Thank you.

487
01:00:09,930 --> 01:00:18,790
So again, Russell, thank you for the presentation. The one thing that always crosses my mind and continue to cross my mind is the training component of this.

488
01:00:21,520 --> 01:00:23,040
And I believe I've asked you before.

489
01:00:24,540 --> 01:00:27,160
But is it mandatory? Can this training be mandatory?

490
01:00:27,160 --> 01:00:34,760
And when we talk about from the top down, I believe council should be definitely have that type of training.

491
01:00:35,700 --> 01:00:43,100
So my question is, is it mandatory and is council are afforded that type of training as well?

492
01:00:43,480 --> 01:00:44,200
Thank you.

493
01:00:46,770 --> 01:00:49,770
So through you, Mr. Mayor, to the councilor. So thank you for the question.

494
01:00:51,210 --> 01:00:53,670
So the training is not mandatory.

495
01:00:55,050 --> 01:01:06,750
And we have really explored this many times and many ways and as it stands, it is not mandatory training.

496
01:01:08,230 --> 01:01:13,710
But we have an opportunity to kind of convey that message at executive leadership

497
01:01:13,710 --> 01:01:19,830
and hope that they can really encourage their business unit to prioritize the training

498
01:01:19,830 --> 01:01:27,670
we have had trainings in the past that have really been pushed at that level and some executive

499
01:01:27,670 --> 01:01:36,510
directors and folks at that level have really encouraged their business unit to really make it

500
01:01:36,510 --> 01:01:41,510
a priority to complete a variety of different trainings as it relates to the work that they're

501
01:01:41,510 --> 01:01:48,870
doing. And we have explored ways that we can provide training to you folks and that is something

502
01:01:48,870 --> 01:01:54,990
we are very much open to when we would love to you know explore and see how we can bring

503
01:01:54,990 --> 01:02:00,450
those training opportunities to you folks. I just hope when it does come that we all take the

504
01:02:00,450 --> 01:02:06,910
opportunity and take the training. Thank you, that's all I had to say thank you. Thank you very much

505
01:02:06,910 --> 01:02:15,670
will move on to the Deputy Mayor, please. Thank you Mr. Mayor. I happen to cross a new tool that I see on the

506
01:02:15,670 --> 01:02:25,810
employee website map, my action plan, which is kind of looking at ways with, you know, employees

507
01:02:25,810 --> 01:02:31,570
can find opportunities to help advance strategic initiatives of the municipality.

508
01:02:32,390 --> 01:02:37,190
And I thought it was a, I hadn't seen it before and thought it was a rather innovative tool

509
01:02:37,190 --> 01:02:43,030
and I see in that in that map program that there is something for diversity and inclusion.

510
01:02:43,970 --> 01:02:49,990
equity and I was just wondering, you know, when it comes to embedding this, you talked about

511
01:02:49,990 --> 01:02:57,370
leadership, you talked about embedding it in the organization, you know, seeing it at the

512
01:02:57,370 --> 01:03:02,070
leadership level and then trickling down. I'm wondering are there any other tools that are

513
01:03:02,070 --> 01:03:08,990
in development or programs that are in development or how, you know, what is the plan for

514
01:03:08,990 --> 01:03:16,130
helping to support, that embedding this in the organization as a whole?

515
01:03:19,340 --> 01:03:23,920
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor. Thank you for the question. That is a great

516
01:03:23,920 --> 01:03:31,560
opportunity for us to do, you know, to really elevate and embed this work. So my action plan,

517
01:03:31,900 --> 01:03:38,820
your map is something that, you know, individuals work closely with their direct report

518
01:03:38,820 --> 01:03:46,980
to establish some goals for them as it pertains to a variety of kind of areas that the organization

519
01:03:46,980 --> 01:03:55,820
values. So embedding those goals in that requires a level of accountability. So I think

520
01:03:55,820 --> 01:04:02,600
that that's a great strategy to explore around, like I said, elevating this and embedding it

521
01:04:02,600 --> 01:04:08,520
in the work that we're doing. And then at the executive level, they have what I believe is called

522
01:04:08,520 --> 01:04:15,180
a mandate letter, and it's similar to your map, but it's something that is specifically

523
01:04:15,180 --> 01:04:18,000
for folks that are at the executive leadership level.

524
01:04:19,560 --> 01:04:25,020
And typically they do try to have diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility goal in

525
01:04:25,020 --> 01:04:25,620
that letter.

526
01:04:26,180 --> 01:04:32,420
So this is something also that we would love to see executive leaders build into that mandate

527
01:04:32,420 --> 01:04:33,720
letter as we move forward.

528
01:04:33,720 --> 01:04:39,720
So, you know, hoping to get approval around the strategy and that could be where we start

529
01:04:39,720 --> 01:04:45,600
is having executive leadership have a goal in their mandate letter that applies to

530
01:04:45,600 --> 01:04:47,300
the dismantling racism and hate strategy.

531
01:04:48,780 --> 01:04:49,220
Okay, good.

532
01:04:49,460 --> 01:04:55,640
Those tangible examples are kind of really, you know, get to understand, you know, in terms

533
01:04:55,640 --> 01:05:01,300
of how this is going to roll out and then how that gets measured against the KPI so we can

534
01:05:01,300 --> 01:05:06,020
the progress. So thank you for that. Thank you. Councilor Mancini please.

535
01:05:07,960 --> 01:05:11,600
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councilor Hench, thank you for bringing this forward and asking for

536
01:05:11,600 --> 01:05:17,380
the presentation. Russell, thank you for your leadership on this. It's interesting colleagues,

537
01:05:17,520 --> 01:05:22,460
what I'm not speaking on behalf of the municipality and talking to visitors or talking to business

538
01:05:22,460 --> 01:05:26,520
people or just talking to the community. One of the things that I speak most highly of,

539
01:05:26,600 --> 01:05:30,680
and that I'm most proud of is the diversity that now exists in our municipality that didn't

540
01:05:30,680 --> 01:05:32,700
exists, that not long ago.

541
01:05:33,820 --> 01:05:42,460
You know, in say that, however, you know, I do see an increase in racism, and maybe even

542
01:05:42,460 --> 01:05:43,120
hate there.

543
01:05:43,480 --> 01:05:48,700
We've seen examples at the anti-Muslim, the Jewish African-West Coast, and that continues

544
01:05:48,700 --> 01:05:49,700
on.

545
01:05:49,820 --> 01:05:53,700
You know, Councillor Austin and I have seen it against brown people recently when the discussion

546
01:05:53,700 --> 01:05:58,520
of about the, uh, director of the Commons and, uh, cricket versus baseball, and, and

547
01:05:58,520 --> 01:06:05,460
Oddly, ugly words to be in use, and it's so disappointing to me when I see that.

548
01:06:05,860 --> 01:06:09,140
However, in saying that, my daughter's visiting from the way and on the weekend she came

549
01:06:09,140 --> 01:06:10,840
home and after taking an Uber drive.

550
01:06:10,960 --> 01:06:11,220
She's dead.

551
01:06:11,220 --> 01:06:13,020
I got to tell you about my experience with Uber driver.

552
01:06:13,340 --> 01:06:18,100
He's from East India, and he said he traveled, lived all over the world, and he now lives

553
01:06:18,100 --> 01:06:18,680
here.

554
01:06:19,080 --> 01:06:24,340
And he says, H-O-M, Nova Scotia has been the most welcoming place he's ever lived in.

555
01:06:24,480 --> 01:06:25,680
And this is now his home.

556
01:06:25,680 --> 01:06:33,960
And I was so proud to hear those words, because at the same time talking about what we see as an increase in racism and in hate.

557
01:06:34,160 --> 01:06:40,380
In your words about words are easy, right? We do the acknowledgement. Now we do the Afro-Nobody's Cultural Knowledge, but a lot of the big amount of acknowledgement.

558
01:06:41,100 --> 01:06:50,120
There were words, right? And the real showing that we are a welcome community is action as you alluded to in your presentation.

559
01:06:50,120 --> 01:06:56,000
So the question I have is, you look at it to be in response when incidents of racism

560
01:06:56,000 --> 01:06:56,540
and hate.

561
01:06:56,740 --> 01:06:58,040
Now, having a sense of urgency.

562
01:06:58,880 --> 01:07:04,900
My two questions related to that, Russell, is that, is the work that you do simply internal

563
01:07:04,900 --> 01:07:12,240
to HRM or will you also respond to these incidents that when they happen outside of our workplace?

564
01:07:13,160 --> 01:07:17,260
And can you give us some examples when you say you respond to those actions when they happen?

565
01:07:17,620 --> 01:07:18,340
And that sense of urgency.

566
01:07:18,520 --> 01:07:19,580
Can you give me some sort of an example?

567
01:07:19,580 --> 01:07:21,620
What does that mean with that positive look like?

568
01:07:22,380 --> 01:07:23,060
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

569
01:07:26,000 --> 01:07:26,980
So, through you, Mr. Mayor.

570
01:07:30,000 --> 01:07:33,340
So, when we're looking at the response,

571
01:07:35,540 --> 01:07:40,160
so hate is, you know, it's a crime, so the reporting would be going

572
01:07:40,160 --> 01:07:46,260
through police, but we also want to look at the things that we can do within the organization

573
01:07:46,260 --> 01:07:52,080
in terms of like the supports that we provide to folks that are receiving or on the receiving

574
01:07:52,080 --> 01:07:57,840
end or the victims of all forms of hate, discrimination, racism, so we want to make sure that we have

575
01:07:57,840 --> 01:08:03,640
supports readily available, we want to make sure that we have, you know, the culturally sensitive

576
01:08:03,640 --> 01:08:08,140
and responsive training for all the frontline folks that are going to be like first responders

577
01:08:08,140 --> 01:08:13,680
to make sure that it's not going to further the harm or the impact that's been already received.

578
01:08:14,340 --> 01:08:19,380
And we want to look at what we can do internally, you know, what we're exploring, how we can

579
01:08:19,940 --> 01:08:25,680
work with 311 in terms of how we're collecting and receiving calls, logging those calls,

580
01:08:25,680 --> 01:08:34,380
You know, things of that nature to make sure that we have a consistent process in terms of how we respond, how we capture it, what we're doing with what is being captured.

581
01:08:35,100 --> 01:08:43,380
You know, we want to make sure that we're using that information and that data to really inform kind of the things that we need to do better or maybe the things that we're not even doing yet.

582
01:08:43,640 --> 01:08:46,700
So that's really how we see, you know, the work.

583
01:08:48,680 --> 01:08:51,480
You know, the next kind of steps that we're going to be taking.

584
01:08:51,480 --> 01:08:59,160
You know, these are all new things that we'll be doing, you know, the scope of this work is continuing to grow and brought in.

585
01:08:59,240 --> 01:09:11,180
So we want to make sure that we're learning as we go, but we're also making sure that we're applying that learning to our programs, our services and what is being offered under the municipal scope of services and programs.

586
01:09:13,340 --> 01:09:16,380
I'm looking at my colleagues for the Board of Police Commission here at Councillor

587
01:09:16,380 --> 01:09:17,540
County Council for Hinch.

588
01:09:18,480 --> 01:09:22,740
I think we can discuss how you actually come and speak to the Board of Police Commission.

589
01:09:23,100 --> 01:09:26,520
The more that we talk about this topic, how it relates to the first we spot on how it relates

590
01:09:26,520 --> 01:09:28,620
to the police and community engagement.

591
01:09:29,340 --> 01:09:32,380
I'll take it as a takeaway myself and we'll follow up with you on that.

592
01:09:32,480 --> 01:09:33,920
Russell, thank you for your work, Madam appreciate it.

593
01:09:34,060 --> 01:09:34,600
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

594
01:09:35,640 --> 01:09:36,320
Thank you very much.

595
01:09:36,480 --> 01:09:37,460
Moving on to Councillor Still, please.

596
01:09:38,880 --> 01:09:42,980
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thanks for the presentation, Russell.

597
01:09:43,460 --> 01:09:50,540
One of the questions I have when we talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and anti-hate strategies.

598
01:09:51,440 --> 01:09:57,560
I wonder about how HRM employees reflect the communities we serve.

599
01:09:57,560 --> 01:10:09,820
So, I do know that there is a, I understand there's an ability to self-identify on applications or on employee profiles.

600
01:10:10,940 --> 01:10:13,440
Are we collecting any data on that?

601
01:10:13,440 --> 01:10:16,560
I know you mentioned the importance of data and collecting data.

602
01:10:18,220 --> 01:10:26,820
Certainly, I know that many public administrations look at trying to reflect the communities they are serving.

603
01:10:26,820 --> 01:10:32,240
So if you're serving ex-communities, you would like to have members of that community presence.

604
01:10:32,740 --> 01:10:38,440
So are we collecting data? Do we have any, and I know it's difficult because people often

605
01:10:38,440 --> 01:10:43,260
don't choose to self-identify or choose not to self-identify.

606
01:10:43,780 --> 01:10:50,160
So I'm curious about where we are with this, because I know we've been working as a municipality

607
01:10:50,160 --> 01:10:56,800
on attempting to include diversity, equity, and inclusion in many of our programs and policies.

608
01:10:56,820 --> 01:11:02,100
for a long time. So I'm curious if we are making progress and then I have a few other questions,

609
01:11:02,340 --> 01:11:03,780
should there be some time remaining?

610
01:11:08,420 --> 01:11:10,460
So through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor, thank you for

611
01:11:10,460 --> 01:11:19,120
the question. So this is an area that we have to continuously continue to try to find ways to

612
01:11:19,120 --> 01:11:26,080
improve. And the thing that sometimes becomes a challenge is that a lot of times when we're engaging

613
01:11:26,080 --> 01:11:34,800
folks like employees, it's voluntary. So folks aren't always comfortable with providing that feedback.

614
01:11:35,500 --> 01:11:41,560
And so that just shows that we need to improve the relationships that we have with our employees

615
01:11:41,560 --> 01:11:46,700
and ensure that they do feel a sense of security, psychological safety and things like that

616
01:11:46,700 --> 01:11:51,980
in the workplace to be able to share and self identify that information. So that's something that

617
01:11:51,980 --> 01:11:55,180
continuously trying to look at ways that we can improve

618
01:11:55,180 --> 01:11:56,960
how we ask those questions.

619
01:11:57,820 --> 01:12:00,840
And again, create pathways for those folks

620
01:12:00,840 --> 01:12:03,240
to feel safe enough to share that with us

621
01:12:03,240 --> 01:12:06,320
so that we can use that information to inform the things

622
01:12:06,320 --> 01:12:08,440
that we are going to be implementing

623
01:12:09,050 --> 01:12:11,560
and how we're responding to different issues

624
01:12:11,560 --> 01:12:15,440
that we know that are taking place in our workplaces.

625
01:12:16,820 --> 01:12:18,780
So it's going to be an ongoing thing.

626
01:12:18,780 --> 01:12:28,440
We do, we have seen an increase in participation, but it's not, you know, nearly at the rate that we would like it to be at.

627
01:12:29,020 --> 01:12:32,040
Okay. Okay. I have a few more questions.

628
01:12:33,900 --> 01:12:40,000
One relates to how do you know about the hate incidents that are occurring in the municipality?

629
01:12:40,420 --> 01:12:43,580
Do you find out from community safety from police?

630
01:12:43,580 --> 01:13:01,940
And then when you say, and this is building on council or mancini's question, then when you say you support provide support, do you provide support to external stakeholders or is it to internal staff, I was curious as who receives the support.

631
01:13:06,080 --> 01:13:16,780
Through you, Mr. Mayor to the Councillor. So when we're looking at the response, so, you know, the, like I said, those, you know, complaints go.

632
01:13:16,780 --> 01:13:22,560
typically they're going to go through to the police and but there is collaboration there so

633
01:13:22,560 --> 01:13:29,200
community safety public safety work closely with HRP so that information does get shared and

634
01:13:29,200 --> 01:13:34,780
through those you know those partnerships and relationships that information you know is shared

635
01:13:34,780 --> 01:13:41,480
with us as well so that we can consult and advise on you know best responses and things of that

636
01:13:41,480 --> 01:13:53,920
But in terms of the support that's being offered like that initially is something that we're focusing on with our employees like our front line staff our first responders folks

637
01:13:54,760 --> 01:13:57,600
So we want to make sure that when they're engaging with folks

638
01:13:58,560 --> 01:14:02,860
In crisis and things of that nature that they have the you know

639
01:14:02,860 --> 01:14:11,460
The most up-to-date training as possible to ensure that they're providing a level of service to whoever that they're in contact with

640
01:14:11,460 --> 01:14:15,540
So your target is the internal employees who are frontline.

641
01:14:16,120 --> 01:14:17,700
Okay, I have a couple more things.

642
01:14:18,400 --> 01:14:23,580
You mentioned, you referenced the mandate letters for senior leadership.

643
01:14:24,380 --> 01:14:30,920
I have best the CAO's territory, but you mentioned that you thought that there were requirements

644
01:14:30,920 --> 01:14:38,540
to undertake action related to diversity and equity and inclusion, but that we're not sure

645
01:14:38,540 --> 01:14:42,880
that bats in the letter is that, is that the case?

646
01:14:44,660 --> 01:14:45,500
Oh, I'm at a time.

647
01:14:48,020 --> 01:14:49,460
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the councillor.

648
01:14:50,380 --> 01:14:54,240
So I believe that this is something that, you know,

649
01:14:54,660 --> 01:14:56,940
the CAO would determine.

650
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:08,960
And future mandate letters. I'm aware that previous CAO had this in the mandate letter of all executive

651
01:15:08,960 --> 01:15:09,400
leaders.

652
01:15:10,360 --> 01:15:12,860
Okay. Thank you. I'll come back.

653
01:15:16,310 --> 01:15:20,350
Yes, Mr. Mayor, through you to the Councillor. I just wanted to pick up on that question raised

654
01:15:20,350 --> 01:15:29,590
by Councillor Steele just to confirm that diversity inclusion considerations are mandatory part of

655
01:15:29,590 --> 01:15:36,670
mandate letters, I think what Mr. Brooks was referring to is specifics around the implementation

656
01:15:37,550 --> 01:15:39,750
of the strategy itself.

657
01:15:41,830 --> 01:15:42,830
Thank you for that clarification.

658
01:15:43,130 --> 01:15:45,170
We'll move on to Councillor Young, please.

659
01:15:45,890 --> 01:15:46,350
Thank you.

660
01:15:46,890 --> 01:15:47,210
Pardon me.

661
01:15:47,230 --> 01:15:48,250
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

662
01:15:48,670 --> 01:15:49,910
Thank you, Russell, for the presentation.

663
01:15:50,150 --> 01:15:50,990
I have three questions.

664
01:15:52,410 --> 01:15:59,230
In a tassel, one paid five paragraph three, it reads municipal policies are aligned with the equity

665
01:15:59,230 --> 01:16:05,750
based best practices to ensure that organizational structures and decision-making processes

666
01:16:05,750 --> 01:16:12,210
actively address the racism discrimination and exclusion.

667
01:16:14,290 --> 01:16:22,450
In saying that does this include the MPS, land use by laws, service boundaries, and current

668
01:16:22,450 --> 01:16:28,310
and new development agreements, and has historically black communities, or African-known

669
01:16:28,310 --> 01:16:33,090
Scottish communities, especially if the African-known Scottish community committees are currently

670
01:16:33,090 --> 01:16:40,690
working with the Anne Scott team. Number one, number two, the grant program that that is under

671
01:16:40,690 --> 01:16:50,970
under the anti-black racism. What are you putting in place for legacy? Is your grant program looking

672
01:16:50,970 --> 01:17:00,890
into legacy for recording and data collecting future generations, number three.

673
01:17:03,070 --> 01:17:10,290
What is being done to avoid duplications of services by other stakeholders in the community

674
01:17:10,290 --> 01:17:15,610
for accountability purposes, and this is under your invading accountability section.

675
01:17:16,350 --> 01:17:17,270
Thank you.

676
01:17:22,360 --> 01:17:28,540
through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor. Thank you for the questions. So I want to do my best to

677
01:17:28,540 --> 01:17:36,580
go through your three questions. So the first question regarding the bylaws and the things

678
01:17:36,580 --> 01:17:44,780
around planning and development. So you know, provided the strategy gets endorsed, you know, we will

679
01:17:44,780 --> 01:17:51,520
move forward with, you know, the implementation of the action items and so we will start,

680
01:17:51,520 --> 01:17:56,300
um, I shouldn't say start. We'll continue working closely with ANSKAP and looking at the ways

681
01:17:56,300 --> 01:18:02,640
that we can improve the work that they're doing, you know, that, that that, uh, that initiative

682
01:18:02,640 --> 01:18:08,540
is fairly new and it's doing some great work and so we'll look at ways that we can, you know, leverage

683
01:18:08,540 --> 01:18:12,180
and amplify those efforts as it moves forward.

684
01:18:13,720 --> 01:18:18,600
To your second question regarding the anti black racism grants program.

685
01:18:20,360 --> 01:18:30,820
Right now, as it sits, the program has priorities that are making up the program,

686
01:18:31,260 --> 01:18:34,340
and there's eligible expenditures and eligible expenditures.

687
01:18:34,340 --> 01:18:42,000
So, right now, if the application falls under those guidelines, then it would be considered.

688
01:18:42,920 --> 01:18:47,440
So, as long as the applicants can work within those parameters and we've really worked closely

689
01:18:47,940 --> 01:18:52,780
with, you know, even pet a Jane and her team, the community grants folks to really look at ways

690
01:18:52,780 --> 01:18:59,040
that we can remove some of the barriers that existed in other opportunities and funding opportunities.

691
01:18:59,160 --> 01:19:04,320
So, we really wanted to try to remove those as much as we can, but also make sure that it

692
01:19:04,320 --> 01:19:08,480
it aligns with the work that we're undertaking and trying to advance here.

693
01:19:08,700 --> 01:19:11,940
So, as long as it fits within those requirements,

694
01:19:12,760 --> 01:19:18,240
checks the necessary boxes in terms of the categories that we're looking to address,

695
01:19:18,920 --> 01:19:22,580
then we would consider funding any application that we receive.

696
01:19:24,620 --> 01:19:28,320
The third question was around...

697
01:19:29,380 --> 01:19:29,980
Accountability.

698
01:19:29,980 --> 01:19:33,340
You know, duplication of services via the stakeholders in the community.

699
01:19:34,240 --> 01:19:41,380
So what's being done based on accountability to put the roadblocks in, that's the,

700
01:19:41,380 --> 01:19:47,360
so we're not duplicating the same services in the, yeah, well, particularly in the African

701
01:19:47,360 --> 01:19:48,140
OS for communities.

702
01:19:49,360 --> 01:19:54,420
So as much as we can, like we always, you know, try to be mindful of that, you know, there

703
01:19:54,420 --> 01:20:02,080
There are things that are beyond our influence that we don't have control over, but we do

704
01:20:02,080 --> 01:20:04,800
try to make sure that we're not reinventing the wheel, so to speak.

705
01:20:05,300 --> 01:20:11,660
When there's already meaningful initiatives and programs and things of that nature that

706
01:20:11,660 --> 01:20:15,660
are already addressing certain things, but if there's ways that we can try to collaborate

707
01:20:16,220 --> 01:20:21,040
with folks who enhance the impact and broaden the reach, then we'll explore the ways that

708
01:20:21,040 --> 01:20:27,740
can do that when we can, but there are always going to be external folks that are doing work

709
01:20:27,740 --> 01:20:34,260
that we don't have any influence over and we can't really hold those folks accountable outside

710
01:20:34,260 --> 01:20:40,400
of, like I said, I'm municipal scope. Okay, thank you. Thank you very much and we'll move to

711
01:20:40,400 --> 01:20:46,100
Councillor Santa Monica, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, Russell, for your leadership

712
01:20:46,100 --> 01:20:50,240
on this and your thoughtful responses to all the questions that have been asked thus far.

713
01:20:51,040 --> 01:20:56,860
I wanted to pick up on what Councillor Hinch asked about with respect to, you know, whether

714
01:20:56,860 --> 01:21:01,340
trainings mandatory or simply available, there are some limitations that even I've bumped

715
01:21:01,340 --> 01:21:09,000
into, I mean, in taking on this job, I quickly become very aware of what I don't know.

716
01:21:09,700 --> 01:21:15,860
And so as empathetic as I am and as progressive as I feel, I know there's lots of room

717
01:21:15,860 --> 01:21:21,580
improve and I think your training that would be available from your department would help every

718
01:21:21,580 --> 01:21:27,220
counselor around the table be better at their job and I've asked about training that is made

719
01:21:27,220 --> 01:21:34,840
available to HRM employees before and it was not available to counsel and that to me meant

720
01:21:34,840 --> 01:21:40,660
that we've got a little bit of gap filling to do because there are some great opportunities for

721
01:21:40,660 --> 01:21:46,860
that are made available to HRM employees that are, you know, arguably, I guess the thinking would be their front line employees.

722
01:21:47,460 --> 01:21:50,380
But so, or we, we're just in a completely different capacity.

723
01:21:51,240 --> 01:21:56,040
And so, I would love to have the opportunity to take some of the training that's available from your team.

724
01:21:57,040 --> 01:21:59,800
So, and maybe the requirement is broader.

725
01:21:59,940 --> 01:22:04,780
Maybe it's that the training that would be made available to council would be so specialized, so unique,

726
01:22:04,780 --> 01:22:08,560
because we are a unique body among HRM's team.

727
01:22:08,840 --> 01:22:10,000
We're not the typical employee.

728
01:22:10,640 --> 01:22:13,280
We interact with the public in a very different way.

729
01:22:13,400 --> 01:22:15,680
And Councilor Manzini referred to that.

730
01:22:16,100 --> 01:22:20,180
We wind up in community facing some of the unique challenges

731
01:22:20,180 --> 01:22:22,860
that are presented by our residents, particularly

732
01:22:22,860 --> 01:22:27,100
when it comes to fighting racism that we make.

733
01:22:30,680 --> 01:22:51,580
So, I think your team would be able to provide us with tremendously valuable insight into how to manage expectations with the community, what kind of information would be valuable for the community to connect with in an effort to provide the community with a better sense of what it is that the municipality is doing or not doing.

734
01:22:52,400 --> 01:22:57,600
I think there may be a missed opportunity there, and I'm eager to weigh in on this idea

735
01:22:57,600 --> 01:23:02,920
that whether it's mandatory or not, even if it's just available to council to learn

736
01:23:02,920 --> 01:23:08,440
from at least access some of the resources that are available to quote unquote traditional

737
01:23:08,440 --> 01:23:14,280
HRM employees so that we have some of that insight, and not to mention the fact that we will

738
01:23:14,280 --> 01:23:19,020
then have an awareness of what our teams that are interacting with the public are learning

739
01:23:19,020 --> 01:23:20,420
and therefore able to implement.

740
01:23:20,420 --> 01:23:25,920
So, the one thing that I would want to put on your radar is give some thought as to what the

741
01:23:25,920 --> 01:23:29,600
unique nature of training might be that would be applicable to council, whether it's

742
01:23:29,600 --> 01:23:33,740
exactly the same as what frontline employees at HRM and various different business units

743
01:23:33,740 --> 01:23:40,300
would wind up needing, or whether there's some other type of training that you would feel

744
01:23:40,300 --> 01:23:45,400
from your position of expertise would be beneficial for council to be able to take in that would

745
01:23:45,400 --> 01:23:49,660
make us better at our job because you will be able to help move the needle on that front in a

746
01:23:49,660 --> 01:23:52,300
that we would never be able to achieve on our own.

747
01:23:52,420 --> 01:23:53,140
Thank you.

748
01:23:59,340 --> 01:24:00,620
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the council,

749
01:24:00,820 --> 01:24:02,540
I don't really feel like it was a question,

750
01:24:02,740 --> 01:24:05,460
but I appreciate everything that you shared

751
01:24:06,360 --> 01:24:09,140
and through the leadership of Tracy Jones Grant,

752
01:24:09,260 --> 01:24:11,160
the managing director, working closely with HR,

753
01:24:11,940 --> 01:24:14,960
and just looking at what we might be able to do

754
01:24:14,960 --> 01:24:17,640
in terms of providing those training opportunities.

755
01:24:18,260 --> 01:24:20,500
I think that there's immense value in it,

756
01:24:20,880 --> 01:24:24,040
so I think that we can take it away

757
01:24:24,040 --> 01:24:27,920
and see what we might be able to do to provide that training to you folks.

758
01:24:30,460 --> 01:24:31,640
Okay, thank you very much.

759
01:24:31,980 --> 01:24:32,760
Councillor David again, please.

760
01:24:33,720 --> 01:24:35,100
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

761
01:24:35,840 --> 01:24:38,760
Thank you, Councillor Lynch, for requesting the presentation.

762
01:24:40,340 --> 01:24:42,680
It was much needed and much appreciated.

763
01:24:43,040 --> 01:24:43,840
Thank you, Russell.

764
01:24:44,180 --> 01:24:45,020
Very much.

765
01:24:46,120 --> 01:24:49,720
You know, they always say that it's the details that scarier.

766
01:24:49,720 --> 01:25:00,860
And the strategy and the presentation, you know, it covering every single business unit within HRM.

767
01:25:01,460 --> 01:25:03,900
And you know, I know that right now it's not the financial ask.

768
01:25:04,540 --> 01:25:11,400
And that following this, it says, you know, the business units will determine the timeline and the cost for any specific initiatives.

769
01:25:12,120 --> 01:25:16,880
This is a huge piece of work that is in front of you now.

770
01:25:16,880 --> 01:25:21,940
And I guess I'm kind of wondering, how long do you think it will take the business units?

771
01:25:22,360 --> 01:25:28,800
Or is there any estimate from today to when we might see a timeline and the costs?

772
01:25:29,020 --> 01:25:32,980
Is this something that we're going to see in this budget year maybe?

773
01:25:33,020 --> 01:25:35,880
Or is it going to be something that we see in the next budget year?

774
01:25:37,600 --> 01:25:47,780
And just if I may, Councilor Young, one of the items on consent today was around the centralized grant concept.

775
01:25:48,820 --> 01:25:53,060
So, you know, P.J. has very nicely given as a part and gift of some homework.

776
01:25:53,620 --> 01:26:00,460
And within that concept of developing the centralized grant, we might see there where maybe there might be duplication of services.

777
01:26:00,460 --> 01:26:09,480
We'll see duplication or where there is complimentary funding available to different service providers so that actually might be something helpful.

778
01:26:10,240 --> 01:26:14,920
But back to my question really about this timeline and how the business units will do it.

779
01:26:15,080 --> 01:26:22,480
One of the words that I caught in the presentation was inclusive procurement as well.

780
01:26:22,480 --> 01:26:28,540
know that we have worked really hard for our social procurement policy and so I'm wondering

781
01:26:28,540 --> 01:26:34,800
how you're seeing an evolution of the social procurement policy to something else. We have to be

782
01:26:34,800 --> 01:26:41,160
so careful when we call something inclusive that it has in different genres of specific definitions.

783
01:26:41,980 --> 01:26:49,020
So it's just thinking about that. So timeline and then social procurement and inclusive procurement

784
01:26:49,020 --> 01:26:53,920
That was probably the two items that might be a native response on.

785
01:26:53,920 --> 01:26:55,220
Thank you so much.

786
01:26:59,100 --> 01:27:00,340
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor.

787
01:27:01,280 --> 01:27:02,440
Again, thank you for the questions.

788
01:27:03,560 --> 01:27:06,760
So the first question around the timeline.

789
01:27:07,920 --> 01:27:10,560
So it's laid out in attachment to.

790
01:27:11,340 --> 01:27:14,760
So we have already engaged with every single business unit

791
01:27:14,760 --> 01:27:16,340
across the organization.

792
01:27:17,080 --> 01:27:20,300
And we have shared the action items with those business units.

793
01:27:20,300 --> 01:27:26,520
And we've worked with those business units on those timelines, so initially when we did the

794
01:27:26,520 --> 01:27:30,920
outreach, you know, we had the conversation around is this realistic, because we do

795
01:27:30,920 --> 01:27:33,260
want to ensure that these timelines are realistic.

796
01:27:34,800 --> 01:27:38,440
So we had conversations, some of the timelines increased, some of them decreased, like, you

797
01:27:38,440 --> 01:27:43,520
know, those are things that are going to happen, you know, and as much as we are subject matter

798
01:27:43,520 --> 01:27:48,880
experts on, you know, the work that we lead, we're not subject matter experts on the things

799
01:27:48,880 --> 01:27:53,520
are being led by other business units. So again, we had those conversations with those folks

800
01:27:54,280 --> 01:28:00,060
to determine if these timelines were realistic. So based on what we have here in attachment

801
01:28:00,580 --> 01:28:06,320
to, those timelines have been agreed upon by the business units and it's something that they

802
01:28:06,980 --> 01:28:13,120
believe that we can successfully implement within that time frame. To the question around

803
01:28:13,120 --> 01:28:19,120
on the budget or financial employment implications,

804
01:28:20,820 --> 01:28:23,300
there is, you know, a likelihood that we will come back

805
01:28:23,300 --> 01:28:25,140
at some time seeking funding,

806
01:28:25,460 --> 01:28:27,580
whether or not we get it, that's to be determined,

807
01:28:28,140 --> 01:28:29,560
but we will be trying to explore, you know,

808
01:28:29,560 --> 01:28:32,580
as many opportunities as possible to apply

809
01:28:32,580 --> 01:28:35,740
for funding the province is really working

810
01:28:35,740 --> 01:28:41,880
at developing a list of available funding and resources

811
01:28:41,880 --> 01:28:48,100
that is being shared with everyone that's undertaking this work and so like already you know

812
01:28:48,100 --> 01:28:54,180
already have started some applications but you know seeking the approval in the endorsement of

813
01:28:54,180 --> 01:28:59,380
this work is required before I can actually submit those applications so we'll have some work ahead of

814
01:28:59,380 --> 01:29:06,640
me to try to secure funding. Thank you. Thank you for that Councillor Morse please.

815
01:29:08,790 --> 01:29:13,230
Thank you Mr.

816
01:29:13,230 --> 01:29:20,550
done to bring this forward. I'm wondering if you could say a little bit more about the 311

817
01:29:20,550 --> 01:29:27,570
enhancements, maybe a bit more detail around those recommendations you have, how we can improve

818
01:29:27,570 --> 01:29:33,950
311. And just similar to Councillor Dago Gamma and I'm concerned, you know, I've seen over

819
01:29:33,950 --> 01:29:39,790
the years we have wonderful strategies, wonderful plans, but we don't always resource them

820
01:29:41,490 --> 01:29:47,210
And until we have some finances attached, some resources attached, we can't make a lot of

821
01:29:47,210 --> 01:29:47,490
progress.

822
01:29:47,750 --> 01:29:50,070
So I'm just a little bit worried about that end of things.

823
01:29:51,210 --> 01:29:57,050
And when we might see a financial plan, you mentioned that there will be...

824
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:06,600
But will it be advancing the same priorities that you have and your team has and council has?

825
01:30:06,940 --> 01:30:14,720
So I'd just like to know a little bit more about how we're going to match the strategy with the financial resources that are needed.

826
01:30:15,240 --> 01:30:15,840
Thank you.

827
01:30:20,230 --> 01:30:21,670
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor.

828
01:30:22,330 --> 01:30:28,170
Thank you for the questions. So regarding the first question around the 311B.

829
01:30:28,870 --> 01:30:33,570
So that is something that we'll be working with those folks with two determined kind of what

830
01:30:34,710 --> 01:30:39,530
what can be captured, you know, what are the things like, you know, we're exploring, like,

831
01:30:39,530 --> 01:30:45,590
is there additional training, is there additional, like, if we're talking about, like, translation

832
01:30:45,590 --> 01:30:49,510
services and things like that, because those have been barriers for people to even call

833
01:30:49,510 --> 01:30:50,110
3-1-1.

834
01:30:50,250 --> 01:30:55,790
So we want to look at, like, what are the things that we can develop so that they're available

835
01:30:55,790 --> 01:31:00,950
and that folks are able to respond, whether there's a complaint or concern that they feel

836
01:31:00,950 --> 01:31:03,550
like they have the proper channels to be able to do that.

837
01:31:03,690 --> 01:31:07,070
So, some of the pieces that will be working closely with 3-1-1,

838
01:31:07,430 --> 01:31:10,330
just trying to assess what's not available,

839
01:31:10,790 --> 01:31:14,270
what needs to be available, and then how do we bring that to life?

840
01:31:15,090 --> 01:31:18,490
And to your second question around,

841
01:31:18,490 --> 01:31:22,570
the funding and resourcing around this,

842
01:31:25,130 --> 01:31:28,350
the small but mighty diversity and inclusion team will be

843
01:31:28,350 --> 01:31:45,550
a big front of the heavy lifting here, but we will be working closely, like I said, in partnership with all business units and determining kind of what this looks like and how do we ensure that we are actually able to advance this work and

844
01:31:45,550 --> 01:31:48,790
and advanced it in a way that results in impact,

845
01:31:49,070 --> 01:31:53,950
it results in folks feeling a sense of psychological safety,

846
01:31:54,270 --> 01:31:57,170
belonging, inclusion, all of these things

847
01:31:57,170 --> 01:31:59,750
that we really hope to accomplish through this work.

848
01:32:00,710 --> 01:32:04,870
And through the funding that we'll be seeking externally,

849
01:32:06,950 --> 01:32:09,490
they're already looking at ways to, or sorry,

850
01:32:09,610 --> 01:32:14,770
not ways to, but they're looking at the eligibility requirements.

851
01:32:14,770 --> 01:32:26,430
So we'll be looking at those same eligibility requirements so we'll be looking at the action items and determining what action items fall under this funding opportunity.

852
01:32:27,910 --> 01:32:41,490
So it very well may look like we're applying for multiple grants, multiple funding opportunities to resource and to back the work that we're undertaking.

853
01:32:41,490 --> 01:32:53,570
So, like I said, we're really looking at, you know, surveying what's out there, and then seeing where it applies, what it applies to, and then ensuring that we get our application in.

854
01:32:53,810 --> 01:33:06,350
We work with the province to help strengthen those applications, because obviously we really hope to secure that funding to take some of that financial burden and responsibility off of future budget considerations.

855
01:33:07,370 --> 01:33:08,350
Okay, thank you very much.

856
01:33:09,510 --> 01:33:12,270
Okay, thank you, Russell, I don't see any of the names on the list.

857
01:33:12,490 --> 01:33:15,270
I'll just jump in and say I'm behalf of the council.

858
01:33:15,710 --> 01:33:21,730
Tremendous thanks to you and Tracy and the team for a very substantial and timely piece of work here.

859
01:33:21,970 --> 01:33:23,270
This is really important.

860
01:33:23,570 --> 01:33:29,110
I was just thinking very carefully to hear how the community will continue to be involved

861
01:33:29,110 --> 01:33:33,150
and making sure that this is a live document and that evolves as it needs to.

862
01:33:33,150 --> 01:33:36,570
And I heard that in sections three and four of your action plan,

863
01:33:36,610 --> 01:33:38,570
listen and learn.

864
01:33:39,890 --> 01:33:40,850
So thank you for that.

865
01:33:41,650 --> 01:33:44,150
And I think we're all really excited about those two forward

866
01:33:44,150 --> 01:33:46,470
facing pieces, the dashboard, and the report card,

867
01:33:46,570 --> 01:33:48,550
and how that can also continue to include community

868
01:33:48,550 --> 01:33:49,750
and keep us all at price.

869
01:33:50,110 --> 01:33:50,890
So I don't have a question.

870
01:33:51,090 --> 01:33:52,930
I just wanted to share those thoughts with you.

871
01:33:53,050 --> 01:33:55,870
And again, to say thanks for the incredible work.

872
01:33:56,430 --> 01:33:57,190
Thank you.

873
01:33:57,610 --> 01:33:59,110
And colleagues with that, what is your pleasure?

874
01:33:59,690 --> 01:34:00,630
Question is called.

875
01:34:15,740 --> 01:34:16,660
In the motion carries.

876
01:34:16,660 --> 01:34:19,140
Thank you very much.

877
01:34:19,680 --> 01:34:24,740
Okay, Colleys, we will move on then to item 10.2, proposed amendments to administrative order

878
01:34:24,740 --> 01:34:32,700
29, respecting HRM, civic addressing policies, CA147, street names, and I'm just going to look

879
01:34:32,700 --> 01:34:35,900
and see, I guess, Councillor Morris, floor is yours.

880
01:34:37,950 --> 01:34:39,850
I can put the motion on the floor, Mr. Mayor.

881
01:34:42,090 --> 01:34:47,530
I move that Halifax Regional Council adopt the proposed amendments to administrative order 29,

882
01:34:47,530 --> 01:34:53,630
respecting civic addressing policies as set out in attachment A of the staff report dated June 9th,

883
01:34:53,870 --> 01:35:00,350
2026 to approve one. The renaming of garden court, Dartmouth, to Barry's run court, Dartmouth,

884
01:35:01,030 --> 01:35:05,470
and to the renaming of Linwood Drive Halifax to rocking him drive Halifax.

885
01:35:08,320 --> 01:35:10,940
I think I saw a counselor steals hand up there on the second.

886
01:35:11,400 --> 01:35:12,240
Thank you.

887
01:35:15,180 --> 01:35:29,240
So, I think what I'm going to do is recommend that we vote for an alternative and I'll just give a little bit of a preamble before that and hear what my colleagues have to say.

888
01:35:31,300 --> 01:35:38,040
Just to recap about Linwood Drive, I don't think there are too many issues about Garden Court changing the name to Barry's run.

889
01:35:38,040 --> 01:35:43,880
But, about Linwood Drive, this is one of three Linwood drives in HRM.

890
01:35:44,360 --> 01:35:49,760
It has to do with after amalgamation, having a lot of duplicate street names,

891
01:35:50,640 --> 01:35:55,560
and we're in the process of changing them to avoid confusion mainly for first responders.

892
01:35:57,380 --> 01:36:00,460
Linwood Drive and my district was chosen for the name change,

893
01:36:00,820 --> 01:36:06,800
because it has the fewest residents, which is part of our protocol when changing street names.

894
01:36:06,800 --> 01:36:10,420
we choose to impact the fewest number of residences we can.

895
01:36:11,860 --> 01:36:19,500
So when this was first proposed about a year ago, there were strong objections from some residents on heritage grounds.

896
01:36:20,180 --> 01:36:25,700
And I did not understand how the name Linwood had a heritage connection.

897
01:36:26,740 --> 01:36:35,940
So I asked our heritage staff to look into it, and they did a very extensive search of archives, old newspapers,

898
01:36:35,940 --> 01:36:40,180
and that sort of thing, and they were not able to find a clear connection.

899
01:36:42,000 --> 01:36:47,160
Since then, about 750 people have signed a petition,

900
01:36:47,780 --> 01:36:49,220
objecting to the name change.

901
01:36:50,360 --> 01:36:55,200
And I think that we have to consider what it would mean if we changed the name

902
01:36:55,200 --> 01:36:58,520
against the wishes of so many people.

903
01:36:59,760 --> 01:37:05,320
Linwood Drive was the first home for some of HRM's earliest immigrants from Lebanon.

904
01:37:07,360 --> 01:37:11,500
And the objections are mainly coming from Sister's Patricia and Paula Arab,

905
01:37:11,960 --> 01:37:14,980
whose family made their first home on Linwood Drive.

906
01:37:15,980 --> 01:37:24,480
And their home became a welcome center and an orientation center for dozens of families from Lebanon.

907
01:37:25,480 --> 01:37:26,980
And, you know, it's true.

908
01:37:31,060 --> 01:37:36,840
Then would drive, became kind of a community center for the families who followed.

909
01:37:38,300 --> 01:37:44,400
And so that kind of history isn't really written down or always documented in archives.

910
01:37:45,320 --> 01:37:59,500
It can be oral history, can be history found in the hearts and minds of people who left a home in Lebanon and chose Halifax as their new home with the help of their new community.

911
01:38:00,000 --> 01:38:12,200
So, it's been an education for me and I would say Linwood Drive holds the name, holds a special place in the hearts and memories of many people in HRM.

912
01:38:12,920 --> 01:38:19,720
And we do not as a council have a process as yet for how to take this history into account.

913
01:38:20,760 --> 01:38:31,920
When there are so many objections to a street name I think we need to maybe look at a different process and staff have suggested one in alternative two.

914
01:38:32,520 --> 01:38:41,420
So that's my preamble, and I think what I'm recommending is that we vote down the initial motion and go with alternative two.

915
01:38:41,860 --> 01:38:45,720
But I welcome my colleagues' comments on this. Thank you.

916
01:38:45,720 --> 01:38:48,820
Thank you very much and we'll go to Councilor Mancini, please.

917
01:38:49,360 --> 01:38:50,180
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

918
01:38:50,480 --> 01:38:54,340
You know, this is why we bring things like this, the Council,

919
01:38:54,620 --> 01:38:59,060
because typically 95% of the time, 99% of the time,

920
01:38:59,240 --> 01:39:03,260
we see these name changes and we give it a thumbs up and a way we go.

921
01:39:04,500 --> 01:39:09,440
The question I have for staff and I support what the Councilor is going to do

922
01:39:09,440 --> 01:39:13,480
and recommending the alternative, but you know, what's the definition of this

923
01:39:13,480 --> 01:39:18,480
work. What's the definition of heritage, right? So when the counselor went away and said,

924
01:39:18,620 --> 01:39:24,780
look, there's a claim of heritage here, status, staff went away and didn't couldn't find anything,

925
01:39:25,260 --> 01:39:31,540
right? There's a claim by there. I remember that there's historic presence to this address to

926
01:39:31,540 --> 01:39:38,420
this street. And so I would hope when staff, if we approve, we turned down the motions of the floor

927
01:39:38,420 --> 01:39:44,620
and approve the alternative, that part of it is coming back with a definition to understand this.

928
01:39:45,060 --> 01:39:46,860
So again, this is why we do it.

929
01:39:47,240 --> 01:39:52,020
And I know Councillor Borsan, I have many conversations on this topic, we're a little concerned

930
01:39:52,020 --> 01:39:53,020
and it's the right thing to do.

931
01:39:53,080 --> 01:39:58,260
Because the process is, if there's multiple streets to pick the street for the fewest residents

932
01:39:58,260 --> 01:40:03,280
on it, and that's typically our process, but this is worthwhile a second look.

933
01:40:03,620 --> 01:40:06,500
And I'm also appreciative, we're not making the decision today, yay, or nay.

934
01:40:06,980 --> 01:40:12,280
let's go forward. Let's find more information. Let's bring that back and then have a discussion

935
01:40:12,280 --> 01:40:17,940
at that point in time. So I support the intent to turn down the motion of floor and then support

936
01:40:17,940 --> 01:40:24,120
the alternative that will be published. I just asked the Heritage Historic Definition to be part of it.

937
01:40:24,320 --> 01:40:30,360
Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Young, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just have a little question.

938
01:40:30,360 --> 01:40:37,620
What was the alternative to Councillor Morrison's referring to?

939
01:40:38,300 --> 01:40:40,180
I could read the alternative, if it's helpful.

940
01:40:41,240 --> 01:40:48,260
The Councillor is proposing that we accept part one, reject part two, and then move alternative

941
01:40:48,260 --> 01:40:53,440
two on page five of the staff report as the alternative to part two, which is approve

942
01:40:53,440 --> 01:41:00,340
the renaming of Garden Court Dartmouth and reject the renaming of Linwood Drive Halifax under

943
01:41:00,340 --> 01:41:03,960
This alternative staff will reassess the proposed renaming of Linwood Drive.

944
01:41:04,420 --> 01:41:08,140
It's such a time that a broader asset naming policy review has been completed.

945
01:41:12,600 --> 01:41:13,380
I thank you.

946
01:41:14,520 --> 01:41:17,280
I commend Councillor Morris for doing that.

947
01:41:17,400 --> 01:41:18,180
Thank you very much.

948
01:41:18,540 --> 01:41:22,080
I've been speaking back and forth with Paula and Patricia as well.

949
01:41:23,840 --> 01:41:30,320
And based on the information that they provide with me, it's, it's, to them, it is

950
01:41:30,320 --> 01:41:38,120
historic, historical Lebanese community with the Lebanese families that moved in in the early

951
01:41:39,040 --> 01:41:48,920
1960s. And it's a legacy to the community that they would like to continue. So with the

952
01:41:48,920 --> 01:41:56,340
alternative, I agree with council members on that, and I just want to let Paul and Patricia

953
01:41:56,340 --> 01:42:02,500
to know that I agree with what they convey to me and our conversations.

954
01:42:03,160 --> 01:42:04,720
Thank you.

955
01:42:05,220 --> 01:42:07,200
Thank you, and we'll move to Councillor Stamond, please.

956
01:42:08,480 --> 01:42:09,120
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

957
01:42:09,200 --> 01:42:14,420
I've heard from residents as well, and I'm appreciative of Councillor Morse of her sensitivity

958
01:42:14,420 --> 01:42:18,400
on the subject and taking the time to reach out to the community to better understand what

959
01:42:18,400 --> 01:42:21,340
the origins of this historic nature would be.

960
01:42:22,360 --> 01:42:24,320
I'm supportive of the alternative as well.

961
01:42:24,320 --> 01:42:26,780
I do still have a follow-up question for staff.

962
01:42:26,940 --> 01:42:30,500
I'm wondering what are the implications of what would

963
01:42:30,500 --> 01:42:33,860
ostensibly be a remaining duplication, not just of

964
01:42:33,860 --> 01:42:38,060
Linwood Drive in triplicate form, but we also noted in the staff

965
01:42:38,060 --> 01:42:42,380
report, and not specifically addressed as a principle concern,

966
01:42:42,840 --> 01:42:46,400
is the duplication of Linwood as a name with Drive and Lane

967
01:42:46,400 --> 01:42:49,360
in the same community and actually touching one another.

968
01:42:49,780 --> 01:42:53,940
If the premise is that this duplication represents a challenge

969
01:42:53,940 --> 01:43:01,640
to first responders, for example, why we look at the renaming of Linwood Lane, or is there

970
01:43:01,640 --> 01:43:07,420
some other consideration here that we need to try to afford to the naming of the streets in

971
01:43:07,420 --> 01:43:12,620
this area in order to solve that particular problem while we look at the longer term implications

972
01:43:12,620 --> 01:43:18,440
of keeping three Linwood drives around. Just curious whether or not that represents a challenge going forward.

973
01:43:37,080 --> 01:43:41,480
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor. Thank you for the question. The recommendation

974
01:43:41,480 --> 01:43:46,480
that was brought forward today was considered kind of an initial step in resolving the exact

975
01:43:46,480 --> 01:43:54,360
duplication issue. So there is a case where there is an exactly duplicated street name across

976
01:43:54,360 --> 01:43:59,080
three different communities in HRM. So Lim would drive duplicated in Dartmouth, Halifax.

977
01:44:00,860 --> 01:44:07,100
And the intent with today's recommendation was to reduce the number of exact duplicates.

978
01:44:07,100 --> 01:44:15,180
We will be returning to the civic addressing public safety committee meeting this fall with an update on council's decision today.

979
01:44:16,000 --> 01:44:23,120
And we'll be reassessing kind of potential future recommendations to address the existing duplicates for limwood drive,

980
01:44:23,620 --> 01:44:27,860
as well as potentially a correction of limwood lane within the same community.

981
01:44:28,720 --> 01:44:33,880
However, if Lim would drive Halifax where to be corrected, the existence of just Lim would

982
01:44:33,880 --> 01:44:38,860
lane within the same community differentiated by street type and community name, would

983
01:44:38,860 --> 01:44:42,040
be seen as a lower priority as kind of a standalone issue.

984
01:44:42,600 --> 01:44:47,220
So we'd be looking at considering corrections there in relation to kind of other high priority

985
01:44:47,220 --> 01:44:47,940
projects.

986
01:44:50,580 --> 01:44:50,920
All right.

987
01:44:51,020 --> 01:44:56,040
Well, I mean, I can imagine that there are at least some instances where when someone calls 9-1-1

988
01:44:56,040 --> 01:44:57,100
example, they just ref-

989
01:45:00,000 --> 01:45:05,880
On driver lane and so I imagine that winds up potentially complicating things, and so first responders

990
01:45:05,880 --> 01:45:11,560
who wind up looking for some clarity before they respond. So it's good to know that it's on the

991
01:45:11,560 --> 01:45:16,840
radar. I'm just looking forward to staff's recommendation on how that particular facet gets solved

992
01:45:16,840 --> 01:45:24,700
when we hang on to the existing duplicate of the prefects. Thank you. Thank you very much, Councillor

993
01:45:24,700 --> 01:45:31,260
Austin, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you, Councillor Morris, for your work on this.

994
01:45:32,880 --> 01:45:42,760
I'm just going to note that the work of civic addressing here is important, like having duplicate names is an issue.

995
01:45:43,260 --> 01:45:48,700
I recently was contacted by one of my residents who's day ended up in complete turmoil,

996
01:45:49,100 --> 01:45:57,360
because her excess of us went to high field street and then a spry field rather than high field park drive and Dartmouth.

997
01:45:57,360 --> 01:46:03,100
So, you know, it does happen over the years I have heard from people, you know, it's kind of within the neighborhood,

998
01:46:04,440 --> 01:46:07,360
Louise, court and lowest court and Dartmouth.

999
01:46:07,660 --> 01:46:12,520
That's one where people, they're used to seeing each other's parcels from time to time.

1000
01:46:12,980 --> 01:46:18,320
And so, you know, these are the nuisances of life that, you know, impact people's day to day.

1001
01:46:18,720 --> 01:46:23,540
But, you know, the last thing you want is for these sort of mistakes to occur in a 911 sort of situation.

1002
01:46:23,740 --> 01:46:25,100
So the work here is important.

1003
01:46:25,100 --> 01:46:34,420
The only kind of question I have for staff, you know, if we're going to vary from policy, typically, we would rename the one that's least impactful,

1004
01:46:35,060 --> 01:46:45,280
mate lunch street and Dartmouth became Scotchumol, for example, right, because only had two and two, I think, how is this on it compared to,

1005
01:46:48,440 --> 01:46:55,060
you know,

1006
01:46:55,060 --> 01:46:59,740
say, well, the Linwood with the smaller number of homes, maybe that's the one that we should

1007
01:46:59,740 --> 01:47:02,740
keep for other reasons and look at renaming the other ones.

1008
01:47:03,280 --> 01:47:07,800
And so just my question for staff would be, if Council goes the route of kind of kicking

1009
01:47:07,800 --> 01:47:15,360
this back to you, is that the implied message that you would take from this is to look at the

1010
01:47:15,360 --> 01:47:16,240
other Linwoods?

1011
01:47:16,380 --> 01:47:21,860
Because at the end of the day, this is this is kind of a zero-sum decision, only one

1012
01:47:21,860 --> 01:47:23,460
you get to keep Lynn Wood?

1013
01:47:25,540 --> 01:47:28,780
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor. Thank you for the question.

1014
01:47:29,720 --> 01:47:35,540
Our immediate action wouldn't be in this specific case to immediately pursue a renaming

1015
01:47:35,540 --> 01:47:42,000
exercise on one of the other limwood drives that exists. Administrative order 29 is being reviewed

1016
01:47:42,000 --> 01:47:47,540
as part of a broader asset naming policy review that's upcoming. So we will be reviewing the

1017
01:47:47,540 --> 01:47:55,220
criteria in our street naming and renaming policy starting this year so the intent would be

1018
01:47:55,220 --> 01:48:00,420
that we would review the project kind of more holistically again once the criteria was in

1019
01:48:00,420 --> 01:48:06,180
administrative order 29 have been reviewed specifically in this case the section within the

1020
01:48:06,180 --> 01:48:11,360
policy that references the historical significance piece and how that should be considered when

1021
01:48:11,360 --> 01:48:17,000
streets are being renamed for safety purposes so in short we would be essentially holding another

1022
01:48:17,000 --> 01:48:26,200
recommendation on the renaming of limo drives or any naming of any limo drive until the outcome of the broader policy review is completed.

1023
01:48:27,100 --> 01:48:31,960
Okay, can I ask, how did this originate from the committee?

1024
01:48:32,100 --> 01:48:44,200
Because it's my understanding that usually these things arrive at the committee because you've had an incident like the excess of us going to the wrong place male going to the wrong place or 911 running into some issue.

1025
01:48:49,450 --> 01:48:51,890
Who you had it?

1026
01:48:51,890 --> 01:48:52,350
I had to.

1027
01:48:52,610 --> 01:48:52,950
The counselor.

1028
01:48:53,210 --> 01:48:53,730
Thank you.

1029
01:48:55,090 --> 01:49:01,450
This case originated from public feedback regarding ongoing continuous male and delivery

1030
01:49:01,450 --> 01:49:04,210
mixups between the various limb withdrawals.

1031
01:49:04,950 --> 01:49:09,390
So at committee meetings, we typically prioritize reviewing cases brought forward by emergency

1032
01:49:09,390 --> 01:49:14,630
responders, so that could be incidents which have occurred due to street name duplication,

1033
01:49:14,930 --> 01:49:18,870
such as the case with a garden court that we're recommending today.

1034
01:49:18,870 --> 01:49:26,830
But we also review essentially complaints that have been submitted by the public in reference to specific issues they're experiencing.

1035
01:49:28,630 --> 01:49:29,870
So, Portland would drive Halifax.

1036
01:49:30,050 --> 01:49:35,030
It was resident driven relating to parcel and mail delivery mixups.

1037
01:49:36,470 --> 01:49:40,130
So I think we should just sit with that folks that, you know,

1038
01:49:40,730 --> 01:49:47,790
if we do alternative to, it doesn't remove the issue that is coming from a place like this isn't staff going out trying to find a problem.

1039
01:49:47,790 --> 01:49:54,850
this is a reported problem that's come into us and so if we're going to do alternative to my mind anyway

1040
01:49:54,850 --> 01:50:01,570
and I'm kind of okay with it, you know, there's an inherent to me around if you actually want to fix this,

1041
01:50:01,870 --> 01:50:04,730
then the other lin woods you're going to have to have their names changed eventually.

1042
01:50:05,870 --> 01:50:11,230
So, and they're not the first and they're not the last, but, you know, we've run into some particular circumstances here.

1043
01:50:11,590 --> 01:50:16,450
So that's my take. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And it's Marie, right, Marie?

1044
01:50:16,450 --> 01:50:19,250
Thank you, Marie, for answering the questions.

1045
01:50:19,710 --> 01:50:21,130
Looks like this is heading in the right direction.

1046
01:50:21,530 --> 01:50:23,450
I did just want to add a my own thought here.

1047
01:50:24,490 --> 01:50:26,510
Beginning with acknowledging the work this staff has done,

1048
01:50:26,810 --> 01:50:28,470
as Councillor Austin and others appointed

1049
01:50:28,470 --> 01:50:31,850
out this work to eliminate duplicate streets is really important

1050
01:50:31,850 --> 01:50:33,710
around emergency response.

1051
01:50:35,070 --> 01:50:37,490
Balancing that, we've heard this really clear

1052
01:50:37,490 --> 01:50:40,930
and compelling feedback about the changing of what

1053
01:50:40,930 --> 01:50:44,710
drive residents and their families, the Canadian,

1054
01:50:44,710 --> 01:50:50,770
in Lebanon, society of Halifax, the honorary console of Lebanon, as chimed in on this.

1055
01:50:51,790 --> 01:50:56,650
And they've all made the case that connects the street name to a deep history and heritage

1056
01:50:56,650 --> 01:51:02,210
and the kind of deep identity and the Lebanese community that Councilor Morse has highlighted

1057
01:51:02,210 --> 01:51:06,370
through her conversations and reporting back on that today.

1058
01:51:07,830 --> 01:51:13,450
So I think we've heard a really clear message from community on what they're preference

1059
01:51:13,450 --> 01:51:20,170
And I think the way that Councillor Morris has asked us to proceed, or one way that would

1060
01:51:20,170 --> 01:51:26,630
achieve what her attention is, would be to split the motion, approve part 1,

1061
01:51:28,710 --> 01:51:29,310
decide not

1062
01:51:29,310 --> 01:51:32,290
to approve part 2, and then Councillor Morris could move the alternative.

1063
01:51:33,390 --> 01:51:38,630
So there are any other names popping up, I don't see any others, does that sound like a good

1064
01:51:38,630 --> 01:51:40,830
Well, I see Councilor Delegamin.

1065
01:51:44,120 --> 01:51:53,440
Just for clarity, they alternative to does say approve the renaming of garden courts, so it doesn't look like we need to.

1066
01:51:53,440 --> 01:51:58,740
Yeah, I had a short conversation with our solicitor about that, and it came down 50-50.

1067
01:51:58,800 --> 01:52:01,520
It doesn't matter either way if we can do it either way.

1068
01:52:02,180 --> 01:52:04,020
It's tantamount to the same outcome.

1069
01:52:04,760 --> 01:52:07,380
We still get a approval of one and a denial of the other.

1070
01:52:08,300 --> 01:52:08,660
Thank you.

1071
01:52:08,660 --> 01:52:10,320
Okay, you're welcome.

1072
01:52:12,600 --> 01:52:14,000
I got a clear answer.

1073
01:52:17,800 --> 01:52:19,620
Okay, let's proceed to the vote, shall we?

1074
01:52:20,300 --> 01:52:22,200
And this will be listed, and this will be on part one.

1075
01:52:53,990 --> 01:53:03,690
One of the motion carries. Well, now vote on one now, Councillor Minceini, if it's okay with you, we'll vote on part two of the motion.

1076
01:53:04,650 --> 01:53:08,030
And as you would call, Councillor Morris has asked us to vote against this one.

1077
01:53:27,320 --> 01:53:28,880
Part two fails.

1078
01:53:39,020 --> 01:53:40,900
Councillor Claire, I'm not doing a rebel.

1079
01:53:43,240 --> 01:53:47,480
That's an ear, please. Councillor Heinz would like to change your vote.

1080
01:53:47,480 --> 01:53:49,420
Change my votes and no. Thank you.

1081
01:53:49,500 --> 01:53:54,320
Yeah. So the clerk's office will record that as a no vote.

1082
01:53:54,820 --> 01:53:59,020
So that the outcome does not change the motion was defeated.

1083
01:54:01,820 --> 01:54:03,760
And now Councillor Morse, would you like to move the alternative?

1084
01:54:07,550 --> 01:54:15,110
Thank you. I move that we approve the renaming of Garden Court Dartmouth and reject the renaming of Linwood Drive Halifax.

1085
01:54:15,190 --> 01:54:21,350
Rockingham Halifax under this alternative staff will reassess the proposed renaming of Linwood Drive

1086
01:54:21,350 --> 01:54:25,810
at such time that a broader asset naming policy review has been completed.

1087
01:54:29,930 --> 01:54:33,470
I'm sure somebody was recorded as a second or there. That was a three-way

1088
01:54:33,470 --> 01:54:40,790
time as far as I can see. And so the motion is on the floor, and I see Councilor

1089
01:54:40,790 --> 01:54:43,610
Dave McMahon has her light on.

1090
01:54:44,390 --> 01:54:49,970
Thank you very much. I have a question about the alternative. I wasn't sure if we

1091
01:54:49,970 --> 01:54:55,170
to speak to that before or when it came on the floor, but does, I guess I'm just wondering

1092
01:54:55,170 --> 01:55:03,010
about what is the future impact of this because it seems like we're now using our taking

1093
01:55:03,010 --> 01:55:09,810
in an oral history as part of our decision making process when we're looking at street names.

1094
01:55:11,150 --> 01:55:16,130
Okay, Brightner, so of course oral histories are part of how we grew up, right? Counselor Mancini.

1095
01:55:16,130 --> 01:55:30,230
So oral histories can be very subjective and sometimes it depends on who you ask on which side of the street and who married who and who didn't marry who.

1096
01:55:30,530 --> 01:55:35,530
So when you look at that kind of oral history, I think we have to be very careful.

1097
01:55:35,530 --> 01:55:43,630
So I agree, I agree with the alternative, but I just caution about if we're going to use oral

1098
01:55:43,630 --> 01:55:50,930
histories, where is, where does that reside? Does it have a different kind of criteria?

1099
01:55:51,790 --> 01:55:55,670
And where does it reside in any kind of future, civic addressing? I think that's very important

1100
01:55:55,670 --> 01:56:01,670
for us to look at. So thank you for allowing me the comment. Thank you. Thank you very much.

1101
01:56:01,670 --> 01:56:06,230
And let's see, no one else on the board shall we proceed to the vote

1102
01:56:33,400 --> 01:56:35,440
in the motion carries.

1103
01:56:36,300 --> 01:56:38,900
Thank you very much colleagues for that excellent discussion.

1104
01:56:40,860 --> 01:56:47,920
In our enthusiasm, we moved quickly past something we said we were going to do during the order of business part of our discussion,

1105
01:56:48,000 --> 01:56:54,060
which was to test a number of the in-camera items before we actually get to item 17.

1106
01:56:54,900 --> 01:56:59,220
as you may recall, and we did approve that re-ordering.

1107
01:57:00,320 --> 01:57:02,400
The Deputy Mayor did bring forward 175,

1108
01:57:02,460 --> 01:57:04,280
and that was in the list of ones to be tested,

1109
01:57:04,700 --> 01:57:08,220
where we were intended to test 171 through 175.

1110
01:57:08,760 --> 01:57:10,560
Obviously, we've already done 175,

1111
01:57:11,280 --> 01:57:14,060
but I wonder if perhaps,

1112
01:57:15,420 --> 01:57:17,780
Councillor Mancini, you would like to do some testing.

1113
01:57:19,640 --> 01:57:20,900
Oh, okay, very good.

1114
01:57:21,780 --> 01:57:22,300
Oh, there we go.

1115
01:57:22,300 --> 01:57:28,400
Oh, I, in fact, I'd bigger part now is on the wrong screen and I actually see Councilor Hensby and the list first, so we'll go to Councilor Hensby.

1116
01:57:28,640 --> 01:57:42,380
Mr. Mayor, I like to move the in-camera minutes of July 14th, 2026 to be approved by circulated seconded by Councilor Kent and all those in favor of the

1117
01:57:43,280 --> 01:57:46,540
the hand, hand votes for the minutes, right?

1118
01:57:57,830 --> 01:58:00,550
Show of hands on favor of approving the in-camera minutes.

1119
01:58:00,910 --> 01:58:01,170
Very good.

1120
01:58:01,410 --> 01:58:01,930
Those are approved.

1121
01:58:02,590 --> 01:58:04,430
The subsequent votes will be recorded.

1122
01:58:05,190 --> 01:58:07,810
And would you, Councillor Austin, 172?

1123
01:58:08,550 --> 01:58:08,910
Yes.

1124
01:58:09,150 --> 01:58:09,750
Thank you.

1125
01:58:09,850 --> 01:58:10,910
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1126
01:58:11,350 --> 01:58:12,990
I'll test 172.

1127
01:58:13,290 --> 01:58:15,270
I moved that Halifax Regional Council one.

1128
01:58:15,510 --> 01:58:16,310
Adopt the recommendations.

1129
01:58:16,310 --> 01:58:20,140
As outlined in the private and confidential report dated July 30, 2026.

1130
01:58:20,140 --> 01:58:28,400
and direct the and to direct the private and confidential report to the day the July 30th, 2026 being maintained private and confidential.

1131
01:58:29,860 --> 01:58:31,480
Seconded by Councillor Kent.

1132
01:58:33,400 --> 01:58:35,040
And this would be a digital vote.

1133
01:58:54,500 --> 01:58:55,760
The motion carries.

1134
01:58:56,300 --> 01:58:57,240
Thank you very much.

1135
01:58:57,500 --> 01:58:59,200
And we'll go back to Councillor Mancini, please.

1136
01:58:59,520 --> 01:59:00,120
No, I'm good.

1137
01:59:00,400 --> 01:59:01,200
Oh, you're welcome.

1138
01:59:01,240 --> 01:59:04,260
Well, what anyone like to test 173.

1139
01:59:05,660 --> 01:59:05,980
Councillor.

1140
01:59:07,520 --> 01:59:08,140
Was that you, Sean?

1141
01:59:09,060 --> 01:59:11,800
Oh, Councilor Debelliamen.

1142
01:59:12,560 --> 01:59:15,480
I would test 177.

1143
01:59:16,280 --> 01:59:16,840
177.

1144
01:59:25,570 --> 01:59:30,350
Look, let's, well, thank you, Councilor H1.

1145
01:59:30,450 --> 01:59:31,930
One at a time here.

1146
01:59:32,230 --> 01:59:37,450
I'm just going to make sure I understand this.

1147
01:59:43,900 --> 01:59:48,280
Okay, yes, Councilor Debelliamen has asked to test 177.

1148
01:59:48,380 --> 01:59:49,840
Is there a second here for that?

1149
01:59:49,840 --> 01:59:56,620
Yeah, it counts their hands beyond the second and we will go to the vote on that all in

1150
02:00:00,000 --> 02:00:22,710
There are some names on the list here. I beg your pardon. I would like to discuss that in camera. Okay. All right. So that's not going to work. Let's, let's then go back to, it didn't fly. No. So we will discuss 177 in camera. Then I believe Councillor Haines just going to offer to test 173.

1151
02:00:31,030 --> 02:00:51,530
I move the Hello Bachelorette Regional Council one, adopt the recommend, sorry, adopt the recommendation as outlined in the private and confidential report dated July 30th, 2026 and to direct the private and confidential report dated July 30th, 2026 being maintained, private and confidential.

1152
02:00:53,150 --> 02:00:58,130
Seconded by Councillor Cleary and is that discussion on the motion?

1153
02:00:59,230 --> 02:01:04,870
I would like to discuss 173 and 174 on camera please.

1154
02:01:06,870 --> 02:01:07,990
That fails.

1155
02:01:08,650 --> 02:01:11,870
It looks like 173 and 174 will stay on the agenda.

1156
02:01:12,630 --> 02:01:15,390
We've already done 175.

1157
02:01:16,530 --> 02:01:20,350
any other ideas folks for testing?

1158
02:01:22,370 --> 02:01:25,130
Okay, so we've successfully dispensed to 17

1159
02:01:25,130 --> 02:01:32,350
two, 17, 1 and 17, 5. Thank you for that. We can get through a couple more

1160
02:01:32,350 --> 02:01:34,870
things here before the midday recess.

1161
02:01:42,720 --> 02:01:45,500
Notice of table 11, notice of table of

1162
02:01:45,500 --> 02:01:49,680
matters. I don't believe there are any. We do not, item 12, we do not have a

1163
02:01:49,680 --> 02:01:55,060
hearing today. Item 13, correspondence, petitions and delegations starting with correspondence,

1164
02:01:55,340 --> 02:02:01,160
madam clerk. Yes, correspondence has received and was circulated for items 10.2, 15,

1165
02:02:01,440 --> 02:02:07,360
3, 2, and 16, 1. Thank you very much, and colleagues. Any petitions today?

1166
02:02:08,960 --> 02:02:13,440
Councillor Minceini. Mr. Bear, I'd like to present the following

1167
02:02:13,440 --> 02:02:21,360
petition, it's regard to ongoing traffic concerns at 612-winner road, specifically regarding

1168
02:02:21,360 --> 02:02:26,580
access to little Picasso, daycare, and surrounding process, so I submit this petition.

1169
02:02:26,840 --> 02:02:32,900
I'm wondering since I do have the floor, Mr. Mayor, you know, come as a petition, we're

1170
02:02:32,900 --> 02:02:37,780
constantly being in a residence held, what can we do? Should we do a petition? And

1171
02:02:38,370 --> 02:02:41,960
really depends on what the item is, I'm quite frank with them saying, you know what?

1172
02:02:41,960 --> 02:02:42,900
I'm not going to do any good.

1173
02:02:43,100 --> 02:02:46,620
And sometimes, in May, as we saw happen earlier with Councillor Morris's item on the

1174
02:02:46,620 --> 02:02:51,200
Linwood property, but I think we need to do a better job of managing expectations.

1175
02:02:51,780 --> 02:02:55,560
Just because the position is presented, it doesn't mean action of any kind of that has

1176
02:02:55,560 --> 02:02:56,080
been presented.

1177
02:02:56,640 --> 02:03:02,720
Typically, if action is needed, a motion has to come from the Councillor or from the floor

1178
02:03:02,720 --> 02:03:03,880
at the time.

1179
02:03:04,340 --> 02:03:11,000
With regard to this, item here, staff are already working on this intersection and examining

1180
02:03:11,000 --> 02:03:13,080
if they need to be done.

1181
02:03:13,320 --> 02:03:16,200
I just state that we need to do some education

1182
02:03:16,200 --> 02:03:19,100
with residents, residents want to do something.

1183
02:03:19,420 --> 02:03:21,120
So this is something easy for the doing,

1184
02:03:21,200 --> 02:03:21,940
but it's work, right?

1185
02:03:21,960 --> 02:03:23,380
They have to get out there and talk to people.

1186
02:03:23,560 --> 02:03:25,100
It's a lot of work, and I want to just manage

1187
02:03:25,100 --> 02:03:26,480
the reputation well.

1188
02:03:27,080 --> 02:03:30,020
And so, anyhow, not just any action at this point

1189
02:03:30,020 --> 02:03:31,400
in time, Mr. Mayor, I'm just thinking,

1190
02:03:31,900 --> 02:03:34,460
we could probably do a better job when someone says,

1191
02:03:34,540 --> 02:03:38,580
should we do a petition, or when they reach out

1192
02:03:38,580 --> 02:03:40,360
to the clerk's office, the clerk's office,

1193
02:03:40,360 --> 02:03:46,860
you know, maybe they can bring it up to another level. Okay, here's what happens when you present a petition or here's what may not happen

1194
02:03:46,860 --> 02:03:54,360
just so that we're managing the direct petition. So it's just my two cents worth I want to share at this point time. Thank you.

1195
02:03:55,140 --> 02:03:56,380
Thank you very much.

1196
02:03:57,820 --> 02:04:00,840
And let's just see.

1197
02:04:00,880 --> 02:04:03,560
We're on petitions deputy mayor.

1198
02:04:04,560 --> 02:04:09,760
Thank you. I just wanted to have a response to support councilor men's

1199
02:04:09,760 --> 02:04:17,240
senior's points about petitions that I agree that we do need to educate the public on

1200
02:04:17,240 --> 02:04:22,060
petitions. So I also want to note that I think that they are a better vehicle for communicating

1201
02:04:22,060 --> 02:04:30,700
to council on items of significance than mass email campaigns. And I think when there are significant

1202
02:04:30,700 --> 02:04:35,280
issues that the public want to bring forward, organizing a petition with the

1203
02:04:35,280 --> 02:04:42,860
proper information and post-socodes is more effective than sending us hundreds

1204
02:04:42,860 --> 02:04:46,920
or thousands of emails. Thank you.

1205
02:04:47,020 --> 02:04:53,100
Thank you very much for that. You'll remember in the order of business we agreed to

1206
02:04:53,100 --> 02:05:03,260
Councilor Hartling's motion, 16.1 to the slot directly before item 15. And so that would be now.

1207
02:05:03,720 --> 02:05:10,500
We've got about nine minutes. It's just we get started. And perhaps beginning with Councilor Hartling getting the motion on the floor and see what we can accomplish.

1208
02:05:10,860 --> 02:05:11,220
Councillor Hartling.

1209
02:05:12,600 --> 02:05:20,340
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. I move that Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer to one right

1210
02:05:20,340 --> 02:05:27,340
form a letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs requesting the immediate reconsideration of the 30 meter coastal buffer policies.

1211
02:05:28,000 --> 02:05:40,980
Draft Regional Plan June 2025, Section 6.5.7, Coastal Protection EN-47 and EN-58 as approved by Regional Council in the June 2025 Regional Plan.

1212
02:05:40,980 --> 02:05:46,040
2, including the correspondence, the formal support from the Urban Development Institute of

1213
02:05:46,040 --> 02:05:51,540
Nova Scotia regarding the 30-meter coastal setback alongside an urgent appeal for municipal

1214
02:05:51,540 --> 02:05:56,500
regulatory tools following the Abandonment of the Coastal Protection Act and 3 pending

1215
02:05:56,500 --> 02:06:01,960
confirmation from the minister that the 30-meter coastal buffers or coastal buffer policies

1216
02:06:01,960 --> 02:06:06,960
are acceptable, prepare a staff report and return with recommendations on establishing

1217
02:06:06,960 --> 02:06:10,720
the 30 meter coastal buffer as a stand-alone coastal amendment package.

1218
02:06:11,860 --> 02:06:13,520
Seconded by Councilor Mancini.

1219
02:06:16,100 --> 02:06:17,140
Love it.

1220
02:06:18,220 --> 02:06:21,740
The only thing that I would like to add and thank you very much.

1221
02:06:22,240 --> 02:06:25,400
Colleagues is that in addition to what I've already included in the rationale,

1222
02:06:26,120 --> 02:06:28,840
what we are asking for is neither radical or untested.

1223
02:06:29,060 --> 02:06:32,160
I would just like to note that the municipality of the district of Lunarburg,

1224
02:06:32,800 --> 02:06:34,040
as well as Cumberland County,

1225
02:06:34,040 --> 02:06:41,240
I've also already established similar 30 meter coastal buffer policies, and as I understand

1226
02:06:41,240 --> 02:06:43,580
it, so has the entire province of New Brunswick.

1227
02:06:44,340 --> 02:06:49,720
I would just like to add that the coastal buffer was previously approved by this Council.

1228
02:06:50,140 --> 02:06:55,520
The intent of this motion is to advance sound policy back by science to the province with documented

1229
02:06:55,520 --> 02:06:56,480
industry support.

1230
02:06:56,500 --> 02:06:57,580
Thank you very much.

1231
02:06:58,580 --> 02:06:59,820
Thank you, Councillor Manecini.

1232
02:07:01,040 --> 02:07:02,740
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

1233
02:07:02,880 --> 02:07:05,940
Thank you, Councillor for bringing this forward.

1234
02:07:07,320 --> 02:07:15,460
You know, my interest in this topic is around the 30 meters setback for lakes and water

1235
02:07:15,460 --> 02:07:16,800
courses within the municipality.

1236
02:07:18,060 --> 02:07:21,960
You know, at the time when the regional plan or most updated regional plan was presented,

1237
02:07:22,280 --> 02:07:24,600
this got rejected by the province.

1238
02:07:26,040 --> 02:07:27,100
And, you know, it's interesting.

1239
02:07:30,000 --> 02:07:35,340
Injected until the representative of ADI and former Councilor Steve Adams made his think with the province.

1240
02:07:36,160 --> 02:07:39,800
And we're not and said, hey, wait a minute, you know, this is going to prevent us from building units.

1241
02:07:40,600 --> 02:07:41,560
Plus there's no evidence.

1242
02:07:42,880 --> 02:07:46,980
I beg to differ Mr. Adams. There's tons of that scientific evidence out there.

1243
02:07:47,260 --> 02:07:53,520
The further away we are from a water course, the further away we are from my lake, the better it is for that lake.

1244
02:07:53,920 --> 02:07:57,840
Our lakes, you know, we're so lucky, you know, it's all over the

1245
02:07:57,840 --> 02:07:59,120
municipality of the number lakes that we have.

1246
02:07:59,200 --> 02:07:59,900
I'm particularly in droplet.

1247
02:08:00,020 --> 02:08:02,260
The city of lakes that counts are Austin and the other

1248
02:08:02,260 --> 02:08:03,980
darker counselors and I represent.

1249
02:08:04,920 --> 02:08:05,980
Our lakes are stressed.

1250
02:08:06,300 --> 02:08:07,980
They're stressed because of climate change.

1251
02:08:08,020 --> 02:08:09,200
They're stressed because of development.

1252
02:08:10,640 --> 02:08:15,440
A 30 minute meter buffer is just good climate strategy.

1253
02:08:16,620 --> 02:08:19,300
Now, I spoke to our staff and I said, you know what, I think we should

1254
02:08:19,300 --> 02:08:21,920
push this through right now and they explain to us, you share with me,

1255
02:08:21,920 --> 02:08:26,800
agreed that it's important to do this, but they said if we go back to the province with

1256
02:08:26,800 --> 02:08:31,880
no new additional information, their interpretation is a little bit still to kick back.

1257
02:08:32,280 --> 02:08:36,740
So I'll respect that advice from our staff.

1258
02:08:37,440 --> 02:08:42,660
I disagree that it should be kicked back and I think that province respectfully have dropped

1259
02:08:42,660 --> 02:08:47,200
the ball on this one, and if they're worried about units right now, when we talk about

1260
02:08:47,200 --> 02:08:52,420
units. We needed to be talking about, really, what was the number of Mr. Mayor that you mentioned

1261
02:08:53,220 --> 02:08:56,640
in your address as a Chamber of the number units we needed?

1262
02:08:57,920 --> 02:09:03,020
So, you know, what is that number we need? The 10 to 10 to 10 to 1000. Where are we today? When do we need those by?

1263
02:09:03,220 --> 02:09:05,900
We should be discussing that every time we're talking about a development.

1264
02:09:07,140 --> 02:09:12,940
And my concern is, are we saying that it's more important to put up a unit

1265
02:09:12,940 --> 02:09:20,020
first is the health of our lakes. And in darkness, I say to all the developers out there,

1266
02:09:20,140 --> 02:09:25,200
and to our provincial colleagues, if you're going to be developing a near-a-lake environment,

1267
02:09:25,740 --> 02:09:30,220
we don't want it unless the 30 meters away from that lake. Simple as that! And if you can't figure

1268
02:09:30,220 --> 02:09:35,840
out how to change your design, we don't want it in darkness. 30 meters just makes perfect sense,

1269
02:09:36,140 --> 02:09:41,640
the science is there. I will follow suit and staff will investigate. I think their intent is

1270
02:09:41,640 --> 02:09:45,560
the higher a consultant and look at this further. Great. When that happens, we'll come back

1271
02:09:45,560 --> 02:09:50,280
and have that discussion even further. I just wanted to be on the record today. 30 meters

1272
02:09:50,280 --> 02:09:56,960
from a lake is responsible, responsible work. We should be doing that. Developers, we'll have

1273
02:09:56,960 --> 02:10:00,800
to figure out how to do the development. 30 meters from our lakes, particularly in darkness.

1274
02:10:01,320 --> 02:10:05,440
I thank you for that, Mr. Mayor. Thank you and move to Councillor Austin, please.

1275
02:10:07,080 --> 02:10:11,160
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I won't belabor the point. I very much agree with my colleague, Councillor

1276
02:10:11,160 --> 02:10:18,440
Mancini here on this, but I'm also very much pragmatist and I think Councillor Hartling has put

1277
02:10:18,440 --> 02:10:23,240
in a lot of work on this and turn behind the scenes, trying to assess out, you know, well,

1278
02:10:23,460 --> 02:10:28,120
is there an actual objection to the coastal piece of this? And, you know, I think sometimes

1279
02:10:29,000 --> 02:10:33,860
take the bird and hand versus, you know, continuing to be around the bush. We have one that might

1280
02:10:33,860 --> 02:10:39,620
go through. It's very clear that they will reject the lake's piece again if we try it. So,

1281
02:10:39,620 --> 02:10:44,680
know there needs more work on that and so I support Council Heartling on getting the measure that

1282
02:10:44,680 --> 02:10:51,850
is actually doable within the constraints that we have. Thank you. Thank you very much moving to

1283
02:10:51,850 --> 02:10:52,830
the Deputy Mayor, please.

1284
02:10:55,700 --> 02:10:56,460
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1285
02:10:58,760 --> 02:11:02,960
I agree with Councilor Minceini in terms of looking

1286
02:11:02,960 --> 02:11:10,540
at this for water course setbacks, lakes and rivers. The health of those water bodies is critically

1287
02:11:10,540 --> 02:11:15,440
important, but another thing that we're seeing across the country is the trend of using our

1288
02:11:15,440 --> 02:11:23,180
natural assets for stormwater management. And we've seen changes in our climate changes in

1289
02:11:23,180 --> 02:11:29,800
our precipitation levels. And when this occurs, it really impacts our rivers, our lakes,

1290
02:11:29,840 --> 02:11:37,740
our water levels, and increases flooding risk. And so last we're looking ahead at building

1291
02:11:37,740 --> 02:11:44,620
better climate resilience in our city, having stronger water course that that's critically important,

1292
02:11:45,320 --> 02:11:51,180
but also looking at the value of these natural assets, whether it's a lake, whether it's a river,

1293
02:11:51,660 --> 02:11:59,500
whether it's a wetland, as being a critical piece of our natural infrastructure to help us deal with

1294
02:11:59,500 --> 02:12:07,700
storm water management because putting in storm water infrastructure is incredibly costly. So

1295
02:12:07,700 --> 02:12:20,980
You know, while we're looking at it one way through the lens of development, I think the other way we need to look at it is, you know, for the integrity of the environment, but also for the resilience of our city as a whole when it comes to storm water.

1296
02:12:20,980 --> 02:12:29,320
I do want to commend Councillor Hartling on looking to quickly, you know, retract the set

1297
02:12:29,320 --> 02:12:32,260
course for ocean for coastline.

1298
02:12:32,520 --> 02:12:43,790
I too think that that was a bit of overreach in how the province applied, taking away the

1299
02:12:44,490 --> 02:12:48,810
setback. I do agree it doesn't really have a major impact on development.

1300
02:12:51,190 --> 02:12:52,170
And you know there's always

1301
02:12:52,170 --> 02:13:00,830
opportunities to look at it on a more specific level. What I do have concern about is that when

1302
02:13:00,830 --> 02:13:08,630
they initially did the co-stalaction plan, the draft co-stalaction plan for Nova Scotia, the one that

1303
02:13:08,630 --> 02:13:16,050
province didn't adopt or proclaim. There was a variation in setback for coastal properties

1304
02:13:16,050 --> 02:13:25,810
around the province, specifically on the geography. So if you were situated in an area of

1305
02:13:25,810 --> 02:13:31,990
high erosion, there was a greater setback than if you were situated on a granite headland.

1306
02:13:32,590 --> 02:13:38,610
There was a difference if you were in an area that was exposed to the elements versus if you were

1307
02:13:38,610 --> 02:13:48,650
on an inlet or an estuary area. So it wasn't there was a group A and a group B and there

1308
02:13:48,650 --> 02:13:55,410
was never the intent to apply a uniform set back across the board to coastal properties.

1309
02:13:55,710 --> 02:14:06,310
It was really based on on risk. So I appreciate that the motion has been revised and

1310
02:14:06,310 --> 02:14:12,950
looking for staff report on this as opposed to, you know, writing a letter without the report.

1311
02:14:13,370 --> 02:14:21,530
Because I do think we have to consider, you know, the risk of properties not just doing a

1312
02:14:21,530 --> 02:14:26,790
uniform setback for the sake of having a uniform setback and it being more of a performative

1313
02:14:26,790 --> 02:14:33,090
measure than an actual effective measure. So those are things I think that we really need to

1314
02:14:33,090 --> 02:14:36,990
take a close look at and put some consideration into.

1315
02:14:37,450 --> 02:14:38,390
Thank you.

1316
02:14:40,890 --> 02:14:43,610
Thank you very much, Councillor Dayle, we have a nice place.

1317
02:14:45,570 --> 02:14:46,670
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1318
02:14:48,370 --> 02:14:49,510
Thank you, Councillor Hartling.

1319
02:14:49,690 --> 02:14:51,510
You've done so much work on this.

1320
02:14:51,750 --> 02:14:54,150
And you're a state vigilance on the issue

1321
02:14:54,150 --> 02:14:57,130
and the face of some of the things that most people might have.

1322
02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:06,160
Congratulations on sticking with this wholeheartedly agree with the 30-meter setback.

1323
02:15:06,740 --> 02:15:11,860
And, you know, like Councillor Mancini said, our likes, I mean, each item is full of likes,

1324
02:15:12,080 --> 02:15:17,120
not just the city of darkness, right? So we recently had, you know, a change in an

1325
02:15:17,120 --> 02:15:20,940
development agreement that treated effluent was going to go into the lake and now the

1326
02:15:20,940 --> 02:15:25,300
developer is making a change. I think what really is scary for us when we're looking at

1327
02:15:25,300 --> 02:15:31,760
development is that the life's fall under the Nova Scotia environment and climate change,

1328
02:15:32,100 --> 02:15:38,660
the zoning and the viral falls under us and sometimes we're in a bit of a battle because

1329
02:15:38,660 --> 02:15:45,140
the province approves something where we may not or the community may not think it's the

1330
02:15:45,140 --> 02:15:50,220
right thing to do and the one measure that is a little bit within our control is that

1331
02:15:50,220 --> 02:15:57,420
made or set back from the water courses, so I really hope that everybody votes in favor of council

1332
02:15:57,420 --> 02:16:03,240
heart links motion. Thank you. Thank you for that. Norther names on the list. I'm just going to

1333
02:16:03,240 --> 02:16:09,900
share my own thoughts. I understand why Councillor Hartling has brought this motion forward. I

1334
02:16:09,900 --> 02:16:14,540
share your objective and the council's objective in strengthening water course protections.

1335
02:16:14,540 --> 02:16:25,280
This intervention is about the fact that the motion is asking us to act before the analysis that Council has already commissioned of staff is complete.

1336
02:16:26,480 --> 02:16:38,260
And as a reminder of what that work was during our most recent budget process we approved a comprehensive assessment of potential changes to water course buffers supported by technical analysis and meaningful engagement with industry and other stakeholders.

1337
02:16:38,840 --> 02:16:51,740
And we are, that works not done yet, so it just seems, you know, we might want to wait for that to be in hand to make a more solid case back to the province.

1338
02:16:51,920 --> 02:16:59,600
I think if we, if we go back to them now without any new evidence, I would imagine it's unlikely to produce a different result.

1339
02:16:59,600 --> 02:17:16,700
But if we went back to them with a stronger case that involves scientific analysis, stakeholder input, and what's important for the province to hear as a clear understanding of not just the environmental issues that play it, but the ability to continue to build homes.

1340
02:17:17,460 --> 02:17:27,020
I don't think we need to be making choices between building homes or protecting water courses, but I do think we need the evidence to determine how we can best achieve both of those objectives.

1341
02:17:27,020 --> 02:17:34,280
So I wouldn't, I'm hesitant to counsel voting against Councillor Hartling's motion.

1342
02:17:35,040 --> 02:17:42,120
I think it may be a deferral until such time as that analysis that's underway would perhaps be in order.

1343
02:17:43,200 --> 02:17:45,020
But I'll just offer that for your consideration today.

1344
02:17:45,340 --> 02:17:46,020
Thank you.

1345
02:17:46,960 --> 02:17:47,400
Councillor Hartling.

1346
02:17:48,560 --> 02:17:49,820
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

1347
02:17:49,940 --> 02:17:57,000
The only thing that I would say in response is that I initiated that conversation when I asked for a supplement.

1348
02:17:57,000 --> 02:18:05,700
mental staff report understanding the cost benefit analysis of building housing and units.

1349
02:18:07,280 --> 02:18:08,800
These are the provincial rejection.

1350
02:18:10,380 --> 02:18:11,780
That was on October 7th.

1351
02:18:11,960 --> 02:18:16,880
It was actually October 25th that UDI came back to the table with their letter of support.

1352
02:18:17,080 --> 02:18:19,820
So I would say that the landscape has already changed.

1353
02:18:19,940 --> 02:18:21,700
It's not that we have nothing new on the table.

1354
02:18:21,700 --> 02:18:25,660
I, in my view, and I think that the motion that I have

1355
02:18:25,660 --> 02:18:28,760
represent, or that I have put forward today really speaks to that,

1356
02:18:29,000 --> 02:18:31,560
that we have the information that we need.

1357
02:18:32,060 --> 02:18:34,140
So I will leave it there. Thank you very much.

1358
02:18:35,800 --> 02:18:36,880
Thank you, questions been called.

1359
02:18:57,800 --> 02:18:58,680
And the motion carries.

1360
02:19:00,460 --> 02:19:04,940
We are at that point, but we did desk it over item 14,

1361
02:19:07,720 --> 02:19:10,420
which is information items brought forward.

1362
02:19:10,420 --> 02:19:16,320
there are none, but now we'll put a check mark next to that. So with that we will have our midday

1363
02:19:16,320 --> 02:19:22,440
recess and we will be back and pick up the agenda at item 15.1. Thank you and we'll see you at

1364
02:19:22,440 --> 02:19:22,780
one o'clock.

1365
03:16:30,160 --> 03:16:47,660
Okay, colleagues, it's a few minutes after one and we do have quorum and we've got a quite a bit to get through still. So I think we'll resume where we were, which was at item 1511 centralized grants reporting concept and that was passed on consent.

1366
03:16:48,440 --> 03:16:58,860
And then that brings us to item 15.1.2 proposed amendments to administrative order 29, respecting HRM Civic Addressing Policies CA 148.

1367
03:16:58,860 --> 03:17:03,500
And there is a motion, and I wonder, I see Councillor Hansby, please.

1368
03:17:04,820 --> 03:17:05,820
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1369
03:17:06,520 --> 03:17:10,220
The motion is that the Health Act for the Council adopt the proposed amendments

1370
03:17:10,220 --> 03:17:14,940
of Administrative Order 29, respecting civic addressing policies, a set of detachment

1371
03:17:14,940 --> 03:17:21,160
A of the staff report dated August 6, 2026, to approve one, the naming of 19 private

1372
03:17:21,160 --> 03:17:26,200
roads to the naming of one public street, and three, the renaming of three private

1373
03:17:26,200 --> 03:17:26,720
roads.

1374
03:17:27,180 --> 03:17:27,580
Second,

1375
03:17:31,220 --> 03:17:32,700
a council day of the yearman.

1376
03:17:39,240 --> 03:17:41,040
Do the moves, sir.

1377
03:17:41,640 --> 03:17:42,840
Call the question.

1378
03:17:42,960 --> 03:17:43,640
The question is called.

1379
03:17:43,840 --> 03:17:45,140
We'll go to the electronic vote.

1380
03:18:31,830 --> 03:18:33,290
Oh, that's what it is.

1381
03:18:36,030 --> 03:18:37,970
How are we doing on the vote there at Madam Clerk?

1382
03:19:09,500 --> 03:19:11,360
Mr. Mayor, we would like to know,

1383
03:19:11,520 --> 03:19:13,440
Councillor Austin's vote is also a yes,

1384
03:19:13,720 --> 03:19:15,820
and that does not change the outcome of the vote.

1385
03:19:16,580 --> 03:19:17,420
OK, thank you very much.

1386
03:19:17,540 --> 03:19:18,460
The motion carries.

1387
03:19:19,880 --> 03:19:22,660
Then we get to item 15.1.3,

1388
03:19:22,660 --> 03:19:28,580
three, which was also respecting private roads, but that was successfully deferred.

1389
03:19:29,940 --> 03:19:35,820
Bringing us to 1521, the dual-band radio budget transfer, which passed on consent.

1390
03:19:37,280 --> 03:19:42,640
And this brings us to 1531 that had started tennis dome at Gorsbach Park, which was deferred at

1391
03:19:42,640 --> 03:19:50,560
Councillor Ostens request. And that brings us to 15.3.2, the affordable housing strategy,

1392
03:19:50,560 --> 03:19:53,520
which I have asked to have removed from the consent calendar.

1393
03:19:54,180 --> 03:19:57,560
So the deputy mayor and I are going to quickly change positions here.

1394
03:19:59,120 --> 03:20:02,680
And then I will buzz in and we'll be on our way.

1395
03:21:23,920 --> 03:21:25,920
Yeah, looks like I am.

1396
03:21:26,220 --> 03:21:28,820
Madam Clerk looks like I am ticking away here.

1397
03:21:59,160 --> 03:22:00,440
All right, there we go.

1398
03:22:01,140 --> 03:22:02,080
Thank you everyone.

1399
03:22:03,340 --> 03:22:07,040
Okay, so we are moving to item 15.3.2.

1400
03:22:08,380 --> 03:22:14,820
And that is the affordable housing strategy and I'm going to hand this over to the mayor.

1401
03:22:15,180 --> 03:22:20,240
Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor and Madam Cook, I think there we go, thank you.

1402
03:22:20,640 --> 03:22:21,960
So I'll start with putting the motion on the floor.

1403
03:22:22,180 --> 03:22:26,780
I move that Halifax Regional Council one endorsed the affordable housing strategy.

1404
03:22:30,000 --> 03:22:52,560
Report dated August 5, 2026, to direct the chief administrative officer to include funding options for actions contained in the affordable housing strategy in two two years, commencing in the 2027-2028 budget and business plan for council's consideration, and three direct the CIO to provide the committee with an update on the implementation of the strategy every two years.

1405
03:22:52,560 --> 03:22:55,440
So, colleagues, I just want to begin by-

1406
03:22:55,440 --> 03:22:56,420
Can we get a second for that?

1407
03:22:56,420 --> 03:22:57,360
Oh, yeah, let's do that.

1408
03:22:57,480 --> 03:22:58,220
That's a good.

1409
03:22:58,580 --> 03:22:59,260
Councillor Steele.

1410
03:23:00,870 --> 03:23:01,730
Okay, thank you.

1411
03:23:01,910 --> 03:23:02,230
Go ahead.

1412
03:23:03,110 --> 03:23:05,930
I'll start just by being so clear about my support

1413
03:23:05,930 --> 03:23:09,030
for the Affordable Housing Strategy and the role

1414
03:23:09,030 --> 03:23:12,430
that we all have collectively the Council and our staff

1415
03:23:12,430 --> 03:23:14,130
in enabling more affordable housing.

1416
03:23:14,710 --> 03:23:16,270
The reason for my intervention today

1417
03:23:16,270 --> 03:23:17,670
has got nothing to do with that.

1418
03:23:17,730 --> 03:23:22,170
It's all about a concern about approving two permanent staff

1419
03:23:22,170 --> 03:23:25,450
positions outside of the budgeting process.

1420
03:23:26,490 --> 03:23:27,570
So that's my concern.

1421
03:23:27,950 --> 03:23:30,570
Before Council has the full financial picture,

1422
03:23:31,230 --> 03:23:33,210
I noted that several members of CPET raised

1423
03:23:33,210 --> 03:23:34,590
the same concern last week,

1424
03:23:34,990 --> 03:23:37,030
and I note that the recommendation before us today

1425
03:23:37,030 --> 03:23:39,370
from CPET was not unanimously approved

1426
03:23:39,370 --> 03:23:41,230
by CPET for this very reason.

1427
03:23:41,990 --> 03:23:44,070
Staff indicated that not approving these hires

1428
03:23:44,070 --> 03:23:45,670
would primarily affect the efficiency

1429
03:23:45,670 --> 03:23:47,910
of the surplus lands for housing program.

1430
03:23:48,570 --> 03:23:50,050
A program that has great merit,

1431
03:23:50,050 --> 03:23:55,870
But we should be able to consider this investment alongside our other housing tools and priorities,

1432
03:23:56,270 --> 03:23:59,270
including those that provide for more immediate housing support.

1433
03:23:59,890 --> 03:24:02,710
We're not immune to the fiscal pressures facing the other orders of government,

1434
03:24:03,090 --> 03:24:07,090
and like them, we must focus our resources and find ways to do more with less.

1435
03:24:07,790 --> 03:24:11,490
The two positions may seem modest within a billion dollar budget,

1436
03:24:11,870 --> 03:24:14,150
but permanent positions create permanent obligations.

1437
03:24:15,090 --> 03:24:19,270
Housing accelerator, fund money, may cover some initial costs, but that funding is temporary.

1438
03:24:19,270 --> 03:24:26,330
When it ends, municipal tax payers inherit the full expense, and in about five years, the cost

1439
03:24:26,330 --> 03:24:30,450
of those two positions will be approaching $300,000 per year, and we'll continue to escalate

1440
03:24:30,450 --> 03:24:31,290
year over year.

1441
03:24:32,190 --> 03:24:36,270
If Council moves forward with these positions today, they'll be incorporated into the planning

1442
03:24:36,270 --> 03:24:39,130
and development budget as Council approved positions.

1443
03:24:39,710 --> 03:24:44,490
In a constrained fiscal environment, Council should consider new permit positions alongside the proposed

1444
03:24:44,490 --> 03:24:49,410
tax rate, other staffing requests, service and enhancements, and all of our other competing priorities.

1445
03:24:50,410 --> 03:24:52,290
I'm not proposing that we reject these positions.

1446
03:24:52,750 --> 03:24:56,610
I'm proposing that we consider them through the budget adjustment list process with the full

1447
03:24:56,610 --> 03:25:00,410
financial picture before us. That is precisely what the ballot process is for.

1448
03:25:01,850 --> 03:25:14,470
For that reason, I would like Madam Deputy Mayor to move that recommendation to be

1449
03:25:14,470 --> 03:25:19,570
administrative officer to include funding options for actions contained in the affordable housing

1450
03:25:19,570 --> 03:25:26,330
strategy in future years as a budget adjustment list request within the 2027-28 budget

1451
03:25:26,330 --> 03:25:33,190
process for council's consideration. Thank you. Thank you very much for that. And I think

1452
03:25:33,190 --> 03:25:39,110
Madam Clerk, you have the wording. It could go on a screen. Okay. Thank you. So this amendment

1453
03:25:39,110 --> 03:25:43,550
preserves the staffing request and council's ability to approve it. It's simply ensures that

1454
03:25:43,550 --> 03:25:49,230
make that decision transparently alongside and in the context of our other priorities with a clear

1455
03:25:49,230 --> 03:25:53,570
understanding of the trade-offs. I believe this is the fiscal irresponsible approach and should

1456
03:25:53,570 --> 03:25:57,050
be our standard practice when considering permanent increases to municipal staffing.

1457
03:25:59,960 --> 03:26:04,160
Thank you, and I think I heard that second from Councillor Perti. Okay, very good.

1458
03:26:05,200 --> 03:26:10,520
So I see the board lining up and this is on the amendment Councillor Austin.

1459
03:26:11,620 --> 03:26:32,300
Thank you, Miss Deputy, so I'm not going to support this amendment because I think of the direction that Mr. Blackwood has given us in the past and some of the concerns that were raised at executive committee regarding the length and detail of our budget process.

1460
03:26:32,300 --> 03:26:39,200
If something, if you can hear Jerry now, like if something is important, you know you're going

1461
03:26:39,200 --> 03:26:42,700
that you're in favor of doing it, you should just do it and build it into that and have

1462
03:26:42,700 --> 03:26:43,740
it built into the budget.

1463
03:26:45,220 --> 03:26:50,820
Where we are regarding housing and homelessness, I mean, this has been one of the absolutely

1464
03:26:50,820 --> 03:26:55,280
major issues that we have faced as well as previous counselors.

1465
03:26:55,900 --> 03:27:00,220
The staffing request to actually do this work properly is not a big ask.

1466
03:27:00,220 --> 03:27:01,620
It's a small increase.

1467
03:27:01,620 --> 03:27:07,000
And so I'm comfortable having staff go off and prepare the budget with this built in.

1468
03:27:07,200 --> 03:27:11,320
I think this is an important enough priority that it is worthwhile doing that.

1469
03:27:11,460 --> 03:27:13,280
We've done this in the past with other items.

1470
03:27:13,960 --> 03:27:16,300
We can refer it to the bowel and still consider it,

1471
03:27:16,500 --> 03:27:20,740
but I think there's enough here that I'm comfortable just having this built in.

1472
03:27:20,760 --> 03:27:24,380
I think that the housing file is important enough to warrant it.

1473
03:27:24,500 --> 03:27:25,380
Thank you.

1474
03:27:28,680 --> 03:27:30,000
Thank you, Councillor Austin.

1475
03:27:30,700 --> 03:27:31,200
Councillor Purty.

1476
03:27:33,080 --> 03:27:34,200
Thank you.

1477
03:27:34,380 --> 03:27:36,620
The meeting mayor and thank you Mr. Mayor for this amendment.

1478
03:27:37,060 --> 03:27:43,140
I asked at CPED for this to be broken out so we could vote on the point separately

1479
03:27:43,140 --> 03:27:45,320
because I would also felt uncomfortable.

1480
03:27:46,720 --> 03:27:51,340
Basically, you've pre-approving positions before the budget process was happening.

1481
03:27:51,720 --> 03:27:58,280
And I just don't want to do that so I didn't want to vote in favor of the positions at this point.

1482
03:27:58,280 --> 03:28:09,480
So I'm happy to support this. I think this is reasonable and it addresses the very serious budgetary issues and constraints that we are all feeling.

1483
03:28:10,120 --> 03:28:12,140
So happy to support things.

1484
03:28:14,880 --> 03:28:15,560
Councillor Steele.

1485
03:28:17,180 --> 03:28:18,520
Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

1486
03:28:19,040 --> 03:28:21,160
I have a question for Jerry.

1487
03:28:21,160 --> 03:28:32,720
Jerry just explained the difference between the emotion that's proposed by staff and the motion that's brought forward by the mayor.

1488
03:28:33,360 --> 03:28:42,220
I just want to make sure I understand one is we're baking it in the other it's an ad on it's about right is is that like what how

1489
03:28:42,840 --> 03:28:48,560
how does this treat it by staff I guess if we were to adopt the mayor's motion.

1490
03:28:51,600 --> 03:29:03,620
Thank you, Chair Blackwood CFO, so I think what's important here for context and certainly, you know, this is this is advice, so

1491
03:29:03,620 --> 03:29:10,920
We were given very early in the process on ratification day emotion that council approved right for staff to go away

1492
03:29:10,920 --> 03:29:22,120
build up the 27-28 budget based on, like, no increases, only contractual, inflationary and

1493
03:29:22,120 --> 03:29:29,640
approved by Council. We did debrief sessions with Council. One of the things we heard was,

1494
03:29:30,160 --> 03:29:36,540
let's try to streamline the process. A lot of the feedback back that we got was around

1495
03:29:36,540 --> 03:29:40,720
the bowel process and how that prolonged the budget process.

1496
03:29:42,460 --> 03:29:46,900
What staff has done and implemented and what we talked about yesterday at executive

1497
03:29:47,640 --> 03:29:50,180
is we've put a deadline to staff.

1498
03:29:52,100 --> 03:29:57,120
any things being brought forward that have budget implications you need to get them in front of

1499
03:30:00,000 --> 03:30:27,040
That is so council can have a full-sum staff report. Council can have a full-sum debate. And that's what's here today. Right? So, you know, it's, I think it's like 0.02% of our overall budget. It doesn't move the dial on the rate. So, you know, if it is important council, I mean, council can approve this today.

1500
03:30:27,040 --> 03:30:35,440
It's never action to staff that we can put this into the budget, you know, it was brought up that, you know, executive yesterday about staff time.

1501
03:30:36,140 --> 03:30:47,200
So when this comes back for the bow, this group that's sitting behind me are going to have to come back and be here for however long that day for this to happen.

1502
03:30:47,740 --> 03:30:56,900
So that's just a little bit of context in terms of the motion is fully in order and council has full purview to do.

1503
03:30:56,900 --> 03:31:05,800
what they want when it comes to the budget, but this will, at more time, it's a battle item

1504
03:31:05,800 --> 03:31:13,800
that will have another debate on the funding for these housing strategy positions.

1505
03:31:14,960 --> 03:31:22,780
Thank you, Jerry. The reason I asked this question is, at CPED last week, I voted against

1506
03:31:22,780 --> 03:31:33,040
clause two of the motion. I know that housing affordability is very important. I know

1507
03:31:33,040 --> 03:31:38,760
that other orders of government have been investing more and more in housing affordability.

1508
03:31:39,560 --> 03:31:48,000
And I'm not comfortable investing incremental resources in this going forward. I think we saw

1509
03:31:48,000 --> 03:31:56,080
the number over 10 year period what this means, the municipality is involved in a myriad

1510
03:31:56,080 --> 03:32:01,380
of what in a myriad of ways supporting housing affordability and one of the things

1511
03:32:01,380 --> 03:32:08,100
that troubles me not only about this particular ask about everything and maybe we are short

1512
03:32:08,100 --> 03:32:09,660
of resources everywhere.

1513
03:32:10,260 --> 03:32:16,100
But one of the things that I always thought it might be possible is do we not have any resources

1514
03:32:16,100 --> 03:32:23,400
within HRM that could pivot. Is everything we take on? Do we need to have incremental resources

1515
03:32:23,400 --> 03:32:30,140
to do it? So that's, you know, that's kind of my bottom line here. The strategy is well written.

1516
03:32:30,520 --> 03:32:36,640
It's excellent. It doesn't address overall affordability, which troubles me, but I understand that

1517
03:32:36,640 --> 03:32:43,260
we chose, we chose that path, then gave that guidance to our staff to look at affordability

1518
03:32:43,260 --> 03:32:50,780
for a very small portion of our residents. I'll be at those in greatest need, perhaps, but I'm

1519
03:32:50,780 --> 03:32:57,540
not comfortable with incremental resources at this time for this. Thank you.

1520
03:33:00,390 --> 03:33:01,830
Councillor Kent.

1521
03:33:02,770 --> 03:33:10,090
Thank you, Madam Deputy. I can't support the potential amendment as well for the fact that

1522
03:33:10,090 --> 03:33:19,750
I absolutely and I appreciate Councillor Austin bringing out that the amount of energy and effort

1523
03:33:19,750 --> 03:33:27,130
that we have and commitment to housing within our municipal mandate, even though we know

1524
03:33:27,130 --> 03:33:32,550
that there has not been a lot of support for it until more recent years, through other levels

1525
03:33:32,550 --> 03:33:37,570
of governments, I don't think we can take the foot off the pedal right now.

1526
03:33:37,570 --> 03:33:44,730
And we still are in a significant crisis, and I think it's a responsibility of every level

1527
03:33:44,730 --> 03:33:47,770
of government to participate in some way, this report.

1528
03:33:48,770 --> 03:33:49,670
I was pleased with it.

1529
03:33:49,730 --> 03:33:52,090
I think that staff did a great job with it.

1530
03:33:52,210 --> 03:33:57,550
We got to remember that we as a council last for this strategy to be developed.

1531
03:33:58,170 --> 03:34:07,110
Now we have it here, but also the point of putting it on to a budget and adjustment list

1532
03:34:07,110 --> 03:34:08,670
to me that just doesn't make sense.

1533
03:34:08,810 --> 03:34:12,070
We're not debating, we're not debating the full budget

1534
03:34:12,070 --> 03:34:14,150
in this period right now.

1535
03:34:14,630 --> 03:34:18,810
The battle list is there for gaps or reconsiderations

1536
03:34:18,810 --> 03:34:20,870
when we're going through the large budget.

1537
03:34:20,970 --> 03:34:22,050
That's what it's there for.

1538
03:34:22,250 --> 03:34:24,950
It's like a parking place for something

1539
03:34:24,950 --> 03:34:26,670
to be looked at differently.

1540
03:34:27,150 --> 03:34:30,150
And it could be within the context of the large budget

1541
03:34:30,150 --> 03:34:31,290
that's staff bring forward.

1542
03:34:31,470 --> 03:34:34,650
I would want to see that in the budget.

1543
03:34:34,950 --> 03:34:36,630
So we have all that information.

1544
03:34:36,630 --> 03:34:42,310
And our staff here can go back and do it and present it within the larger budget.

1545
03:34:43,350 --> 03:34:45,610
And then if it needs to go to the ballot, let's do it then.

1546
03:34:45,610 --> 03:34:46,670
This is not the time.

1547
03:34:47,610 --> 03:34:48,750
I'm supportive of it.

1548
03:34:48,910 --> 03:34:56,830
I think that we should go forward and then see the full extent when Jerry and his staff come

1549
03:34:56,830 --> 03:34:59,690
back in early December.

1550
03:35:00,550 --> 03:35:01,670
Thank you.

1551
03:35:03,870 --> 03:35:05,050
Thank you, Councillor Kent.

1552
03:35:05,930 --> 03:35:06,790
Councillor Hensby.

1553
03:35:08,230 --> 03:35:13,510
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Mayor. I'm supportive of the amendment because I believe that we're

1554
03:35:13,510 --> 03:35:16,930
getting ourselves a little entrenched in the housing, like I said before, this is

1555
03:35:16,930 --> 03:35:22,810
a provincial housing responsibility not from the municipal, but we have some opportunities to assist

1556
03:35:22,810 --> 03:35:28,310
to participate with our various programs we have for tax relief, and possible surplus properties.

1557
03:35:29,050 --> 03:35:35,230
But for, unless we're going to get external funding guaranteed for these positions, I'm a little

1558
03:35:35,230 --> 03:35:41,050
skeptical of us and trenching the positions and ingraining and door into our door workforce unless

1559
03:35:41,570 --> 03:35:44,870
we got assurances from the federal provincial governments that this fund is going to be

1560
03:35:45,410 --> 03:35:48,730
absolute for the period of a decade, whatever we anticipate in the budget,

1561
03:35:49,110 --> 03:35:51,950
I might be a little more comfortable with it, but as it stands now to

1562
03:35:53,690 --> 03:35:58,450
the pre-approved now before the budget process, I feel a little uncomfortable about it,

1563
03:35:58,510 --> 03:36:02,030
and I'll rather wait till the debate starts to ensure that we do have funding from our

1564
03:36:02,030 --> 03:36:08,410
provincial and federal counterparts who are supposed to be responsible for housing. Thank you.

1565
03:36:12,250 --> 03:36:13,630
Thank you, Councillor Morris.

1566
03:36:16,050 --> 03:36:20,070
Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Um, you know, housing is a responsibility

1567
03:36:20,070 --> 03:36:26,750
of all three levels of government and HRM's responsibility is mainly on the planning and infrastructure

1568
03:36:26,750 --> 03:36:33,990
side. But that's a complex side and, you know, you need staff with the continuity and the expertise

1569
03:36:33,990 --> 03:36:40,090
to manage that side of things so that we can participate in partnerships with the federal and

1570
03:36:40,090 --> 03:36:44,670
provincial government. You can't just pop people in and out of those roles and expect

1571
03:36:44,670 --> 03:36:50,630
they're going to be able to take full advantage of whatever funding is available from those levels

1572
03:36:50,630 --> 03:36:58,370
of government. What I understand our staff do to a great extent is help the nonprofit organizations

1573
03:36:58,370 --> 03:37:03,770
who are building housing, find ways to move through the planning process.

1574
03:37:04,250 --> 03:37:06,970
That's another important role that they have played.

1575
03:37:08,590 --> 03:37:13,050
I think that these positions are important to keep on as a minimum

1576
03:37:13,050 --> 03:37:15,370
that we do for affordability.

1577
03:37:15,530 --> 03:37:19,210
Otherwise it's just left completely to the market

1578
03:37:19,210 --> 03:37:23,950
and we know there are a lot of gaps when it's completely left to the market.

1579
03:37:23,950 --> 03:37:27,090
we need to provide some support for the non-profit.

1580
03:37:30,000 --> 03:37:36,040
That is deeply affordable. So I would rather see this baked into the budget rather than discussed

1581
03:37:36,040 --> 03:37:37,980
on the bow. Thank you.

1582
03:37:40,180 --> 03:37:41,460
Thank you, Councillor Clarion.

1583
03:37:42,800 --> 03:37:45,920
Thank you, Deputy. So everyone's right.

1584
03:37:48,160 --> 03:37:49,160
We need these two planners.

1585
03:37:50,020 --> 03:37:52,780
I don't know if we need to, but certainly we need one, maybe two planners.

1586
03:37:55,100 --> 03:38:01,400
But we also can't keep adding folks to the complement and keep paying for more and more

1587
03:38:01,400 --> 03:38:03,220
whether it's police, it's fire, it's planners,

1588
03:38:05,880 --> 03:38:09,200
I think, and I'll support the mayor's motion

1589
03:38:09,200 --> 03:38:14,820
here because I think this needs to be kicked up to the CAO's level and we need to look

1590
03:38:14,820 --> 03:38:22,740
at organization what? How many folks do we have? We need to review are is everyone doing

1591
03:38:22,740 --> 03:38:29,680
everything we need? And if we've got capacity, whether it's because we can't find somebody

1592
03:38:29,680 --> 03:38:36,140
not hiring or priorities have changed, we could slip two positions over into planning or reassign

1593
03:38:36,140 --> 03:38:42,840
people from planning to these rules. But we really do have to stop hiring people just because,

1594
03:38:42,840 --> 03:38:50,280
hey, we need more people. We need to figure out through business analysis, through technology,

1595
03:38:51,080 --> 03:38:55,540
are there ways that we could be doing things better with the same or fewer resources?

1596
03:38:57,000 --> 03:39:03,640
and so I support 100% the affordable housing strategy although more or less what it says

1597
03:39:03,640 --> 03:39:07,300
is that it's well we're going to keep doing the things we're doing it's not like we're adding anything new

1598
03:39:07,300 --> 03:39:19,460
and so I think we need a good hard look at what the actual need is and if we have the capacity somewhere else we could re-assign temporarily or permanently

1599
03:39:19,460 --> 03:39:28,380
But I can't have bacon into the budget at this point in time without knowing have we done a deep dive to say can we move some folks?

1600
03:39:28,600 --> 03:39:35,100
Do we have some FTE somewhere that we could reassign I'll support the mayor on this one. Thank you

1601
03:39:38,740 --> 03:39:46,440
Everyone's spoken once on the list there. Oh nope, Councilor Dakele Gamin snuck in there and go ahead. Councilor Dakele Gamin

1602
03:39:47,460 --> 03:39:49,380
Thank you very much

1603
03:39:49,380 --> 03:39:55,100
that the mayor madam interim chair here you know it's it's interesting and you know

1604
03:39:55,100 --> 03:40:04,100
comes to clear when you say everybody's right I I agree we gave direction to staff the

1605
03:40:04,100 --> 03:40:10,000
direction to staff was if when you're looking at building a budget that there's going to be an

1606
03:40:10,000 --> 03:40:15,960
ask that you get it done beforehand so in some ways I think no matter which way we go we're going to

1607
03:40:15,960 --> 03:40:23,020
discussing this again at budget, right? It's quite possible that on either way that we look at it,

1608
03:40:23,160 --> 03:40:29,400
somebody might pull it away from the business unit presentation and ask for it to be put on the

1609
03:40:29,400 --> 03:40:36,320
bow and then it becomes a discussion there. The only thing that really concerns me at this point,

1610
03:40:36,500 --> 03:40:42,460
I think, you know, Mr. Mayor has corrected this statement that it wasn't unanimous and

1611
03:40:42,460 --> 03:40:47,440
Sometimes when I look at our motions in our minutes, it says motion put in past, but we don't

1612
03:40:47,440 --> 03:40:53,080
say if it's unanimous, we don't say how many for or against and this was a good conversation

1613
03:40:53,080 --> 03:41:00,100
at CPED. That's for sure. And when it was put in past, it is that it comes to regional council,

1614
03:41:00,600 --> 03:41:06,760
so that regional council gets to make the decision. But we have to be very careful if we're given

1615
03:41:06,760 --> 03:41:10,860
direction to staff and then all of a sudden we're turning around and saying, well, you took the

1616
03:41:10,860 --> 03:41:12,920
But now, we want you to do something different.

1617
03:41:14,420 --> 03:41:17,480
So, we want to be consistent with that.

1618
03:41:17,620 --> 03:41:18,760
We want our budget process.

1619
03:41:18,920 --> 03:41:20,020
We've talked about it.

1620
03:41:20,060 --> 03:41:23,260
We want our budget process to be a little bit more timely.

1621
03:41:23,420 --> 03:41:25,000
We want it to be more seamless.

1622
03:41:27,400 --> 03:41:31,040
So, at all, I'll vote for the original motion,

1623
03:41:31,300 --> 03:41:34,520
because I think that if it gets defeated, then it goes to the bell.

1624
03:41:34,760 --> 03:41:36,100
Either way, we're going to meet it.

1625
03:41:36,500 --> 03:41:39,860
But I support the work that the staff have done

1626
03:41:39,860 --> 03:41:42,440
and in the way that the motion was presented,

1627
03:41:42,560 --> 03:41:44,640
I think that the follow-up direction we gave them.

1628
03:41:44,860 --> 03:41:45,720
Thank you.

1629
03:41:51,020 --> 03:41:51,480
Thank you.

1630
03:41:51,800 --> 03:41:54,740
Okay, I do not see any other first-time speakers

1631
03:41:54,740 --> 03:41:55,620
on the list.

1632
03:41:56,840 --> 03:41:59,500
I can either change spots, the mayor,

1633
03:41:59,620 --> 03:42:01,100
or the past deputy mayor,

1634
03:42:01,220 --> 03:42:03,000
or I can speak from the chair.

1635
03:42:04,890 --> 03:42:05,550
Chair is fine.

1636
03:42:06,730 --> 03:42:07,670
All right, thank you.

1637
03:42:08,370 --> 03:42:13,870
So, I just want to maybe get some clarification

1638
03:42:14,450 --> 03:42:16,190
on the requirements here,

1639
03:42:16,190 --> 03:42:23,930
Because when I read the report, we know that the city has been promised through the housing

1640
03:42:23,930 --> 03:42:32,510
accelerator fund close to $80 million in order to access that $80 million, our final requirement

1641
03:42:32,510 --> 03:42:41,210
is to have an affordable housing strategy and it says in the report with staff to implement

1642
03:42:41,210 --> 03:42:42,230
it.

1643
03:42:42,230 --> 03:42:51,310
So I'm wondering if that is a condition of receiving our final installment of the half

1644
03:42:51,310 --> 03:43:00,370
funding, and while I'm talking about half, I want to just put into context how important

1645
03:43:00,370 --> 03:43:06,530
it is that we have affordable housing strategy, and that we have staff who are dedicated

1646
03:43:06,530 --> 03:43:08,170
to ensuring that it's implemented.

1647
03:43:08,170 --> 03:43:16,030
But when I look at my community in Spryfield, I had over 26 projects through half approved

1648
03:43:16,030 --> 03:43:22,610
through spot zoning. As a result, I've seen the loss of a lot of existing affordable housing,

1649
03:43:22,610 --> 03:43:27,250
whether that was affordable single family homes or affordable multi units.

1650
03:43:30,510 --> 03:43:38,230
And we don't have housing to replace that affordable housing. So the work that's being done through

1651
03:43:40,650 --> 03:43:45,690
and looking at preserving existing housing through renovations,

1652
03:43:45,870 --> 03:43:47,330
through supporting offer profits.

1653
03:43:47,990 --> 03:43:51,410
That is critical to ensuring that we have a continuum

1654
03:43:51,410 --> 03:43:53,570
of affordable housing for our residents.

1655
03:43:55,130 --> 03:44:01,230
It is true that, you know, we, you know,

1656
03:44:01,550 --> 03:44:03,890
people are being asked to do more with less.

1657
03:44:04,510 --> 03:44:05,990
But there's a lot of people out there

1658
03:44:05,990 --> 03:44:12,730
housing situations where they can't do any more because they don't have affordable housing.

1659
03:44:13,230 --> 03:44:18,290
It's one of the biggest crises in our country at the moment is housing affordability.

1660
03:44:19,950 --> 03:44:25,990
And I agree that this is a responsibility of all three levels of government. We all have a rule to

1661
03:44:25,990 --> 03:44:36,830
here. And the cost of two additional staff people is such a minimal investment for seeing our affordable

1662
03:44:36,830 --> 03:44:43,070
housing strategy implemented. And we're doing this based on the fact that we've received $80

1663
03:44:43,070 --> 03:44:51,210
million in housing accelerator funding that this to me seems like that this shouldn't even be a

1664
03:44:51,210 --> 03:44:55,650
discussion. We should this was a commitment that we're going to have an affordable housing strategy

1665
03:44:55,650 --> 03:44:57,090
that we're going to implement it.

1666
03:45:00,000 --> 03:45:22,000
We made those commitments and we need to see them through. And, you know, it is the people who need affordable housing, the most, who are who were helping here. And I think we need to keep our focus on that. So for those reasons, I'll be supporting the original motion and I won't be supporting the amendment. Thank you.

1667
03:45:22,680 --> 03:45:32,580
Oh, and if I could get a answer to the question about the requirement to have the strategy and the ability to support implementing it.

1668
03:45:35,720 --> 03:45:46,740
Certainly, thank you, Madam Deputy, through to Council, my name is Aaron Marnahan. I'm manager of Culture Heritage and Planning Information Services, also overseeing the completion of half.

1669
03:45:47,560 --> 03:45:53,220
So I would say it was anticipated when the application was first sent from HRM and endorsed

1670
03:45:53,220 --> 03:46:00,000
by this council to CMHC that there would be permanent staff created to implement the

1671
03:46:00,000 --> 03:46:01,140
affordable housing strategy.

1672
03:46:02,240 --> 03:46:07,160
However, I can confirm that that language does not exist within the contribution agreement

1673
03:46:07,160 --> 03:46:12,140
that we have at CMHC and that it's anticipated that if council endorses the strategy and

1674
03:46:12,140 --> 03:46:18,820
past, that would be the final initiative that needs to be completed as part of our agreement.

1675
03:46:19,540 --> 03:46:24,760
We would then get our final installment of $19.7 million dollars.

1676
03:46:26,180 --> 03:46:31,780
Sometime before Christmas is the hope, so before the budget would be debated in the spring.

1677
03:46:32,720 --> 03:46:37,300
So I would say, no, it's not a hard condition, but there is an expectation from CMHC that there

1678
03:46:37,300 --> 03:46:41,420
would be staff in place to actually implement the strategy from a practical sense.

1679
03:46:42,990 --> 03:46:44,290
Thank you, Aaron.

1680
03:46:45,450 --> 03:46:51,190
Okay, for, oh, let's say Virginia, Councilor Hinch.

1681
03:46:53,570 --> 03:46:54,310
Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

1682
03:46:56,850 --> 03:47:01,230
You know, in my district, especially in my district,

1683
03:47:01,430 --> 03:47:11,720
there's a lot of affordable housing that has been torn down displaced, not, not, you know,

1684
03:47:13,740 --> 03:47:21,820
Nothing is being built to the, to the, to the, to the level that it should be built for deeply affordable housing.

1685
03:47:21,820 --> 03:47:27,440
That is, you know, it is all three levels of government that should be taken this on.

1686
03:47:27,620 --> 03:47:28,980
It just doesn't have to be the province.

1687
03:47:30,120 --> 03:47:39,810
We do have a role here to play and I like to continue on seeing the work that the affordable housing strategy has.

1688
03:47:39,810 --> 03:47:47,210
So, whatever you guys need, I am, you know, unfortunately I cannot support the mayor's motion.

1689
03:47:47,610 --> 03:47:55,350
I will support the original motion going forward because again, this is tangible work that

1690
03:47:55,350 --> 03:48:00,710
can be done and hopefully we can see a photo of a housing, I mean we're seeing some progress,

1691
03:48:00,890 --> 03:48:01,930
but we need more progress.

1692
03:48:02,450 --> 03:48:04,710
So that's what my hope would be.

1693
03:48:05,590 --> 03:48:08,630
So yes, I will be supporting the main motion.

1694
03:48:08,850 --> 03:48:09,430
Thank you.

1695
03:48:17,440 --> 03:48:19,280
Thank you, Ms. Deputy.

1696
03:48:19,860 --> 03:48:21,600
Just follow up question there for Jerry.

1697
03:48:22,480 --> 03:48:27,040
You know, if council proceeds with the original motion instead of accepting the

1698
03:48:27,040 --> 03:48:30,520
Amir's amendment here, it would get built into the budget.

1699
03:48:31,100 --> 03:48:35,480
But then a budget committee does council not have the ability to move anything

1700
03:48:35,480 --> 03:48:37,900
like we want related to the budget.

1701
03:48:42,890 --> 03:48:52,690
Thank you yet, that's correct if you voted for the original motion that can always be adjusted at the time.

1702
03:48:53,570 --> 03:49:00,990
So when we bake something in, we're sending a signal, but you know, council always retains the ability to change our mind.

1703
03:49:01,130 --> 03:49:08,050
If we're in the middle of budget deliberations, and we look at the amounts and everyone's kind of losing their minds, right?

1704
03:49:08,050 --> 03:49:10,050
We could it could be reversed.

1705
03:49:12,790 --> 03:49:17,090
That's that's correct. Okay, and what is the rate impact?

1706
03:49:17,330 --> 03:49:26,930
I think you I thought I heard 0.02. I think 0.02 like a to on a billion dollar budget.

1707
03:49:26,990 --> 03:49:32,650
But I think it's like less than a dollar on on the average bill. Okay.

1708
03:49:34,230 --> 03:49:44,150
So, folks, even if we accept the original amendment, if we get into the budget process and we need to go find money, we could take a look at this, right?

1709
03:49:44,550 --> 03:49:51,050
We've talked about the budget process being lengthy. If, you know, you look at this and it's like, this is a good idea, we should do the thing.

1710
03:49:51,650 --> 03:50:02,270
Let's do the thing. Let's build it in now. The amount here is small and, you know, at the end of the day, I know there's a lot of talk of, well,

1711
03:50:02,270 --> 03:50:04,950
we need to do less, you know, more with less.

1712
03:50:05,850 --> 03:50:07,870
And, you know, it's kind of a nice slogan,

1713
03:50:08,090 --> 03:50:09,970
but at a certain point, it just breaks down.

1714
03:50:10,070 --> 03:50:12,990
You do ultimately, you do less with less.

1715
03:50:13,430 --> 03:50:16,050
And here is an area where we are being tasked

1716
03:50:16,050 --> 03:50:20,350
and asked to do much more, all orders of government are.

1717
03:50:20,890 --> 03:50:23,030
And, you know, it's a small example,

1718
03:50:23,170 --> 03:50:25,610
but the one that kind of registers to me most of all,

1719
03:50:25,750 --> 03:50:27,310
because I've seen the difference,

1720
03:50:28,150 --> 03:50:30,690
different space, but park naturalization.

1721
03:50:31,310 --> 03:50:40,350
We originally that program, it started, someone was trying to do that off the side of the desk and we had a couple of very early pilot projects, but it really didn't go anywhere.

1722
03:50:40,970 --> 03:50:46,650
Dedicating just one staff person to that has made such a world of difference. We have a whole program now.

1723
03:50:46,910 --> 03:50:52,750
You know, this is not a big staffing ass, this is not a big dollar amount asked. We've committed to this in a strategy.

1724
03:50:53,870 --> 03:50:58,870
And even if we build this in, we can always reverse it if we really get into the budget process and are really

1725
03:50:58,870 --> 03:51:04,950
scrounging for 0.02%. I think this is worth doing. I think we should just proceed and not blow to our

1726
03:51:04,950 --> 03:51:10,190
battle and budget process with something that we should just really be doing. Thank you.

1727
03:51:15,080 --> 03:51:15,840
Mayor Filmer.

1728
03:51:16,640 --> 03:51:18,900
Thank you. Just a very brief close.

1729
03:51:21,190 --> 03:51:25,390
I would say that, of course, the council is in control of its

1730
03:51:25,390 --> 03:51:31,590
on destiny and at the time of the budget could delete positions that it created today.

1731
03:51:31,910 --> 03:51:32,810
I've never seen it happen.

1732
03:51:33,390 --> 03:51:35,090
I've not seen one position ever deleted.

1733
03:51:35,610 --> 03:51:36,410
Only added.

1734
03:51:37,970 --> 03:51:40,250
So I would just remind us of that.

1735
03:51:40,830 --> 03:51:43,670
And there may be a logical fallacy at work here as well.

1736
03:51:44,210 --> 03:51:45,710
You know, if I could draw on analogy,

1737
03:51:46,330 --> 03:51:53,110
the argument that I've often heard from folks who don't want to take action on climate change is that,

1738
03:51:53,110 --> 03:51:59,250
Well, HRM is small or Canada is small. It doesn't really matter what we do, so we shouldn't do anything. We don't have to bother

1739
03:52:00,630 --> 03:52:06,320
That's the same logic. We're getting into and we say it's only 0.02 in the mill rate. It's only a $200,000

1740
03:52:07,710 --> 03:52:11,280
Every dollar matters. Every single dollar matters. Somebody's paying for it.

1741
03:52:11,970 --> 03:52:15,930
So I just would would remind us of that as well and I'll leave it there. Thank you.

1742
03:52:19,460 --> 03:52:22,880
Okay, so with that, the question's been called. We have nowhere speakers on the list.

1743
03:52:22,880 --> 03:52:27,120
The vote will be on the motion as

1744
03:52:30,720 --> 03:52:38,140
Okay, so be on the amendment and commence voting.

1745
03:53:02,850 --> 03:53:07,810
It's a tie vote so that fails. So the amendment does not pass.

1746
03:53:11,610 --> 03:53:14,050
We are now back to the main motion.

1747
03:53:25,340 --> 03:53:28,440
I'm waiting for my screen to clear there. Okay,

1748
03:53:30,760 --> 03:53:31,820
on the main motion.

1749
03:53:31,820 --> 03:53:34,420
have counselor steel.

1750
03:53:37,570 --> 03:53:42,210
Thank you at Deputy Mayor. I just like to reiterate how important

1751
03:53:42,210 --> 03:53:49,890
affordable housing is. However, unlike many other municipalities across the country that are

1752
03:53:49,890 --> 03:53:56,170
more active and affordable housing than we are, we don't receive the same level of support

1753
03:53:56,170 --> 03:54:02,810
from our provincial government to support this type of work. Municipal taxes were never

1754
03:54:02,810 --> 03:54:08,970
intended for broad social programs and we have moved into the space and we're now beginning

1755
03:54:08,970 --> 03:54:11,270
to move even further into this space.

1756
03:54:12,430 --> 03:54:19,170
I'd like to see this $200,000 or whatever it is spent on things like infrastructure, renewal,

1757
03:54:19,570 --> 03:54:25,290
transit, public safety, some of the things that I'm hearing from my residents every day.

1758
03:54:25,530 --> 03:54:30,050
Let's give you a concrete example and it's actually a boat concrete as well.

1759
03:54:30,050 --> 03:54:33,530
I live in Clayton Park West, the street near to me.

1760
03:54:33,750 --> 03:54:35,510
Actually, it's a street I walked my dogs on,

1761
03:54:35,530 --> 03:54:39,250
so I get to discuss this every evening almost.

1762
03:54:40,550 --> 03:54:45,210
We did some maintenance work to replace a failed curb.

1763
03:54:46,670 --> 03:54:50,030
And we left a small, we did about 98% of the street.

1764
03:54:50,170 --> 03:54:54,530
We left a few properties where the curb wasn't fixed.

1765
03:54:54,530 --> 03:54:59,870
So, and the reason why we couldn't do that was for $28,000.

1766
03:55:00,390 --> 03:55:05,470
So, the whole street was done, except for one, except for the curb in front of one property.

1767
03:55:06,930 --> 03:55:10,210
And so, you know, I face that every day.

1768
03:55:10,650 --> 03:55:14,470
There's many countless places like that in my district.

1769
03:55:14,910 --> 03:55:20,610
And that's why I want them to fix the curbs and all your districts and make the sidewalk safe.

1770
03:55:20,610 --> 03:55:23,470
I'd like to see Bayer's late-made accessible.

1771
03:55:23,890 --> 03:55:25,710
We need money to do that.

1772
03:55:26,270 --> 03:55:29,690
I walked with one of my residents last Friday

1773
03:55:29,690 --> 03:55:33,070
who was in a wheelchair and I walked around

1774
03:55:33,070 --> 03:55:36,250
and tried to see how things look from her point of view

1775
03:55:36,250 --> 03:55:38,590
and they are extremely unsafe.

1776
03:55:38,710 --> 03:55:42,290
I felt unsafe and I wasn't, I'm not in a wheelchair.

1777
03:55:43,250 --> 03:55:47,590
So that's why I hate to see as migrating into these areas

1778
03:55:47,590 --> 03:55:49,970
that I believe other levels of government

1779
03:55:49,970 --> 03:55:52,310
and could and should be funding.

1780
03:55:52,670 --> 03:55:54,550
I think it's a fantastic strategy,

1781
03:55:55,010 --> 03:55:57,010
but I wish to vote separately

1782
03:55:57,010 --> 03:55:58,290
and item number two.

1783
03:55:58,430 --> 03:55:59,390
Thank you.

1784
03:56:05,250 --> 03:56:06,330
Thank you, Councillor Still.

1785
03:56:06,510 --> 03:56:07,550
Councillor Perti.

1786
03:56:08,070 --> 03:56:10,390
You're Deputy Mayor, and I couldn't agree more

1787
03:56:10,390 --> 03:56:14,830
with Councillor Still's assessment of things financially.

1788
03:56:16,330 --> 03:56:16,590
Absolutely.

1789
03:56:17,390 --> 03:56:22,850
And when I spoke to this at CPAD and I'm not going to go into everything

1790
03:56:22,850 --> 03:56:25,770
that I said there, but one thing that I did

1791
03:56:25,770 --> 03:56:37,000
that I do want to reiterate today is I feel like we had unfulfilled promises from the Housing

1792
03:56:37,000 --> 03:56:43,340
Accelerator Fund that this money from the federal government did not actually improve

1793
03:56:43,340 --> 03:56:49,960
affordability for anyone. And in fact we've seen prices just continue to climb costs of living

1794
03:56:49,960 --> 03:57:16,160
continue to climb has not produced affordability. So just kind of dashed expectations and has done other zoning changes in our municipality that have not been for in the best interest of our residents either. So I'm not sure I'm sure some good has come from it. And I we've heard it and we see the affordable housing strategy.

1795
03:57:18,660 --> 03:57:28,560
But I agree we are spreading ourselves to thin over things that are not core municipal issues.

1796
03:57:29,120 --> 03:57:34,940
When we have so many core municipal issues that do need to be addressed in all of our districts.

1797
03:57:36,060 --> 03:57:42,320
And I'm going to ask also if we can do what we did at CPED and vote on these points separately.

1798
03:57:42,320 --> 03:57:53,280
We give vote on one in three together and then vote on number two separately because I do not support moving forward staff at this point in our budget process.

1799
03:57:57,070 --> 03:58:03,370
All right, so it's being requested when we vote that the vote is split one in three and two separately.

1800
03:58:04,830 --> 03:58:05,930
Councillor Austin.

1801
03:58:07,890 --> 03:58:08,930
Thank you, Mr. Deputy.

1802
03:58:08,930 --> 03:58:20,750
And I would ask staff about the, about the piece about support for non-profits to the

1803
03:58:20,750 --> 03:58:26,410
tax program, because we did have some council motions on that, and, you know, as far

1804
03:58:26,410 --> 03:58:32,330
as I understand it from reading the strategy, this work, looking at that question of

1805
03:58:32,330 --> 03:58:40,330
HRMs program that would still be looked at in the future through a report to be prepared by finance.

1806
03:58:40,610 --> 03:58:42,430
So am I reading that correct

1807
03:59:03,290 --> 03:59:07,290
planner sorry Dave Patterson principle planner for regional committee planning.

1808
03:59:07,690 --> 03:59:11,330
Thank you through the the deputy mayor to the counselor.

1809
03:59:12,130 --> 03:59:15,190
The action on tax relief that's a bit of a two-parter.

1810
03:59:15,190 --> 03:59:23,210
One is to continue with the current program as it's currently provided by finance for all non-profits.

1811
03:59:23,970 --> 03:59:31,850
But also to review that program moving forward in the short term for the overall sustainability objectives of that program.

1812
03:59:33,190 --> 03:59:38,250
Looking at the range of affordable housing projects and sites that are supported.

1813
03:59:39,830 --> 03:59:44,510
really just maybe distinctly from the other nonprofits that are also supporting that program.

1814
03:59:45,510 --> 03:59:49,910
So that work is on going in the next few years, is led by finance.

1815
03:59:50,930 --> 03:59:57,030
So led by finance does the planning come into it because I mean, I think.

1816
04:00:00,000 --> 04:00:29,840
On this question, and when I made that motion back, geez, I can't remember, 2024, on the initial report that came back, really only had the dollar value kind of piece on it, it didn't have the planning lens on it, and I think for us to make any decisions, we actually need both. We need to be looking at the financial viability of the program from the grant perspective, but we also need to have the lens around what does this program mean from a planning perspective in terms of encouraging more housing.

1817
04:00:30,000 --> 04:00:34,980
And so I'm fine with this action if it's a both sort of piece

1818
04:00:34,980 --> 04:00:37,060
because I think both perspectives need to be there

1819
04:00:37,060 --> 04:00:40,040
for Council to be really making a good decision on it.

1820
04:00:46,010 --> 04:00:46,850
Yeah, thank you.

1821
04:00:47,370 --> 04:00:52,990
So that is something we brought that up last budget session

1822
04:00:52,990 --> 04:00:59,450
about the increase in our grants program from our redesign.

1823
04:01:00,210 --> 04:01:05,510
And one of the things that we did with the redesign

1824
04:01:05,510 --> 04:01:13,370
was put more weight on the housing component to provide more grants in that area of right,

1825
04:01:13,450 --> 04:01:20,030
which is scheduled to be, I believe. What we're seeing in that space, affordable housing,

1826
04:01:20,550 --> 04:01:34,570
is non-profits have become very active in that space, the YWCA, which is, well, there are

1827
04:01:34,570 --> 04:01:41,950
legislation, but as nonprofits come in, like for example, if KELOMIS getting rid of old stock,

1828
04:01:43,010 --> 04:01:49,930
nonprofits are buying up that stock and then they're getting eligibility for the grants program.

1829
04:01:51,190 --> 04:01:57,790
So from a sustainability point of view, we're really seeing nonprofits become very active in

1830
04:01:57,790 --> 04:02:05,670
the affordable housing space, which is creating an additional pressure on our grants program.

1831
04:02:06,790 --> 04:02:14,550
So overall, I mean, I think one of the things we've already need to look at is really where

1832
04:02:14,550 --> 04:02:23,210
does Council want to put that overall grant envelope in the future is it more around supporting

1833
04:02:23,210 --> 04:02:30,150
affordable housing. I know we moved away a little bit from supporting more athletic associations

1834
04:02:30,150 --> 04:02:37,890
and things like that, but that is a review that certainly will need to undertake. I think it's

1835
04:02:37,890 --> 04:02:45,270
were two years since the last grants review. Thank you, Jerry. I just have about 20 seconds left here.

1836
04:02:45,590 --> 04:02:51,510
So I just posed the question. In that review, is there going to be an outcome oriented thing

1837
04:02:51,510 --> 04:02:56,910
consistently what I hear from the non-profits out there is it's not glamorous the way you get to

1838
04:02:56,910 --> 04:03:02,530
you know cut a ribbon on a new project but that that ongoing funding because it's predictable

1839
04:03:02,530 --> 04:03:08,590
and ongoing is actually among the most important supports that we actually provide. I'm just wondering

1840
04:03:08,590 --> 04:03:15,910
if in that program redesign, in any of those considerations whether or not that sort of perspective

1841
04:03:16,470 --> 04:03:20,570
is going to be captured as well, right? Like I hear what you're saying about the financial piece, right?

1842
04:03:20,570 --> 04:03:21,330
like that's important.

1843
04:03:21,790 --> 04:03:24,230
But I really, that planning part,

1844
04:03:24,310 --> 04:03:26,750
I think needs to be part of that work too, right?

1845
04:03:26,750 --> 04:03:28,730
To assess what the outcome could be,

1846
04:03:29,790 --> 04:03:31,790
of additional support or not.

1847
04:03:34,470 --> 04:03:35,950
Yeah, I agree.

1848
04:03:39,170 --> 04:03:42,950
The finance and planning need to work together

1849
04:03:42,950 --> 04:03:46,230
on that whole grand piece.

1850
04:03:47,290 --> 04:03:47,930
Okay, yep.

1851
04:03:48,170 --> 04:03:49,150
Thank you, Ms. Deputy.

1852
04:03:49,350 --> 04:03:49,870
Thank you, Jerry.

1853
04:03:50,830 --> 04:03:52,230
Thank you, Councillor.

1854
04:03:53,130 --> 04:03:54,250
Councillor Steele.

1855
04:03:56,650 --> 04:03:59,910
Mr. Mayor, do you want to close or do you want to speak now?

1856
04:04:00,150 --> 04:04:00,590
You want to close?

1857
04:04:01,390 --> 04:04:01,870
Councillor Steele.

1858
04:04:02,830 --> 04:04:03,730
Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

1859
04:04:04,370 --> 04:04:07,070
A couple of questions I think for day.

1860
04:04:08,290 --> 04:04:12,810
The Affordable Housing Grant Program, a certain portion of it, of course,

1861
04:04:13,050 --> 04:04:15,190
has been funded through density bonelessing.

1862
04:04:15,330 --> 04:04:17,770
Another portion funded through half.

1863
04:04:17,770 --> 04:04:23,450
We're coming to an end of the half funding, so what's the plan there?

1864
04:04:24,410 --> 04:04:25,730
Do we have a plan?

1865
04:04:27,950 --> 04:04:30,930
Thank you through the Deputy Mayor.

1866
04:04:31,350 --> 04:04:36,610
Really, the plan is going back to where we were prior to the half, so prior to half the

1867
04:04:37,870 --> 04:04:42,330
affordable housing grant program was really built around the density bonishing program.

1868
04:04:42,330 --> 04:04:45,590
Density Browsing was originally in the regional center.

1869
04:04:45,790 --> 04:04:48,510
It's now expanded to the suburban area,

1870
04:04:49,110 --> 04:04:50,310
and we're starting to see projects

1871
04:04:50,310 --> 04:04:53,590
and funding come in through the suburban areas as well.

1872
04:04:54,090 --> 04:04:57,450
So half has provided a chance to sort of fridge

1873
04:04:57,450 --> 04:05:00,950
some of that funding and extend that funding the last three years.

1874
04:05:01,350 --> 04:05:05,070
But the plan for the grant program is to do really go back to where we were

1875
04:05:06,190 --> 04:05:10,010
as a public benefit coming out of the Density

1876
04:05:10,010 --> 04:05:11,250
promising program.

1877
04:05:12,470 --> 04:05:17,270
And I don't have the corporate memory here.

1878
04:05:17,570 --> 04:05:20,730
In terms of the density, boneless thing, have we ever

1879
04:05:20,730 --> 04:05:23,970
provided any funding to anything other than affordable

1880
04:05:23,970 --> 04:05:28,150
housing such as recreation, I don't mean clubs,

1881
04:05:28,550 --> 04:05:34,850
but I mean parks, trails, community centers,

1882
04:05:35,050 --> 04:05:39,370
that kind of thing, that increase population bills.

1883
04:05:39,370 --> 04:05:45,590
have we has that ever been done through our grants program or through the Nancy Bonesign funding?

1884
04:05:50,290 --> 04:05:55,570
I'm just sorry we're referring back to Kate Greenback there but the vast majority has been through

1885
04:05:55,570 --> 04:06:02,990
affordable housing also other work goes into public public art as well as heritage but the

1886
04:06:02,990 --> 04:06:08,770
requirement right now is that at least 60% of the contributions go for affordable housing by the

1887
04:06:08,770 --> 04:06:12,770
practice we've seen a higher amount than that. Okay that's a policy decision that was taken

1888
04:06:12,770 --> 04:06:14,970
by this council or our previous council.

1889
04:06:15,010 --> 04:06:15,550
That's correct.

1890
04:06:15,730 --> 04:06:17,290
OK, thank you.

1891
04:06:21,270 --> 04:06:21,950
Thank you.

1892
04:06:22,170 --> 04:06:22,990
Councillor Austin.

1893
04:06:24,870 --> 04:06:26,190
Thank you, Mr. Chair.

1894
04:06:26,890 --> 04:06:28,790
And so the other piece I wanted to ask about

1895
04:06:28,790 --> 04:06:31,590
is regarding public housing.

1896
04:06:31,770 --> 04:06:35,110
I mean, I note the report talks about, you know,

1897
04:06:35,290 --> 04:06:39,110
H-R-M, the option of H-R-M creating a housing

1898
04:06:39,110 --> 04:06:39,870
corporation.

1899
04:06:41,410 --> 04:06:51,870
We really aren't contemplating any discussions with the province under this about taking on public housing.

1900
04:06:52,310 --> 04:06:54,970
Because of course that was uploaded to the province in 96.

1901
04:06:57,270 --> 04:06:59,230
I'm assuming we're not.

1902
04:06:59,610 --> 04:07:03,030
There was no real dive into looking at that question.

1903
04:07:12,210 --> 04:07:17,270
Well, I mean, I'm not going to be to dead horse here on this one.

1904
04:07:18,130 --> 04:07:23,290
I mean, I would just say in a perfect world, like when I look at this, if you were setting up responsibilities for government,

1905
04:07:24,090 --> 04:07:26,990
the order of government that does planning probably should be the order.

1906
04:07:30,000 --> 04:07:52,480
And you have your own housing authority that's sitting right there at the discussions. You could actually get projects done in a much more effective way. And we might not have gone through basically 30 years of public housing being basically abandoned, because, you know, we were in this neoliberal sort of age where the idea that government could do things was kind of pass a.

1907
04:07:52,480 --> 04:07:57,420
But down at our level, that never really went away because we build and operate stuff all the time.

1908
04:07:57,420 --> 04:07:58,400
It's what we do.

1909
04:07:59,040 --> 04:08:03,860
So, you know, just philosophically, I mean, I think public housing belongs at the municipal level,

1910
04:08:04,720 --> 04:08:08,100
but that's a perfect world type solution, and we don't live in a perfect world.

1911
04:08:08,240 --> 04:08:12,080
We live in Nova Scotia, and that's not about to change, so I think I will leave it at that.

1912
04:08:12,380 --> 04:08:13,180
Thank you.

1913
04:08:15,370 --> 04:08:16,570
Thank you, Councillor Austin.

1914
04:08:17,570 --> 04:08:19,610
Mr. Mayor, before you close, may I have a few comments?

1915
04:08:20,590 --> 04:08:21,310
Thank you.

1916
04:08:21,310 --> 04:08:33,230
So I am a little bit confused about this conversation because, you know, having an affordable housing strategy, seeing a municipal role in this was part of the half agreement.

1917
04:08:33,790 --> 04:08:42,470
We talk about support from other orders of government and we have received $80 million from the federal government, 11 million is tied to this last piece.

1918
04:08:42,470 --> 04:08:48,170
So, when we say we're not being supported by other orders of government, this was a targeted

1919
04:08:48,170 --> 04:08:54,890
initiative specifically to address affordable housing and to Councillor Pertis points that

1920
04:08:54,890 --> 04:09:00,170
you know, half hasn't delivered on affordable housing is promised. This is the promise and implementing

1921
04:09:00,170 --> 04:09:05,470
the strategy is part of that promise so we can start to see an increase in affordable housing.

1922
04:09:06,150 --> 04:09:08,720
So, so this is it. This is the piece that you're looking for.

1923
04:09:10,280 --> 04:09:21,980
I would have some questions about how we manage the half money and when we get that final installment how it's used and how it would continue to support housing initiatives.

1924
04:09:23,240 --> 04:09:35,660
I don't know if we ever got to the point where we've created investment funds to help fund the continuation of programs or if we just put that into our coffers and spend it on other things.

1925
04:09:35,660 --> 04:09:45,360
But I think if we have a strategy, we also need to have a financial strategy on how to do this in a sustainable, financially responsible way.

1926
04:09:45,860 --> 04:09:59,180
I feel we have done that so far by using density bonelessing and supporting affordable housing initiatives where people get extra development rights and exchange for money that goes into support affordable housing.

1927
04:09:59,180 --> 04:10:05,560
But the ongoing implementation of the strategy and given that we've had this money from

1928
04:10:05,560 --> 04:10:13,820
half, I'm wondering, as any thought gone into how we can sustainably continue to fund these

1929
04:10:13,820 --> 04:10:14,400
initiatives.

1930
04:10:16,020 --> 04:10:20,540
I also want to talk about how we add positions, but we never take them away.

1931
04:10:21,840 --> 04:10:23,420
That's not necessarily true.

1932
04:10:23,420 --> 04:10:39,220
You know, we've looked at vacancy positions that we haven't filled and, you know, that's essentially not filling positions is is, you know, and becomes a net benefit because we don't, we're not adding positions, we're using vacancies.

1933
04:10:39,220 --> 04:10:44,380
We also have a tradition and we've talked a great length about that where, you know, through

1934
04:10:44,380 --> 04:10:50,080
natural retirement or people may be resigning or moving on to other jobs, you know,

1935
04:10:50,380 --> 04:10:54,660
using those positions to kind of keep our workforce in check.

1936
04:10:54,840 --> 04:10:59,460
So it's not just about removing positions, it's about looking at the whole picture

1937
04:10:59,460 --> 04:11:03,220
and managing it from that perspective.

1938
04:11:03,880 --> 04:11:08,220
When we are adding these positions in at this point into the budget,

1939
04:11:08,220 --> 04:11:18,240
But until we get to the budget, we don't know what the full departmental ask is going to be when it comes forward, and there's opportunities to manage it at that level too.

1940
04:11:18,600 --> 04:11:23,940
And again, these are like many of us have said, these are discussions we can have when it comes to budget time.

1941
04:11:25,380 --> 04:11:33,500
I think this is a critical piece of work, and I'm very, very happy to finally see it come forward, and I know a lot of effort has gone into it.

1942
04:11:33,500 --> 04:11:40,140
know there's a lot of support in the community for it and there's a lot of need amongst our residents for affordable housing.

1943
04:11:40,720 --> 04:11:49,060
So I will be supporting the motion as presented by staff with that I'll pass it up to the mayor to close.

1944
04:11:49,420 --> 04:11:56,020
Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor. And I have to say make a few points here.

1945
04:11:56,380 --> 04:12:02,960
But just to be really clear in the way I close as I was in the way that I started that my intervention

1946
04:12:02,960 --> 04:12:07,820
has nothing to do with lack of support for the affordable housing and the strategy that we have

1947
04:12:07,820 --> 04:12:14,000
in front of us. My concern is around staffing levels and the affordability of residents in nature.

1948
04:12:15,840 --> 04:12:21,820
It's my position that we need to get away from the idea here that every new priority necessarily requires

1949
04:12:21,820 --> 04:12:31,180
new permanent staff. Sometimes it will. But before adding positions, we should also be asking whether the

1950
04:12:31,180 --> 04:12:36,120
places in the organization that can be redeployed, whether processes can be simplified, whether

1951
04:12:36,120 --> 04:12:41,440
we're getting the best value from the organization we already have, and that is exactly

1952
04:12:41,440 --> 04:12:47,620
why we've asked the organization to undertake the course service review. At the same time,

1953
04:12:47,800 --> 04:12:52,840
our staff and complement continues to grow. You will have read that this year 300 more additions

1954
04:12:52,840 --> 04:12:58,420
to the Sunshine List, we're now over 1600 people making over $100,000 a year at HRM. People are

1955
04:12:58,420 --> 04:13:02,960
noticing this, they're talking about it, they're holding us accountable for that, and so we

1956
04:13:02,960 --> 04:13:08,620
want to be aware of that. It should cause us to look very seriously at the size and the structure

1957
04:13:08,620 --> 04:13:13,640
and the cost of the organization, particularly when residents are telling us they can simply

1958
04:13:13,640 --> 04:13:19,900
cannot continue to absorb escalating costs. This isn't about diminishing the work of our employees,

1959
04:13:20,000 --> 04:13:25,660
or suggesting that individual positions are not valuable at its core. It's about discipline. Adding

1960
04:13:25,660 --> 04:13:29,720
staff can not always be our first response to a problem or to a new priority.

1961
04:13:30,860 --> 04:13:35,460
As others have said today, we need to focus on what municipal government needs to do and

1962
04:13:35,460 --> 04:13:41,600
what we can do better and where our existing resources should be refocused and reconstituted.

1963
04:13:42,280 --> 04:13:46,420
That's why I believe permanent staffing increases should as a matter of course be considered

1964
04:13:46,420 --> 04:13:50,060
through the budget process to see the whole picture at one time.

1965
04:13:51,260 --> 04:13:55,040
And why the core service review needs to meaningfully inform those decisions going forward.

1966
04:13:55,040 --> 04:14:00,560
we can always support ambitious priorities, we can, that can include affordable housing, but at

1967
04:14:00,560 --> 04:14:05,480
the same time we can still ask about how we can deliver them as efficiently and as responsibly

1968
04:14:05,480 --> 04:14:12,040
as possible. Those two priorities can not only can, but should go hand-in-hand. So I'm going to ask

1969
04:14:12,040 --> 04:14:18,580
that you defeat item 2 in the motion and prove the very important affordable housing strategy. Thank you.

1970
04:14:21,590 --> 04:14:24,250
Okay, thank you. Question.

1971
04:14:26,360 --> 04:14:36,280
Okay questions being called and we'll vote first on 1 and 3 and there we go.

1972
04:14:55,810 --> 04:14:56,330
That passes.

1973
04:15:19,060 --> 04:15:20,340
And that passes.

1974
04:15:23,390 --> 04:15:26,170
Thank you. Next,

1975
04:17:26,480 --> 04:17:28,000
we are now

1976
04:17:33,630 --> 04:17:35,310
ready to go in camera.

1977
04:17:44,710 --> 04:17:45,350
Oh, thank you.

1978
04:17:55,490 --> 04:17:55,590
Okay.

1979
04:17:58,320 --> 04:18:03,860
Okay. We are at 15.5.1, Deputy Mayor Cuddle, HR and Parks, washrooms and drinking

1980
04:18:03,860 --> 04:18:11,580
fountain strategy and the floor is yours, Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Okay. So we've had a few discussions

1981
04:18:11,580 --> 04:18:20,620
of this meeting about strategies that we have that are funded and are implemented and also

1982
04:18:21,420 --> 04:18:28,820
questions about priorities. One of the strategies we approved was the HR and Parks,

1983
04:18:29,340 --> 04:18:34,600
Washrooms and Drinking Fountain Strategies. I have one of those parks that was promised

1984
04:18:34,600 --> 04:18:42,700
bathroom, a washroom that hasn't been delivered yet and it's coming up to six years coming

1985
04:18:42,700 --> 04:18:48,400
on to my seventh year on council. So sometimes we can do things and build things and deliver things

1986
04:18:48,400 --> 04:18:57,820
and sometimes we can't. And in this case, I'm really looking for an update on the implementation

1987
04:18:57,820 --> 04:19:05,740
of our washroom and drinking fountain strategy, which was approved in 2020, and to get a sense

1988
04:19:05,740 --> 04:19:10,420
of what projects are being prioritized and what the next steps are so we can continue to see

1989
04:19:10,420 --> 04:19:16,040
this move forward. There is a larger discussion that happened over the summer around access to

1990
04:19:16,040 --> 04:19:23,520
washrooms and drinking fountains. Some of it is a human right. Some of it is about way finding

1991
04:19:23,520 --> 04:19:35,640
Some of it about, you know, being able to enjoy our recreational spaces through having access to a washroom.

1992
04:19:36,600 --> 04:19:42,280
I've been to many other cities where I've seen washrooms, they don't all need to cost millions of dollars.

1993
04:19:42,820 --> 04:19:46,560
There's out of the box solutions that we could be considering.

1994
04:19:46,560 --> 04:20:02,800
I don't really know where we are on the strategy and I thought this was an opportune time for us to take a look and get a sense of what the next priorities are and where we are in implementing our strategy and what's needed.

1995
04:20:03,380 --> 04:20:10,680
So this is looking for an information report and I hope you support the motion. Thank you.

1996
04:20:13,760 --> 04:20:14,740
Do a table of motion?

1997
04:20:15,860 --> 04:20:15,880
Yeah.

1998
04:20:16,860 --> 04:20:17,760
Thank you.

1999
04:20:18,420 --> 04:20:18,940
Thank you.

2000
04:20:18,940 --> 04:20:19,640
Thank you.

2001
04:20:19,880 --> 04:20:20,180
Councillor Steele.

2002
04:20:20,340 --> 04:20:21,880
I'm getting ahead of myself here.

2003
04:20:22,800 --> 04:20:28,520
So with that, I moved that Halifat's regional council direct the chief administrative

2004
04:20:28,520 --> 04:20:34,680
officer to prepare an information report, providing a progress update on the implementation

2005
04:20:34,680 --> 04:20:39,900
of the HRM washrooms and drinking fountain strategy, approved by regional council and

2006
04:20:39,900 --> 04:20:46,480
September 2020, an update on washroom and drinking fountain projects completed underway or approved

2007
04:20:46,480 --> 04:20:51,740
since the adoption of the strategy. Three, an update on the status of the projects identified

2008
04:20:51,740 --> 04:20:58,820
in the strategy's implementation plan and subsequent staff, the dendoms and four recommendations

2009
04:20:58,820 --> 04:21:03,720
respecting the next priority washroom and drinking fountain projects for consideration through

2010
04:21:03,720 --> 04:21:09,560
future business planning and capital budget processes, including any revised prioritization

2011
04:21:09,560 --> 04:21:14,680
criteria of funding opportunities or implementation considerations.

2012
04:21:17,600 --> 04:21:19,640
I think that was Councillor Steele there.

2013
04:21:20,460 --> 04:21:25,060
Would you like to have you already said your introductory piece, Deputy Mayor?

2014
04:21:25,720 --> 04:21:27,940
Then we'll go to the board and I see you Councillor Austin, please.

2015
04:21:29,140 --> 04:21:30,520
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2016
04:21:30,700 --> 04:21:33,440
And I support the deputies request for a view on this.

2017
04:21:33,620 --> 04:21:36,140
It's probably actually, it's about time.

2018
04:21:36,640 --> 04:21:45,540
We, the original strategy was 2020, it was one of something that I'd originally asked for in my first term on council and it kind of came at the very end of it.

2019
04:21:45,680 --> 04:21:59,520
And now we're basically five years on, five years is probably a good good time to sit down and kind of do a report as to, well, what's worked, what hasn't, how we doing, so I think the time for this is is good.

2020
04:21:59,520 --> 04:22:14,760
The only thing that I'll just add, the main disappointment when the strategy first came forward to us was how bloody expensive washrooms are and how little your dollars actually get you and you know

2021
04:22:14,760 --> 04:22:22,720
There's there's certainly I think there's things you can do to reduce that but it's financial is still gonna be the main limitation on this no matter how we look at it

2022
04:22:22,720 --> 04:22:27,140
And so it really it's it's not so much I think a strategy question is

2023
04:22:30,020 --> 04:22:40,440
So I think getting that sort of question and seeing what our wish list now looks like, what has been accomplished and what we've learned is a good idea at this stage.

2024
04:22:40,580 --> 04:22:43,020
So I think this is a good time for a review. Thank you.

2025
04:22:43,680 --> 04:22:44,800
Thank you. Councillor, please.

2026
04:22:47,080 --> 04:22:51,380
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to thank Deputy Mayor for bringing this forward.

2027
04:22:53,180 --> 04:22:57,590
Because I do have an area that I do believe is a priority, which is after we go park.

2028
04:22:58,770 --> 04:23:04,710
the fact that they are still with a porta potty at this point is is baffling to me.

2029
04:23:05,730 --> 04:23:10,770
So, I'm getting ready to meet the staff with regards to have a real park.

2030
04:23:11,410 --> 04:23:15,410
And I'm hoping that it can be a priority at some point in time.

2031
04:23:16,530 --> 04:23:18,790
And yeah, I just want to say thank you for bringing this forward.

2032
04:23:21,580 --> 04:23:23,040
Thank you, Councillor Hartling, please.

2033
04:23:23,880 --> 04:23:25,300
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

2034
04:23:25,780 --> 04:23:28,380
And thank you to the Deputy Mayor for bringing this forward.

2035
04:23:28,380 --> 04:23:32,800
I just want to chime in really quick about the drinking fountain strategy.

2036
04:23:35,360 --> 04:23:42,200
I just want to call it that there might be funding opportunities elsewhere for waste diversion

2037
04:23:42,200 --> 04:23:47,240
when it comes to drinking fountains because if we have drinking fountains in their fewer

2038
04:23:47,240 --> 04:23:52,720
people purchasing water bottles and fewer bottles end up in the landfill and there's less

2039
04:23:52,720 --> 04:23:53,140
recycling.

2040
04:23:53,760 --> 04:24:01,240
I believe that there is actually some funds available depending on the time of the year and that I think is something that we should be pursuing.

2041
04:24:01,720 --> 04:24:07,540
Obviously using a drinking fountain to refill your cup is a zero-way strategy.

2042
04:24:07,880 --> 04:24:10,360
So I think it's helpful on many levels.

2043
04:24:11,260 --> 04:24:12,340
Yeah, I just honestly thought there.

2044
04:24:12,500 --> 04:24:13,140
Thank you.

2045
04:24:13,820 --> 04:24:14,420
Thank you.

2046
04:24:14,680 --> 04:24:15,300
Councillor Morse please.

2047
04:24:16,600 --> 04:24:17,140
Thank you.

2048
04:24:17,320 --> 04:24:18,440
Yeah, I support this as well.

2049
04:24:18,620 --> 04:24:19,480
I think it's very timely.

2050
04:24:19,480 --> 04:24:27,480
One thing that's changed since we first started looking at this a number of years ago is I think our parks are working a lot harder than they used to

2051
04:24:27,480 --> 04:24:38,040
You know, we're having more events at our parks. We're having bigger events at our parks. Our population is grown and each park is doing more than it ever did before and

2052
04:24:38,040 --> 04:24:44,100
We need of washrooms. We can't have people are using the forest as they were doing my district at an event last summer

2053
04:24:44,100 --> 04:24:47,680
So anyway, I think it's very timely. So thanks for bringing it forward

2054
04:24:47,680 --> 04:24:54,760
Thank you. Councillor Hensby. Thank you so much. I wish to be there. I've seen in my

2055
04:24:54,760 --> 04:24:59,620
particular district some of these washroom being converted to some of our community facilities

2056
04:24:59,620 --> 04:25:03,400
that actually were working progress at the present time of the not completely yet. The St.

2057
04:25:03,440 --> 04:25:08,560
Trent Center in Grand Desert, the Baltimore Center in Port Duffer and the most river

2058
04:25:08,560 --> 04:25:13,740
of the community hall. We're looking at doing bathroom renovations, but the problem now is

2059
04:25:13,740 --> 04:25:17,560
are converting it to the gender neutral design.

2060
04:25:17,840 --> 04:25:19,400
It's not going to be no male, female,

2061
04:25:19,960 --> 04:25:22,100
washrooms anymore, it's all going to be gender neutral.

2062
04:25:22,860 --> 04:25:26,720
And there is some opposition, some community members,

2063
04:25:26,820 --> 04:25:28,400
regardless of how these things change.

2064
04:25:28,560 --> 04:25:31,740
But it also may be difficulty with building a design

2065
04:25:31,740 --> 04:25:34,340
or what confined spaces are in the building.

2066
04:25:35,320 --> 04:25:37,980
So I'm kind of curious how staff are trying to adapt

2067
04:25:38,460 --> 04:25:39,480
to those situations.

2068
04:25:39,960 --> 04:25:41,380
And hope that can be part of the report.

2069
04:25:42,040 --> 04:25:43,340
And also what comes to drinking water

2070
04:25:43,340 --> 04:25:45,100
I'm not just thinking about found project,

2071
04:25:45,120 --> 04:25:46,660
I'm thinking about access to water.

2072
04:25:47,420 --> 04:25:48,820
I've been working with my community groups

2073
04:25:48,820 --> 04:25:50,760
for organizations and look at what facilities

2074
04:25:51,440 --> 04:25:54,700
have adequate water supplies, like the Legion and the Cheat

2075
04:25:54,700 --> 04:25:55,060
Harmer.

2076
04:25:55,620 --> 04:25:58,540
We just drilled a well for the Council of Drescue groups

2077
04:25:58,540 --> 04:26:00,080
and Cheat Harmer as well.

2078
04:26:00,320 --> 04:26:02,740
They look at the Port Duffin and a most river

2079
04:26:02,740 --> 04:26:04,700
community halls that they have adequate water.

2080
04:26:04,700 --> 04:26:06,460
All we need to do is have an outside tap

2081
04:26:06,460 --> 04:26:08,200
for the community's access to water

2082
04:26:08,200 --> 04:26:09,920
when the wells are going lower dry.

2083
04:26:10,820 --> 04:26:12,900
So we have opportunities there to provide water.

2084
04:26:12,900 --> 04:26:18,340
I would just need to have the appropriate proper structure in place, and also with that which also

2085
04:26:18,340 --> 04:26:23,480
requirement of testing the water to make sure it meets the environment standards for

2086
04:26:23,480 --> 04:26:28,360
product water use. So I want to make sure that's also part of the information report.

2087
04:26:28,440 --> 04:26:34,020
We'll come forward with regards to the effort providing and drinking water. How are we testing it

2088
04:26:34,020 --> 04:26:39,220
to make sure it's safe for our residents use? Thank you. Thank you very much.

2089
04:26:39,220 --> 04:26:41,260
No other names on the list, what's your pleasure?

2090
04:26:41,740 --> 04:26:42,640
Question is called,

2091
04:26:54,690 --> 04:26:55,510
the motion carries.

2092
04:26:56,230 --> 04:27:00,790
So that brings us to item 16.2, my own motion

2093
04:27:00,790 --> 04:27:04,270
regarding ferry, so we'll switch seats again, bear with us, please.

2094
04:28:12,660 --> 04:28:17,660
OK, we are now on item 16.2, which is a motion

2095
04:28:17,660 --> 04:28:21,840
by Mayor Philmore, and the floor to you, Mr. Mayor.

2096
04:28:22,780 --> 04:28:24,060
Thank you very much.

2097
04:28:24,060 --> 04:28:31,200
colleagues as we know Halifax and HRM are growing very rapidly right now. Recent federal announcements

2098
04:28:31,200 --> 04:28:36,100
reinforce our role as Canada's Defense City and we're bringing more jobs, more businesses,

2099
04:28:36,440 --> 04:28:40,020
and more residents to the region and increasing numbers. That growth is an opportunity,

2100
04:28:40,720 --> 04:28:45,380
but it also requires us to plan for the infrastructure and core services that people depend on

2101
04:28:45,380 --> 04:28:49,960
and our ferry system is a very clear example of that. The ferry's connecting DARPA and the

2102
04:28:49,960 --> 04:28:55,040
facts move thousands of residents every day. They provide a reliable alternative to driving.

2103
04:28:55,320 --> 04:29:01,140
They reduce pressure on our bridges and roads. Yet for much of the past year, service

2104
04:29:01,140 --> 04:29:07,740
frequency was reduced from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. In fact, in Q4 of last year, as many

2105
04:29:07,740 --> 04:29:13,860
as nearly 4,000 trips were canceled due to unplanned maintenance, and that was a result of

2106
04:29:13,860 --> 04:29:21,320
a loss of about 21% of scheduled service and writers correctly told us that that's not good enough.

2107
04:29:21,740 --> 04:29:26,280
And interestingly, that's the time when ferry ridership is up 3% over the last year,

2108
04:29:26,500 --> 04:29:31,080
over the same year, bus ridership was very oddly down 3%.

2109
04:29:31,080 --> 04:29:33,800
So, ferries are in demand right now.

2110
04:29:34,280 --> 04:29:40,850
The ferry fleet has not expanded since 2018, but since 2018, our population has by 100,000 people.

2111
04:29:40,850 --> 04:29:45,850
And right now, all five vessels are approaching a mandatory midlife overall.

2112
04:29:46,030 --> 04:29:50,890
Those overalls will take vessels out of service, potentially placing further pressure on a system

2113
04:29:50,890 --> 04:29:53,790
that already lacks sufficient redundancy and resiliency.

2114
04:29:55,010 --> 04:29:57,010
Excuse me, we've already started addressing the investments.

2115
04:30:00,000 --> 04:30:29,980
Next month we pass Councillor Austin's motion to bring options for recapitalizing our existing ferry system into the 2728 budget process. This motion is the next step. As we plan to maintain the system we have, we also need to understand whether we have the fleet capacity and resilience a growing municipality will year need in the years ahead. We should assess that risk before and other disruption forces are hand. Therefore, I move that Halifax Regional Council, direct the Chief Administrative Officer, to return to Council by November 1, 2021.

2116
04:30:30,000 --> 04:30:34,040
or 2026, with options to purchase one new passenger ferry,

2117
04:30:34,140 --> 04:30:37,160
servicing all over the land, landing, and wood side routes.

2118
04:30:40,090 --> 04:30:42,170
Thank you very much, Councillor Hensby.

2119
04:30:42,590 --> 04:30:45,370
I would point out colleagues that this motion today clearly

2120
04:30:45,370 --> 04:30:46,890
does not authorize a purchase.

2121
04:30:47,150 --> 04:30:49,610
It simply asks staff to identify the options,

2122
04:30:49,930 --> 04:30:51,510
the costs, the potential service benefits.

2123
04:30:52,190 --> 04:30:53,850
So the cancel can make an informed decision

2124
04:30:53,850 --> 04:30:55,430
during the upcoming budget process.

2125
04:30:56,270 --> 04:30:59,590
This motion also does not prioritize purchasing a new asset

2126
04:30:59,590 --> 04:31:03,130
over Council's previous to examine infrastructure,

2127
04:31:03,230 --> 04:31:05,330
direction to examine infrastructure renewal options

2128
04:31:05,330 --> 04:31:07,370
for the Halifax Department for Service.

2129
04:31:07,870 --> 04:31:11,110
It's a logical companion to that decision

2130
04:31:11,110 --> 04:31:13,250
and we'll provide Council with a complete picture

2131
04:31:13,250 --> 04:31:16,010
of the available options and their associated costs.

2132
04:31:16,870 --> 04:31:18,950
Motion is also in line with the Acting CIOs

2133
04:31:18,950 --> 04:31:22,650
request the Council table any motions impacting budget

2134
04:31:22,650 --> 04:31:24,190
before the end of the calendar year

2135
04:31:24,190 --> 04:31:27,910
to allow staff to do their work and would return to Council.

2136
04:31:27,910 --> 04:31:32,230
This will also align with the expected delivery of the service review.

2137
04:31:33,170 --> 04:31:37,890
I have consistently argued that we cannot do everything at once, fiscal discipline, however,

2138
04:31:38,110 --> 04:31:39,750
does not mean avoiding investment.

2139
04:31:40,550 --> 04:31:45,050
It means concentrating a limited public daughter dollars where they have the greatest impact.

2140
04:31:45,650 --> 04:31:47,690
Transit is a core municipal service.

2141
04:31:48,350 --> 04:31:52,090
If a sixth fairy could improve reliability, protect service during scheduled overalls,

2142
04:31:52,910 --> 04:31:56,670
and support future growth, Council should understand that business case in a way

2143
04:31:56,670 --> 04:31:59,630
against our other priorities through the budget process.

2144
04:32:00,370 --> 04:32:04,030
Major infrastructure takes years to plan, fund, build, and put into service.

2145
04:32:04,310 --> 04:32:08,650
The prudent time to assess our needs is before they become a crisis, and I hope that

2146
04:32:08,650 --> 04:32:10,710
you will support this motion.

2147
04:32:10,890 --> 04:32:11,470
Thank you very much.

2148
04:32:14,150 --> 04:32:14,870
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2149
04:32:14,890 --> 04:32:16,890
And that was seconded by Councillor Hennspie.

2150
04:32:20,340 --> 04:32:23,080
First on the list, we have Councillor Mancini.

2151
04:32:23,920 --> 04:32:25,140
Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

2152
04:32:25,400 --> 04:32:26,140
So, fairies.

2153
04:32:26,320 --> 04:32:29,140
Well, no surprise around these chambers who loves the fairies.

2154
04:32:29,140 --> 04:32:33,940
definitely I do and as many of my many of you do. You know, all has been a strong

2155
04:32:33,940 --> 04:32:37,520
support of the ferry. Actually, after I leave this meeting here, this we've

2156
04:32:37,520 --> 04:32:41,820
before going in camera, I'm hitting on ferry. So, you know, the ferry is really key to

2157
04:32:41,820 --> 04:32:48,180
our municipality. We need to take all of the transit and including ferry to the next

2158
04:32:48,180 --> 04:32:51,940
level. And the frustration is the mayor is mentioned and is hoping

2159
04:32:51,940 --> 04:32:57,220
comments about his motion. You know, the 4,000 trips are cancelled. Reduction of

2160
04:32:57,220 --> 04:33:02,820
service this past year because of staffing, because of maintenance, mechanical breakdowns,

2161
04:33:02,900 --> 04:33:05,260
and you all know my opinion of the delay in the tap and pay.

2162
04:33:06,180 --> 04:33:10,220
You know, it just goes on and on and on, our frustration, when it's working, man, it's

2163
04:33:10,220 --> 04:33:11,480
the best ticket and town.

2164
04:33:12,320 --> 04:33:16,180
And we need to get our ferry and our bus service to the next level.

2165
04:33:16,840 --> 04:33:23,220
We need more people out of their cars and going into transit, but until it's reliable, they're

2166
04:33:23,220 --> 04:33:24,720
not going to do it.

2167
04:33:24,720 --> 04:33:29,480
And so, you know, to add fairies to add buses as they supported when you

2168
04:33:29,480 --> 04:33:30,460
count some more is brought up.

2169
04:33:30,540 --> 04:33:33,940
The 10 buses I think we added at a budget time, fully supported that.

2170
04:33:34,000 --> 04:33:35,140
We had a purpose for it.

2171
04:33:35,180 --> 04:33:39,420
There was an application right off the bat forward, previous to that, the buses we were

2172
04:33:39,420 --> 04:33:43,060
going to retire, we didn't retire, because we still needed to use them.

2173
04:33:44,000 --> 04:33:47,380
So, I'm all for looking at this, but I have some questions Mr. Mayor on it.

2174
04:33:47,620 --> 04:33:51,640
You know, my quote, you know, I staffs not here, but my question to staff is, we had

2175
04:33:51,640 --> 04:33:55,880
very today, a brand new one just arrived, and we're launching today how would be

2176
04:33:55,880 --> 04:34:01,680
you, how would it help to address the challenges and service we want to

2177
04:34:01,680 --> 04:34:06,800
question I have? You know, the costs is not only the purchase of the

2178
04:34:06,800 --> 04:34:13,400
spheri, it's what goes along with that too. It also means more personnel. So let's

2179
04:34:13,400 --> 04:34:21,620
make sure we include the cost of the bodies that are associated with it. But the

2180
04:34:21,620 --> 04:34:25,100
We also need to make sure we have a place to dock the ferrier.

2181
04:34:25,400 --> 04:34:30,200
Right now, my understanding, we have one place that we lease and I'm not even sure how

2182
04:34:30,200 --> 04:34:32,500
that leasing works, but it's only one ferry.

2183
04:34:32,920 --> 04:34:38,280
So we need to make sure we have a place to dock this additional ferry and the maintenance that

2184
04:34:38,280 --> 04:34:39,280
goes along with it.

2185
04:34:39,280 --> 04:34:42,400
Our biggest challenge now with all the challenges we have are ferries is maintenance.

2186
04:34:42,900 --> 04:34:44,580
We don't have our own maintenance facility.

2187
04:34:44,760 --> 04:34:49,120
So when we have to go to maintenance for our ferry, it has to go elsewhere sometimes even

2188
04:34:49,120 --> 04:34:54,000
leave the harbor so that just causes that pain when it comes of service.

2189
04:34:54,220 --> 04:34:59,200
So I'm hoping Mr. Mayor, that you would include the not only the cost of the ferry but the

2190
04:34:59,200 --> 04:35:02,880
staff, but the docking location and the maintenance associated with that.

2191
04:35:03,040 --> 04:35:07,220
That has sort of staff come back and say, okay, it's good cause extra dollars of the ferry.

2192
04:35:07,560 --> 04:35:09,960
We need to add this number of additional staff if any.

2193
04:35:10,680 --> 04:35:15,880
And we also have to include the docking location and maintenance associated with it.

2194
04:35:15,880 --> 04:35:30,600
Hopefully you could include that with it. And if you can then I support it, but there's a lot of questions here that I have, but I'm always game to have another theory, not a bus, well, if that's a, can I make that friendly member to include that if Madam,

2195
04:35:32,180 --> 04:35:35,000
you can provide the wording to.

2196
04:35:35,000 --> 04:35:47,700
To also include the may help you with the wording to make sure we include the cost associated with finding a docking location and the cost associated with that staffing and any additional maintenance is required.

2197
04:35:47,700 --> 04:35:54,720
I don't know if we capture that man clerk but a garation of that and who seconded that motion?

2198
04:35:55,000 --> 04:35:57,100
It was the Councilor Hensby, seconded the motion I think.

2199
04:36:01,770 --> 04:36:02,870
Are you okay with that front of me?

2200
04:36:04,590 --> 04:36:06,010
Do we have that captured man clerk?

2201
04:36:08,060 --> 04:36:09,340
Yeah, sorry for that.

2202
04:36:25,180 --> 04:36:26,640
And in docking location.

2203
04:36:27,640 --> 04:36:29,780
I may not be right to your terminology about

2204
04:36:33,360 --> 04:36:33,560
it.

2205
04:36:33,780 --> 04:36:37,380
Nothing like trying to write and having thousands of people watch you right there.

2206
04:36:37,980 --> 04:36:39,440
The adafresh, right?

2207
04:36:40,560 --> 04:36:42,940
Thousands, millions of watching at home.

2208
04:36:44,400 --> 04:36:45,940
That's sense of our viewership.

2209
04:36:51,760 --> 04:36:53,100
I was really curious about that.

2210
04:36:53,160 --> 04:36:54,240
I should appreciate you very very.

2211
04:36:54,400 --> 04:36:57,180
Docking location and social costs with staff.

2212
04:36:58,020 --> 04:36:58,700
Docking location.

2213
04:36:59,580 --> 04:37:01,800
I guess we assume that includes costs with that.

2214
04:37:01,920 --> 04:37:02,800
I'm looking at Jacqueline.

2215
04:37:04,460 --> 04:37:06,020
So I'm okay with that.

2216
04:37:06,260 --> 04:37:07,480
If Mr. Mayor, you're okay with that.

2217
04:37:07,600 --> 04:37:08,640
And David's okay with that.

2218
04:37:08,860 --> 04:37:09,640
Isn't it?

2219
04:37:18,700 --> 04:37:19,460
staff, etc.

2220
04:37:19,940 --> 04:37:20,580
Meet us.

2221
04:37:21,180 --> 04:37:22,960
I'm looking at the acting CIO.

2222
04:37:24,060 --> 04:37:27,100
My intent here is to make sure we're considering the...

2223
04:37:30,000 --> 04:37:33,120
With that along with any additional staff needed to add another ferry.

2224
04:37:33,740 --> 04:37:38,740
Okay. What we're amending this, there's also additional suggestion from the city solicitor.

2225
04:37:39,280 --> 04:37:39,440
Sure.

2226
04:37:42,520 --> 04:37:48,540
Thank you. Mr. May, it's just for clarity, if we could refer to a staff report.

2227
04:37:49,220 --> 04:37:54,460
In there, it just says, after the words November, there we are, clerks putting it in.

2228
04:37:55,200 --> 04:37:56,240
Thank you.

2229
04:37:59,460 --> 04:38:06,400
So I look like the Madam Deputy Mayor, that's a friendlier, we're going to accept that and I'm going to thank you very much for your time.

2230
04:38:08,230 --> 04:38:12,890
Thank you. Next on the list, we have Councillor Hensby.

2231
04:38:14,510 --> 04:38:16,110
Thank you so much, Deputy Mayor.

2232
04:38:17,370 --> 04:38:23,730
I'm going to have a bit of having more ferries for our harbor. I always felt that we should have two ferries per terminal.

2233
04:38:23,730 --> 04:38:26,470
Each of our terminals can house two ferries.

2234
04:38:26,630 --> 04:38:30,330
So therefore we have six parking spots for each of our ferries.

2235
04:38:30,370 --> 04:38:35,210
We have five now I believe ferries in a six one, but feel like the capacity, I also believe

2236
04:38:35,210 --> 04:38:40,110
we should have a seventh ferry in rotation because we always have one ferry or maybe two at

2237
04:38:40,110 --> 04:38:45,830
a commission for the standardised transport candidate inspections that has to go through

2238
04:38:45,830 --> 04:38:47,530
after so many hours of operation.

2239
04:38:49,310 --> 04:38:53,710
So I think that down the road as we bring on the bed for terminal stuff and

2240
04:38:53,710 --> 04:38:58,110
other fairy terminals, which we ramping up the amount of boats that we have, and also is good

2241
04:38:58,110 --> 04:39:02,850
for our local economies. Our latest fairy has been built by Belipoli by the Terioship

2242
04:39:02,850 --> 04:39:09,530
yards down in the South Shore, in the Shalber and the Yarmoth area, and so I'm hoping that

2243
04:39:09,530 --> 04:39:16,270
you know, they continue on with that ship building legacy that they have with us, but I believe

2244
04:39:16,270 --> 04:39:21,110
that if we talk about how important our harbor is, regards to transportation, you know, we don't

2245
04:39:21,110 --> 04:39:25,530
need to pay it. We don't need to snow plow it. Occasionally we have a nice flow of

2246
04:39:25,530 --> 04:39:32,370
jam from time and time, but I think that it's an important way to boost our capacity on the

2247
04:39:32,370 --> 04:39:36,790
harbour and that I'm full of support of this motion. Thank you.

2248
04:39:39,100 --> 04:39:40,820
Thank you. Councillor Austin.

2249
04:39:42,420 --> 04:39:48,600
Thank you, Mr. Deputy and Councillor Hensby built with locally with Canadian steel.

2250
04:39:50,780 --> 04:39:56,100
I mean, German steering is maybe not been as successful, but, you know, teach the

2251
04:39:56,100 --> 04:39:56,600
own.

2252
04:39:58,020 --> 04:40:05,400
So, I mean, I'm supportive of taking a look at this, but like, you know, right now I think

2253
04:40:05,400 --> 04:40:08,400
it's an unknown as to whether actually this is what we need.

2254
04:40:09,300 --> 04:40:14,320
Because the operational review into the ferry service hasn't been completed yet, right?

2255
04:40:14,320 --> 04:40:16,680
like we still have that work to come back to us.

2256
04:40:16,680 --> 04:40:19,700
And part of that work is looking at the asset management

2257
04:40:19,700 --> 04:40:21,760
of the boats that we have.

2258
04:40:22,080 --> 04:40:24,980
Would we have had the service disruptions

2259
04:40:24,980 --> 04:40:27,140
that we've been through from a maintenance point of view

2260
04:40:27,140 --> 04:40:29,840
if we were doing our jobs properly with the fleet we have?

2261
04:40:29,860 --> 04:40:32,440
And I think that's the first and foremost question

2262
04:40:32,440 --> 04:40:35,320
that we have to have answered before we jump to the idea

2263
04:40:35,320 --> 04:40:37,100
of we need another ferry.

2264
04:40:38,060 --> 04:40:42,120
I'm happy to see this request from the mayor

2265
04:40:42,120 --> 04:40:47,020
go forward at this stage, because we are, you know, my understanding that work is coming

2266
04:40:47,020 --> 04:40:53,520
back this fall anyway. And so then the two things would align. I know we don't normally

2267
04:40:53,520 --> 04:41:00,160
ask staff. I was trying to find that. What's the deadline for the operational review? I'm

2268
04:41:00,160 --> 04:41:08,260
pretty sure they were working to the fall. Deputy Mayor, I can speak to that. Yes, Deputy Mayor,

2269
04:41:08,260 --> 04:41:14,120
through you to Councillor Austin. The very service review is underway and we'll provide that

2270
04:41:14,120 --> 04:41:21,000
more holistic look at the state of the service and potential service expansion. We are

2271
04:41:21,000 --> 04:41:30,920
looking at a later fall timeline than the motion. Certainly staff can endeavor to provide

2272
04:41:30,920 --> 04:41:35,320
information at a higher level. I think that the rail challenge will be around some of the

2273
04:41:35,320 --> 04:41:41,780
estimates, but certainly we can provide some preliminary information to Council if that's the

2274
04:41:41,780 --> 04:41:48,840
wish at this time. Yeah, that would be good. I think that's good advice. I wonder Mr. Mayor,

2275
04:41:48,940 --> 04:41:53,460
whether you consider it friendly, instead of by November, so I'm just reading Chris this over the

2276
04:41:53,460 --> 04:42:00,020
shoulder here. To return to Council by November 2010, 26, whether instead it could be to return

2277
04:42:00,020 --> 04:42:04,660
to Council alongside the operational review so that we get both pieces of info at the same time.

2278
04:42:04,660 --> 04:42:07,860
because I think I don't see how we can make one decision without the other.

2279
04:42:13,910 --> 04:42:14,370
Mr. Mayor?

2280
04:42:17,390 --> 04:42:17,990
Thank you.

2281
04:42:18,150 --> 04:42:19,830
It seems to make sense to me.

2282
04:42:20,350 --> 04:42:29,830
I would just maybe look to the acting CIO to see if it is a complicated factor or a simplifying factor if that's noable today.

2283
04:42:32,450 --> 04:42:35,150
We will certainly endeavor to have it to you by November.

2284
04:42:35,370 --> 04:42:41,670
I'm mindful of the budget timeline as well, which I know was the spirit of the mayor's motion to try to get some information.

2285
04:42:41,670 --> 04:43:05,050
I had the budget process and I think we can make the November timeline doable and we may not have the level of detail in the cost estimates at that point, but we would certainly have information flowing on the context of the service review.

2286
04:43:06,330 --> 04:43:10,990
I think the mayor's question was more, could the two things come together?

2287
04:43:15,780 --> 04:43:20,560
Councillor Austin, Councillor Austin is proposing a friendly amendment that would have the two

2288
04:43:20,560 --> 04:43:24,800
come back together and I just wanted to make sure that didn't create hardship or make something

2289
04:43:24,800 --> 04:43:27,620
harder for the staff rather than easier.

2290
04:43:29,260 --> 04:43:34,960
I think from a staff perspective, yeah, the November timeline and having the two aligned

2291
04:43:34,960 --> 04:43:36,660
is likely doable.

2292
04:43:38,700 --> 04:43:44,220
I just don't want to, I guess, commit that we will have full blown analysis

2293
04:43:44,220 --> 04:43:50,780
of all the aspects that I know have been referenced around the maintenance costs and all of

2294
04:43:50,780 --> 04:43:56,620
that, you know, with the report, but we will certainly endeavor to provide it, the very service

2295
04:43:56,620 --> 04:44:03,360
review and in the November timeline. Okay. Then yes, it seems a friendly amendments in order.

2296
04:44:04,640 --> 04:44:05,940
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2297
04:44:06,700 --> 04:44:07,180
Good.

2298
04:44:09,860 --> 04:44:10,340
Alongside.

2299
04:44:10,540 --> 04:44:10,820
Review.

2300
04:44:20,050 --> 04:44:20,670
Got that.

2301
04:44:23,320 --> 04:44:25,020
Okay, so that's considered a friendly amendment.

2302
04:44:25,220 --> 04:44:26,520
I'll move on to the next speaker.

2303
04:44:28,180 --> 04:44:28,780
Councillor Kent.

2304
04:44:29,480 --> 04:44:31,840
Yes, thank you, Madam Deputy Mayor.

2305
04:44:32,260 --> 04:44:34,460
I can support this at this time,

2306
04:44:34,560 --> 04:44:38,820
I too think that the most important piece,

2307
04:44:38,940 --> 04:44:40,880
I think that'll come out of the operational review,

2308
04:44:41,140 --> 04:44:43,020
would be something identifying this.

2309
04:44:43,020 --> 04:44:49,940
I've always been in favor of more fairies with now, with my connection back to wood side.

2310
04:44:50,340 --> 04:44:56,980
Most of my concerns around fairies for a District 3 come through the wood side avenue for...

2311
04:45:00,000 --> 04:45:08,040
An extra ferry, when it's related, it says, you know, to support the two ferries, but one ferry to me, just

2312
04:45:08,040 --> 04:45:13,440
complicate having two ferries because there's, where does it go, what's the schedule, where's, you

2313
04:45:13,440 --> 04:45:18,700
know, who's going, which, which avenue will it take? That's information that has to come forward

2314
04:45:18,700 --> 04:45:27,580
before we can decide whether one or two or whatever. The other piece about this is the importance

2315
04:45:27,580 --> 04:45:34,000
of parking and I know we want to get people out of vehicles, 100%, but there is part of this

2316
04:45:34,000 --> 04:45:39,320
municipality that it's just not probably not going to happen without more parking that they

2317
04:45:39,320 --> 04:45:45,420
could park and then use another mode of transportation, which would be fairies. Perhaps there

2318
04:45:45,420 --> 04:45:50,040
would be more parking rides that have to come in so people can get other cars as they enter

2319
04:45:50,040 --> 04:45:55,860
into a suburban area. But that also is another part of transit that has to support these kinds

2320
04:45:55,860 --> 04:46:04,240
things. The requests come in regularly for more service at Woodside, and the Councilor Austin

2321
04:46:04,240 --> 04:46:10,780
would agree. People are people want to use this, but don't always have the capacity mostly

2322
04:46:10,780 --> 04:46:17,940
for the Woodside various around parking. So I can support this as well for now. The operational

2323
04:46:17,940 --> 04:46:24,560
review will be very interesting to see. I know I've had some conversation with Robin Jerusalem,

2324
04:46:24,560 --> 04:46:27,760
and I think that he has committed certainly

2325
04:46:27,760 --> 04:46:31,820
to finding resolutions to our transit

2326
04:46:31,820 --> 04:46:35,320
and our very operational and our infrastructure

2327
04:46:35,320 --> 04:46:37,880
and all of those layers, it's complicated.

2328
04:46:38,480 --> 04:46:40,940
Transportation and municipality like this is complicated.

2329
04:46:41,900 --> 04:46:46,420
And one thing can have a trickle effect

2330
04:46:46,420 --> 04:46:48,000
into the complexity.

2331
04:46:48,920 --> 04:46:50,980
So we have to be mindful of that.

2332
04:46:51,560 --> 04:46:54,020
I'm okay with asking for something to come back

2333
04:46:54,020 --> 04:47:03,000
November, but I don't necessarily think that as Jacqueline mentioned that we, they're going

2334
04:47:03,000 --> 04:47:07,740
to have all the information that is going to go to it. We, we as a council have supported

2335
04:47:07,740 --> 04:47:14,220
buses and fairies from Bedford, like then we send them back and say, okay, now get the real

2336
04:47:14,220 --> 04:47:19,100
information that has to come forward. So this is a long process to go forward. So we have to start

2337
04:47:19,100 --> 04:47:21,180
somewhere, so I'll support this.

2338
04:47:25,070 --> 04:47:25,850
Councilor Hartling.

2339
04:47:27,070 --> 04:47:28,450
Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor.

2340
04:47:30,230 --> 04:47:30,910
I'm not going to lie.

2341
04:47:31,010 --> 04:47:32,350
I really struggle with this one.

2342
04:47:32,370 --> 04:47:34,650
I understand the importance of ferry service

2343
04:47:35,230 --> 04:47:38,290
for folks across the municipality,

2344
04:47:38,670 --> 04:47:40,490
but I understand why there's so much support

2345
04:47:40,490 --> 04:47:43,010
on that side of the horseshoe and the Dartmouth side.

2346
04:47:43,530 --> 04:47:45,870
And I really appreciate that.

2347
04:47:45,870 --> 04:47:48,750
I understand that we did have some significant issues

2348
04:47:48,750 --> 04:47:56,770
and real challenges with reliability in the pretty recent past around fairy service.

2349
04:47:57,210 --> 04:48:05,710
However, based off of my understanding, we had pretty significant parts problems that were aggravated by a supply of chain problem.

2350
04:48:05,770 --> 04:48:17,210
I'm not convinced that having one new fairy will solve the problems that we experienced, and I think it's really important that we get that addressed before we look at investing in a new one.

2351
04:48:18,650 --> 04:48:29,230
The other thing is, and I know that there is this very operation review going on and I appreciate that there might be an opportunity for that to come back in advance of budget.

2352
04:48:29,850 --> 04:48:41,010
I'm also thinking very long and hard about the core service plan that, you know, from transit, I don't recall asking for a ferry being part of that being part of that.

2353
04:48:41,010 --> 04:49:05,070
So, I think, you know, for me, I have much more confidence in putting my vote behind things where I understand where the net benefit to our residents will be and that that net benefit is weighed against all of the potential benefits that we could be putting.

2354
04:49:05,070 --> 04:49:10,890
And we could be putting tax dollars towards them and where we could be investing and I don't have that confidence.

2355
04:49:11,850 --> 04:49:24,070
Yeah, so I appreciate that this is only for a staff report, but I'm just putting those hesitations out there that I don't see the immediate value ad based off of the information that I know today.

2356
04:49:24,750 --> 04:49:25,070
Thank you.

2357
04:49:28,640 --> 04:49:29,460
Thank you.

2358
04:49:29,620 --> 04:49:30,840
Councillor Steele.

2359
04:49:31,980 --> 04:49:32,980
Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

2360
04:49:32,980 --> 04:49:40,160
my comments are similar to Councillor Hartlings. I was looking forward to receiving the operational

2361
04:49:40,160 --> 04:49:48,000
review. I should say up front though, rapid and reliable public transit is super important.

2362
04:49:48,000 --> 04:49:53,360
It's important for the municipality and yes, Councillor Kent, we need to get people out of their

2363
04:49:53,360 --> 04:50:02,380
cars. We need to have good bike lanes to get them to the very. But I do have some hesitation about

2364
04:50:02,380 --> 04:50:08,020
this request for an additional fairy because I think something else that has been brought up is

2365
04:50:08,020 --> 04:50:13,640
the overall service levels. What service levels are we ideally trying to achieve?

2366
04:50:14,220 --> 04:50:20,440
I know when the re-decking took place on the McDonald Bridge there was in enhanced service levels

2367
04:50:20,440 --> 04:50:27,300
where brought to bear and some of those service levels were retained while perhaps the ridership just

2368
04:50:27,300 --> 04:50:34,660
this but I'm hopeful that some of this will be looked at to be identified and you know we

2369
04:50:34,660 --> 04:50:40,440
currently have five fairies one is a backup and we've had a lot of issues and maybe we'll have

2370
04:50:40,440 --> 04:50:48,040
a few two years similar to this year but I do have some hesitation with this with this request

2371
04:50:48,040 --> 04:50:56,320
and I don't really understand sort of what's driving it a mayor film or with with all due respect

2372
04:50:56,320 --> 04:51:19,640
I, it wasn't part of any of our, you know, capital budgeting or I didn't see it identified in the course service review or other other identified needs. And I haven't heard it from our staff as being one of the needs, although I do know there's a lot of maintenance being schedule for the, for the, for the berries that we have. So I, I'm, has a tent. Thank you.

2373
04:51:21,430 --> 04:51:23,130
Thank you.

2374
04:51:23,570 --> 04:51:24,630
Councillor Morris.

2375
04:51:27,130 --> 04:51:27,430
Thank you.

2376
04:51:27,630 --> 04:51:30,230
Similar to Councilor's Heartling and Steel.

2377
04:51:31,110 --> 04:51:36,010
I'm not sure where this is coming from and whether it will address the reliability

2378
04:51:36,010 --> 04:51:38,730
concerns that I've heard this afternoon.

2379
04:51:39,750 --> 04:51:42,930
This reminder, it wasn't in the Corps Services Plan.

2380
04:51:43,550 --> 04:51:48,090
It took about a year to develop the Corps Services Plan for transit and it was a

2381
04:51:48,090 --> 04:51:49,470
three-year plan.

2382
04:51:49,470 --> 04:52:10,630
So it just, you know, we don't tend to put a major capital item with big implications for our operating budget in on such short notice with just a few months notice, especially if it hasn't been put forward as part of a broader transit plan through the core services plan. So I'm having trouble supporting this as well.

2383
04:52:14,700 --> 04:52:16,080
All right. Thank you.

2384
04:52:16,080 --> 04:52:26,980
Councillor Dakele Gavin. Thank you very much. Deputy Mayor Madame Chair, the theme continues with me about.

2385
04:52:30,000 --> 04:52:38,900
Come from. You know, even when we do notice of motion was there at the last meeting, I believe. So we did know that this was coming.

2386
04:52:40,100 --> 04:52:46,020
I don't know if it came through transportation standing committee. If there was any conversation there, I'm not on that committee.

2387
04:52:46,580 --> 04:52:49,440
So I'm just curious if there was any conversation there or not.

2388
04:52:50,120 --> 04:52:57,640
It's interesting that nobody from transit is here and we're talking about a report for a new ferry.

2389
04:52:59,460 --> 04:53:01,100
So, there's so many questions.

2390
04:53:01,660 --> 04:53:06,640
The original motion I absolutely knew that I wasn't going to be

2391
04:53:06,640 --> 04:53:10,220
that I would have grave concerns over and I was looking forward to this conversation.

2392
04:53:10,800 --> 04:53:18,000
The additions to the motion make it a bit better because there are so many other costs.

2393
04:53:18,000 --> 04:53:23,740
we saw just one fairy. I'm glad to see this solicitor said a staff report because otherwise

2394
04:53:23,740 --> 04:53:28,700
it looked like it was just options for funding. And I was like, how do we know we need

2395
04:53:28,700 --> 04:53:35,480
one? And there have been so many issues with transit. And it's not a surprise to anybody around

2396
04:53:35,480 --> 04:53:42,960
this room that, you know, I've voice concerns about we need a real review of transit. There are

2397
04:53:42,960 --> 04:53:49,500
I'm issues within that department that need to be addressed and I was hoping the operational

2398
04:53:49,500 --> 04:53:51,820
review will put a light on that.

2399
04:53:52,120 --> 04:53:57,720
The operational review might even tell us that we want to see maybe the AJ to look at transit

2400
04:53:57,720 --> 04:54:01,240
and what's happening and what's not and what we're doing and what we're not doing and what

2401
04:54:01,240 --> 04:54:06,720
we're following but we're not following but there are a lot of issues here and I'm like

2402
04:54:06,720 --> 04:54:11,660
you know the end of last budget last minute we through 10 buses that a problem.

2403
04:54:11,660 --> 04:54:18,740
Now, are we throwing a ferry at a problem that I don't understand where it is the problem or how it is?

2404
04:54:19,040 --> 04:54:26,640
So like I said, even though the amendments to the motion, you know, they make it better, but I still struggle to figure out

2405
04:54:26,640 --> 04:54:30,720
and especially thinking that it's going to come before this budget.

2406
04:54:30,780 --> 04:54:36,760
There's a lot to look at to get all of that information in front of us before budget time.

2407
04:54:38,550 --> 04:54:43,590
even just the cost of a very, how many staff are required per

2408
04:54:43,590 --> 04:54:49,010
ferry? That's an interesting thing. We just debated to staff for affordable housing

2409
04:54:49,010 --> 04:54:53,830
and we talk about affordability. He has been one of our core mandates and so we

2410
04:54:53,830 --> 04:54:59,070
debated for an hour or more on to staff for that but we don't even know how many

2411
04:54:59,070 --> 04:55:04,290
staff are required for servicing a new ferry and whether or not the

2412
04:55:04,290 --> 04:55:10,790
location is there in the costs and the maintenance. So to me, there's just so much work that

2413
04:55:11,490 --> 04:55:16,550
needs to be done before we get to this kind of emotion. We may get here in a year's time,

2414
04:55:16,810 --> 04:55:19,910
but I'm not sure that we're ready to be here now. Thank you.

2415
04:55:22,420 --> 04:55:24,500
All right. Thank you. Councillor Sainamo.

2416
04:55:26,280 --> 04:55:32,420
Thank you, Madam Chair. Councillor Bigel Gamma, you kind of read my mind. I mean, I was thinking exactly

2417
04:55:32,420 --> 04:55:37,020
that same thing. I mean, we spent considerable amount of time debating whether or not it was

2418
04:55:37,020 --> 04:55:42,140
warranted to look at two permanent staff in order to stop doing napkin math on the side

2419
04:55:42,140 --> 04:55:48,960
of a desk in order to provide resources to our affordable housing strategy. This would, I have to

2420
04:55:48,960 --> 04:55:53,940
think, involve more than just two people. I mean, any time I've been on a ferry there's been

2421
04:55:53,940 --> 04:56:00,340
more than two people on board and there's more still on on the shore. But at the same time,

2422
04:56:00,340 --> 04:56:04,340
know, the value proposition of a service enhancement is a little bit easier to articulate

2423
04:56:04,340 --> 04:56:10,500
to residents. And when we get staff reports back on one subject versus another, sometimes

2424
04:56:10,500 --> 04:56:13,740
it illuminates the path that we shouldn't take as opposed to the path that we thought we

2425
04:56:13,740 --> 04:56:19,700
were going to take when requesting the information. So I'm comfortable supporting this motion,

2426
04:56:19,760 --> 04:56:25,060
particularly in light of the revisions that have been already made to it that allow us to look

2427
04:56:25,060 --> 04:56:29,360
at the comparison with other reports that are in flight.

2428
04:56:30,120 --> 04:56:35,040
And I will note that the Milco ferry project next report,

2429
04:56:35,160 --> 04:56:38,060
the next update is due to come back sometime around

2430
04:56:38,060 --> 04:56:39,460
that same time as well.

2431
04:56:40,800 --> 04:56:42,020
And for anybody that needs a reminder,

2432
04:56:42,140 --> 04:56:45,900
that too had an operational maintenance bay

2433
04:56:45,900 --> 04:56:47,980
as part of the capital project.

2434
04:56:48,660 --> 04:56:50,820
And so some of the things that Councilman

2435
04:56:50,820 --> 04:56:58,900
as to be included to ensure that operational costs associated with the maintenance and looking

2436
04:56:58,900 --> 04:57:03,760
at having somewhere to dock the various different vessels. Some of that may be incorporated

2437
04:57:03,760 --> 04:57:08,500
within that future capital project, even though it wouldn't be something that would be initiated

2438
04:57:08,500 --> 04:57:14,240
right away. So it's good to have some of these three related projects coming back to us with at least

2439
04:57:14,240 --> 04:57:20,140
a degree of crossover. And I just wanted to voice my support for the mayor's motion here for

2440
04:57:20,140 --> 04:57:26,940
that reason and to have Jacqueline make a note that at least there's some connective tissue

2441
04:57:26,940 --> 04:57:33,380
between those three that we would ultimately want to have looked at and in particular I am curious

2442
04:57:33,380 --> 04:57:40,860
to know whether or not as part of this motion whether the analysis will include a degree of lens

2443
04:57:40,860 --> 04:57:47,080
coming from transit side because as some of my counselors have already noted in particular counselor

2444
04:57:47,080 --> 04:57:54,680
And we, you know, pull the trigger on looking for buses in part because more buses were raised

2445
04:57:54,680 --> 04:57:58,640
as a prospect within the Corps of Services plan coming from transit.

2446
04:57:59,200 --> 04:58:00,580
This is a little bit of an outlier.

2447
04:58:00,640 --> 04:58:05,040
That wasn't specifically requested, but I think it's important that we look at the analysis

2448
04:58:05,040 --> 04:58:11,020
through that same lens to understand what kind of relationship an investment in a new ferry

2449
04:58:11,020 --> 04:58:15,760
for the Halifax to Dartmouth Crossing would wind up meaning to that overall network.

2450
04:58:20,210 --> 04:58:24,870
Thank you. Councillor Perti. Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

2451
04:58:27,410 --> 04:58:49,190
Yeah, I'm going to support this. And I think where this is coming from is is the five months of impacted service with our theories. So that's I think we responding to a need and obviously the many residents who reached out with the concerns affecting their

2452
04:58:50,110 --> 04:58:51,350
they're commuting.

2453
04:58:54,090 --> 04:59:02,780
I'm wondering, the cost analysis, Jacqueline, I mean, kind of

2454
04:59:02,780 --> 04:59:09,060
run uncertainty. So even if we did get a report with accurate accurate to the day

2455
04:59:09,060 --> 04:59:13,800
cost analysis, I mean, in five months, six months, one year, that could completely

2456
04:59:13,800 --> 04:59:20,060
change and be completely thrown off anyway. So any, any numbers we get, we have to

2457
04:59:20,440 --> 04:59:47,520
take with a grain of salt, I think, with where we're at, unfortunately, but if it could be pushed out another month to get a more accurate understanding of the financial impact, I'd be happy to wait the month to get a more accurate view, even if it's not going to be accurate in the long run, I guess.

2458
04:59:49,220 --> 04:59:56,940
So I will be supporting this and happy that the amendments, the friendly amendments were added, because I think it gives a more full sum.

2459
05:00:00,000 --> 05:00:00,540
All right,

2460
05:00:03,540 --> 05:00:07,580
thank you. Councillor Hench.

2461
05:00:12,260 --> 05:00:17,360
Thank you, Deputy Mayor. I'll support the motion with the amendments as well.

2462
05:00:17,800 --> 05:00:28,140
My only concern is that with getting a new ferry and still having the old ferries that are hardly ever working.

2463
05:00:28,140 --> 05:00:33,400
Okay, is that going to make anything any better?

2464
05:00:33,740 --> 05:00:38,240
I feel like once we get a new fair, if we get a new fair, then we have these old fairies

2465
05:00:38,240 --> 05:00:46,340
that are going to remain owed a commission and not fully be repaired in a timely manner.

2466
05:00:46,640 --> 05:00:51,280
That's my only concern about this, because again, they get a new fairies, so what we don't

2467
05:00:51,280 --> 05:00:56,200
have to rush to fix the fairies that's owed a commission right now, so those are my concerns

2468
05:00:56,200 --> 05:01:06,820
And I feel that we're going to go back into that same, the same predicament that we're in right now with the lack of service that would be my only concern.

2469
05:01:07,660 --> 05:01:11,200
But I will support the emotion going forward. Thank you.

2470
05:01:14,430 --> 05:01:14,890
Thank you.

2471
05:01:15,690 --> 05:01:20,630
And if everyone on the list has spoken once, if I could make a few comments from the chair.

2472
05:01:22,070 --> 05:01:30,230
Yeah, so just so you know when those fairies leave the harbor to go get repaired, they end up in Sambro ahead and district 11.

2473
05:01:31,030 --> 05:01:42,530
I don't think people quite realize how industrialized it is out in Sambro. There's a lot that goes on there and you can often see our fairies like wasted up getting repaired and always love seeing that.

2474
05:01:43,550 --> 05:01:48,970
So, I had a friend once who said that she hated projects that continue to have babies.

2475
05:01:50,250 --> 05:01:55,170
And I feel that this motion here is one of those motions that's continuing to have babies.

2476
05:01:55,450 --> 05:02:04,530
Because there's a lot of things wrapped around this ask that weren't considered in the original motion that we're now adding on.

2477
05:02:04,590 --> 05:02:08,130
And even though I agree with the comments that it's making the motion better,

2478
05:02:08,130 --> 05:02:15,320
I do think that there's an opportunity to go back and strengthen the motion and not look at this in a silo.

2479
05:02:17,770 --> 05:02:26,370
We've heard about the parking at Woodside already as being an impediment to people getting on the existing ferry.

2480
05:02:27,050 --> 05:02:35,590
So I haven't seen the case made that adding an additional ferry would add to increased ridership if there's nowhere to park.

2481
05:02:35,590 --> 05:02:41,690
We've also had this discussion with Mel Cove, you know, we looked again at that in a silo

2482
05:02:41,690 --> 05:02:46,610
and we didn't have a good grasp on what the supporting infrastructure around that ferry terminal

2483
05:02:46,610 --> 05:02:53,670
was going to cost us in terms of additional bus routes and in terms of additional buses to get people to the ferry.

2484
05:02:54,390 --> 05:03:02,050
So we need to understand that, like, do we need more, you know, do we need new bus routes to support an additional ferry in order to get the ridership?

2485
05:03:02,050 --> 05:03:09,210
I haven't seen in the case. I think that we really need to take a comprehensive look and

2486
05:03:09,210 --> 05:03:14,650
a comprehensive understanding. We've seen in the core service plan like bigger ambitions around

2487
05:03:14,650 --> 05:03:20,870
ferries. We've seen hopefully additional ferries to Shannon Park and additional ferry routes across

2488
05:03:20,870 --> 05:03:28,490
the harbor and making, you know, taking advantage of our harbor for transportation.

2489
05:03:28,490 --> 05:03:37,970
But in buying one ferried, does that then compromise perhaps a future purchase of multiple ferries and better pricing?

2490
05:03:38,570 --> 05:03:45,290
So I just, I feel that this is a bit of an orphan motion at the moment, and I can't support it.

2491
05:03:45,490 --> 05:03:51,150
I also think that the rationale around looking at impact is interesting.

2492
05:03:51,150 --> 05:04:02,790
You know, 3% increase in ferry and the 3% decrease in transit, you know, what is behind those trends and also look at the total numbers.

2493
05:04:03,250 --> 05:04:08,350
What is the total number of people being moved by ferries versus a total number of people being moved by buses?

2494
05:04:09,110 --> 05:04:13,950
And we know that thousands more are moved by buses.

2495
05:04:15,290 --> 05:04:27,170
And so, you know, you know, that rationale is doesn't necessarily hold water for me, and you've also got to ask, well, why is there a decrease in transit?

2496
05:04:27,510 --> 05:04:31,950
And we know it's because we're having issues with on-time performance, with overcrowding.

2497
05:04:32,490 --> 05:04:36,930
The bus is driving by people on the sidewalk with roots being cancelled.

2498
05:04:36,930 --> 05:04:42,090
So it doesn't necessarily mean there's a decrease in demand.

2499
05:04:42,510 --> 05:04:45,910
It could be a number of factors contributing to those stats.

2500
05:04:46,350 --> 05:04:50,230
And we don't know enough at this point to kind of use that as a basis

2501
05:04:50,230 --> 05:04:52,750
for making a decision on this motion.

2502
05:04:54,550 --> 05:04:58,970
You know, I really agree with, I think it was Councillor Kent who said we need to be mindful

2503
05:04:58,970 --> 05:05:03,130
that what we need right now are real solutions with real impacts.

2504
05:05:03,130 --> 05:05:10,430
So I'm I'm all for fairies. I think fairies are awesome. I'm all for using our harbor. I think it's one of our greatest natural assets.

2505
05:05:11,070 --> 05:05:19,130
I just can't support this motion at this time and would like to see it come back as part of, you know, with a longer term view of a fairies strategy.

2506
05:05:20,250 --> 05:05:25,790
What's required to support that fairies strategy and see it within the core service plan.

2507
05:05:26,370 --> 05:05:33,350
You know, I think there are questions about what's driving this, both figuratively, and literally, as well.

2508
05:05:33,930 --> 05:05:34,230
Thanks.

2509
05:05:37,280 --> 05:05:37,480
Okay.

2510
05:05:37,940 --> 05:05:38,820
Council on Mancini.

2511
05:05:41,420 --> 05:05:42,520
Thank you, Deputy Mary.

2512
05:05:42,700 --> 05:05:45,180
You know, there's a lot of questions with this motion.

2513
05:05:45,820 --> 05:05:46,880
They're all about the questions.

2514
05:05:47,460 --> 05:05:50,320
And it is unfortunate that that transition is not here today.

2515
05:05:50,640 --> 05:05:53,300
And typically, they're not when a council or a mayor brings forward a motion.

2516
05:05:53,520 --> 05:05:54,840
We don't usually have debate over that.

2517
05:05:54,860 --> 05:05:57,780
We don't have council, we don't have staff respond to it.

2518
05:05:57,780 --> 05:06:01,780
sometimes if they're here they will but it's unfortunate because I think some of the questions

2519
05:06:01,780 --> 05:06:07,200
we have they could respond to today and that would help us and I understand the concerns

2520
05:06:07,200 --> 05:06:12,120
and I have the same some of the same questions I was wondering why is the mayor bring this

2521
05:06:12,120 --> 05:06:17,660
for this point in time but he is and so there's an opportunity to learn we always talk about evidence

2522
05:06:17,660 --> 05:06:23,400
but say based decision making well let's get some evidence here just because you you have questions

2523
05:06:23,400 --> 05:06:27,920
This is not in my opinion, not a reason to not support the mayor's asking here.

2524
05:06:28,220 --> 05:06:30,020
Let's get those questions answered.

2525
05:06:30,420 --> 05:06:34,320
Let's have this discussion back in November, along with the operational review.

2526
05:06:34,460 --> 05:06:38,000
I've seen pieces of that operational review, but not an entirety.

2527
05:06:38,760 --> 05:06:42,120
So let's have this conversation about the theory, because I have the same question.

2528
05:06:42,700 --> 05:06:44,120
We'll add in your theory, do anything.

2529
05:06:45,440 --> 05:06:48,640
Maybe the answer is no, that decision is much easier.

2530
05:06:48,640 --> 05:06:53,960
Well, maybe it's yes and it has a significant change and impact that will improve our service.

2531
05:06:54,660 --> 05:06:57,760
I really hate to discussion I've heard in the chambers about buses versus ferries.

2532
05:06:57,960 --> 05:07:00,020
It's not in either or scenario. We need both.

2533
05:07:00,320 --> 05:07:03,340
We need enhanced both. We need to move more people with buses,

2534
05:07:03,860 --> 05:07:10,260
but we also can move more people than we are now by having a improved transit service.

2535
05:07:11,380 --> 05:07:14,000
So I ask colleagues, even though you have lots of questions in there,

2536
05:07:14,100 --> 05:07:16,920
very good questions and I have these exact same questions.

2537
05:07:16,920 --> 05:07:21,300
let's get the information. It's not killed the motion now. Let's come, let it come back. I

2538
05:07:21,300 --> 05:07:26,620
re-elect Councilor Austin's changed the motion so we bring it back the same time as the

2539
05:07:26,620 --> 05:07:26,900
operation.

2540
05:07:30,000 --> 05:07:38,040
So, I ask you to support it. I also ask the jack on when it comes back with this kind of emotion. And we should be looking at most of our emotions like this when it was added to cost.

2541
05:07:38,380 --> 05:07:50,740
You know, whatever the cost is for the ferry, the staffing, the docking, what's the impact on the tax rate, right? And what's that impact on it? We want to make sure we include that at the same time.

2542
05:07:50,960 --> 05:07:57,760
I don't think I need that in the motion, but Jack the drill came with that. We could include that. So, call these great questions.

2543
05:07:57,760 --> 05:08:07,140
I have some of the same questions you have, let's get all the information, and let's have this discussion again in November, and then we can decide that and what's the right thing to do.

2544
05:08:07,560 --> 05:08:09,120
I appreciate your time. Thank you.

2545
05:08:12,920 --> 05:08:14,560
Thank you. To close.

2546
05:08:15,100 --> 05:08:16,020
Marathon one.

2547
05:08:16,920 --> 05:08:22,440
Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor, and thank you colleagues for a very full discussion here.

2548
05:08:24,100 --> 05:08:30,300
There are a lot of things we don't know, and that's exactly why I have moved the motion to so that we can know.

2549
05:08:30,300 --> 05:08:37,560
We can know the cost. We can know the impact on ridership. We can know the inner play between

2550
05:08:37,560 --> 05:08:43,480
fairies and the buses that serve them. We do, but we do already know quite a few things.

2551
05:08:43,680 --> 05:08:48,160
We know that we've had five fairies in service since 2018, and in that time the population

2552
05:08:48,160 --> 05:08:53,800
that's grown by a hundred thousand people. We know that those fairies are now aging. There's

2553
05:08:53,800 --> 05:08:59,660
spending more time in the repair of GBO than they did in the last several years. A five

2554
05:08:59,660 --> 05:09:05,460
system was designed so that one could be in scheduled maintenance and the other four would run and maintain 15-minute service.

2555
05:09:06,040 --> 05:09:13,740
We no longer have five fairies that can reliably, four services that can reliably be in service while the fifth is in scheduled maintenance.

2556
05:09:13,980 --> 05:09:26,700
We're seeing unscheduled maintenance calls, which means we're dropping down to 30 minutes, which means that in a single quarter we lost 21% of ferry crossings.

2557
05:09:26,700 --> 05:09:33,060
And even with that loss of ferry crossings in one quarter, the demand grew by three percent.

2558
05:09:33,620 --> 05:09:36,040
Ferry's earned increasing demand.

2559
05:09:36,620 --> 05:09:37,640
The population is growing.

2560
05:09:38,060 --> 05:09:40,720
People are looking to the fairies as an alternative to congestion.

2561
05:09:41,720 --> 05:09:46,880
This is where we can have enormous impact on people's lives.

2562
05:09:47,600 --> 05:09:52,060
And whether the motion goes, you know, the question is whether the motion goes today or next year,

2563
05:09:52,300 --> 05:09:53,900
we will hold on and try to get more information.

2564
05:09:53,900 --> 05:10:06,780
Well, this motion is about getting information and, well, you know, all those people who couldn't get to work and lost wages and couldn't get through their daycare when the fairies weren't running, they don't want us to wait a year to have this conversation.

2565
05:10:07,240 --> 05:10:09,080
They're ready for us to solve this problem now.

2566
05:10:10,920 --> 05:10:18,020
The point about bus routes, the sixth theory is about maintaining 15 minutes service.

2567
05:10:18,020 --> 05:10:23,300
It wouldn't change the buses, the bus routes, or systems that feed them.

2568
05:10:23,660 --> 05:10:27,120
It's simply about restoring the service that we have enjoyed in the past,

2569
05:10:27,140 --> 05:10:28,360
it's a 15 minute service.

2570
05:10:29,080 --> 05:10:33,240
So that happens the irrespective of impact on larger bus routes.

2571
05:10:33,880 --> 05:10:37,400
If we think about it for a minute, the ferry, like I think about the ferry system in

2572
05:10:37,400 --> 05:10:41,840
Halifax, Harbour 20 years from now, it's not going to be these beautiful boats made by

2573
05:10:41,840 --> 05:10:43,200
Terrio, it's going to be something different.

2574
05:10:44,180 --> 05:10:46,680
It's going to be, there are going to be hybrids, there are going to be electric, whatever

2575
05:10:46,680 --> 05:10:49,920
it's going to be, we're going to be building new fairy terminals that are going to have a different

2576
05:10:49,920 --> 05:10:54,300
technology incorporated into them, but the system we have today is designed for those

2577
05:10:54,300 --> 05:10:58,880
oval fairies with joystick controllers, with staff that are trained on them with local

2578
05:10:58,880 --> 05:11:03,340
maintenance and knows how to fix them, and that system is missing a fairy because of how they're

2579
05:11:03,340 --> 05:11:09,480
aging right now. The system is underperforming and failing, and the fix for that is adding a

2580
05:11:09,480 --> 05:11:13,960
fairy of the same technology to make the most of the infrastructure that we've already invested

2581
05:11:13,960 --> 05:11:16,440
and that we already own, while the work continues

2582
05:11:16,440 --> 05:11:18,520
on what the ferry system of the future will be.

2583
05:11:21,380 --> 05:11:25,840
So I chose October because I wanted to be in line

2584
05:11:25,840 --> 05:11:29,040
with what the acting CIO asked us for for major capital ideas.

2585
05:11:29,720 --> 05:11:32,820
If December works for what the acting CIO suggested,

2586
05:11:33,020 --> 05:11:34,820
I believe he said the end of the year.

2587
05:11:35,900 --> 05:11:37,700
Someone said, could we add a month and get more information?

2588
05:11:37,800 --> 05:11:39,160
I'm happy to add a month after the change

2589
05:11:39,160 --> 05:11:41,340
that's a December if it's in the spirit

2590
05:11:41,340 --> 05:11:43,080
of what the acting CIO asked for us.

2591
05:11:43,080 --> 05:11:49,300
So if that, if that gives a little bit more comfort, so that we can get a little bit more data in the report, that's fine.

2592
05:11:50,340 --> 05:11:55,020
But I think that's clear that our writers are asking us to improve the ferry service.

2593
05:11:56,600 --> 05:11:57,140
Thank you.

2594
05:12:24,510 --> 05:12:26,950
All right, so that motion passes.

2595
05:12:29,550 --> 05:12:33,170
We will now switch seats back.

2596
05:13:37,890 --> 05:13:39,910
All right, colleagues. Now we're ready to go in camera.

2597
05:13:42,650 --> 05:13:42,970
Yes.

2598
05:13:46,440 --> 05:13:54,680
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I was just wondering if we might be able to quickly go through a team point one before we go in Karma on the added items.

2599
05:13:55,600 --> 05:13:57,680
I think it's the only added item.

2600
05:14:03,400 --> 05:14:11,260
Yeah, I don't have any objection. I don't know. I'll ask the clerk or the solicitor if we need to have a motion for reordering the agreed upon or to know we're good.

2601
05:14:11,260 --> 05:14:18,340
Okay. Then if everyone's fine with that, I don't see any dissent in the room. We'll jump ahead to 18.1.

2602
05:14:19,700 --> 05:14:23,540
Which, perhaps, well, your name is on the list. Would you like to put the motion on the floor?

2603
05:14:26,020 --> 05:14:27,040
Thank you. Yes.

2604
05:14:27,720 --> 05:14:33,500
I'd move that the Halifax Regional Council won adopt the proposed 2027 Halifax Regional Council meeting.

2605
05:14:33,900 --> 05:14:37,520
Schedule as outlined in attachment one of the staff report dated July 9,

2606
05:14:37,520 --> 05:14:48,120
twenty twenty six and two adoptive proposed twenty twenty seven twenty eight budget scheduled as outlined in attachment to of the staff report dated July 9th twenty twenty six.

2607
05:14:50,620 --> 05:14:56,980
Second of my councillors to you and would you like to say more. Thank you. Yes if I might. Thank you very much.

2608
05:15:00,000 --> 05:15:11,600
So, scheduled, but on a budget schedule, we did a really nice debrief with Mayor and Council around what was worked

2609
05:15:11,600 --> 05:15:20,020
well last year and what we can approve upon. So, this schedule that's proposed here is like 13 days and then six days

2610
05:15:20,020 --> 05:15:27,660
that our contingency days should we need them. And I do know that it's a long process because it

2611
05:15:27,660 --> 05:15:35,320
go from one day in November, one day in December, one day in January, and then February and March

2612
05:15:35,320 --> 05:15:44,320
are the heaviest times. We can, you know, streamline our work by doing all of our research

2613
05:15:44,320 --> 05:15:51,780
be forehand, which I think is a great way for us to make this go more smoothly. We do have the evening

2614
05:15:51,780 --> 05:16:00,160
session on January 26th which is great. Also though it's important for members of the public to know

2615
05:16:00,160 --> 05:16:07,980
that before any of the bundles before operations for example capital plan operations public safety

2616
05:16:07,980 --> 05:16:15,240
corporate the bow that the public can welcome to participate in the budget and can speak to anything

2617
05:16:15,240 --> 05:16:21,580
on the budget that they require. So I do think that it's a good list. I know that some people are worried

2618
05:16:21,780 --> 05:16:30,720
you know that may be our budget process is too lengthy it's very transparent we do a good

2619
05:16:30,720 --> 05:16:35,700
deep dive into everything that we do so I think that's important the only other thing I would

2620
05:16:35,700 --> 05:16:42,140
add in is that when we spoke about this at executive standing committee was to make sure that

2621
05:16:42,140 --> 05:16:49,900
it's added in on our list that on January 12th is when we will see the report from PBSC and that's when

2622
05:16:49,900 --> 05:16:55,320
see the assessment roll. So those are my comments to this point. Thank you.

2623
05:16:57,770 --> 05:17:01,670
Okay, let's see the other names on the, let's show we have the question.

2624
05:17:02,470 --> 05:17:03,430
Questions called?

2625
05:17:18,400 --> 05:17:19,460
And the motion carries.

2626
05:17:19,820 --> 05:17:21,580
Thank you very much for that.

2627
05:17:23,860 --> 05:17:27,320
We are now, now, now, now, now, ready to go in camera.

2628
05:17:28,620 --> 05:17:29,580
So would

2629
05:17:36,780 --> 05:17:37,120
rather,

2630
05:17:55,490 --> 05:17:56,970
okay, is there a motion to go in camera?

2631
05:17:56,970 --> 05:18:02,770
Councilor Steele seconded by Councilor Prudy. Thank you. We'll just give a moment for the room

2632
05:18:02,770 --> 05:18:03,570
to get prepared.

2633
05:18:11,230 --> 05:18:16,110
Colleagues, the clerk raises an interesting question. I just noticed in the

2634
05:18:16,110 --> 05:18:20,730
in the text thread that we're interested in forging ahead without ordering supper and getting

2635
05:18:20,730 --> 05:18:27,850
the thing this thing done. Would you then like to have a little nature break now? Yeah. Okay.

2636
05:18:27,850 --> 05:18:35,690
then how about we come back at 3 15 and we'll be in camera. Thank you.

2637
06:50:13,680 --> 06:50:22,980
All right, we're back in business and we're in open session and the first order of businesses to ratify a number of the in-camera decisions that were made.

2638
06:50:23,280 --> 06:50:35,260
And that begins with item 17.3 and for that I'm going to turn to the deputy mayor to ratify the public motion by the deputy mayor for item 17.3.

2639
06:50:39,620 --> 06:50:48,220
I move that the matter pertaining to providing instruction and direction to officers and employees

2640
06:50:48,220 --> 06:50:51,040
of the municipality pertain.

2641
06:50:51,620 --> 06:50:51,620
Under

2642
06:50:56,130 --> 06:50:57,630
here.

2643
06:50:58,390 --> 06:50:59,030
Thank you.

2644
06:50:59,150 --> 06:50:59,810
I'm going to say.

2645
06:51:00,350 --> 06:51:01,510
Where is this leading?

2646
06:51:03,750 --> 06:51:04,050
Yes.

2647
06:51:04,310 --> 06:51:09,750
I move that Halifax Regional Council adopt the recommendations as outlined in the private and

2648
06:51:09,750 --> 06:51:15,070
confidential report dated July 30th, 2026, and two direct that the private and confidential

2649
06:51:15,070 --> 06:51:20,050
report dated July 30th, 2026 be maintained private and confidential.

2650
06:51:22,080 --> 06:51:27,900
Second by Councillor Young. And all those colleagues,

2651
06:51:30,290 --> 06:51:32,330
this is a digital vote. We'll go to the vote

2652
06:51:55,370 --> 06:52:04,330
in the motion carries. We will then go on to item 17.4 and I'll turn to Councillor Steele, please.

2653
06:52:05,270 --> 06:52:06,750
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2654
06:52:06,890 --> 06:52:24,790
I moved that Halifax Regional Council one adopt a recommendations as outlined in the private and confidential report dated July 30, 2026 and two direct that the private and confidential report dated July 30, 2026 be maintained private and confidential.

2655
06:52:26,530 --> 06:52:27,090
is there a

2656
06:52:30,560 --> 06:52:32,840
Okay, and we'll go to the electronic voting, please.

2657
06:52:57,160 --> 06:53:05,940
And the motion carries. Thank you. This brings us to item 17.6, and I believe I'm going to Councilor

2658
06:53:09,490 --> 06:53:15,430
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and most in that the Halifax Regional Council won adopt the recommendations

2659
06:53:15,430 --> 06:53:21,150
as outlined in the private and confidential report dated August 14, 2026, and to release

2660
06:53:21,150 --> 06:53:26,830
the private and confidential report dated August 14, 2026 to the public once the conditions

2661
06:53:26,830 --> 06:53:29,230
as outlined in the report have been met.

2662
06:53:30,410 --> 06:53:34,030
Second of my Councillor, it hens me and we will go to the digital vote.

2663
06:53:46,440 --> 06:53:47,760
The motion carries.

2664
06:53:48,380 --> 06:53:53,200
This brings us to 17.7, for which I will also return to Councillor David Gamman.

2665
06:53:54,920 --> 06:53:55,580
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2666
06:53:55,840 --> 06:53:57,740
With that, the Health Acts Regional Council won.

2667
06:53:57,800 --> 06:54:01,380
Adopt the recommendations as outlined in the private and confidential report.

2668
06:54:01,600 --> 06:54:03,840
Data August 20, 2026.

2669
06:54:04,120 --> 06:54:06,480
And two, direct the private and confidential report.

2670
06:54:06,780 --> 06:54:08,680
Data August 20, 2026.

2671
06:54:08,800 --> 06:54:10,460
Be maintained private and confidential.

2672
06:54:12,320 --> 06:54:15,600
Seconded by Councillor Hensby, and we'll go to the digital vote.

2673
06:54:29,270 --> 06:54:36,750
in the motion carries. Okay colleagues, that leaves us with our final item of business, which

2674
06:54:36,750 --> 06:54:42,790
is notices of motion and I'll just look and see who jumps on the board there.

2675
06:54:45,000 --> 06:54:45,140
Councillor

2676
06:54:45,140 --> 06:54:51,340
Austin, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This is for Councillor Mancini. Take notice that

2677
06:54:51,340 --> 06:54:55,480
at a future meeting of Halifax Regional Council, I intend to introduce a motion to adopt

2678
06:54:55,480 --> 06:54:59,400
amendments to the terms of reference for the active transportation advisory committee,

2679
06:54:59,400 --> 06:55:10,720
ATAC and the Point Pleasant Park Advisory Committee PPDAC, the purpose of the proposed amendments is to implement recommendations arising from phase one of the governance review and other housekeeping amendments.

2680
06:55:11,960 --> 06:55:13,420
So noted. Thank you very much.

2681
06:55:14,280 --> 06:55:15,400
Excuse me, anyone else?

2682
06:55:16,140 --> 06:55:18,520
I don't see anyone else. I've got one myself.

2683
06:55:20,240 --> 06:55:24,960
So take notice that at a future meeting of Halifax Regional Council, I intend to move a motion.

2684
06:55:24,960 --> 06:55:36,740
That regional council direct the chief administrative officer to conduct a comprehensive review of the decision to establish the mayor's office as an independent office following the one year anniversary of the decision.

2685
06:55:38,730 --> 06:55:39,550
Thank you.

2686
06:55:40,010 --> 06:55:42,350
Any others, any other noms today?

2687
06:55:43,550 --> 06:55:46,230
Not seeing any, is there a motion to adjourn?

2688
06:55:46,790 --> 06:55:48,090
I think that was Councillor Young today.

2689
06:55:49,070 --> 06:55:50,670
Thank you very much, colleagues. Have a wonderful evening.