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

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The faculty also recognizes the unique history, heritage, and enduring 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, economic, and civic life of our municipality and acknowledge the leadership, knowledge, and excellence that continue to enrich our communities.

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This affirmation reflects our commitment to honoring the legacy and ongoing contributions of African Nova Scotians in the Halifax Regional municipality.

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And with that colleagues we'll come to order and we'll jump right oh why don't we have a moment of silence actually

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

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And

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we'll move right into item two special community announcements and

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Knowledgements and I'll just wait for any names to populate on the board and I see Councillor Gilles. Please

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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Good morning, everyone, and for everyone watching at home,

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I'd like to announce that our MP,

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Braden Clarke, is hosting a series of town halls

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throughout the communities in HRM.

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And he'll be hosting one with myself,

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my fabulous colleague here from Fall River

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and the MLA Brian Long, this Thursday, August 27th

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at the Beaver Bank community, Kinsak community center

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from 6 to 7 30.

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Hope to see everyone there.

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Thank you.

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Thank you for that.

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and we'll move on to Councillor Degrogane, please.

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Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

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For the last two or three weekends,

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I think I spent them with hundreds of volunteers.

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And so, congratulations to the volunteers

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and organizers of the Colluse Committee.

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That's in Fall River and Windsor Junction

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and to the Halifax County Exhibition.

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I don't know, well over 10,000 attendees, I believe,

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at the Halifax County Exhibition.

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So it was pretty great and NST in Waverly.

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So, that's all about working with the volunteers, but today what I really wanted to speak about

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as well was we have one of our staff who is retiring after 28 years, and I'm sorry, PJ, we got

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you here under false pretenses maybe.

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PJ Temple has been with us for 28 years and coordinating the

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grants program. And of course, having spent 40 years in the nonprofit sector, I've had a connection

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with P.J. and the work that she's done. But I also want to say that P.J. has grown the

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nonprofit sector in a way that maybe she doesn't even realize because of her work. She's

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really assisted many nonprofits in HRM to be better, to be sustainable, challenge them

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when it came to some of the financial stuff. My personal story is when we were looking for

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and 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 to make

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an even better proposal and desk now exists, and it's a show place in Atlantic Canada, even across

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the country, as a show place for persons with disability and the kind of environment that they deserve

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need to be and PJ has played a big role in that and I think there's not enough thank you to be

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able to be said. So PJ just a small thing, just a couple of flowers for you. Thank you.

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Bravo, Pedagene. Thank you very much, Councillor David Cameron, for that beautiful acknowledgement.

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We will certainly miss you around here, PJ. Thank you. And we will move on to Councillor

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So young, please.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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I'd like to also acknowledge that MP Brayden Clark, MLA Rick Brayden to myself,

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will be holding town hall at the Upper Hammond's Plains Community Center,

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7-11 Park Rock Road on Wednesday, the 26th of August from 6 to 7-30.

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All are welcome in the community to come and participate.

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Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. And Councillor Hinch, please.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I wanted to proudly announce my sister-in-law,

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Barbara Hamilton Hinch, who has been named 2026 Order of Nova Scotia Recipient.

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I just want to say, Dr. Hamilton Hinch is an assistant vice provost, equity and inclusion at

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at Dow Housing University and a professor

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and the Dow Housing School of Health

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and Human Performances.

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I'm so proud of my sister-in-law

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and all the accomplishments that she has made over the years.

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And what she's given to our community

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are our discussion community and we'll continue to give.

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So I just wanted to acknowledge her today

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because I'm so proud of her.

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That's wonderful, Councillor Hitch.

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Thank you very much for that.

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

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Good morning, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, everyone. I'd like to acknowledge that one of our own is having a big birthday tomorrow.

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Health Act Regional Council's happiest councilor Billy Gillis is going to be 51 tomorrow.

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Now, the surprising thing of that, I thought he was at least going to be turning 70, but nevertheless, just wanted since we're not going to be gathered tomorrow, which Billy happy birthday, buddy.

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And as tradition is here and council chambers, you buy the round of coffee later on.

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Happy birthday, Councilor Gillis, and we'll move on to Councillor Hensby, please.

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Thank you much, Mr. Mayor, and follow-up from Councillor Hitches. I was very proud to see

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the Dr. Am was also being acknowledged posthumously with the Order of Nova Scotia. In fact, it was

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either initiated the Order of Nova Scotia with the premier back of the days, and I'm very

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proud of that accomplishment. I'd also like to thank the organizers that we had to cancel

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also the San Castle Day on Sunday because the forecast of the

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Trenchal rains, it said that last year we had a drought and wildfire threat.

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This year we got rained out, so it seems like we get the best

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or the worst of both worlds, but hopefully the 45th

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annual San Castle Day will be three times the charm

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next year. Also the next largest event on the Easter

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shores will be this Saturday. Hopefully wildlife's open house from 12 to 4

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and C-4th. It's always been a great crowd attraction and I just hope that people respect

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the no parking signs on one side of the road to make sure we have safe travel along the

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207 highway. Thank you. Thank you very much, Councillor Hensby. I will move on to Councillor

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Santa Monica, please.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I know you've had the pleasure

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of meeting Bedford's Darcy Egan. He is a young man that graduated from St. Mary's and

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over the course of 23 days ran 23 ultra-marathons in support of feed Nova Scotia. Raising $15,000,

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he had set a rather ambitious goal in taking that on, running effectively from point-to-point

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in Nova Scotia and doing a considerable distance 1,000 kilometers over the course of 23 days.

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Just a monumental achievement and a very ambitious event to undertake. 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 Sanemond. Yes, from the tip of Cape Breton Island to the

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lighthouse in Yarmouth, quite a feat, really quite amazing. Colleagues, it's been a few weeks since

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the, since Pride Week in Hal Fax, but we haven't had a council meeting into which to acknowledge the

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the great work done by all involved in another successful Pride Festival. Pride brought as they

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always do thousands of people together across our region to celebrate to SLGBTQ and the

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growing community here in Halifax while creating opportunities for connection and for visibility

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and for celebration. And we know that events like Pride are only possible by through a tremendous

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amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. So on behalf of the Regional Council, I want to say

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thank you to the organizers, to the volunteers, to the sponsors, the performers, to the businesses

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involved, everyone who helped to make this year a success. And I would like to make sure

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that everybody knows that next year there's even more to look forward to as Halvax will host

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Canada Pride and that's going to bring many, many thousands more people from across the country

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into our municipality giving us an opportunity to showcase this amazing place that we call home.

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So again, congratulations to Halvax Pride on a great festival and we look forward to welcome

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Canada to Halifax at next year's pride. One more colleagues earlier this month we had the

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honor of welcoming officers and sailors from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force to City Hall

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during their visit to the Halifax Regional Municipality. Canada and Japan share a long-standing friendship

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

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and home to the country's largest naval base, Halifax is proud to play a role in strengthening

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in those relationships.

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The reception was followed by a concert and grand parade

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featuring the joint performance

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of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Band

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and the Stata Kona Band.

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A wonderful demonstration of the friendship

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between these two nations.

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So thank you to all involved there as well.

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And I see we do have some more names on the board now.

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Councillor Kent, over to you.

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Yes, thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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It's good to see everybody.

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We don't always see each other through the summer.

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So hope you've all had a nice,

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a good rest and they're ready to rock and roll. I just want to mention that next week in September

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5th we will be having hosting a community event acknowledging the opening of a new playground

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at Southwoodside Community School. What's particular interesting for me is that I was a counselor

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when the one that was removed was installed and this was with a significant contribution from Imperial

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real oil at the time, they had contributed quite a lot to the community school, and there

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is a little plaque there showing that one, and now this one that was replaced, I'm just

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so pleased that Parks made sure that there was another playground installed that had the

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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 430 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 Sanamon, back to you.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Now we haven't had a meeting in a little while.

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And so there are some dates that we've managed to miss, including Lafet-Nessie-Anne de la Cadille

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on August 15th. And in my role on council, I was honored to be selected as the official

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representative for HRM and for this body to the francophone and accadian communities in Nova Scotia,

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and specifically in Halifax. And so I thought since we haven't had a meeting since the 15th,

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I would share the proclamation that the mayor provided on that date when we conducted a flag raising for the Acadian community here at City Hall in Grand Parade.

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So the proclamation for the Fet National de Lacadie reads as follows.

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And forgive me, I'm going to do this one in French as seems very appropriate given circumstances.

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that the academies of their origin, their history and their development constitute the

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first French colony to establish a permanent fashion in Canada.

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And they now find in all the provinces and territories of Canada, that the people of

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Canada contribute more than 400 years to the economic, cultural and social economy of Canada,

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that since 1881, the Canadian people were 15 or as the day of the National Party,

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that the Canadian people had defined their identity by their language, culture, and customs.

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What is the interest of all Canadians to be able to share the historical and cultural heritage of Canadians

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and in the best way to understand all the manifestations as well as the old ones that are contemporary,

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that it is important to encourage the accadiens and accadiens to be proud of their heritage.

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That's why it is the resolution that I personally, in the name of Mary Andy Filmore, and the regional council of Alibis.

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»Good afternoon. Thank you for that. And we will go on to Councillor Hensby, please.

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Thank you very much. Thank you councillors. I'm on for recognizing you Katie and Heritage

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months this month as well as I want to acknowledge that that committee, the Chesa Club,

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is also recognizing its 30th anniversary this month and I want to wish them a happy birthday,

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a happy celebration. Thank you. Thank you very much for that. I don't see any other names in the board

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for announcements, so we will move along to item 3 approval of the minutes of July 14th,

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2026, could I have a motion?

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Councillor Gillis, seconded by Councillor Sanamon.

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Is there any discussion on those minutes?

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Not seeing any.

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Show of hands and approval of the adoption of those minutes.

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And they are approved.

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Thank you very much.

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That brings us to the approval of the order of business

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and approval of additions and deletions.

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There are some things to add and some things to jostle

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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 helifax regional council in 2027 28 or sorry 2027 28 proposed budget meeting schedules

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as well as item 21.7 proclamation, national days, a cady ends, a national accordion day,

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August 15th, 2026, 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, if Council wishes to convening 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'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

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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, but looking at

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the criteria that's in the report, there is no rationale right now for the 10, and

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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'd like to move

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that that be deferred.

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Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor. We will need a seconder for that perhaps.

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Okay. So I saw Councillor Steele there very promptly and all in favour of deferral.

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Show of hands please. Okay, that deferral passed. Thank you for that.

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Okay. Thank you very much.

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And I don't know if this is the time to move the consent agenda

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that's in the in-camera or to do that. Please hold.

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I guess that would move to consent.

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I'd add that to consent. We will. Yeah. We'll come back to the in-camera momentarily.

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All right. Councilor Austin, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to move that we defer

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15-3.1, head start, tennis dome. This is in Councillor White's district and she's not

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available to join us. I think it would be better if we consider this at our next meeting.

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Councillor Hartley was quick on the second there and all in favour of deferring 15-3-1,

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show of hands please, and that passes. Okay, that's deferred. Thank you very much.

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Then we'll carry on to Councillor Mancini, please.

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I think Mr. Mayor colleagues I'm asking that item 16.1 which is Councillor Hartlings

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if we could discuss that earlier in our agenda either just before our lunch break or just

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after our lunch break. Unfortunately I have to leave early and I want to be around for

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that conversation so we can have earlier in the agenda that would be appreciated.

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Thank you very much. I don't think that requires a motion doesn't it no. How about we put

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But it's Councillor, just before 15-1, is that suit, everyone?

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Just before 15-1?

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Okay.

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Okay.

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Good.

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Very good.

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Thank you.

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Councillor Steele, please.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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I would like to request a presentation for, at a future meeting, for information item 21.3.

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It's the memorandum from the Chief Administrative Office concerning the Nova Scotia Capped Assessment

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Program impacts and the future meeting I was looking toward was not the September 15 meeting

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but September 29 due to staff availability.

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

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all of our members.

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21.3.

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Thank you 21.3 to a future meeting date of September,

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so I'm going to have too many pages here.

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29.

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Yes.

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I would like a presentation.

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Presentation.

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Okay.

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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.

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So that looks like we have an amended agenda.

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Do I see a hand up over there?

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Okay.

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Thank you.

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Councillor Cleary has moved the agenda is seconded by Councillor Saint Le Mans and all

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in favour of that please

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and that we have now adopted that and that can we can now come

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back to the in-camera question from the deputy mayor I believe.

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Yeah.

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Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

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I'm just trying to pull up the right item

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here.

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It's now at 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

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that we'd like to pass on consent this morning I'm going to try to move 17.5 right now the

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reason being that if there is nobody who is interested in pulling this out for discussion by moving

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and approving this now then we'll enable staff to get on with their day and we won't tie them up

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waiting for us to get to this item here

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in one second? Okay, so I would like to test council

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by moving item 17.5 on the consent agenda.

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First, the motion's been seconded by Councillor

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Hinch and Madam Clerk, I will seek your guidance on that we're going to have a hand vote on this or

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if you have recorded vote. Thank you very much and so we'll proceed to a recorded vote right now.

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The

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motion carries. Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor.

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

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15-1 centralized grants reporting concept. 15-2-1, TMR tool, I beg your pardon, TMR-2,

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to dual-band radio, 2026-2027 capital budget transfer.

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1531 has been deferred.

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15.3.2 affordable housing strategy.

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I would like to remove that from consent.

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15.3.3 Dartmouth Regional Pickleball facility

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and 15.4.1 major events policy framework.

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And looking at the board, I see the deputy mayor, please.

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No, that wouldn't. I think that's left over a remnant, okay. Thank you. Any other comments

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on the consent agenda, colleagues? Okay, so affordable housing. Okay, there's a motion

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from Councillor Sway to everyone catches up. Yeah, the only removal would be 1532. And there's

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a motion from Councillor Cleary to approve the consent agenda. And there's a second

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by Councillor Steele and we will go to a recorded vote.

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In the amended consent agenda is approved.

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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 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.

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We have item 10.1, which was deferred to the request of Councillor Hinch.

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The item is dismantling racism and hate strategy.

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The purpose of Councillor Hinch's deferral was to request a presentation, which I understand

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one is forthcoming.

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Welcome, Russell, and the floor is yours when you are ready to do your presentation and once

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

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So

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good morning Mayor Fillmore and members of council.

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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

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hate act, and that act requires prescribed public bodies, including how effects 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

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health, extra-general 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,

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Inclusion, 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 might not always see within our policies,

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our programs, services, and our organizational operation.

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It 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 in the ways that we communicate and update the progress to community as well as, you know, to employees across the organization and also we want to look at our reporting and ensure that we have clear oversight from leadership levels all the way down to the frontline staff across the organization and the last point that I just wanted to speak to here was just around our responsiveness.

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this requires a commitment from us.

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And we need to make sure that we're keeping community voices and

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lived to experience central as the implementation you evolve.

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So this is going to be a living strategy.

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So as things change across our municipality,

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we want to make sure that this strategy reflects those changes.

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So we're going to continuously engage with community and

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make sure that this is in real time responding to the nature of

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the realities of those folks that call it Halifax home.

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

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We have three.

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Which there are six. So under education, culture, and public awareness, this is really how we reinforce our commitment to education and continuous learning. We're looking at things like training. So we want to make sure that these things are prioritized and they will affect how we implement the actions within the strategy and how we improve the service delivery of our programs and services to all citizens and residents. So number two is community safety.

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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.

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And we need to make sure that this strategy responds to that reality.

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So we really want to make sure that we're looking at the safety and well-being of all citizens

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and residents as we continue to grow and evolve this strategy, and look at the ways that it's being implemented and the impact that it's having on the overall and well-being of all citizens and residents.

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And then we're looking at data accountability and governance, and we just really need to make sure that we're collecting the data, we're being intentional about the data that we're collecting.

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

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how this strategy grows and evolves over time.

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And when we look at accountability, I think it's important that there is a shared ownership

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in this work.

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It can't be something that is just carried and shouldered by a few business units.

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This has to be a shared responsibility across the entire organization.

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So when we're looking at accountability and governance, that's how we demonstrate that is making sure that this is something that is shared across the organization, across all levels of leadership, and it's important that that cascades down through the organization things don't cascade up from frontline, truly cascades down from the leadership of the 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 and 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 Acadian and

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Francophone communities and residents.

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So what changes in terms of practice?

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So this is where we really show our commitment to moving from commitment to substantive action, 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 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 festivals, celebrations, 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 we want to look at how do we deliver culturally safe and responsive service delivery at all levels of service across the organization.

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

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all 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

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terms of the impact.

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Looking at access, we will be looking at multilingual and accessible communications and all of the things

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that we'll be communicating moving forward.

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We want to make sure that we're looking at our service standards and improving them where

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and when we need to.

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We also want to look at accessible infrastructure and looking at engagement, it's going to be an ongoing and continuous thing, 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 feel like they're being reflected in this work.

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Often what we hear when we're, you know, developing strategies, we're implementing strategies.

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You'll always hear folks who say that they don't feel like they're seen or reflected in

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this work.

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So we want to make sure that as we continue that engagement, we continue to, you know,

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listen to that feedback so that all citizens and residents feel like they're being reflected

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and represented in this work.

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In terms of improving our response, so I mentioned earlier about coordinated anti-hate response

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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 how we respond to any of those.

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You know, when there is any incident involving hate, we want to make sure that we're responding with an urgent sense of urgency.

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So then we also want to look at, you know, making sure that our reporting is accessible 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 supports and offering them is two different things.

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So we want to truly make sure that we have those supports available so that when they're needed they can be mobilized immediately.

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and it's not something that folks are waiting 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 and partnership, there are a lot of great community-led initiatives, organizations, grassroots groups that are doing meaningful work with a lot of groups in our community, 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 out there that we already have relationships with that are service providers and servicing different groups in our community.

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We want to make sure that we're growing those relationships, we're sustaining those relationships so that we can utilize that and

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leverage that to really enhance the impact and broaden the reach 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 and

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offering exceptional business and things of that nature and we truly want to provide equal opportunities for

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those folks to be able to provide those services on a municipal platform and beyond that.

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It serves as an opportunity to really amplify your business when we're able to look at the ways that we're doing procurement.

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We want to remove any barriers that exist.

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And then looking at heritage and cultural recognition, there are several initiatives that are already under way that exist,

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that are really looking at celebrating and recognizing heritage and culture across our municipality.

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And we want to continue to seek out those opportunities as well as amplify and enhance those initiatives that are already existing.

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And then the last one here around embedding accountability.

401
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So I think that this is critically important.

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When we look at leadership, leadership is something that you demonstrate and that you act.

403
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And if we are truly putting value in prioritizing this work,

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

405
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And again, that priority and the value on this work needs to trickle down across all business units.

406
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So it's really important that that leadership starts at that table.

407
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And then when we look at how we'll be providing updates and

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things of that nature, like there are going to be updates that are provided to the province

409
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based on that schedule that they have already determined, but we're coming back to council

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annually with updates. This is where we'll provide the status of the implementation of

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the strategy, our successes, our challenges, or anything that we need to kind of rethink

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and revisit as we continue to implement this work.

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Folks always want to know how progress

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We'll be measured and reported, so I've got you covered this morning.

415
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So we're really looking at three main focuses or sorry, four main focuses on 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 and helping them shape and

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determine what those KPIs will look like.

419
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We wanted to make sure that we're not telling business units how to measure this,

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how to implement these things. We want to work closely in partnership and collaboration.

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And again, we're looking at that shared ownership here. So we want to make sure that we're working

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with the business units closely to determine what those KPIs look like. And we want to make sure

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that we're putting the entire organization in a position to be successful. We don't want to just

424
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undertake this responsibility in these actions with those having some autonomy and say and shaping

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how we measure those things. In terms of reporting, as I mentioned, we'll be doing annual

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reporting back to you folks, and we want to look at the ways that we can provide real-time

427
00:55:07,360 --> 00:55:12,460
updates to the community, whether that's, you know, a public-facing website, dashboard,

428
00:55:12,640 --> 00:55:18,620
things of that nature, these are other tactics that are being employed in other municipalities

429
00:55:18,620 --> 00:55:24,420
and places across the nation. So we'll be, you know, exploring those options to see what are the

430
00:55:24,420 --> 00:55:29,100
best ways that we can provide those updates to the community. I think it's important that when

431
00:55:29,100 --> 00:55:33,420
When we're engaging with folks that we don't wait for them to come back to us, we proactively

432
00:55:33,880 --> 00:55:35,320
bring that information back to them.

433
00:55:36,220 --> 00:55:40,840
Under the learn piece, again, we want to make sure that we're proactively committing

434
00:55:40,840 --> 00:55:44,200
to education training, continuous learning.

435
00:55:44,820 --> 00:55:48,340
So we want to make sure that we're doing all those things, and then we also want to have

436
00:55:48,340 --> 00:55:51,100
that ongoing community engagement and that feedback.

437
00:55:51,840 --> 00:55:58,580
Again, this is going to be a living strategy, so as we continue to implement this work, we

438
00:55:58,580 --> 00:55:59,880
We want to be able to go back to the community,

439
00:56:00,100 --> 00:56:00,900
hey, did we get this right?

440
00:56:01,360 --> 00:56:01,900
What is missing?

441
00:56:02,340 --> 00:56:03,680
And then take that feedback to shape

442
00:56:03,680 --> 00:56:07,540
kind of what we do next in the future phases

443
00:56:07,540 --> 00:56:08,320
of this strategy.

444
00:56:09,020 --> 00:56:10,280
And like I said, we always want to make sure

445
00:56:10,280 --> 00:56:12,040
that we're responding to the emerging needs

446
00:56:12,040 --> 00:56:14,560
in real time of all citizens and residents.

447
00:56:15,160 --> 00:56:18,160
And then when we're looking at how we will continue

448
00:56:18,160 --> 00:56:20,440
to strive for improvement,

449
00:56:21,740 --> 00:56:24,940
we'll continuously be refining our actions

450
00:56:24,940 --> 00:56:26,580
and the strategy over time.

451
00:56:26,580 --> 00:56:34,860
There will be a formal strategy review with the province and that's scheduled for the spring of 2028.

452
00:56:35,920 --> 00:56:39,320
And I just also have here that accountability needs to be built into the strategy.

453
00:56:39,760 --> 00:56:43,780
We want to measure what matters, we want to report transparently, and

454
00:56:43,780 --> 00:56:49,880
listen continuously so that we can make those adjustments and reflect the voices of all citizens and residents.

455
00:56:52,480 --> 00:56:58,020
So, before I kind of get to, you know, the motions here, I also want to kind of make

456
00:56:58,020 --> 00:57:02,420
sure that I acknowledge these pieces here too, in terms of the implementation considerations.

457
00:57:02,660 --> 00:57:07,920
A lot of times, you know, we know that money and resources is a big question that folks

458
00:57:07,920 --> 00:57:10,500
have when you're undertaking this work.

459
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:16,660
Today, we are not seeking money, you know, to endorse this strategy as it stands.

460
00:57:18,480 --> 00:57:40,220
Following the approval, we will be working with business units to determine the timelines and the costs for a specific initiative, so there are some business units that have identified that they may have funding allocated within their budget that will be able to resource some of the actions going forward in the strategy, but we will also be applying for funding.

461
00:57:40,220 --> 00:57:55,040
A lot of the work that is being implemented under the dismantling racism hate work is being funded by grants and other funding opportunities at the provincial and federal level.

462
00:57:55,280 --> 00:58:01,200
So we will be applying for funding to fund a lot of these actions and action items.

463
00:58:02,140 --> 00:58:06,740
And the other piece there just around the community engagement it's going to be something that is continuous.

464
00:58:06,740 --> 00:58:24,600
It's not something that we're just doing one time, and you know, that's all we're using to inform this strategy, and the other thing that I think is worthwhile mentioning too is that many of the action items that are already, you know, in the strategy that's being presented here today have been shaped by engagement in the past.

465
00:58:24,600 --> 00:58:50,940
So the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, folks around cultural heritage, priorities plan, public safety, we have used the feedback that they've received that shape the existing work that they're all doing to make sure that we're not exhausting folks in terms of how we're doing engagement, but we do realize that there are folks that won't feel like they're reflected in the strategy that we're bringing before you today.

466
00:58:50,940 --> 00:58:56,480
and we have a commitment to making sure that we reach those folks and that the feedback and

467
00:58:56,480 --> 00:59:02,820
engagement that we are going to do moving forward will reflect all voices and live experiences

468
00:59:02,820 --> 00:59:14,260
of residents and citizens across our municipality. So with that, we have the two motions here that

469
00:59:14,260 --> 00:59:18,840
we're bringing forward today. So the first one is just around approving the dismantling racism

470
00:59:18,840 --> 00:59:24,840
and hate strategy as set out in attachment one, and then number two is to direct the chief

471
00:59:24,840 --> 00:59:30,800
administrative officer, the CAO, to provide annual updates on the progress of the strategy.

472
00:59:31,800 --> 00:59:36,520
Thanks very much for a thorough presentation, Russell, very well done, and all the work

473
00:59:36,520 --> 00:59:37,200
behind it as well.

474
00:59:37,480 --> 00:59:37,920
So thank you.

475
00:59:38,280 --> 00:59:40,780
We'll go to Councillor Hinch to put the motion on the floor, please.

476
00:59:42,160 --> 00:59:43,180
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

477
00:59:43,360 --> 00:59:45,860
Thank you, Russell, for the thorough presentation.

478
00:59:47,620 --> 00:59:52,020
It is recommended that Halifax Regional Council want to prove the dismantling race and

479
00:59:52,020 --> 00:59:56,840
hate strategy as set out in the attachment one of the staff report and two.

480
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:04,980
On progress of the strategy. Seconded by councilor Mancini.

481
01:00:07,150 --> 01:00:18,070
Can I still? Thank you. 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.

482
01:00:21,100 --> 01:00:32,320
And I believe I've asked you before. But is it mandatory? Can this training be mandatory? And when we talk about from the top down, I believe council should be definitely

483
01:00:32,320 --> 01:00:34,660
actually have that type of training.

484
01:00:35,360 --> 01:00:42,740
So my question is is it mandatory and is council afforded that type of training as

485
01:00:42,740 --> 01:00:42,900
well?

486
01:00:43,360 --> 01:00:43,620
Thank you.

487
01:00:46,130 --> 01:00:49,650
So through you, Mr. Mayor, to the councillor, so thank you for the question.

488
01:00:51,070 --> 01:01:02,290
So the training is not mandatory and we have really explored this many times and many ways.

489
01:01:02,290 --> 01:01:11,210
And as it stands, it is not mandatory training, but we have an opportunity to kind of convey

490
01:01:11,210 --> 01:01:18,370
that message at executive leadership and hope that they can really encourage their business

491
01:01:18,370 --> 01:01:22,970
unit to prioritize the training, like we have had trainings in the past that have really

492
01:01:22,970 --> 01:01:24,750
been pushed at that level.

493
01:01:24,750 --> 01:01:30,230
and some executive directors and folks at that level

494
01:01:30,230 --> 01:01:33,430
have really encouraged their business unit

495
01:01:33,430 --> 01:01:36,870
to really make it a priority

496
01:01:36,870 --> 01:01:40,050
to complete a variety of different trainings

497
01:01:40,050 --> 01:01:41,690
as it relates to the work that they're doing.

498
01:01:42,450 --> 01:01:46,590
And we have explored ways that we can provide training

499
01:01:46,590 --> 01:01:49,690
to you folks, and that is something that we are very much

500
01:01:49,690 --> 01:01:53,910
open to and we would love to explore and see

501
01:01:53,910 --> 01:01:56,730
how we can bring those training opportunities to you, folks.

502
01:01:57,870 --> 01:02:00,830
I just hope when it does come that we all take the opportunity

503
01:02:01,470 --> 01:02:02,670
and take the training.

504
01:02:03,790 --> 01:02:05,090
Thank you, that's all I had to say.

505
01:02:05,250 --> 01:02:05,470
Thank you.

506
01:02:06,090 --> 01:02:06,790
Thank you very much.

507
01:02:06,930 --> 01:02:08,290
We'll move on to the deputy mayor, please.

508
01:02:09,870 --> 01:02:11,090
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

509
01:02:11,870 --> 01:02:14,950
I happen to cross a new tool that I see

510
01:02:14,950 --> 01:02:20,790
on the employee website map my action plan,

511
01:02:20,790 --> 01:02:28,350
which is kind of looking at ways with employees can find opportunities to help

512
01:02:28,350 --> 01:02:33,650
advance strategic initiatives of the municipality and I thought it was a

513
01:02:33,650 --> 01:02:37,830
I hadn't seen it before and thought it was a rather innovative tool and I see in

514
01:02:37,830 --> 01:02:42,450
that in that map program that there is something for diversity and

515
01:02:42,450 --> 01:02:47,910
inclusion and equity and I was just wondering you know when it comes to

516
01:02:47,910 --> 01:02:52,790
embedding this, you talked about leadership, you talked about embedding it in the organization,

517
01:02:53,690 --> 01:02:59,450
but seeing it at the leadership level and then trickling down.

518
01:02:59,930 --> 01:03:05,070
I'm wondering are there any other tools that are in development or programs that are in development,

519
01:03:05,450 --> 01:03:15,570
or what is the plan for helping to support that embedding this in the organization as a whole?

520
01:03:18,940 --> 01:03:21,760
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor, thank you for the question.

521
01:03:22,980 --> 01:03:28,200
That is a great opportunity for us to do, you know, to really elevate and embed this

522
01:03:28,200 --> 01:03:28,420
work.

523
01:03:29,080 --> 01:03:37,380
So my action plan, your map, is something that, you know, individuals work closely with

524
01:03:37,380 --> 01:03:44,520
their direct report to establish some goals for them as it pertains to a variety of kind

525
01:03:44,520 --> 01:03:47,400
of areas that the organization values.

526
01:03:47,400 --> 01:03:54,560
So embedding, you know, those goals in that, you know, requires a level of accountability.

527
01:03:55,220 --> 01:04:01,480
So I think that that's a great strategy to explore around, you know, like I said, elevating

528
01:04:01,480 --> 01:04:03,480
this and embedding it in the work that we're doing.

529
01:04:03,600 --> 01:04:09,260
And then, at the executive level, they have what I believe is called like a mandate letter.

530
01:04:10,020 --> 01:04:15,800
And it's similar to your map, but it's something that is specifically for folks

531
01:04:15,800 --> 01:04:21,980
that are at the executive leadership level, and typically they do try to have a diversity

532
01:04:21,980 --> 01:04:25,420
inclusion, equity, and accessibility goal in that letter.

533
01:04:25,940 --> 01:04:32,340
So this is something also that we would love to see executive leaders build into that mandate

534
01:04:32,340 --> 01:04:33,600
letter as we move forward.

535
01:04:33,760 --> 01:04:39,540
So, you know, hoping to get approval around the strategy, and that could be where we start

536
01:04:39,540 --> 01:04:47,120
is having executive leadership, have a goal in their mandate letter that applies to the dismantling racism and hate strategy.

537
01:04:48,300 --> 01:05:03,460
Okay, good. Those tangible examples are kind of really, you know, good to understand, you know, in terms of how this is going to roll out and then how that gets measured against the KPIs so we can see the progress. So thank you for that.

538
01:05:04,320 --> 01:05:05,980
Thank you, Councillor Mancini, please.

539
01:05:07,620 --> 01:05:08,800
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

540
01:05:09,140 --> 01:05:12,220
Councilor Hinch, thank you for bringing this forward and asking for the presentation.

541
01:05:12,620 --> 01:05:14,760
Russell, thank you for your leadership on this.

542
01:05:16,340 --> 01:05:17,280
It's interesting, colleagues.

543
01:05:17,460 --> 01:05:22,340
When I'm out speaking on behalf of the municipality and talking to visitors or talking to business

544
01:05:22,340 --> 01:05:26,520
people or just talking to the community, one of the things that I speak most highly of and

545
01:05:26,520 --> 01:05:30,560
that I'm most proud of is the diversity that now exists in our municipality that didn't

546
01:05:30,560 --> 01:05:32,160
exist that not a long ago.

547
01:05:33,080 --> 01:05:42,240
You know, in say that, however, you know, I do see an increase in racism and maybe even

548
01:05:42,240 --> 01:05:42,580
hate.

549
01:05:42,960 --> 01:05:48,640
You know, we've seen examples of the anti-Muslim, the Jewish, African-Nobus, kosher that continues

550
01:05:48,640 --> 01:05:48,980
on.

551
01:05:49,720 --> 01:05:53,660
You know, Councillor Austin and I have seen it against brown people recently when the discussion

552
01:05:53,660 --> 01:06:02,140
about the Dr. of the Commons and cricket versus baseball and ugly words being used and

553
01:06:02,140 --> 01:06:04,940
And it's so disappointing when I see that.

554
01:06:05,640 --> 01:06:09,300
However, in saying that, my daughter's visiting from away and on the weekend she came home

555
01:06:09,300 --> 01:06:10,760
and after taking her Uber drives.

556
01:06:10,760 --> 01:06:11,120
She's dead.

557
01:06:11,200 --> 01:06:12,920
I got to tell you about my experience as an Uber driver.

558
01:06:13,320 --> 01:06:18,440
He's from East India and he said he traveled, lived all over the world and he now lives here.

559
01:06:19,100 --> 01:06:24,180
And he says, H-R-M, Nova Scotia, has been the most welcoming place he's ever lived in.

560
01:06:24,540 --> 01:06:25,500
And this is now his home.

561
01:06:26,180 --> 01:06:30,880
And I was so proud to hear those words because at the same time talking about what we see

562
01:06:30,880 --> 01:06:33,260
is an increase in racism and hate.

563
01:06:34,220 --> 01:06:36,360
And your words about your words are easy, right?

564
01:06:36,420 --> 01:06:37,040
We do the acknowledgement.

565
01:06:37,260 --> 01:06:38,920
Now we do the African Nova Scotia announcement,

566
01:06:39,320 --> 01:06:40,320
along with the big modern announcement.

567
01:06:40,740 --> 01:06:41,880
There were words, right?

568
01:06:42,320 --> 01:06:47,200
And the real showing that we are a welcome community

569
01:06:47,200 --> 01:06:49,900
is action as you alluded to in your presentation.

570
01:06:50,520 --> 01:06:52,360
So the question I have is you alluded

571
01:06:52,360 --> 01:06:56,360
to being responsive when incidents of racism and hate,

572
01:06:56,520 --> 01:06:59,320
how many essential urgency, my two questions

573
01:06:59,320 --> 01:07:22,840
is related to that Russell, is that, is the work that you do simply internal to HRM or will you also respond to these incidents that when they happen outside of our workplace, and can you give us some examples when you say you respond to those actions when they happen in that sense of urgency, can you give me someone to an example, what does that mean, what's that possibly look like? Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

574
01:07:25,520 --> 01:07:28,440
So, through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor, thank you for the question.

575
01:07:30,220 --> 01:07:37,800
So, when we're looking at the response, so hate is, you know, it's a crime.

576
01:07:38,040 --> 01:07:43,920
So, the reporting would be going through police, but we also want to look at the things

577
01:07:43,920 --> 01:07:49,940
that we can do within the organization in terms of the supports that we provide to folks

578
01:07:49,940 --> 01:07:56,200
that are receiving, or on the receiving end, or the victims of all forms of hate discrimination, racism.

579
01:07:56,740 --> 01:07:59,880
So we want to make sure that we have the supports readily available.

580
01:08:00,060 --> 01:08:04,760
We want to make sure that we have the culturally sensitive and responsive training for

581
01:08:04,760 --> 01:08:11,060
all the frontline folks that are going to be like first responders to make sure that it's not going to further the harm or

582
01:08:11,060 --> 01:08:13,640
the impact that's been already received.

583
01:08:13,640 --> 01:08:42,920
And we want to look at what we can do internally what we're exploring, how we can work with 311 in terms of how we're collecting and receiving calls, logging those calls, 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, 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.

584
01:08:42,920 --> 01:08:51,320
So that's really how we see, you know, the work, you know, the next kind of steps that we're going to be taking.

585
01:08:51,880 --> 01:08:54,860
You know, these are all new things that we'll be doing.

586
01:08:55,320 --> 01:08:58,900
You know, the scope of this work is continuing to grow and broaden.

587
01:08:59,120 --> 01:09:11,060
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.

588
01:09:12,020 --> 01:09:15,020
appreciate that so much. I'm thinking, you know, I'm looking at my colleagues with the Board of

589
01:09:15,020 --> 01:09:19,680
Police Commissioner here at Councilor Tennis Councilor Hinch. I mean, I think, you know, we may

590
01:09:19,680 --> 01:09:23,140
be able to discuss how you actually come and speak to the Board of Police Commissioner, the more

591
01:09:23,140 --> 01:09:27,100
that we talk about this topic, how it relates to first we spotted, how it relates to police and

592
01:09:27,100 --> 01:09:31,820
that community engagement. So I'll take that as a takeaway myself and we'll follow up with you on

593
01:09:31,820 --> 01:09:34,440
that. Russell, thanks for your work, man. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

594
01:09:35,440 --> 01:09:37,400
Thank you very much. Moving on to Councilor Steele, please.

595
01:09:38,460 --> 01:09:42,920
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thanks for the presentation, Russell.

596
01:09:43,340 --> 01:09:49,740
One of the questions I have when we talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and anti-hate

597
01:09:49,740 --> 01:09:57,360
strategies, I wonder about how HRM employees reflect the communities we serve.

598
01:09:57,860 --> 01:10:06,740
So I do know that there is, or I understand, there's an ability to self-identify on applications

599
01:10:06,740 --> 01:10:09,580
or on employee profiles.

600
01:10:10,520 --> 01:10:13,240
Are we collecting any data on that?

601
01:10:13,440 --> 01:10:15,060
I know you mentioned the importance of data

602
01:10:15,060 --> 01:10:16,260
and collecting data.

603
01:10:17,820 --> 01:10:21,740
Certainly, I know that many public administrations

604
01:10:22,280 --> 01:10:26,720
look at trying to reflect the communities they are serving.

605
01:10:27,360 --> 01:10:29,460
So, if you're serving X communities,

606
01:10:29,660 --> 01:10:32,120
you would like to have members of that community presence.

607
01:10:32,380 --> 01:10:34,000
So, are we collecting data?

608
01:10:34,000 --> 01:10:40,980
do we have any, and I know it's difficult because people often don't choose to self-identify

609
01:10:40,980 --> 01:10:48,100
or choose not to self-identify. So I'm curious about where we are with this because I know we've

610
01:10:48,100 --> 01:10:55,460
been working as a municipality on attempting to include diversity, equity, and inclusion in many

611
01:10:55,460 --> 01:11:00,980
of our programs and policies for a long time. So I'm curious if we are making progress and then I have

612
01:11:00,980 --> 01:11:03,580
a few other questions, should there be some time remaining?

613
01:11:08,080 --> 01:11:10,840
So through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor, thank you for the question.

614
01:11:11,420 --> 01:11:20,300
So this is an area that we have to continuously continue to try to find ways to improve, and

615
01:11:20,300 --> 01:11:26,040
the thing that sometimes becomes a challenge is that a lot of times when we're engaging

616
01:11:26,040 --> 01:11:29,340
folks like employees, it's voluntary.

617
01:11:30,020 --> 01:11:36,020
So, folks aren't always comfortable with providing that feedback, and so that just shows

618
01:11:36,020 --> 01:11:42,460
that we need to improve the relationships that we have with our employees and ensure

619
01:11:42,460 --> 01:11:47,100
that they do feel a sense of security, psychological safety, and things like that in the workplace

620
01:11:47,100 --> 01:11:50,920
to be able to share and self-identify that information.

621
01:11:51,120 --> 01:11:55,040
So that's something that we're continuously trying to look at ways that we can improve

622
01:11:55,040 --> 01:12:01,620
how we ask those questions and again create pathways for those folks to feel safe enough

623
01:12:01,620 --> 01:12:06,400
to share that with us so that we can use that information to inform the things that

624
01:12:06,400 --> 01:12:11,820
we are going to be implementing and how we are responding to different issues that we

625
01:12:11,820 --> 01:12:21,000
know that are taking place in our workplaces so it's going to be an ongoing thing. We have

626
01:12:21,000 --> 01:12:27,120
have seen an increase in participation, but it's not nearly at the rate that we would

627
01:12:27,120 --> 01:12:27,840
like it to be at.

628
01:12:28,560 --> 01:12:37,500
Okay. Okay. I have a few more questions. One relates to how do you know about the hate

629
01:12:37,500 --> 01:12:43,320
incidents that are occurring in the municipality? Do you find out from community safety, from police,

630
01:12:43,700 --> 01:12:49,080
and then when you say, and this is building on Council Mancini's question, then when

631
01:12:49,080 --> 01:12:51,800
Can you say you support, provide support?

632
01:12:52,080 --> 01:12:58,940
Do you provide support to external stakeholders or is it to internal staff?

633
01:12:59,380 --> 01:13:01,580
I was curious who receives the support.

634
01:13:05,640 --> 01:13:07,420
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the councillor.

635
01:13:07,980 --> 01:13:16,300
So when we're looking at the response, so, you know, like I said, those, you know, complaints

636
01:13:16,300 --> 01:13:22,160
go typically, they're going to go through to the police, but there is collaboration there.

637
01:13:22,160 --> 01:13:28,420
So, community safety, public safety work closely with HRP, so that information does get shared.

638
01:13:28,960 --> 01:13:35,360
And through those partnerships and relationships, that information is shared with us as well.

639
01:13:35,660 --> 01:13:41,720
So that we can consult and advise on best responses and things of that nature.

640
01:13:42,340 --> 01:13:50,660
But in terms of the support that's being offered, that initially is something that we're focusing on with our employees,

641
01:13:50,660 --> 01:13:57,060
like our front line staff, our first responders folks, so we want to make sure that when they're engaging

642
01:13:57,060 --> 01:14:04,160
with folks in crisis and things of that nature, that they have the, you know, the most up-to-date

643
01:14:04,160 --> 01:14:10,820
training as possible to ensure that they're providing a level of service to whoever that they're

644
01:14:10,820 --> 01:14:16,960
in contact with. So your target is the internal employees who are front line? Okay, I have a couple more

645
01:14:16,960 --> 01:14:24,280
things. You mentioned, you referenced the mandate letters for senior leadership. I

646
01:14:24,280 --> 01:14:30,080
think that's the CAO's territory, but you mentioned that you thought that there were

647
01:14:30,080 --> 01:14:37,620
requirements to undertake action related to diversity and equity and inclusion, but that

648
01:14:37,620 --> 01:14:42,460
we're not sure that that's in the letter. Is that the case?

649
01:14:44,560 --> 01:14:45,320
Oh, I'm out of time.

650
01:14:47,880 --> 01:14:56,880
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the councillor, so I believe that this is something that, you know, the CAO would, you know, determine.

651
01:15:09,800 --> 01:15:11,040
Thank you.

652
01:15:15,790 --> 01:15:32,350
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Through you to the Councillor. I just wanted to pick up on that question raised by Councillor Steele just to confirm that diversity inclusion considerations are mandatory part of the mandate letters. I think what Mr. Brooks said is right.

653
01:15:32,350 --> 01:15:39,210
was referring to is specifics around the implementation of the strategy itself.

654
01:15:41,470 --> 01:15:42,750
Thank you for that clarification.

655
01:15:43,030 --> 01:15:44,390
We'll move on to Councillor Young, please.

656
01:15:45,650 --> 01:15:46,070
Thank you.

657
01:15:46,470 --> 01:15:47,090
Pardon me.

658
01:15:47,210 --> 01:15:47,790
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

659
01:15:48,410 --> 01:15:49,810
Thank you, Russell, for the presentation.

660
01:15:50,070 --> 01:15:50,870
I have three questions.

661
01:15:52,270 --> 01:15:58,830
In Attachant 1, Pades 5, paragraph 3, it reads municipal policies are aligned with the

662
01:15:58,830 --> 01:16:04,490
equity-based best practices to ensure that organizational structures and decision-making

663
01:16:05,030 --> 01:16:12,090
processes actively address racism discrimination and exclusion.

664
01:16:13,630 --> 01:16:21,990
In saying that, does this include the MPS, land use bylaws, service boundaries, and current

665
01:16:21,990 --> 01:16:27,130
and new development agreements in historically black communities or

666
01:16:27,130 --> 01:16:31,510
African Nova Scotia communities, especially if the African Nova Scotia community

667
01:16:31,510 --> 01:16:36,550
committees are currently working with the ANSCAP team. Number one, number two,

668
01:16:36,870 --> 01:16:46,290
the grant program that is under the anti-black racism, what are you putting in

669
01:16:46,290 --> 01:16:55,770
place for legacy is your grant program looking into legacy for recording and data collecting

670
01:16:55,770 --> 01:17:06,050
for future generations. Number three, what is being done to avoid duplications of services

671
01:17:07,310 --> 01:17:13,430
by other stakeholders in the community for accountability purposes and this is under your

672
01:17:13,430 --> 01:17:15,490
in bidding accountability section.

673
01:17:16,550 --> 01:17:16,850
Thank you.

674
01:17:22,520 --> 01:17:25,500
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor, thank you for the questions.

675
01:17:26,220 --> 01:17:29,500
So I want to do my best to go through your three questions.

676
01:17:29,780 --> 01:17:37,760
So the first question regarding the bylaws and the things around planning and development,

677
01:17:38,440 --> 01:17:48,500
so provided the strategy gets endorsed, we will move forward with the implementation of the

678
01:17:48,500 --> 01:17:54,160
the action items and so we will start, I shouldn't say start, we'll continue working closely

679
01:17:54,160 --> 01:17:59,400
with ANSCAP and looking at the ways that we can improve the work that they're doing.

680
01:18:00,320 --> 01:18:07,240
That initiative is fairly new and it's doing some great work and so we'll look at ways

681
01:18:07,240 --> 01:18:11,780
that we can leverage and amplify those efforts as it moves forward.

682
01:18:11,780 --> 01:18:18,120
Okay, to your second question regarding the anti-black racism grants program.

683
01:18:19,440 --> 01:18:31,560
Right now as it sits the program has priorities that are making up the program and there's

684
01:18:31,560 --> 01:18:39,100
eligible expenditures and ineligible expenditures so right now if the application falls under

685
01:18:39,100 --> 01:18:41,920
those guidelines, then it would be considered.

686
01:18:42,740 --> 01:18:46,880
So as long as the applicants can work within those parameters, and like we've really worked

687
01:18:46,880 --> 01:18:52,100
closely with, you know, even Peta Jane and her team, the community grants folks to really

688
01:18:52,100 --> 01:18:57,220
look at ways that we can remove some of the barriers that existed in other grant opportunities

689
01:18:57,220 --> 01:18:58,980
and funding opportunities.

690
01:18:58,980 --> 01:19:04,960
So we really wanted to try to remove those as much as we can, but also make sure that it aligns

691
01:19:04,960 --> 01:19:07,840
with the work that we're undertaking and trying to advance here.

692
01:19:07,840 --> 01:19:11,840
So like I said, as long as it fits within those requirements,

693
01:19:12,180 --> 01:19:15,740
checks the necessary boxes in terms of, you know,

694
01:19:16,040 --> 01:19:17,900
the categories that we're looking to address,

695
01:19:18,540 --> 01:19:22,320
then we would consider funding any application that we receive.

696
01:19:22,980 --> 01:19:23,160
Okay.

697
01:19:24,400 --> 01:19:29,580
Third question was around accountability.

698
01:19:30,360 --> 01:19:33,240
The duplication of services via the stakeholders and the community.

699
01:19:33,960 --> 01:19:36,920
So what's being done based on accountability?

700
01:19:36,920 --> 01:19:41,680
ability to put the roadblocks in, so we're not

701
01:19:41,680 --> 01:19:47,240
doing the same services in particularly in the African

702
01:19:47,240 --> 01:19:48,020
Nova Scotia community.

703
01:19:48,820 --> 01:19:52,900
So as much as we can, we always try to be mindful of that.

704
01:19:54,020 --> 01:19:58,640
There are things that are beyond our influence

705
01:19:59,180 --> 01:20:02,600
that we don't have control over, but we do try to make sure

706
01:20:02,600 --> 01:20:04,560
that we're not reinventing the wheel, so to speak,

707
01:20:04,560 --> 01:20:10,620
when there's already, you know, meaningful initiatives and programs and

708
01:20:10,620 --> 01:20:13,960
things of that nature that are already addressing certain things, but if

709
01:20:13,960 --> 01:20:18,480
there's ways that we can try to collaborate with folks to enhance the impact

710
01:20:18,480 --> 01:20:22,920
and broaden the reach, then we'll explore the ways that we can do that when we

711
01:20:22,920 --> 01:20:28,320
can, but there are always going to be external folks that are doing work that we

712
01:20:28,320 --> 01:20:32,520
don't have any influence over, and you know, we can't really hold those folks

713
01:20:32,520 --> 01:20:36,020
accountable outside of, like I said, our municipal scope.

714
01:20:36,780 --> 01:20:38,060
Okay, thank you.

715
01:20:38,580 --> 01:20:41,300
Thank you very much and we'll move to Councillor Santamon, please.

716
01:20:42,720 --> 01:20:47,280
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, Russell, for your leadership on this and your thoughtful

717
01:20:47,280 --> 01:20:49,940
responses to all of the questions that have been asked thus far.

718
01:20:50,740 --> 01:20:56,740
I wanted to pick up on what Councillor Hinch asked about with respect to, you know, whether

719
01:20:56,740 --> 01:20:59,060
training is mandatory or simply available.

720
01:20:59,060 --> 01:21:04,980
There are some limitations that even I've bumped into, I mean, in taking on this job, I

721
01:21:04,980 --> 01:21:08,240
quickly become very aware of what I don't know.

722
01:21:09,300 --> 01:21:15,760
And so as empathetic as I am and as progressive as I feel, I know there's lots of room

723
01:21:15,760 --> 01:21:16,360
to improve.

724
01:21:16,600 --> 01:21:21,440
And I think your training that would be available from your department would help every

725
01:21:21,440 --> 01:21:23,480
counselor around the table be better at their job.

726
01:21:23,480 --> 01:21:30,880
And I've asked about training that is made available to HRM employees before and it was

727
01:21:30,880 --> 01:21:36,720
not available to Council and that to me meant that we've got a little bit of gap filling

728
01:21:36,720 --> 01:21:42,140
to do because there are some great opportunities for training that are made available to HRM

729
01:21:42,140 --> 01:21:47,700
employees that are arguably I guess the thinking would be their frontline employees, but so

730
01:21:47,700 --> 01:21:50,300
or we, we're just in a completely different capacity.

731
01:21:51,060 --> 01:21:55,100
And so I would love to have the opportunity to take some of the training that's available

732
01:21:55,100 --> 01:21:55,740
from your team.

733
01:21:56,700 --> 01:21:59,720
So, and maybe the requirement is broader.

734
01:21:59,900 --> 01:22:03,880
Maybe it's that the training that would be made available to council would be so specialized,

735
01:22:04,200 --> 01:22:08,200
so unique because we are a unique body among HRM's team.

736
01:22:08,720 --> 01:22:09,920
We're not the typical employee.

737
01:22:10,400 --> 01:22:14,720
We interact with the public in a very different way and Councillor Mancini referred to that.

738
01:22:14,720 --> 01:22:20,840
that, you know, we wind up in community facing some of the unique challenges that are presented

739
01:22:20,840 --> 01:22:27,120
by our residents, particularly when it comes to fighting racism that, you know, we may

740
01:22:27,120 --> 01:22:30,700
or may not all universally come to this job with the tools to combat.

741
01:22:31,120 --> 01:22:36,200
So I think your team would be able to provide us with tremendously valuable insight into how

742
01:22:36,200 --> 01:22:41,380
to manage expectations with the community, what kind of information would be valuable for

743
01:22:41,380 --> 01:22:47,600
the community to connect with in an effort to provide the community with a better sense

744
01:22:47,600 --> 01:22:54,600
of what it is that the municipality is doing or not doing, I think there may be a missed

745
01:22:54,600 --> 01:22:58,420
opportunity there, and I'm eager to weigh in on this idea that whether it's mandatory

746
01:22:58,420 --> 01:23:05,380
or not, even if it's just available to council, to learn from at least access some of the resources

747
01:23:05,380 --> 01:23:20,380
that are available to quote unquote traditional HRM employees so that we have some of that insight and not to mention the fact that we will then have an awareness of what our teams that are interacting with the public are learning and therefore able to implement.

748
01:23:21,060 --> 01:23:35,100
So the one thing that I would want to put on your radar is give some thought as to what the unique nature of training might be that would be applicable to council, whether it's exactly the same as what frontline employees at HRM and various different business units would wind up needing.

749
01:23:35,100 --> 01:23:51,380
or whether there's some other type of training that you would feel from your position of expertise would be beneficial for council to be able to take in that would make us better at our job because you will be able to help move the needle on that front in a way that we would never be able to achieve on our own.

750
01:23:52,260 --> 01:23:52,740
Thank you.

751
01:23:52,740 --> 01:23:53,520
Through

752
01:23:59,470 --> 01:24:03,230
you, Mr. Mayor, to the councilor, I don't really feel like it was a question, but I appreciate

753
01:24:04,010 --> 01:24:05,590
You know everything that you shared and

754
01:24:06,450 --> 01:24:12,770
You know through the leadership of Tracy Jones Grant the managing director working closely with HR and just looking at you know

755
01:24:12,770 --> 01:24:17,590
What we might be able to do in terms of providing those training opportunities?

756
01:24:18,210 --> 01:24:20,370
I think that there's immense value in it

757
01:24:20,370 --> 01:24:27,710
So I think that you know we can take it away and see what we might be able to do to provide that training to you folks

758
01:24:30,030 --> 01:24:32,710
Okay. Thank you very much, Councillor Devil again, please.

759
01:24:33,590 --> 01:24:38,690
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Hinch, for requesting the presentation.

760
01:24:38,690 --> 01:24:46,690
It was much needed and much appreciated. Thank you, Russell, very much. You know, they

761
01:24:46,690 --> 01:24:58,110
always say that it's the details that scare you. And the strategy and the presentation, you

762
01:24:58,110 --> 01:25:03,190
unit within HRM and you know I know that right now it's not the financial

763
01:25:03,190 --> 01:25:08,170
ask and that following this it says no the business units will determine the

764
01:25:08,170 --> 01:25:14,070
timeline and the cost for any specific initiatives. This is a huge piece of

765
01:25:14,070 --> 01:25:20,270
work that is in front of you now and I guess I'm kind of wondering how long do

766
01:25:20,270 --> 01:25:26,030
you think it will take the business units or is there any estimate from today to

767
01:25:26,030 --> 01:25:31,170
when we might see a timeline and the cost? Is this something that we're going to see in this budget

768
01:25:31,890 --> 01:25:35,810
year maybe or is it going to be something that we see in the next budget year?

769
01:25:37,610 --> 01:25:46,510
And just if I may, Councillor Young, one of the items on consent today was around the centralized

770
01:25:46,510 --> 01:25:52,950
grant concept. So, you know, PGA has very nicely given us a parting gift of some homework,

771
01:25:52,950 --> 01:26:00,230
And within that concept of developing the centralized grant, we might see there where maybe there might be duplication services.

772
01:26:00,670 --> 01:26:09,330
We'll see duplication or where there is complimentary funding available to different service providers so that actually might be something helpful.

773
01:26:10,130 --> 01:26:14,450
But back to my question really about this timeline and how the business units will do it.

774
01:26:15,010 --> 01:26:22,250
One of the words that I caught in the presentation was inclusive procurement as well.

775
01:26:22,250 --> 01:26:28,190
I know that we have worked really hard for our social procurement policy, and so I'm

776
01:26:28,190 --> 01:26:33,990
wondering how you're seeing an evolution of the social procurement policy to something else.

777
01:26:33,990 --> 01:26:39,470
We have to be so careful when we call something inclusive that it has in different genres,

778
01:26:39,890 --> 01:26:47,410
a specific definition. So I was just thinking about that. So timeline and then social procurement

779
01:26:47,410 --> 01:26:54,690
and inclusive procurement, there was probably two items that might be made of response on, thank you so much.

780
01:26:58,610 --> 01:27:02,310
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor, again, thank you for the questions.

781
01:27:03,310 --> 01:27:20,150
So to the first question around the timeline, so it's laid out in attachment to, so we have already engaged with every single business unit across the organization, and we have shared the action items with those business units.

782
01:27:20,150 --> 01:27:23,350
and we've worked with those business units on those timelines.

783
01:27:24,230 --> 01:27:26,650
So initially when we did the outreach,

784
01:27:27,430 --> 01:27:29,430
you know, we had the conversation around, is this realistic?

785
01:27:30,190 --> 01:27:33,210
Because we do want to ensure that these timelines are realistic.

786
01:27:34,330 --> 01:27:36,950
So we had conversations, some of the timelines increased,

787
01:27:37,190 --> 01:27:39,470
some of them decreased, like, you know, those are things that are going to happen.

788
01:27:40,490 --> 01:27:44,250
You know, and we, as much as we are subject matter experts on,

789
01:27:44,590 --> 01:27:48,310
you know, the work that we lead, we're not subject matter experts on

790
01:27:48,310 --> 01:27:50,290
the things that are being led by other business units.

791
01:27:50,610 --> 01:27:56,990
So again, we had those conversations with those folks to determine if these timelines were realistic.

792
01:27:57,330 --> 01:28:04,490
So based on what we have here in attachment to, those timelines have been agreed upon by the business units.

793
01:28:04,790 --> 01:28:10,650
And it's something that they believe that we can successfully implement within that timeframe.

794
01:28:10,650 --> 01:28:22,570
To the question around the budget or financial implications, there is a likelihood that we

795
01:28:22,570 --> 01:28:26,210
will come back at some time seeking funding, whether or not we get it.

796
01:28:26,490 --> 01:28:31,330
That's to be determined, but we will be trying to explore as many opportunities as possible

797
01:28:31,790 --> 01:28:33,450
to apply for funding.

798
01:28:33,450 --> 01:28:41,710
the province is really working at developing a list of available funding and resources

799
01:28:41,710 --> 01:28:45,530
that is being shared with everyone that's undertaking this work.

800
01:28:46,230 --> 01:28:53,970
And so like I already have started some applications, but seeking the approval and the endorsement

801
01:28:53,970 --> 01:28:57,410
of this work is required before I can actually submit those applications.

802
01:28:57,750 --> 01:29:01,870
So we'll have some work ahead of me to try to secure funding.

803
01:29:01,870 --> 01:29:06,370
Thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you for that. Councillor Morse, please.

804
01:29:08,560 --> 01:29:12,820
Thank you, Mr. Marin. Thank you, Russell, for the report and presentation and all the work

805
01:29:12,820 --> 01:29:19,700
that you've done to bring this forward. I'm wondering if you could say a little bit more about the

806
01:29:19,700 --> 01:29:28,020
311 enhancements, maybe a bit more detail around those recommendations you have, how we can improve 311.

807
01:29:28,020 --> 01:29:33,860
one. And just similar to Councillor Degro Gammon, I'm concerned, you know, I've seen over

808
01:29:33,860 --> 01:29:39,920
the years we have wonderful strategies, wonderful plans, but we don't always resource them.

809
01:29:41,380 --> 01:29:46,980
And until we have some finances attached, some resources attached, we can't make a lot

810
01:29:46,980 --> 01:29:52,140
of progress. So I'm just a little bit worried about that end of things. And you know, when

811
01:29:52,140 --> 01:29:55,480
And we might see, you know, sort of a financial plan.

812
01:29:55,620 --> 01:29:57,100
You mentioned that there will be...

813
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:15,280
But will it be advancing the same priorities that you have and your team has and council has? So I just like to know a little bit more about how we're going to match the strategy with the financial resources that are needed. Thank you.

814
01:30:19,990 --> 01:30:33,390
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor. Thank you for the questions. So regarding the first question around the 311b, so that is something that we'll be working with those folks with to determine kind of what

815
01:30:33,390 --> 01:30:39,190
But what can be captured, you know, what are the things like, you know, we're exploring

816
01:30:39,190 --> 01:30:40,470
like is there additional training?

817
01:30:41,210 --> 01:30:46,450
Is there additional, like if we're talking about like translation services and things

818
01:30:46,450 --> 01:30:46,830
like that?

819
01:30:46,950 --> 01:30:51,010
Because those have been barriers for people to even call 3-1-1, so we want to look at like,

820
01:30:51,310 --> 01:30:57,330
what are the things that we can develop so that they're available and that folks are able

821
01:30:57,330 --> 01:31:01,650
to respond, whether there's a complaint or concern, that they feel like they have the

822
01:31:01,650 --> 01:31:06,630
proper channels to be able to do that, so those some of the pieces that will be working closely with 3-1-1.

823
01:31:07,170 --> 01:31:14,010
I just trying to assess what's not available, what needs to be available, and then how do we bring that to life.

824
01:31:14,870 --> 01:31:22,550
And to your second question around the funding and resourcing around this, the

825
01:31:25,110 --> 01:31:28,170
small but mighty diversity and inclusion team will be

826
01:31:28,170 --> 01:31:34,630
We–shouldering a big brunt of the heavy lifting here but we will be, you know, working

827
01:31:34,630 --> 01:31:39,190
closely, like I said in partnership with all business units and determining kind of

828
01:31:39,190 --> 01:31:44,290
what this looks like and how do we – and ensure that we are actually able to advance

829
01:31:44,290 --> 01:31:51,570
this work, and advance it in a way that results in impact, it results in folks fuelling a sense

830
01:31:51,570 --> 01:31:57,610
of psychological safety, belonging, inclusion, you know, all of these things that we really

831
01:31:57,610 --> 01:32:05,510
we hope to accomplish through this work and through the funding that we'll be seeking externally,

832
01:32:07,150 --> 01:32:11,770
they're already looking at ways to, or sorry not ways to, but they're looking at the

833
01:32:13,410 --> 01:32:14,610
eligibility requirements.

834
01:32:15,350 --> 01:32:20,390
So we'll be looking at those same eligibility requirements, so we'll be looking at the action

835
01:32:20,390 --> 01:32:26,370
items and determining what action items fall under this funding opportunity.

836
01:32:26,370 --> 01:32:41,410
So, you know, it very well may look like we're applying for multiple grants, multiple, you know, funding opportunities to resource and to back the work that we're undertaking.

837
01:32:41,690 --> 01:32:50,630
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.

838
01:32:50,630 --> 01:32:53,230
and then ensuring that we get our application in.

839
01:32:53,710 --> 01:32:57,510
We work with the province to help strengthen those applications.

840
01:32:58,150 --> 01:33:02,670
Because obviously we really hope to secure that funding to take some of that financial burden

841
01:33:02,670 --> 01:33:06,250
and responsibility off of future budget considerations.

842
01:33:07,090 --> 01:33:08,290
Okay, thank you very much.

843
01:33:08,410 --> 01:33:08,530
Thanks.

844
01:33:09,510 --> 01:33:10,770
Okay, thank you, Russell.

845
01:33:10,910 --> 01:33:12,110
I don't see any other names on the list.

846
01:33:12,230 --> 01:33:17,670
I'll just jump in and say on behalf of the council, tremendous thanks to you and Tracey and

847
01:33:17,670 --> 01:33:23,770
team for a very substantial and timely piece of work here. This is really important. I was listening

848
01:33:23,770 --> 01:33:29,970
very carefully to hear how the community will continue to be involved in making sure that this

849
01:33:29,970 --> 01:33:35,670
is a live document and that evolves as it needs to. And I heard that in sections three and four of

850
01:33:35,670 --> 01:33:43,250
your action plan, listen and learn. So thank you for that. And I think we're all really excited about

851
01:33:43,250 --> 01:33:47,570
those two forward facing pieces, the dashboard and the report card and how that can also continue

852
01:33:47,570 --> 01:33:51,850
to include community and keep a solid price. So I don't have a question. I just wanted to share

853
01:33:51,850 --> 01:33:57,850
those thoughts with you and again to say thanks for the incredible work. Thank you. And colleagues,

854
01:33:57,910 --> 01:34:01,230
with that, what is your pleasure? Question is called in

855
01:34:15,920 --> 01:34:17,900
the motion carries. Thank you very much.

856
01:34:19,380 --> 01:34:25,180
Okay, colleagues. We will move on then to item 10.2, proposed amendments to administrative order 29,

857
01:34:35,100 --> 01:34:39,510
I can put the motion on the floor, Mr. Mayor,

858
01:34:42,090 --> 01:34:55,610
I move that Halifax Regional Council adopt the proposed amendments to administrative order 29, respecting civic addressing policies that set out an attachment a of the staff report dated June 9th, 2026 to approve one.

859
01:34:55,610 --> 01:35:05,210
The renaming of Garden Court, Dartmouth, to Barry's Run Court, Dartmouth, and to the renaming of Linwood Drive Halifax to Rockingham Drive Halifax.

860
01:35:07,900 --> 01:35:10,720
I think I saw Councillor Steele's hand up there on the second.

861
01:35:16,720 --> 01:35:29,060
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.

862
01:35:30,660 --> 01:35:35,900
Just to recap, about Linwood Drive, I don't think there are too many issues about Garden

863
01:35:35,900 --> 01:35:40,080
Court changing the name to Barry's run, but about Linwood Drive.

864
01:35:40,540 --> 01:35:43,500
This is one of three Linwood drives in HRM.

865
01:35:44,480 --> 01:35:50,820
It has to do with after a malgommation, having a lot of duplicate street names, and we're

866
01:35:50,820 --> 01:35:55,540
in the process of changing them to avoid confusion mainly for first responders.

867
01:35:57,220 --> 01:36:01,800
Linnwood Drive in my district was chosen for the name change because it has the fewest

868
01:36:01,800 --> 01:36:06,660
residents, which is part of our protocol when changing street names.

869
01:36:06,660 --> 01:36:10,100
We choose to impact the fewest number of residents as we can.

870
01:36:11,760 --> 01:36:17,320
So when this was first proposed about a year ago, there were strong objections from some

871
01:36:17,320 --> 01:36:24,880
residents on heritage grounds, and I did not understand how the name Linnwood had a heritage

872
01:36:24,880 --> 01:36:32,660
connection. So I asked our heritage staff to look into it, and they did a very extensive

873
01:36:32,660 --> 01:36:38,600
search of archives, old newspapers, and that sort of thing. And they were not able to

874
01:36:38,600 --> 01:36:48,140
find a clear connection. Since then, about 750 people have signed a petition objecting

875
01:36:48,140 --> 01:36:54,680
to the name change. And I think that we have to consider what it would mean if we changed

876
01:36:54,680 --> 01:36:57,280
to the name against the wishes of so many people.

877
01:37:00,020 --> 01:37:05,040
Linwood Drive was the first home for some of HRM's earliest immigrants from Lebanon.

878
01:37:06,640 --> 01:37:12,760
And the objections are mainly coming from Sister's Petition Paula Arab, whose family made

879
01:37:12,760 --> 01:37:14,820
their first home on Linwood Drive.

880
01:37:15,860 --> 01:37:23,520
And their home became a welcome center and an orientation center for dozens of families

881
01:37:23,520 --> 01:37:32,860
from Lebanon, you know, through their openness and their generosity, Linwood Drive became

882
01:37:32,860 --> 01:37:36,520
kind of a community center for the families who followed.

883
01:37:37,380 --> 01:37:44,000
And so that kind of history isn't really written down or always documented in archives.

884
01:37:44,820 --> 01:37:51,640
It's, you know, can be oral history, can be history found in the hearts and minds of people

885
01:37:51,640 --> 01:37:59,320
who left a home in Lebanon and chose Halifax as their new home with the help of their new community.

886
01:38:00,340 --> 01:38:11,540
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.

887
01:38:12,560 --> 01:38:19,400
And we do not as a council have a process as yet for how to take this history into account.

888
01:38:19,400 --> 01:38:25,120
And when there are so many objections to a street name, I think we need to maybe look

889
01:38:25,120 --> 01:38:30,980
at a different process, and staff have suggested one in alternative two.

890
01:38:32,060 --> 01:38:38,260
So that's my preamble and I can, I think what I'm recommending is that we vote down

891
01:38:38,260 --> 01:38:44,120
the initial motion and go with alternative two, but I welcome my colleagues comments on

892
01:38:44,120 --> 01:38:44,280
this.

893
01:38:44,640 --> 01:38:44,860
Thank you.

894
01:38:45,640 --> 01:38:48,160
Thank you very much and we'll go to Councilor Mancini, please.

895
01:38:48,920 --> 01:38:49,900
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

896
01:38:50,220 --> 01:38:57,540
You know, this is why we bring things like this to Council because typically 95% of the

897
01:38:57,540 --> 01:39:02,680
time, 99% of the time we see these name changes and we give it a thumbs up and away we go.

898
01:39:04,080 --> 01:39:09,920
The question I have for staff and I support what the Councilor is going to do in recommending

899
01:39:09,920 --> 01:39:10,740
the alternative.

900
01:39:10,740 --> 01:39:13,400
But, you know, what's the definition of historic?

901
01:39:13,920 --> 01:39:15,980
What's the definition of heritage, right?

902
01:39:16,420 --> 01:39:18,240
So when the councilor went away and said,

903
01:39:18,320 --> 01:39:22,080
look, there's a claim of heritage here, status,

904
01:39:22,500 --> 01:39:24,920
staff went away and didn't, couldn't find anything, right?

905
01:39:25,380 --> 01:39:27,800
There's a claim by the Arab family

906
01:39:27,800 --> 01:39:31,020
that there's a historic presence to this address,

907
01:39:31,020 --> 01:39:31,720
to the street.

908
01:39:32,360 --> 01:39:34,640
And so I would hope when staff,

909
01:39:34,880 --> 01:39:37,560
if we approve, it would turn down the emotions

910
01:39:37,560 --> 01:39:43,200
in the floor and approve the alternative, that part of it is coming back with a definition

911
01:39:43,200 --> 01:39:49,340
to understand this. So again, this is why we do it. I know Councillor Borson and I have

912
01:39:49,340 --> 01:39:52,820
many conversations on this topic, we're a little concerned, it's the right thing to do,

913
01:39:52,940 --> 01:39:58,060
because the process is if there's multiple streets to pick the street with the fewest residents

914
01:39:58,060 --> 01:40:03,060
on it, and that's typically our process, but this is worth while a second look.

915
01:40:03,460 --> 01:40:06,160
And I'm also appreciative, we're not making the decision today, yay or nay.

916
01:40:06,160 --> 01:40:11,260
All right, let's go forward, let's fly more information, let's bring that back and then

917
01:40:11,260 --> 01:40:12,860
have a discussion at that point in time.

918
01:40:13,120 --> 01:40:18,860
So I support the intent to turn down the motion of floor and then support the alternative

919
01:40:18,860 --> 01:40:19,900
that will be posed.

920
01:40:20,260 --> 01:40:23,860
I just asked the Heritage Historic Definition to be part of it.

921
01:40:23,980 --> 01:40:24,220
Thank you.

922
01:40:24,700 --> 01:40:25,380
Thank you.

923
01:40:25,560 --> 01:40:26,300
Councillor Young, please.

924
01:40:27,840 --> 01:40:28,920
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

925
01:40:29,180 --> 01:40:30,080
I just have a little question.

926
01:40:30,080 --> 01:40:36,840
So what was the alternative to Councillor Morrison's referring to?

927
01:40:37,820 --> 01:40:39,860
I could read the alternative if I was helpful.

928
01:40:41,160 --> 01:40:48,040
The councillor is proposing that we accept Part 1, reject Part 2, and then move alternative

929
01:40:48,040 --> 01:40:54,100
2 on page 5 of the staff report as the alternative to Part 2, which is approve the renaming of

930
01:40:54,100 --> 01:41:00,640
in court Dartmouth and reject the renaming of Linwood Drive Halifax under this alternative

931
01:41:00,640 --> 01:41:05,620
staff will reassess the proposed renaming of Linwood Drive at such time that a broader

932
01:41:05,620 --> 01:41:07,920
asset naming policy review has been completed.

933
01:41:09,820 --> 01:41:10,380
Okay.

934
01:41:11,920 --> 01:41:12,820
Oh, thank you.

935
01:41:13,240 --> 01:41:13,500
Okay.

936
01:41:13,760 --> 01:41:13,880
Thank you.

937
01:41:14,560 --> 01:41:17,020
I commend Councillor Morse for doing that.

938
01:41:17,120 --> 01:41:17,860
Thank you very much.

939
01:41:18,140 --> 01:41:20,980
I've been speaking back and forth with Paula and Patricia as well.

940
01:41:20,980 --> 01:41:32,840
And based on the information that they provide with me, it's to them, it is historic, it's a historical

941
01:41:32,840 --> 01:41:38,920
Lebanese community with the Lebanese families that moved in the early 1960s.

942
01:41:39,580 --> 01:41:44,380
And it's a legacy to the community that they would like to continue.

943
01:41:44,380 --> 01:41:54,000
Thank you. So, with the alternative, I agree with Councillor Morse on that, and I just

944
01:41:54,000 --> 01:42:01,660
want to let Paul and Patricia know that I agree with what they conveyed to me in

945
01:42:01,660 --> 01:42:06,360
our conversations. Thank you. Thank you, and we'll move to Councillor

946
01:42:06,360 --> 01:42:10,160
St. Monter, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I've heard from residents as

947
01:42:10,160 --> 01:42:15,600
well, and I'm appreciative of Councillor Morse of her sensitivity on the subject and taking

948
01:42:15,600 --> 01:42:20,220
the time to reach out to the community to better understand what the origins of this historic

949
01:42:20,220 --> 01:42:25,800
nature would be. I'm supportive of the alternative as well. I do still have a follow-up question

950
01:42:25,800 --> 01:42:32,440
for staff. I'm wondering what are the implications of what would ostensibly be a remaining duplication,

951
01:42:32,560 --> 01:42:38,320
not just of Linwood Drive in triplicate form, but we also noted in the staff report, and

952
01:42:38,320 --> 01:42:45,100
not specifically addressed as a principal concern, is the duplication of Linwood as a name

953
01:42:45,100 --> 01:42:49,100
with drive and lane in the same community and actually touching one another.

954
01:42:49,680 --> 01:42:55,500
If the premise is that this duplication represents a challenge to first responders, for example,

955
01:42:57,340 --> 01:43:02,700
might we look at the renaming of Linwood Lane, or is there some other consideration here

956
01:43:02,700 --> 01:43:08,460
that we need to try to afford to the naming of the streets in this area in order to solve

957
01:43:08,460 --> 01:43:13,820
that particular problem while we look at the longer-term implications of keeping three

958
01:43:13,820 --> 01:43:18,220
Linwood drives around. I'm just curious whether or not that represents a challenge going forward.

959
01:43:36,900 --> 01:43:41,780
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor, thank you for the question. The recommendation that was

960
01:43:41,780 --> 01:43:47,220
brought forward today was considered kind of an initial step in resolving the exact duplication issue.

961
01:43:47,220 --> 01:43:54,680
So there is a case where there is an exactly duplicated straight name across three different

962
01:43:54,680 --> 01:43:58,820
communities in HRM, so Lim would drive duplicated indictment as Halifax.

963
01:44:00,420 --> 01:44:06,620
And the intent with today's recommendation was to reduce the number of exact duplicates.

964
01:44:07,780 --> 01:44:13,040
We will be returning to the Civic Addressing Public Safety Committee meeting this fall with

965
01:44:13,040 --> 01:44:18,640
update on council's decision today and we'll be reassessing kind of potential future recommendations

966
01:44:18,640 --> 01:44:26,100
to address the existing duplicates for Limwood Drive as well as potentially a correction of Limwood

967
01:44:26,100 --> 01:44:31,640
Lane within the same community. However, if Limwood Drive Halifax were to be corrected,

968
01:44:31,980 --> 01:44:36,940
the existence of just Limwood Lane within the same community differentiated by street type and

969
01:44:36,940 --> 01:44:42,100
community name would be seen as a lower priority as kind of a standalone issue. So,

970
01:44:42,100 --> 01:44:47,620
So we'd be looking at considering corrections there in relation to kind of other high priority projects.

971
01:44:47,960 --> 01:44:48,980
All right, okay.

972
01:44:49,300 --> 01:44:49,460
Yeah.

973
01:44:50,380 --> 01:44:56,980
All right, well, I mean, I can imagine that there are at least some instances where when someone calls 911, for example, they just ref-

974
01:45:00,000 --> 01:45:31,240
On, driver, lane, and so I imagine that winds up potentially complicating things, and so first responders would wind up looking for some clarity before they respond. So it's good to know that it's on the radar. I'm just looking forward to staff's recommendation on how that particular facet gets solved when we hang on to the existing duplicate of the prefix. Thank you. Thank you very much, Councillor Austin, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Morse, for your work on this.

975
01:45:31,240 --> 01:45:37,280
Um, you know, I'm just going to note that like, you know, the work of civic addressing

976
01:45:37,280 --> 01:45:43,640
here is important. Um, like, you know, having duplicate names is an issue. Um, I recently

977
01:45:43,640 --> 01:45:49,460
was contacted by one of my residents who's day ended up in complete turmoil because her

978
01:45:49,460 --> 01:45:55,520
excess of, well, excess of us went to Highfield Street in the, uh, Springfield, rather than

979
01:45:55,520 --> 01:46:00,480
Highfield Park Drive and Dartmouth. So, you know, it does happen over the years. I have heard

980
01:46:00,480 --> 01:46:06,340
from people, you know, it's kind of within a neighborhood, Louise Court and Lois Court

981
01:46:06,340 --> 01:46:11,980
and Dartmouth. That's one where people, they're used to seeing each other's parcels from time

982
01:46:11,980 --> 01:46:18,200
to time. And so, you know, these are the nuisances of life that, you know, impact people's day to day.

983
01:46:18,520 --> 01:46:23,000
But, you know, the last thing you want is for these sort of mistakes to occur in a 911 sort of

984
01:46:23,000 --> 01:46:28,180
situation. So the work here is important. The only kind of question I have for staff, you know,

985
01:46:28,180 --> 01:46:34,360
So if we're going to vary from policy, typically we would rename the one that's least impactful.

986
01:46:35,020 --> 01:46:38,340
Maitlunch Street and Dartmouth became Scotia Mole, for example, right?

987
01:46:38,500 --> 01:46:47,140
Because only had two, and two, I think, houses on it compared to many dozens compared to

988
01:46:47,140 --> 01:46:48,420
the Maitlin over in Halifax.

989
01:46:48,680 --> 01:46:51,320
So I mean, that's generally a sound approach to these things.

990
01:46:51,660 --> 01:46:56,920
But every now and then there might be reasons to deviate and say, well, the Linwood with

991
01:46:56,920 --> 01:47:00,640
the smaller number of homes, maybe that's the one that we should keep for other reasons,

992
01:47:01,040 --> 01:47:02,640
and look at renaming the other ones.

993
01:47:03,180 --> 01:47:07,720
And so just my question for staff would be, if council goes the route of kind of kicking

994
01:47:07,720 --> 01:47:15,460
this back to you, is that the implied message that you take from this is to look at the other

995
01:47:15,460 --> 01:47:21,040
linwoods? Because I mean at the end of the day, this is kind of a zero sum decision, only

996
01:47:21,040 --> 01:47:22,960
one of you gets to keep linwood.

997
01:47:22,960 --> 01:47:28,660
Through you, Mr. Mayor, to the Councillor, thank you for the question.

998
01:47:29,520 --> 01:47:35,400
Our immediate action wouldn't be in this specific case to immediately pursue a renaming

999
01:47:35,400 --> 01:47:38,660
exercise on one of the other limo drives that exists.

1000
01:47:39,680 --> 01:47:44,500
Administrative order 29 is being reviewed as part of a broader asset naming policy review

1001
01:47:44,500 --> 01:47:49,380
that's upcoming, so we will be reviewing the criteria in our street naming and renaming

1002
01:47:49,380 --> 01:47:52,440
policy starting this year.

1003
01:47:53,260 --> 01:47:58,300
So the intent would be that we would review the project kind of more holistically again

1004
01:47:58,300 --> 01:48:04,420
once the criteria within administrative order 29 have been reviewed specifically in this case.

1005
01:48:04,700 --> 01:48:13,340
The section within the policy that references the historical significance piece and how that should be considered when streets are being renamed for safety purposes.

1006
01:48:13,340 --> 01:48:19,420
So in short, we would be essentially holding another recommendation on the renaming of

1007
01:48:19,420 --> 01:48:25,900
Limwood Drive or any naming of any Limwood Drive until the outcome of the broader policy review is completed.

1008
01:48:26,700 --> 01:48:33,300
Okay. Can I ask, how did this originate from the committee, because it's my understanding

1009
01:48:33,300 --> 01:48:39,340
that usually these things arrive at the committee, because you've had an incident like the excess of us going to the wrong place,

1010
01:48:39,340 --> 01:48:43,780
mail going to the wrong place or 9-1-1, running into some issue.

1011
01:48:49,570 --> 01:48:49,910
Go ahead.

1012
01:48:50,590 --> 01:48:53,450
To the councillor, thank you.

1013
01:48:54,530 --> 01:49:01,290
This case originated from public feedback regarding ongoing continuous mail and delivery

1014
01:49:01,290 --> 01:49:03,710
mix-ups between the various Limwood drives.

1015
01:49:04,750 --> 01:49:09,350
So at committee meetings, we typically prioritize reviewing cases brought forward by emergency

1016
01:49:09,350 --> 01:49:14,250
the responders, so that could be incidents which have occurred due to street name duplication

1017
01:49:14,250 --> 01:49:18,690
such as is the case with a garden court that we're recommending today.

1018
01:49:19,290 --> 01:49:24,890
But we also review essentially complaints that have been submitted by the public in reference

1019
01:49:24,890 --> 01:49:26,790
to specific issues they're experiencing.

1020
01:49:27,090 --> 01:49:33,790
So Forelin would drive Halifax, it was resident driven relating to parcel and mail delivery

1021
01:49:33,790 --> 01:49:34,330
mix-ups.

1022
01:49:34,950 --> 01:49:41,690
Okay, so I think we should just sit with that folks that, you know, if we do alternative

1023
01:49:41,690 --> 01:49:46,610
to, it doesn't remove the issue that has come from a place like this isn't staff going

1024
01:49:46,610 --> 01:49:50,010
out trying to find a problem, this is a reported problem that's come into us.

1025
01:49:50,530 --> 01:49:56,750
And so if we're going to do alternative to my mind anyway and I'm kind of okay with it,

1026
01:49:56,810 --> 01:50:02,110
you know, there's an inherent to me around if you actually want to fix this, then the

1027
01:50:02,110 --> 01:50:04,690
The other lindwoods are going to have to have their names changed eventually.

1028
01:50:05,990 --> 01:50:10,050
They're not the first and they're not the last, but we've run into some particular

1029
01:50:10,050 --> 01:50:11,030
circumstances here.

1030
01:50:11,530 --> 01:50:12,050
That's my take.

1031
01:50:12,510 --> 01:50:12,730
Thank you.

1032
01:50:13,770 --> 01:50:14,390
Thank you.

1033
01:50:14,930 --> 01:50:15,870
It's Marie, right?

1034
01:50:16,310 --> 01:50:18,830
Marie, thank you, Marie, for answering the questions.

1035
01:50:19,490 --> 01:50:21,030
It looks like this is heading in the right direction.

1036
01:50:21,430 --> 01:50:23,210
I did just want to add my own thought here.

1037
01:50:24,170 --> 01:50:28,030
Beginning with acknowledging the work this staff has done, as Councillor Austin and others

1038
01:50:28,030 --> 01:50:33,050
There's a point out this work to eliminate duplicate streets is really important around emergency

1039
01:50:33,050 --> 01:50:33,510
response.

1040
01:50:35,250 --> 01:50:40,230
Balancing that, we've heard this really clear and compelling feedback about the changing

1041
01:50:40,230 --> 01:50:46,950
of Linwood Drive residents and their families, the Canadian Lebanon Society of Halifax, the

1042
01:50:46,950 --> 01:50:50,530
honorary consulate of Lebanon, has chimed in on this.

1043
01:50:51,730 --> 01:50:56,570
And they've all made the case that connects the street name to a deep history and heritage

1044
01:50:56,570 --> 01:51:02,050
in the kind of deep identity in the Lebanese community that Councillor Morse has highlighted

1045
01:51:02,050 --> 01:51:05,810
through her conversations and reporting back on that today.

1046
01:51:07,790 --> 01:51:13,250
So I think we've heard a really clear message from community on what their preference.

1047
01:51:14,090 --> 01:51:20,090
And I think the way that Councillor Morse has asked us to proceed or one way that would

1048
01:51:20,090 --> 01:51:28,910
achieve what her intention is would be to split the motion, approve part one, decide

1049
01:51:28,910 --> 01:51:33,850
not to approve part two, and then Councillor Moores could move the alternative. So are there

1050
01:51:33,850 --> 01:51:39,950
any other names popping up? I don't see any others. Does that sound like a good word? I see

1051
01:51:39,950 --> 01:51:40,730
Councillor Delegane.

1052
01:51:43,900 --> 01:51:47,400
Just for clarity, the alternative to

1053
01:51:47,400 --> 01:51:49,840
who does say approve the renaming of garden courts,

1054
01:51:49,840 --> 01:51:52,760
so it doesn't look like we need to.

1055
01:51:53,220 --> 01:51:56,060
Yeah, I had a short conversation with our solicitor

1056
01:51:56,060 --> 01:51:58,640
about that, and it came down 50-50.

1057
01:51:58,700 --> 01:52:01,300
It doesn't matter either way if we can do it either way.

1058
01:52:02,240 --> 01:52:03,800
It's tantamount to the same outcome.

1059
01:52:04,540 --> 01:52:07,100
We still get a approval of one and a denial of the other.

1060
01:52:07,960 --> 01:52:08,420
Thank you.

1061
01:52:08,720 --> 01:52:09,340
OK, you're welcome.

1062
01:52:12,360 --> 01:52:13,780
I got a clear answer.

1063
01:52:17,580 --> 01:52:21,360
Okay, let's proceed to the vote, shall we? And this will be, we'll split it and this

1064
01:52:21,360 --> 01:52:22,120
will be on part one.

1065
01:52:53,880 --> 01:53:00,120
Part one of the motion carries. We'll now vote on, we'll now Councillor

1066
01:53:00,120 --> 01:53:05,580
Mancini, if it's okay with you, we'll vote on part two of the motion. And as you would

1067
01:53:05,580 --> 01:53:07,800
call Councillor Morris as asked us to vote against this one.

1068
01:53:27,210 --> 01:53:28,290
Part two fails.

1069
01:53:43,290 --> 01:53:43,650
Councillor

1070
01:53:43,650 --> 01:53:47,370
an error, please. Councillor Hinch would like to change her vote.

1071
01:53:47,510 --> 01:53:48,970
Change my vote to no. Thank you.

1072
01:53:49,450 --> 01:53:56,250
Yes, so the clerk's office will record that as I know vote, so that the outcome does

1073
01:53:56,250 --> 01:53:58,870
not change, the motion was defeated.

1074
01:54:01,400 --> 01:54:03,680
And now Councillor Morse, would you like to move the alternative?

1075
01:54:07,380 --> 01:54:13,020
Thank you. I move that we approve the renaming of Garden Court Dartmouth and reject the

1076
01:54:13,020 --> 01:54:16,220
renaming of Linwood Drive Halifax, Rockingham Halifax.

1077
01:54:16,220 --> 01:54:22,060
under this alternative staff will reassess the proposed renaming of Linwood Drive at such

1078
01:54:22,060 --> 01:54:25,620
time that a broader asset naming policy review has been completed.

1079
01:54:29,840 --> 01:54:34,060
I'm sure somebody was recorded as the seconder there. That was a three-way tie as far as

1080
01:54:34,060 --> 01:54:42,200
I could see. And so the motion is on the floor and I see Councillor David Cameron has her

1081
01:54:42,200 --> 01:54:46,920
light on. Thank you very much. I have a question about

1082
01:54:46,920 --> 01:54:51,500
the alternative, I wasn't sure if we were supposed to speak to that before when it came

1083
01:54:51,500 --> 01:54:59,540
on the floor, but does I guess I'm just wondering about what is the future impact of this because

1084
01:54:59,540 --> 01:55:07,120
it seems like we're now using or taking in an oral history as part of our decision making

1085
01:55:07,120 --> 01:55:13,220
process when we're looking at street names. I'm a cake right nurse, so of course oral histories

1086
01:55:13,220 --> 01:55:21,180
are part of how we grow up, right, Councillor Mancini? But oral histories can be very subjective

1087
01:55:22,980 --> 01:55:27,640
and sometimes it depends on who you ask on which side of the street and who married

1088
01:55:27,640 --> 01:55:33,120
who and who didn't marry who. So when you look at that kind of oral history, I think

1089
01:55:33,120 --> 01:55:40,960
we have to be very careful. So I agree with the alternative, but I just

1090
01:55:40,960 --> 01:55:49,760
a caution about if we're going to use oral histories. Where does that reside? Does it have a different

1091
01:55:49,760 --> 01:55:55,040
kind of criteria? And where does it reside in any kind of futures of it addressing? I think that's

1092
01:55:55,040 --> 01:55:59,180
very important for us to look at. So thank you for allowing me the comment. Thank you.

1093
01:56:00,320 --> 01:56:05,760
Thank you very much. And let's see, no one else on the board shall we proceed to the vote?

1094
01:56:05,760 --> 01:56:06,820
And

1095
01:56:33,990 --> 01:56:35,250
the motion carries.

1096
01:56:36,130 --> 01:56:38,710
Thank you very much, colleagues, for that excellent discussion.

1097
01:56:40,270 --> 01:56:45,410
In our enthusiasm, we move quickly past something we said we were going to do during

1098
01:56:45,410 --> 01:56:50,730
the order of business part of our discussion, which was to test a number of the in-camera

1099
01:56:50,730 --> 01:56:58,890
items before we actually get to item 17, as you may recall, and we did approve that reordering.

1100
01:56:59,930 --> 01:57:04,190
The deputy mayor did bring forward 17-5 and that was in the list of ones to be tested

1101
01:57:04,190 --> 01:57:07,750
where we were intent to test 17-1 through 17-5.

1102
01:57:08,650 --> 01:57:16,730
Obviously, we've already done 17-5, but I wonder if perhaps Councillor Mancini would like

1103
01:57:16,730 --> 01:57:17,570
to do some testing.

1104
01:57:19,190 --> 01:57:19,850
Oh, okay.

1105
01:57:20,130 --> 01:57:20,610
Very good.

1106
01:57:21,690 --> 01:57:22,150
Oh, there we go.

1107
01:57:22,390 --> 01:57:23,430
Oh, in fact, I beg your pardon.

1108
01:57:23,530 --> 01:57:27,350
I was on the wrong screen and I actually see Councillor Hensby in the list first, so we'll

1109
01:57:27,350 --> 01:57:28,130
go to Councillor Hensby.

1110
01:57:28,130 --> 01:57:36,230
Mr. Mayor, I'd like to move the in-camera minutes of July 14th, 2026 to be approved and circulated.

1111
01:57:36,550 --> 01:57:46,130
Seconded by a Councillor Kent and all those in favour of the hand vote for the minutes, right?

1112
01:57:51,960 --> 01:57:53,400
Yes? Okay.

1113
01:57:57,650 --> 01:58:01,850
Show of hands on favour of approving the in-camera minutes. Very good. Those are approved.

1114
01:58:01,850 --> 01:58:07,650
The subsequent votes will be recorded, and would you, Councillor Austin, 17-2?

1115
01:58:08,470 --> 01:58:08,670
Yes.

1116
01:58:08,990 --> 01:58:09,190
Thank you.

1117
01:58:09,670 --> 01:58:10,750
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1118
01:58:11,350 --> 01:58:12,690
I'll test 17-2.

1119
01:58:13,150 --> 01:58:17,130
I move that Halifax Regional Council 1 adopt the recommendations as outlined in the

1120
01:58:17,130 --> 01:58:24,010
Private and Confidential Report, dated July 30th, 2026, and direct the private and confidential

1121
01:58:24,010 --> 01:58:28,230
report, dated July 30th, 2026, be maintained private and confidential.

1122
01:58:28,230 --> 01:58:35,310
Second. Seconded by Councillor Kent. And this will be a digital vote, Colleague.

1123
01:58:54,610 --> 01:58:58,710
And the motion carries. Thank you very much. And we'll go back to Councillor Mancini,

1124
01:58:58,910 --> 01:59:05,830
please. Oh, no, I'm good. Oh, you're good. Well, would anyone like to test 17-3? Councillor

1125
01:59:05,830 --> 01:59:10,650
Councillor, was that, was that you, Sean? Oh, Councillor Daugherment.

1126
01:59:12,310 --> 01:59:16,470
I would test 17-7. 17-7.

1127
01:59:25,390 --> 01:59:29,910
Let's, let's, well, thank you, Councillor

1128
01:59:29,910 --> 01:59:37,670
Hinch. One at a time here. Let's just, I'm just going to make sure I understand this one.

1129
01:59:43,430 --> 01:59:49,310
Okay, yes, Counselor Dale Yemen has asked to test 17-7. Is there a seconder for that?

1130
01:59:50,130 --> 01:59:54,730
Counselor Hensby on the second and we will go to the vote on that.

1131
02:00:00,000 --> 02:00:10,320
There's 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.

1132
02:00:12,750 --> 02:00:22,250
It didn't fly. No. So we will discuss 17 seven in camera. Then I believe Councillor Hinch was going to offer to test 17 three.

1133
02:00:31,170 --> 02:00:39,090
I move the Hello best regional council one adopt the recommend. Sorry. Oh, adopt the recommendation.

1134
02:00:39,090 --> 02:00:51,390
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.

1135
02:00:52,890 --> 02:00:57,450
Seconded by Councillor Cleary. Is that a discussion on the motion?

1136
02:00:58,950 --> 02:01:04,410
I would like to discuss 173 and 174 on camera please.

1137
02:01:04,410 --> 02:01:14,330
Okay, all right, so that that fails seven looks like 17 3 and 17 4 will stay on the agenda. We've already done 17 5.

1138
02:01:15,990 --> 02:01:20,230
Any other ideas folks for testing?

1139
02:01:21,550 --> 02:01:28,770
Okay, so we've successfully dispensed with 17 2 17 1 and 17 5.

1140
02:01:29,630 --> 02:01:30,650
Thank you for that.

1141
02:01:30,650 --> 02:01:34,410
We can get through a couple more things here before the mid-day recess.

1142
02:01:42,600 --> 02:01:46,880
Notices of table, item 11, notices of table of matters, I don't believe there are any.

1143
02:01:47,840 --> 02:01:50,540
We do not, item 12, we do not have a public hearing today.

1144
02:01:51,340 --> 02:01:55,600
Item 13, correspondence, petitions and delegations starting with correspondence, Madam Clerk.

1145
02:01:56,440 --> 02:02:03,160
Yes, correspondence has received and recirculated items 10.2, 1532 and 161.

1146
02:02:03,160 --> 02:02:09,520
Thank you very much and colleagues any petitions today Councillor Mancini.

1147
02:02:10,740 --> 02:02:16,660
Mr. Mayor, I'd like to present a following petition with regard to ongoing traffic

1148
02:02:16,660 --> 02:02:23,340
concerns at 6, 12, windmill road, specifically regarding access to a little Picasso, daycare

1149
02:02:23,340 --> 02:02:26,500
and surrounding plaza, so I submit this petition.

1150
02:02:26,660 --> 02:02:32,860
I'm wondering since I do have the floor, Mr. Mayor, you know, come to the petitions, we're

1151
02:02:32,860 --> 02:02:39,220
be in residence and say, oh, what can we do? Should we do a partition? And it really depends on what

1152
02:02:39,220 --> 02:02:43,040
the item is. I'm quite frank with them saying, you know what? I'm not going to do any good. And

1153
02:02:43,040 --> 02:02:47,680
sometimes in May, as we saw happened earlier with Councillor Morris's item on the Lindwood property,

1154
02:02:47,840 --> 02:02:52,060
but I think we need to do a better job of managing expectations. Just because the

1155
02:02:52,060 --> 02:02:56,920
petitions presented, it doesn't mean action of any kind, other than it's been presented. Typically,

1156
02:02:56,920 --> 02:03:01,240
if action is needed, you know, a motion has to come from the

1157
02:03:01,240 --> 02:03:06,080
Councillor or from the floor at the time. With regard to this item here, staff, we're

1158
02:03:06,080 --> 02:03:13,940
already working on this intersection and examining it and they need to be done. I just state

1159
02:03:13,940 --> 02:03:20,400
that we need to do some education with residents. Residents want to do something so this is something

1160
02:03:20,400 --> 02:03:23,460
easy for the doom, but it's work, right? They have to get out there and talk to people. It's

1161
02:03:23,460 --> 02:03:28,480
lot of work, and I want to just manage your expectation well. And so, you know, I'm not

1162
02:03:28,480 --> 02:03:32,560
suggesting any action at this point in time, Mr. Mayor, I'm just thinking we could probably do a

1163
02:03:32,560 --> 02:03:39,420
better job when someone says, should we do a petition or when they reach out to the clerk's office,

1164
02:03:39,600 --> 02:03:43,120
the clerk's office, you know, maybe they can bring it up to another level, okay, here's what happens

1165
02:03:43,120 --> 02:03:49,700
when you present a petition, or here's what may not happen, just so that we're managing their

1166
02:03:49,700 --> 02:03:54,120
So it's just my two cents worth I want to share at this point in time thank you.

1167
02:03:54,700 --> 02:03:59,640
Thank you very much and let's just see.

1168
02:04:00,860 --> 02:04:02,640
We're on petitions deputy mayor.

1169
02:04:04,480 --> 02:04:11,400
Thank you. I just wanted to have a response to support councillor Mancini's points about petitions.

1170
02:04:13,220 --> 02:04:17,520
That I agree that we do need to educate the public on petitions.

1171
02:04:17,520 --> 02:04:27,260
So I also want to note that I think that they are a better vehicle for communicating to council on items of significance than mass email campaigns.

1172
02:04:28,240 --> 02:04:44,420
And I think when there are significant issues that the public want to bring forward, organizing a petition with the proper information and postal codes is more effective than sending us hundreds or thousands of emails.

1173
02:04:44,980 --> 02:04:45,260
Thank you.

1174
02:04:46,740 --> 02:04:48,680
Thank you very much for that.

1175
02:04:49,980 --> 02:04:54,980
You'll remember in the order of business we agreed to move Councillor Hartling's

1176
02:04:54,980 --> 02:05:02,960
motion 16.1 to the slot directly before item 15 and so that would be now.

1177
02:05:03,620 --> 02:05:07,260
We've had about nine minutes, I'd suggest we get started and perhaps beginning with Councillor

1178
02:05:07,260 --> 02:05:11,000
Hartling getting the motion on the floor and see what we can accomplish Councillor Hartling.

1179
02:05:12,060 --> 02:05:13,520
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

1180
02:05:13,520 --> 02:05:40,760
I move that Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer to one write a formal letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs requesting the immediate reconsideration of the 30-meter Coastal Buffer Policies, 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.

1181
02:05:40,760 --> 02:06:10,500
Two, including the correspondence, the formal support from the Urban Development Institute of Nova Scotia regarding the 30-meter coastal setback alongside an urgent appeal for Municipal Regulatory Tools following the Abandonment of the Coastal Protection Act and three pending confirmation from the minister that the 30-meter coastal buffers or coastal buffer policies are acceptable, prepare a staff report and return with recommendations on establishing the 30-meter coastal buffer as a standalone coastal amendment package.

1182
02:06:11,700 --> 02:06:13,060
Seconded by Councillor Mancini.

1183
02:06:16,000 --> 02:06:16,760
Love it.

1184
02:06:17,920 --> 02:06:23,080
The only thing that I would like to add, and thank you very much, colleagues, is that

1185
02:06:23,080 --> 02:06:27,180
in addition to what I've already included in the rationale, what we are asking for is

1186
02:06:27,180 --> 02:06:31,540
neither radical or untested, I would just like to note that the municipality of the district

1187
02:06:31,540 --> 02:06:39,060
of Loonenberg, as well as Cumberland County, have already established similar 30-meter coastal

1188
02:06:39,060 --> 02:06:45,020
buffer policies, and as I understand it so has the entire province of New Brunswick, I would

1189
02:06:45,620 --> 02:06:49,620
just like to add that the coastal buffer was previously approved by this council.

1190
02:06:49,920 --> 02:06:54,920
The intent of this motion is to advance sound policy back by science to the province with

1191
02:06:54,920 --> 02:06:59,680
documented industry support. Thank you very much. Thank you, Councillor Mancini.

1192
02:07:01,000 --> 02:07:06,220
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councillor for bringing this forward. You know,

1193
02:07:06,220 --> 02:07:15,720
So my interest in this topic is around the 30 meters set back for lakes and water courses

1194
02:07:15,720 --> 02:07:16,840
within the municipality.

1195
02:07:17,560 --> 02:07:21,900
You know at the time when the regional plan, our most updated regional plan was presented,

1196
02:07:22,300 --> 02:07:24,420
this got rejected by the province.

1197
02:07:25,780 --> 02:07:31,740
And it's interesting because my understanding is it didn't get rejected until the representative

1198
02:07:31,740 --> 02:07:35,160
of ADI and former councilor Steve Adams made a stink with the problems.

1199
02:07:36,000 --> 02:07:39,080
And went out and said, hey, wait a minute, you know, this is going to prevent us from building

1200
02:07:39,080 --> 02:07:39,540
units.

1201
02:07:40,340 --> 02:07:41,380
Plus, there's no evidence.

1202
02:07:42,220 --> 02:07:42,620
Wow.

1203
02:07:43,080 --> 02:07:44,340
I beg to differ, Mr. Adams.

1204
02:07:44,520 --> 02:07:46,700
There's tons of scientific evidence out there.

1205
02:07:47,100 --> 02:07:52,220
The further away we are from a water course or further away we are from our lake, the better

1206
02:07:52,220 --> 02:07:53,040
it is for that lake.

1207
02:07:53,960 --> 02:07:58,360
Our lakes, you know, we're so lucky, you know, it's all over the municipality of the number

1208
02:07:58,360 --> 02:08:01,800
lakes that we have, and particularly in Dartmouth, the study of lakes that Councillor Austin

1209
02:08:01,800 --> 02:08:06,720
and the other Dartmouth Councilors and I represent, our lakes are stressed. They're stressed

1210
02:08:06,720 --> 02:08:12,520
because of climate change, they're stressed because of development. A 30-meter buffer

1211
02:08:12,520 --> 02:08:18,620
is just good climate strategy. Now I spoke to our staff and they said, you know what?

1212
02:08:18,740 --> 02:08:21,800
I think we should push this through right now and they explained to us. She shared with me,

1213
02:08:21,900 --> 02:08:26,640
they agreed that it's important to do this, but they said, if we go back to the province with

1214
02:08:26,640 --> 02:08:31,640
There's no new additional information, their interpretation is still to get kicked back.

1215
02:08:32,080 --> 02:08:36,380
So I respect that advice from our staff.

1216
02:08:36,960 --> 02:08:43,440
I disagree that it should be kicked back, and I think the province respectfully have dropped the ball on this one.

1217
02:08:44,180 --> 02:08:49,460
And if they're worried about units right now, when we talk about units, we need to be talking about,

1218
02:08:49,460 --> 02:08:55,060
So, really, what was the number, Mr. Mayor, that you mentioned in your address as a chamber

1219
02:08:55,060 --> 02:08:55,980
number units we needed?

1220
02:08:57,220 --> 02:09:01,520
So, you know, what is that number we need, 10 to 10 to 10 to 1,000, where are we today?

1221
02:09:01,960 --> 02:09:02,860
When do we need those by?

1222
02:09:03,100 --> 02:09:05,800
We should be discussing that every time we're talking about a development.

1223
02:09:06,880 --> 02:09:14,100
And my concern is, are we saying that it's more important to put up a unit versus the

1224
02:09:14,100 --> 02:09:14,980
health of our lakes?

1225
02:09:15,600 --> 02:09:21,420
And in Dartmouth, I say to all the developers out there and to our provincial colleagues,

1226
02:09:21,740 --> 02:09:26,500
if you're going to be developing near Lake and development, we don't want it unless

1227
02:09:26,500 --> 02:09:27,860
30 meters away from that lake.

1228
02:09:28,380 --> 02:09:28,900
Simple as that.

1229
02:09:29,460 --> 02:09:32,880
And if you can't figure out how to change your design, we don't want it in Dartmouth.

1230
02:09:33,580 --> 02:09:35,720
30 meters just makes perfect sense.

1231
02:09:36,040 --> 02:09:36,920
The science is there.

1232
02:09:37,580 --> 02:09:40,380
I won't follow suit and staff will investigate.

1233
02:09:40,380 --> 02:09:43,320
I think their intent is to hire a consultant to look at this further.

1234
02:09:43,640 --> 02:09:43,940
Great.

1235
02:09:43,940 --> 02:09:47,180
Okay, when that happens, we'll come back and have that discussion even further.

1236
02:09:47,480 --> 02:09:49,000
I just wanted to be on the record today.

1237
02:09:49,460 --> 02:09:53,700
30 meters from a lake is responsible, responsible work.

1238
02:09:54,080 --> 02:09:54,960
We should be doing that.

1239
02:09:56,040 --> 02:09:58,640
Developers have to figure out how to do the development.

1240
02:09:58,860 --> 02:10:02,180
30 meters from our lakes, particularly in dark, but I thank you for that, Mr. Mayor.

1241
02:10:02,960 --> 02:10:05,200
Thank you, and move to Councillor Austin, please.

1242
02:10:06,760 --> 02:10:07,920
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1243
02:10:08,120 --> 02:10:09,160
I won't belabor the point.

1244
02:10:09,160 --> 02:10:12,380
I very much agree with my colleague, Councillor Mancini here on this.

1245
02:10:12,380 --> 02:10:17,680
Um, you know, but I'm also very much a pragmatist and I think council

1246
02:10:17,680 --> 02:10:21,220
Hartling has put in a lot of work on this in terms behind the scenes, um,

1247
02:10:21,260 --> 02:10:25,280
trying to set out, you know, well, is there an actual objection to the coastal

1248
02:10:25,280 --> 02:10:25,980
piece of this?

1249
02:10:26,280 --> 02:10:31,200
And, you know, I think sometimes, uh, take the bird in hand versus, you know,

1250
02:10:31,460 --> 02:10:32,700
continuing to be around the bush.

1251
02:10:32,700 --> 02:10:34,260
We have one that might go through.

1252
02:10:34,320 --> 02:10:36,980
It's very clear that they would reject the lakes piece.

1253
02:10:36,980 --> 02:10:41,100
Again, if we try it, so, um, you know, there needs more work on that.

1254
02:10:41,100 --> 02:10:47,660
And so I support Councillor Hartling on getting the measure that is actually doable within the constraints that we have.

1255
02:10:48,120 --> 02:10:48,400
Thank you.

1256
02:10:50,120 --> 02:10:52,580
Thank you very much. Moving to the deputy mayor, please.

1257
02:10:55,450 --> 02:10:56,210
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1258
02:10:58,690 --> 02:11:05,950
I agree with Councillor Mancini in terms of looking at this for water course step-backs, lakes and rivers.

1259
02:11:06,590 --> 02:11:10,970
You know, the health of those water bodies is critically important.

1260
02:11:10,970 --> 02:11:18,930
But another thing that we're seeing across the country is the trend of using our natural assets for storm water management.

1261
02:11:19,690 --> 02:11:24,470
And we've seen changes in our climate, changes in our precipitation levels.

1262
02:11:25,110 --> 02:11:34,390
And when this occurs, it really impacts our rivers, our lakes, our water levels and increases, you know, flooding risk.

1263
02:11:34,390 --> 02:11:40,890
And so as we're looking ahead at building better climate resilience in our city, having

1264
02:11:40,890 --> 02:11:46,770
stronger water core setbacks is critically important, but also looking at the value

1265
02:11:46,770 --> 02:11:52,690
of these natural assets, whether it's a lake, whether it's a river, whether it's a wetland,

1266
02:11:53,150 --> 02:12:00,530
as being a critical piece of our natural infrastructure to help us deal with storm water management,

1267
02:12:00,530 --> 02:12:05,490
because putting in storm water infrastructure is incredibly costly.

1268
02:12:06,710 --> 02:12:11,190
So, you know, while we're looking at it one way through the lens of development,

1269
02:12:11,390 --> 02:12:15,590
I think the other way we need to look at it is, you know, for the integrity of the environment,

1270
02:12:15,590 --> 02:12:20,790
but also for the resilience of our city as a whole when it comes to storm water.

1271
02:12:21,330 --> 02:12:27,450
I do want to commend Councillor Hartling on looking to quickly, you know,

1272
02:12:27,450 --> 02:12:34,890
retract the set course for ocean for coastline. I to think that that was a bit of

1273
02:12:34,890 --> 02:12:45,770
overreach in how the province applied the taking away the 30 meter setback. I do

1274
02:12:45,770 --> 02:12:52,070
agree it doesn't really have a major impact on development and you know there's

1275
02:12:52,070 --> 02:12:56,870
opportunities to, you know, look at it on a more specific level.

1276
02:12:57,330 --> 02:13:04,310
What I do have concern about is that when they initially did the Coastal Action Plan,

1277
02:13:05,030 --> 02:13:10,190
the draft Coastal Action Plan for Nova Scotia, the one that the province did not adopt

1278
02:13:10,190 --> 02:13:16,970
per claim, there was a variation in setback for coastal properties around the province

1279
02:13:16,970 --> 02:13:21,350
based specifically on the geography.

1280
02:13:22,150 --> 02:13:26,390
So if you were situated in an area of high erosion,

1281
02:13:26,910 --> 02:13:31,790
there was a greater setback than if you were situated on a granite headland.

1282
02:13:32,690 --> 02:13:36,970
There was a difference if you were in an area that was exposed to the elements

1283
02:13:36,970 --> 02:13:42,930
versus if you were on an inlet or an estuary area.

1284
02:13:42,930 --> 02:13:55,310
So it wasn't, there was a group A and a group B and there was never the intent to apply a uniform setback across the board to postal properties.

1285
02:13:55,770 --> 02:14:00,010
It was really based on risk.

1286
02:14:00,630 --> 02:14:08,410
So, I appreciate that the motion has been revised and is looking for staff report on

1287
02:14:08,410 --> 02:14:14,090
this as opposed to, you know, writing a letter without the report, because I do think

1288
02:14:14,090 --> 02:14:22,370
we have to consider, you know, the risk of properties not just doing a uniform setback

1289
02:14:22,370 --> 02:14:26,990
for the sake of having a uniform setback and it being more of a performative measure

1290
02:14:26,990 --> 02:14:33,150
than an actual effective measure. So those are things I think that we really need to take

1291
02:14:33,150 --> 02:14:37,670
a close look at and put some consideration into. Thank you.

1292
02:14:40,620 --> 02:14:42,820
Thank you very much Councillor Delegane, please.

1293
02:14:45,400 --> 02:14:50,920
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Hartley. You've done so much work on this.

1294
02:14:51,500 --> 02:14:56,680
And you have stayed vigilant on the issue and the face of some of the things that most people

1295
02:14:56,680 --> 02:14:57,080
all might have.

1296
02:15:00,000 --> 02:15:06,820
Congratulations on sticking with this wholeheartedly agree with the 30-meter setback. And, you know,

1297
02:15:06,880 --> 02:15:13,120
like Councillor Mancini said, our legs, I mean, HRM is full of legs, not just the city

1298
02:15:13,120 --> 02:15:18,500
of documents, right? So we recently had a change in the development agreement that treated

1299
02:15:18,500 --> 02:15:22,860
effluent was going to go into the lake, and now the developer is making a change. I think

1300
02:15:22,860 --> 02:15:28,280
what really is scary for us when we're looking at development is that, you know, the life's

1301
02:15:28,280 --> 02:15:30,700
fall under the Nova Scotia environment and climate change.

1302
02:15:31,740 --> 02:15:38,320
The zoning in the by-law falls under us and sometimes we're in a bit of a battle because

1303
02:15:38,320 --> 02:15:45,000
the province approves something where we may not or the community may not think it's the

1304
02:15:45,000 --> 02:15:49,700
right thing to do and the one measure that is a little bit within our control is that

1305
02:15:50,320 --> 02:15:52,840
meter set back from the water courses.

1306
02:15:52,840 --> 02:15:58,040
So I really hope that everybody votes in favor of Councillor Hartling's motion.

1307
02:15:58,600 --> 02:15:58,940
Thank you.

1308
02:16:00,120 --> 02:16:00,920
Thank you.

1309
02:16:01,140 --> 02:16:05,500
For that, Northern Ames on the list, I'm just going to share my own thoughts, colleagues,

1310
02:16:05,760 --> 02:16:09,580
I understand why Councillor Hartling has brought this motion forward.

1311
02:16:09,860 --> 02:16:14,440
I share your objective and the Council's objective in strengthening water course protections.

1312
02:16:15,160 --> 02:16:21,520
This intervention is about the fact that the motion is asking us to act before the analysis

1313
02:16:21,520 --> 02:16:27,120
that Council has already commissioned of SAF is complete, and as a reminder of what

1314
02:16:27,120 --> 02:16:31,340
that work was during our most recent budget process, we approved a comprehensive assessment

1315
02:16:31,340 --> 02:16:36,180
of potential changes to watercourse buffers supported by technical analysis and meaningful

1316
02:16:36,180 --> 02:16:41,340
engagement with industry and other stakeholders, and that works not done yet.

1317
02:16:41,960 --> 02:16:50,060
So it just seems, you know, we might want to wait for that to be in hand to make a more

1318
02:16:50,060 --> 02:16:56,600
solid case back to the province. I think if we go back to them now without any new evidence,

1319
02:16:56,960 --> 02:17:01,640
I would imagine it's unlikely to produce a different result, but if we went back to them with

1320
02:17:02,720 --> 02:17:09,900
a stronger case that involves scientific analysis, stakeholder input, and what's important

1321
02:17:09,900 --> 02:17:14,000
for the province to hear is a clear understanding of not just the environmental issues that play,

1322
02:17:14,140 --> 02:17:19,740
but the ability to continue to build homes. I don't think we need to be making choices,

1323
02:17:19,740 --> 02:17:22,120
between building homes or protecting water courses,

1324
02:17:22,260 --> 02:17:24,620
but I do think we need the evidence to determine

1325
02:17:24,620 --> 02:17:26,960
how we can best achieve both of those objectives.

1326
02:17:27,340 --> 02:17:32,660
So I wouldn't, I'm hesitant to cancel voting

1327
02:17:32,660 --> 02:17:34,120
against Councillor Hartling's motion.

1328
02:17:34,640 --> 02:17:36,900
I think it may be a deferral until such time

1329
02:17:36,900 --> 02:17:41,740
as that analysis that's underway would perhaps be in order.

1330
02:17:42,880 --> 02:17:44,940
But I'll just offer that for your consideration today.

1331
02:17:45,120 --> 02:17:45,360
Thank you.

1332
02:17:46,500 --> 02:17:47,320
Councillor Hartling.

1333
02:17:48,180 --> 02:17:49,720
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

1334
02:17:49,920 --> 02:17:56,000
The only thing that I would say in responses is that I initiated that conversation when

1335
02:17:56,000 --> 02:18:03,780
I asked for a supplemental staff report, understanding the cost-benefit analysis of building

1336
02:18:03,780 --> 02:18:08,620
housing and units vis-a-vis the provincial rejection.

1337
02:18:09,860 --> 02:18:11,720
That was on October 7th.

1338
02:18:11,720 --> 02:18:16,740
It was actually October 25th that UDI came back to the table with their letter of support.

1339
02:18:16,740 --> 02:18:19,740
So I would say that the landscape has already changed.

1340
02:18:20,000 --> 02:18:21,520
It's not that we have nothing new on the table.

1341
02:18:22,080 --> 02:18:31,340
I, in my view, and I think that the motion that I have represent or that I have put forward today really speaks to that, that we have the information that we need.

1342
02:18:31,840 --> 02:18:33,040
So I will leave it there.

1343
02:18:33,280 --> 02:18:33,900
Thank you very much.

1344
02:18:35,460 --> 02:18:36,000
Thank you.

1345
02:18:36,040 --> 02:18:36,660
The question has been called.

1346
02:18:57,500 --> 02:18:58,480
And the motion carries.

1347
02:18:59,980 --> 02:19:09,680
We are at that point, but we did skip over item 14, which is information items brought

1348
02:19:09,680 --> 02:19:10,140
forward.

1349
02:19:10,460 --> 02:19:12,720
There are none, but now we can put a check mark next to that.

1350
02:19:13,020 --> 02:19:19,260
So with that, we will have our midday recess, and we will be back and pick up the agenda

1351
02:19:19,260 --> 02:19:20,620
at item 15.1.

1352
02:19:21,140 --> 02:19:22,660
Thank you, and we'll see you at one o'clock.

1353
03:16:30,160 --> 03:16:58,540
Okay, colleagues, it's a few minutes after one, and we do have quorum, and we've got 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. And then that brings us to item 15.1.2, proposed amendments to administrative order 29, respecting HRM Civic addressing policies, CA 148.

1354
03:16:58,540 --> 03:17:02,640
and there is a motion and I wonder I see Councillor Hensby place.

1355
03:17:04,160 --> 03:17:09,220
I thank you Mr. Mayor that the motion is that the Health Act dreams of Council adopt

1356
03:17:09,220 --> 03:17:13,900
the proposed amendments of Administrative Board of 29, respecting civic addressing policies

1357
03:17:13,900 --> 03:17:21,060
of settlement A of the staff report date August 6, 2026 to approve one, the naming of 19 private

1358
03:17:21,060 --> 03:17:26,560
roads to the naming of one public street and three, the renaming of three private roads.

1359
03:17:26,560 --> 03:17:27,240
Second.

1360
03:17:27,240 --> 03:17:27,480
Second.

1361
03:17:31,120 --> 03:17:31,760
Councillor Gag Concert.

1362
03:17:32,400 --> 03:17:32,800
Do

1363
03:17:39,200 --> 03:17:39,800
the move, sir.

1364
03:17:41,420 --> 03:17:42,080
Call the question.

1365
03:17:42,240 --> 03:17:42,780
Call the question.

1366
03:17:42,900 --> 03:17:43,200
Call the question.

1367
03:17:43,200 --> 03:17:43,540
The question is called.

1368
03:17:43,720 --> 03:17:44,700
We'll go to the electronic vote.

1369
03:18:31,670 --> 03:18:31,730
Oh.

1370
03:18:32,010 --> 03:18:32,570
That's what it is.

1371
03:18:35,790 --> 03:18:37,750
How are we doing on the vote there, Madame Clerk?

1372
03:19:09,240 --> 03:19:14,220
Just Mr. Mayor, we would like to know Councillor Austin's vote is also a yes, and that does not

1373
03:19:14,220 --> 03:19:15,580
change the outcome of the vote.

1374
03:19:16,360 --> 03:19:16,680
Okay.

1375
03:19:16,820 --> 03:19:17,340
Thank you very much.

1376
03:19:17,420 --> 03:19:18,240
The motion carries.

1377
03:19:19,260 --> 03:19:27,780
Then we get to item 15.1.3, which was also respecting private roads, but that was successfully

1378
03:19:27,780 --> 03:19:35,680
deferred, bringing us to 1521, the dual-band radio budget transfer, which passed on consent.

1379
03:19:37,080 --> 03:19:42,400
And this brings us to 1531, the Head Start, Tennis Dome at Goresbuck Park, which was deferred

1380
03:19:42,400 --> 03:19:49,780
that Councillor Austin's request, and that brings us to 15.3.2, the affordable housing

1381
03:19:49,780 --> 03:19:54,520
strategy, which I have asked to have removed from the consent calendar. So the deputy

1382
03:19:54,520 --> 03:20:01,320
mayor and I are going to quickly change positions here, and then I will buzz in, and we'll

1383
03:20:01,320 --> 03:20:01,940
be on our way.

1384
03:21:23,680 --> 03:21:28,060
Yeah, it looks like I am, I'm not even quick, it looks like I am ticking

1385
03:22:01,980 --> 03:22:14,440
Okay, so we are moving to item 15.3.2 and that is the affordable housing strategy, and I'm going to hand this over to the mayor.

1386
03:22:15,280 --> 03:22:19,540
Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor and Madam Clerk, I think there we go, thank you.

1387
03:22:19,540 --> 03:22:21,860
So I'll start with putting the motion on the floor.

1388
03:22:22,060 --> 03:22:27,240
I move that Halifax Regional Council 1 endorsed the Affordable Housing Strategy as provided

1389
03:22:27,240 --> 03:22:34,120
in attachment A of the staff report dated August 5th, 2026, to direct the Chief Administrative

1390
03:22:34,120 --> 03:22:38,780
Officer to include funding options for actions contained in the Affordable Housing Strategy

1391
03:22:38,780 --> 03:22:45,140
in future years, commencing in the 2027-2028 budget and business plan for Council's consideration

1392
03:22:45,660 --> 03:22:50,020
And three, direct the CIO to provide the committee with an update on the implementation

1393
03:22:50,020 --> 03:22:52,320
of the strategy every two years.

1394
03:22:52,960 --> 03:22:55,160
So colleagues, I just want to begin by-

1395
03:22:55,160 --> 03:22:56,340
Can we get a second for that?

1396
03:22:56,340 --> 03:22:57,180
Oh, yeah, let's do that.

1397
03:22:57,300 --> 03:22:57,780
That's a good-

1398
03:22:57,780 --> 03:22:58,900
Councilor Steele?

1399
03:23:00,730 --> 03:23:01,130
Okay.

1400
03:23:01,290 --> 03:23:01,510
Thank you.

1401
03:23:01,710 --> 03:23:01,950
Go ahead.

1402
03:23:02,670 --> 03:23:08,210
I'll start just by being so clear about my support for the Affordable Housing Strategy and

1403
03:23:08,210 --> 03:23:13,550
the role that we all have collectively, the Council and our staff, and enabling more affordable

1404
03:23:13,550 --> 03:23:13,990
housing.

1405
03:23:13,990 --> 03:23:17,490
The reason for my intervention today has got nothing to do with that.

1406
03:23:17,650 --> 03:23:24,350
It's all about a concern, about approving two permanent staff positions outside of the

1407
03:23:24,350 --> 03:23:25,070
budgeting process.

1408
03:23:26,290 --> 03:23:30,370
So that's my concern before council has the full financial picture.

1409
03:23:31,050 --> 03:23:35,710
I noted that several members of CPED raised the same concern last week and I note that the

1410
03:23:35,710 --> 03:23:40,310
recommendation before us today from CPED was not unanimously approved by CPED for this

1411
03:23:40,310 --> 03:23:40,890
very reason.

1412
03:23:40,890 --> 03:23:47,690
Staff indicated that not approving these hires would primarily affect the efficiency of the surplus lands for housing program.

1413
03:23:48,330 --> 03:23:58,990
A program that has great merit, but we should be able to consider this investment alongside our other housing tools and priorities, including those that provide for more immediate housing support.

1414
03:23:59,710 --> 03:24:06,830
We're not immune to the fiscal pressures facing the other orders of government and like them, we must focus our resources and find ways to do more with less.

1415
03:24:06,830 --> 03:24:19,190
The two positions may seem modest within a billion dollar budget, but permanent positions create permanent obligations, housing accelerator fund money may cover some initial costs, but that funding is temporary.

1416
03:24:19,530 --> 03:24:31,090
When it ends, municipal taxpayers inherit the full expense, and in about five years, the cost of those two positions will be approaching $300,000 per year and will continue to escalate to year over year.

1417
03:24:31,090 --> 03:24:36,150
If Council moves forward with these positions today, they'll be incorporated into the planning

1418
03:24:36,150 --> 03:24:38,970
and development budget as Council approved positions.

1419
03:24:39,590 --> 03:24:43,730
In a constrained fiscal environment, Council should consider new permanent positions alongside

1420
03:24:43,730 --> 03:24:48,790
the proposed tax rate, other staffing requests, service enhancements, and all of our other competing

1421
03:24:48,790 --> 03:24:49,330
priorities.

1422
03:24:50,110 --> 03:24:52,110
I'm not proposing that we reject these positions.

1423
03:24:52,570 --> 03:24:56,270
I'm proposing that we consider them through the budget adjustment list process with the

1424
03:24:56,270 --> 03:24:57,710
full financial picture before us.

1425
03:24:57,710 --> 03:25:00,110
that is precisely what the ballot process is for.

1426
03:25:01,480 --> 03:25:07,690
For that reason, I would like Madam Deputy Mayor to move

1427
03:25:07,690 --> 03:25:12,090
that recommendation to be amended to read.

1428
03:25:13,030 --> 03:25:16,430
Direct the chief administrative officer to include funding

1429
03:25:16,430 --> 03:25:19,410
options for actions contained in the affordable housing

1430
03:25:19,410 --> 03:25:23,410
strategy in future years as a budget adjustment list request

1431
03:25:23,410 --> 03:25:28,610
within the 2027, 28 budget process for Council's consideration.

1432
03:25:29,110 --> 03:25:31,970
And thank you, thank you very much for that.

1433
03:25:32,470 --> 03:25:35,970
And I think Madam Clerk, you have the wording, it could go on a screen.

1434
03:25:36,130 --> 03:25:36,650
Okay, thank you.

1435
03:25:37,710 --> 03:25:40,770
So this amendment preserves the staffing request and

1436
03:25:40,770 --> 03:25:42,310
Council's ability to approve it.

1437
03:25:42,450 --> 03:25:50,410
It simply ensures that we make that decision transparently alongside and in the context of our other priorities with a clear understanding of the trade-offs.

1438
03:25:50,410 --> 03:25:54,310
I believe this is the fiscally responsible approach and should be our standard practice

1439
03:25:54,310 --> 03:25:56,830
when considering permanent increases to municipal staffing.

1440
03:25:59,450 --> 03:25:59,990
Thank you.

1441
03:26:00,090 --> 03:26:02,550
And I think I heard that second from Councillor Perty.

1442
03:26:03,070 --> 03:26:03,290
Okay.

1443
03:26:03,550 --> 03:26:03,930
Very good.

1444
03:26:04,650 --> 03:26:10,310
So, I see the board lining up and this is on the amendment, Councillor Austin.

1445
03:26:11,470 --> 03:26:14,810
Thank you, Ms. Deputy.

1446
03:26:16,870 --> 03:26:22,410
So I'm not going to support this amendment because I think of the direction that—

1447
03:26:23,110 --> 03:26:32,170
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.

1448
03:26:33,030 --> 03:26:40,470
If you can hear Jerry now, like if something is important, you know you're going that you're in favor of doing it.

1449
03:26:40,550 --> 03:26:43,550
You should just do it and build it into the and have it built into the budget.

1450
03:26:44,650 --> 03:26:50,610
Where we are regarding housing and homelessness, I mean this has been one of the absolutely

1451
03:26:50,610 --> 03:26:55,210
major issues that we have faced as well as previous Councillors.

1452
03:26:55,770 --> 03:27:00,030
The staffing request to actually do this work properly is not a big ask.

1453
03:27:00,230 --> 03:27:01,370
It's a small increase.

1454
03:27:02,010 --> 03:27:06,570
And so I'm comfortable having staff go off and prepare the budget with this built in.

1455
03:27:07,250 --> 03:27:11,150
I think this is an important enough priority that it is worthwhile doing that.

1456
03:27:11,150 --> 03:27:24,610
we've done this in the past with other items. We can refer it to the bowel and still consider it, but I think I think there's enough here that I'm comfortable just having this built in. I think that the housing file is important enough to warrant it. Thank you.

1457
03:27:27,900 --> 03:27:31,000
Thank you, Councillor Austin, Councillor Perty.

1458
03:27:32,540 --> 03:27:36,380
Thank you, Deputy Mayor, and thank you, Mr. Mayor, for this amendment.

1459
03:27:36,800 --> 03:27:43,340
I asked at CPED for this to be broken out so we could vote on the point separately because

1460
03:27:43,340 --> 03:27:51,120
I also felt uncomfortable basically pre-approving positions before the budget process was happening,

1461
03:27:51,120 --> 03:27:53,560
and I just don't want to do that.

1462
03:27:53,560 --> 03:28:00,060
so I didn't want to vote in favor of the positions at this point, so I'm happy to support

1463
03:28:00,060 --> 03:28:06,880
this. I think this is reasonable and it addresses the very serious budgetary issues and constraints

1464
03:28:06,880 --> 03:28:11,660
that we are all feeling so happy to support. Thanks,

1465
03:28:14,320 --> 03:28:15,240
Councillor Steele.

1466
03:28:16,380 --> 03:28:23,940
Thank you, Deputy Mayor. I have a question for Jerry. Jerry, just explain the difference between

1467
03:28:23,940 --> 03:28:32,400
the the emotion that's proposed by staff and the motion that's brought forward by the mayor.

1468
03:28:33,140 --> 03:28:39,060
I just want to make sure I understand. One is we're baking it in. The other is an add-on. It's the

1469
03:28:39,060 --> 03:28:47,840
valve, right? Is that like how does this treat it by staff, I guess, if we were to adopt the mayor's

1470
03:28:47,840 --> 03:28:48,120
motion.

1471
03:28:51,840 --> 03:28:59,000
Thank you, Chair Blackwood-CFO. So I think what's important here for context? And certainly,

1472
03:28:59,920 --> 03:29:06,320
you know, this is, this is advice. So we were given very early in the process some ratification

1473
03:29:06,320 --> 03:29:15,440
day, a motion that Council approved, right? For staff to go away, build up the 2728 budget based on

1474
03:29:15,440 --> 03:29:22,960
And like no increases, only contractual inflationary and approved by Council.

1475
03:29:23,780 --> 03:29:25,940
We did debrief sessions with Council.

1476
03:29:26,520 --> 03:29:32,080
One of the things we heard was let's try to streamline the process.

1477
03:29:33,100 --> 03:29:39,600
A lot of the feedback that we got was around the bowel process and how that prolonged the

1478
03:29:39,600 --> 03:29:40,500
budget process.

1479
03:29:41,740 --> 03:29:49,640
What staff has done and implemented and what we talked about yesterday and executive is we've put a deadline to staff.

1480
03:29:50,160 --> 03:29:57,040
Any things being brought forward that have budget implications, you need to get them in front of.

1481
03:30:00,000 --> 03:30:07,880
That is so Council can have a Folsom staff report, Council can have a Folsom debate, and that's

1482
03:30:07,880 --> 03:30:18,960
what's here today. So I think it's 0.02% of our overall budget. It doesn't move the

1483
03:30:18,960 --> 03:30:26,740
dial on the rate. So if it is important to Council, I mean Council can approve this today.

1484
03:30:26,740 --> 03:30:35,320
It's direction to staff that we can put this into the budget, you know, it was brought up at, you know, executive yesterday about staff time.

1485
03:30:35,680 --> 03:30:47,120
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.

1486
03:30:47,120 --> 03:30:55,220
So that's just a little bit of context in terms of the motion is fully in order and council has full

1487
03:30:55,760 --> 03:30:59,600
purview to do what they want when it comes when it comes to the budget.

1488
03:31:00,460 --> 03:31:09,700
But this will add more time. It's a bowel item that will have another debate on the funding

1489
03:31:09,700 --> 03:31:13,680
for these housing or housing strategy positions.

1490
03:31:13,680 --> 03:31:22,480
Okay. Thank you, Jerry. The reason I asked this question is, at CPED last week, I voted against

1491
03:31:23,600 --> 03:31:33,140
clause two of the motion. I know that housing affordability is very important. I know that

1492
03:31:33,140 --> 03:31:38,720
other orders of government have been investing more and more in housing affordability,

1493
03:31:38,720 --> 03:31:46,040
and I'm not comfortable investing incremental resources in this going forward.

1494
03:31:46,740 --> 03:31:52,240
I think we saw the number over a 10-year period what this means.

1495
03:31:52,900 --> 03:31:59,700
The municipality is involved in a myriad of ways supporting housing affordability.

1496
03:32:00,300 --> 03:32:04,640
And one of the things that troubles me, not only about this particular ask,

1497
03:32:04,640 --> 03:32:11,780
about everything. And maybe we are short of resources everywhere. But one of the things that

1498
03:32:11,780 --> 03:32:17,920
I always thought it might be possible is, do we not have any resources within HRM that could pivot?

1499
03:32:19,200 --> 03:32:27,160
Is everything we take on? Do we need to have incremental resources to do it? So that's kind of my bottom

1500
03:32:27,160 --> 03:32:33,440
line here. The strategy is well written. It's excellent. It doesn't address overall affordability,

1501
03:32:33,440 --> 03:32:40,560
which troubles me, but I understand that we chose that path and gave that guidance to

1502
03:32:40,560 --> 03:32:47,060
our staff to look at affordability for a very small portion of our residents, albeit those

1503
03:32:47,060 --> 03:32:56,220
in greatest need perhaps, but I'm not comfortable with incremental resources at this time for this.

1504
03:32:56,220 --> 03:32:56,260
Yes.

1505
03:32:56,720 --> 03:32:57,240
Thank you.

1506
03:33:00,190 --> 03:33:00,350
All right.

1507
03:33:00,530 --> 03:33:01,270
Councillor Kent.

1508
03:33:02,210 --> 03:33:03,410
Thank you, Madam Deputy.

1509
03:33:04,190 --> 03:33:14,170
I can't support the potential amendment as well for the fact that I absolutely and I appreciate

1510
03:33:14,170 --> 03:33:20,910
Councillor Austin bringing out that the amount of energy and effort that we have and commitment

1511
03:33:20,910 --> 03:33:28,050
to housing within our municipal mandate, even though we know that there has not been

1512
03:33:28,050 --> 03:33:30,590
and a lot of support for it until more recent years,

1513
03:33:31,350 --> 03:33:32,930
but through other levels of government,

1514
03:33:33,310 --> 03:33:37,310
I don't think we can take the foot off the pedal right now.

1515
03:33:37,790 --> 03:33:41,290
I, we still are in a significant crisis.

1516
03:33:42,170 --> 03:33:44,650
And I think it's a responsibility of every level

1517
03:33:44,650 --> 03:33:46,790
of government to participate in some way.

1518
03:33:46,930 --> 03:33:49,550
This report, I was pleased with it.

1519
03:33:49,610 --> 03:33:51,410
I think that staff did a great job with it.

1520
03:33:52,150 --> 03:33:54,810
We got to remember that we as a council

1521
03:33:54,810 --> 03:34:03,110
last for this strategy to be developed. Now, we have it. We have it here. But also the

1522
03:34:03,110 --> 03:34:08,850
point of putting it on to a budget, an adjustment list, to me, that just doesn't make sense. We're

1523
03:34:08,850 --> 03:34:15,530
not debating. We're not debating the full budget in this period right now. The ballot list

1524
03:34:15,530 --> 03:34:21,290
is there for gaps or reconsiderations when we're going through the large budget. That's what

1525
03:34:21,290 --> 03:34:27,250
is there for. It's like a parking place for something to be looked at differently and

1526
03:34:27,250 --> 03:34:31,970
it could be within the context of the large budget that staff bring forward. I would

1527
03:34:31,970 --> 03:34:37,590
want to see that in this in the budget. So we have all that information. Our staff here

1528
03:34:37,590 --> 03:34:44,310
can go back and do it and present it within the larger budget. And then if it needs to go

1529
03:34:44,310 --> 03:34:49,390
to the ballot, let's do it then. This is not the time. I'm supportive of it. I think that

1530
03:34:49,390 --> 03:34:56,990
But we should go forward and then see the full extent when Jerry and his staff come back

1531
03:34:57,410 --> 03:34:59,690
in early December.

1532
03:35:00,610 --> 03:35:00,950
Thank you.

1533
03:35:03,430 --> 03:35:04,750
Thank you, Councillor Kent.

1534
03:35:06,130 --> 03:35:06,690
Councillor Hensby.

1535
03:35:08,110 --> 03:35:09,890
Thank you much, Deputy Mayor.

1536
03:35:10,250 --> 03:35:14,390
I'm supportive of the amendment because I believe that we're getting ourselves a little

1537
03:35:14,390 --> 03:35:15,330
entrenched into housing.

1538
03:35:15,710 --> 03:35:20,270
Like I said before, this is the provincial housing responsibility, not municipal.

1539
03:35:20,270 --> 03:35:28,630
But we have some opportunities to assist and participate with our various programs we have for tax relief and possible surplus properties and stuff.

1540
03:35:28,910 --> 03:35:40,290
But for unless we're going to get external funding guaranteed for these positions, I'm a little skeptical of us entrenching these positions and ingrained into our workforce.

1541
03:35:40,550 --> 03:35:48,370
Unless we got assurances from the federal provincial government that this fund is going to be absolute for the period of a decade, whatever we anticipate in this budget,

1542
03:35:48,370 --> 03:35:55,770
I might be a little more comfortable with it, but it stands now to the pre-improvement now before the budget process.

1543
03:35:55,770 --> 03:36:05,870
I feel a little uncomfortable about it, and I'll rather wait until the debate starts to ensure that we do have funding from our provincial and federal counterparts who are supposed to be responsible for housing.

1544
03:36:06,730 --> 03:36:07,110
Thank you.

1545
03:36:11,990 --> 03:36:13,310
Thank you, Councillor Morris,

1546
03:36:15,850 --> 03:36:16,590
thank you, Deputy Mayor.

1547
03:36:16,590 --> 03:36:23,630
And, you know, housing is a responsibility of all three levels of government, and HRM's

1548
03:36:23,630 --> 03:36:27,290
responsibility is mainly on the planning and infrastructure side.

1549
03:36:27,990 --> 03:36:33,810
But that's a complex side, and, you know, you need staff with the continuity and the expertise

1550
03:36:33,810 --> 03:36:39,850
to manage that side of things so that we can participate in partnerships with the federal

1551
03:36:39,850 --> 03:36:40,710
and provincial governments.

1552
03:36:40,730 --> 03:36:45,810
You can't just pop people in and out of those roles and expect they're going to be able

1553
03:36:45,810 --> 03:36:51,050
to take full advantage of whatever funding is available from those levels of government.

1554
03:36:51,590 --> 03:36:58,830
What I understand our staff do to a great extent is help the nonprofit organizations who

1555
03:36:58,830 --> 03:37:03,570
are building housing find ways to move through the planning process.

1556
03:37:04,270 --> 03:37:06,630
That's another important role that they have played.

1557
03:37:08,250 --> 03:37:15,330
I think that these positions are important to keep on as a minimum that we do for affordability.

1558
03:37:15,330 --> 03:37:22,250
otherwise it's just left completely to the market and we know there are a lot of gaps when it's

1559
03:37:22,250 --> 03:37:27,650
completely left to the market. We need to provide some support for the nonprofit organizations

1560
03:37:27,650 --> 03:37:33,590
that are providing the housing on the ground that is deeply affordable. So I would rather see this

1561
03:37:33,590 --> 03:37:37,230
baked into the budget rather than discussed on the bell. Thank you.

1562
03:37:39,940 --> 03:37:41,180
Thank you, Councillor Clary.

1563
03:37:42,360 --> 03:37:45,700
Thank you, deputy. So everyone's right.

1564
03:37:47,950 --> 03:37:50,550
We need these two planners. I don't know if we need to,

1565
03:37:50,730 --> 03:37:58,410
but certainly we need one, maybe two planners. But we also can't keep adding folks

1566
03:37:58,410 --> 03:38:02,550
to the compliment and keep paying for more and more and more whether it's police, it's fire,

1567
03:38:02,550 --> 03:38:03,150
it's planners.

1568
03:38:05,370 --> 03:38:10,750
I think it all support the mayor's motion here because I think

1569
03:38:10,750 --> 03:38:16,270
this needs to be kicked up to the CAO's level. And we need to look at organization what?

1570
03:38:16,790 --> 03:38:23,730
How many folks do we have? We need to review, is everyone doing everything we need?

1571
03:38:25,530 --> 03:38:30,690
And if we've got capacity, whether it's because we can't find somebody we're not hiring or

1572
03:38:30,690 --> 03:38:36,550
priorities have changed, we could slip two positions over into planning or reassign people from

1573
03:38:36,550 --> 03:38:42,990
planning to these rules, but we really do have to stop hiring people just because, hey,

1574
03:38:43,230 --> 03:38:50,150
we need more people. We need to figure out through business analysis, through technology,

1575
03:38:50,710 --> 03:38:55,410
are there ways that we could be doing things better with the same or fewer resources?

1576
03:38:56,850 --> 03:39:03,510
And so I support 100% the affordable housing strategy, although more or less what it says

1577
03:39:03,510 --> 03:39:06,170
is status quo. We're going to keep doing the things we're doing. It's not like we're adding

1578
03:39:06,170 --> 03:39:14,950
anything new. And so I think we need a good hard look at what the actual need is and if

1579
03:39:14,950 --> 03:39:19,890
we have this capacity somewhere else we could reassign temporarily or permanently. But

1580
03:39:20,620 --> 03:39:26,550
I can't have bacon in the budget at this point in time without knowing have we done a deep

1581
03:39:26,550 --> 03:39:31,550
dive to say can we move some folks? Do we have some FTEs somewhere that we could reassign?

1582
03:39:32,710 --> 03:39:33,950
I'll support the mayor on this one.

1583
03:39:34,630 --> 03:39:35,430
Thank you.

1584
03:39:38,700 --> 03:39:42,060
Everyone's spoken once on the list there.

1585
03:39:42,220 --> 03:39:44,840
Oh, no, Councillor Dagle-Gammon's not in there.

1586
03:39:44,960 --> 03:39:46,420
Go ahead, Councillor Dagle-Gammon.

1587
03:39:47,420 --> 03:39:48,540
Thank you very much.

1588
03:39:49,320 --> 03:39:51,740
Deputy Mayor, Madam, in term chair here.

1589
03:39:53,360 --> 03:39:54,600
You know, it's interesting.

1590
03:39:54,820 --> 03:39:57,460
And, you know, Councillor Cleary, when you said everybody's right, I agree.

1591
03:40:00,640 --> 03:40:08,280
We gave direction to staff, the direction to staff was if when you're looking at building

1592
03:40:08,280 --> 03:40:11,920
a budget that there's going to be an ask that you get it done beforehand.

1593
03:40:12,280 --> 03:40:16,640
So in some ways, I think no matter which way we go, we're going to be discussing this

1594
03:40:16,640 --> 03:40:18,420
again at budget, right?

1595
03:40:18,520 --> 03:40:24,080
It's quite possible that on either way that we look at it, somebody might pull it away

1596
03:40:24,080 --> 03:40:30,220
from the business unit presentation and ask for it to be put on the bow and then it becomes

1597
03:40:30,220 --> 03:40:39,080
a discussion there. The only thing that really concerns me at this point, I think, Mr. Mayor,

1598
03:40:39,460 --> 03:40:43,680
has corrected an statement that it wasn't unanimous. And sometimes when I look at our motions

1599
03:40:43,680 --> 03:40:49,360
and our minutes, it says motion put and passed, but we don't say if it's unanimous, we don't say how

1600
03:40:49,360 --> 03:40:56,700
many for or against. And this was a good conversation at CPED, that's for sure. And when it was

1601
03:40:56,700 --> 03:41:02,140
put in the past, it is that it comes to regional counsel. So that regional counsel gets to make

1602
03:41:02,620 --> 03:41:07,620
you know, the decision. But we have to be very careful if we're giving direction to staff. And

1603
03:41:07,620 --> 03:41:11,660
then all of a sudden, we're turning around and saying, well, you took the direction, but now we want

1604
03:41:11,660 --> 03:41:18,220
you to do something different. So I, yeah, we want to be consistent with that. We want our budget

1605
03:41:18,220 --> 03:41:23,740
process. We've talked about it. We want our budget process to be a little bit more timely. We want

1606
03:41:23,740 --> 03:41:33,120
it to be more seamless. So I'll vote for the original motion because I think that if it gets

1607
03:41:33,120 --> 03:41:38,980
defeated, then it goes to the bell. Either way, we're going to meet it. But I support the work that the

1608
03:41:38,980 --> 03:41:43,780
staff have done and in the way that the motion was presented. I think that the follow direction we

1609
03:41:43,780 --> 03:41:45,060
gave them. Thank you.

1610
03:41:50,780 --> 03:41:55,400
Thank you. Okay. I do not see any other first-time speakers on the list.

1611
03:41:56,360 --> 03:42:02,200
I can either change spots, the mayor, or the past deputy mayor, or I can speak from the chair.

1612
03:42:04,490 --> 03:42:14,550
Chair is fine. All right. Thank you. So, you know, I just want to maybe get some clarification on

1613
03:42:14,550 --> 03:42:23,250
the requirements here because when I read the report, we know that the city has been promised

1614
03:42:23,250 --> 03:42:30,510
through the Housing Accelerator Fund close to $80 million and in order to access that $80 million,

1615
03:42:30,970 --> 03:42:36,690
our final requirement is to have an affordable housing strategy and it says in the report

1616
03:42:39,010 --> 03:42:41,390
with staff to implement it.

1617
03:42:42,190 --> 03:42:46,650
So I'm wondering if that is a condition

1618
03:42:46,650 --> 03:42:51,590
of receiving our final installment of the half funding.

1619
03:42:52,370 --> 03:42:54,030
And while I'm talking about half,

1620
03:42:55,790 --> 03:43:00,730
I want to just put into context how important it is

1621
03:43:00,730 --> 03:43:03,150
that we have affordable housing strategy

1622
03:43:03,150 --> 03:43:08,110
and that we have staff who are dedicated to ensuring that is implemented.

1623
03:43:08,750 --> 03:43:16,930
When I look at my community in Spryfield, I had over 26 projects through half approved through spot zoning.

1624
03:43:17,530 --> 03:43:22,470
As a result, I've seen the loss of a lot of existing affordable housing,

1625
03:43:22,470 --> 03:43:27,010
whether that was affordable single-family homes or affordable multi-units.

1626
03:43:29,350 --> 03:43:35,450
And we don't have housing to replace that affordable housing.

1627
03:43:35,950 --> 03:43:42,950
So the work that's being done through bonus density and looking at preserving existing

1628
03:43:42,950 --> 03:43:49,790
housing through renovations, through supporting offer profits, that is critical to ensuring

1629
03:43:49,790 --> 03:43:53,330
that we have a continuum of affordable housing for our residents.

1630
03:43:54,510 --> 03:44:04,530
It is true that, you know, we, you know, people are being asked to do more with less, but

1631
03:44:04,530 --> 03:44:10,250
there's a lot of people out there in housing situations where they can't do any more because

1632
03:44:10,250 --> 03:44:12,590
they don't have affordable housing.

1633
03:44:12,870 --> 03:44:18,210
It's one of the biggest crises in our country at the moment is housing affordability.

1634
03:44:19,010 --> 03:44:24,030
And I agree that this is a responsibility of all three levels of government.

1635
03:44:24,350 --> 03:44:26,370
We all have a role to play here.

1636
03:44:27,430 --> 03:44:36,270
And the cost of two additional staff people is such a minimal investment for seeing our

1637
03:44:36,270 --> 03:44:38,510
affordable housing strategy implemented.

1638
03:44:39,390 --> 03:44:46,090
And we're doing this based on the fact that we've received $80 million in housing accelerator

1639
03:44:46,090 --> 03:44:52,390
fund funding? That this to me seems like this shouldn't even be a discussion. We

1640
03:44:52,390 --> 03:44:55,110
should this was a commitment that we're going to have an affordable housing

1641
03:44:55,110 --> 03:44:56,910
strategy and that we're going to implement it.

1642
03:45:00,000 --> 03:45:28,460
We made those commitments, and we need to see them through. And it is the people who need affordable housing, the most, who are 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. And if I could get an answer to the question about the requirement to have the strategy.

1643
03:45:28,460 --> 03:45:32,140
and the ability to support implementing it.

1644
03:45:35,360 --> 03:45:37,240
Certainly, thank you, Madam Deputy,

1645
03:45:37,680 --> 03:45:39,920
through to Council, my name's Aaron Murnahan.

1646
03:45:40,140 --> 03:45:42,540
I'm Manager of Culture Heritage and Planning Information

1647
03:45:42,540 --> 03:45:46,160
Services, also overseeing the completion of half.

1648
03:45:47,560 --> 03:45:49,360
So I would say it was anticipated

1649
03:45:49,740 --> 03:45:52,640
when the application was first sent from HRM

1650
03:45:52,640 --> 03:45:55,040
and endorsed by this council to CMHC

1651
03:45:56,100 --> 03:45:58,760
that there would be permanent staff created

1652
03:45:58,760 --> 03:46:04,780
to implement the affordable housing strategy. However, I can confirm that that language

1653
03:46:04,780 --> 03:46:09,680
does not exist within the contribution agreement that we have at CMHC and that it's anticipated

1654
03:46:09,680 --> 03:46:15,880
that if Council endorses the strategy in its past, that would be the final initiative

1655
03:46:15,880 --> 03:46:21,060
that needs to be completed as part of our agreement. We would then get our final installment

1656
03:46:21,060 --> 03:46:29,260
of 19.7 million dollars sometimes before Christmas is the hope so before the

1657
03:46:29,260 --> 03:46:34,040
budget would be debated in the spring. So I would say no it's not a hard

1658
03:46:34,040 --> 03:46:37,960
condition but there is an expectation from CMMC that there would be staff in

1659
03:46:37,960 --> 03:46:41,220
place to actually implement the strategy from a practical sense.

1660
03:46:43,370 --> 03:46:43,990
Thank you Aaron.

1661
03:46:44,790 --> 03:46:50,770
Okay, for, oh, let's say, Virginia, Councillor Hinch.

1662
03:46:52,950 --> 03:46:54,070
Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

1663
03:46:56,790 --> 03:47:02,110
You know, in my district, especially in my district, there's a lot of the affordable

1664
03:47:02,110 --> 03:47:15,570
housing that has been torn down, displaced, not, you know, nothing is being, you know,

1665
03:47:16,370 --> 03:47:28,810
built to the to the to the level that it should be built for deeply affordable housing that is you know it is all three levels of government that should be taken this on it just doesn't have to be the province.

1666
03:47:29,710 --> 03:47:41,600
We do have a role here to play and I like to continue on seeing the work that the affordable housing strategy has so whatever you guys need.

1667
03:47:41,600 --> 03:47:47,100
And unfortunately, I cannot support the mayor's motion.

1668
03:47:47,400 --> 03:47:55,100
I will support the original motion going forward because again, this is tangible work

1669
03:47:55,100 --> 03:47:58,220
that can be done and hopefully we can see affordable housing.

1670
03:47:59,340 --> 03:48:01,640
I mean, we're seeing some progress, but we need more progress.

1671
03:48:02,220 --> 03:48:04,260
So that's what my hope would be.

1672
03:48:05,120 --> 03:48:08,560
So yes, I will be supporting the main motion.

1673
03:48:08,820 --> 03:48:09,060
Thank you.

1674
03:48:09,060 --> 03:48:10,040
Right,

1675
03:48:15,310 --> 03:48:20,030
Councillor Austin. Thank you, Ms. Deputy. I just follow

1676
03:48:20,030 --> 03:48:24,150
a question there for Jerry. You know, if Council proceeds with the original

1677
03:48:24,150 --> 03:48:30,410
motion instead of accepting the mayor's amendment here, it would get built into the budget.

1678
03:48:30,890 --> 03:48:36,210
But then that budget committee does Council not have the ability to move anything like we

1679
03:48:36,210 --> 03:48:37,390
want related to the budget?

1680
03:48:42,880 --> 03:48:48,260
Thank you, yet. That's correct. If you vote it for the original

1681
03:48:48,260 --> 03:48:52,300
no motion, that can always be adjusted at the time.

1682
03:48:53,280 --> 03:48:59,260
So when we bake something in, we're sending a signal, but, you know, Council always retains

1683
03:48:59,260 --> 03:49:03,400
the ability to change our mind if we're in the middle of budget deliberations, and we

1684
03:49:03,400 --> 03:49:07,880
look at the amounts and everyone's kind of losing their minds, right?

1685
03:49:08,600 --> 03:49:09,800
We could, it could be reversed,

1686
03:49:12,100 --> 03:49:13,500
that's, that's correct.

1687
03:49:14,100 --> 03:49:16,920
Okay, and what is the rate impact?

1688
03:49:16,920 --> 03:49:31,480
I thought I heard 0.02, I think 0.02 on a billion dollar budget, but I think it's like less than a dollar on the average bill.

1689
03:49:33,840 --> 03:49:43,600
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.

1690
03:49:43,600 --> 03:49:48,560
right? We've talked about the budget process being lengthy. If, you know, you look at this and

1691
03:49:48,560 --> 03:49:53,960
it's like, this is a good idea, we should do the thing. Let's do the thing. Let's build it in now.

1692
03:49:55,380 --> 03:50:01,540
The amount here is small. And, you know, at the end of the day, I know there's a lot of talk of,

1693
03:50:01,600 --> 03:50:07,780
well, we need to do less, you know, more or less. And, you know, it's kind of a nice slogan,

1694
03:50:07,800 --> 03:50:12,720
but at a certain point, it just breaks down. You do ultimately, you do less with less.

1695
03:50:12,720 --> 03:50:20,060
And here is an area where we are being tasked and asked to do much more, all orders of government are.

1696
03:50:20,560 --> 03:50:30,580
And it's a small example, but the one that kind of registers to me most of all, because I've seen the difference, different space, but park naturalization.

1697
03:50:31,240 --> 03:50:40,260
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.

1698
03:50:40,780 --> 03:50:44,840
Dedicating just one staff person to that has made such a world of difference.

1699
03:50:45,060 --> 03:50:46,280
We have a whole program now.

1700
03:50:46,840 --> 03:50:50,920
You know, this is not a big staffing ask, this is not a big dollar amount ask.

1701
03:50:51,040 --> 03:50:52,640
We've committed to this in a strategy.

1702
03:50:53,840 --> 03:50:56,320
And even if we build this in, we can always reverse it.

1703
03:50:56,380 --> 03:51:01,680
If we really get into the budget process and are really scrounging for 0.02 percent, I think

1704
03:51:01,680 --> 03:51:02,400
this is worth doing.

1705
03:51:02,520 --> 03:51:06,620
I think we should just proceed and not blow to our bowel and budget process with something

1706
03:51:06,620 --> 03:51:08,500
that we should just really be doing.

1707
03:51:09,020 --> 03:51:09,440
Thank you.

1708
03:51:14,310 --> 03:51:18,690
Mayor Philmore. Thank you. Just a very brief close.

1709
03:51:21,180 --> 03:51:23,720
I would say that, of course, the council

1710
03:51:23,720 --> 03:51:29,580
is in control of its own destiny and at the time of the budget could delete positions

1711
03:51:29,580 --> 03:51:34,960
that it created today. I've never seen it happen. I've not seen one position ever deleted,

1712
03:51:35,380 --> 03:51:42,970
only at it. So I would just be reminded of that. And there may be a logical fallacy at work

1713
03:51:42,970 --> 03:51:48,550
year as well. You know, if I could draw an analogy, the argument that I've often heard

1714
03:51:48,550 --> 03:51:54,370
from folks who don't want to take action on climate change is that, oh, well, HRM is

1715
03:51:54,370 --> 03:51:58,190
small or Canada is small. It doesn't really matter what we do. So we shouldn't do anything.

1716
03:51:58,350 --> 03:52:03,670
We don't have to bother. That's the same logic we're getting into when we say, it's only

1717
03:52:03,670 --> 03:52:09,770
a .02 on the mill rate. It's only a $200,000. Every dollar matters. Every single dollar

1718
03:52:09,770 --> 03:52:11,050
or matter, somebody's paying for it.

1719
03:52:11,770 --> 03:52:13,950
So I just would remind us of that as well,

1720
03:52:14,230 --> 03:52:15,370
and I'll leave it there, thank you.

1721
03:52:18,860 --> 03:52:21,000
Okay, so with that, the question has been called,

1722
03:52:21,240 --> 03:52:22,700
we have no more speakers on the list.

1723
03:52:23,300 --> 03:52:27,680
The vote will be on the motion, as amended,

1724
03:52:29,500 --> 03:52:33,520
the amendment, okay, so be on the amendment

1725
03:52:34,880 --> 03:52:37,760
and commence voting.

1726
03:53:02,500 --> 03:53:04,560
It's a tie vote, so that fails.

1727
03:53:05,300 --> 03:53:07,400
So the amendment does not pass.

1728
03:53:07,400 --> 03:53:07,880
We

1729
03:53:11,110 --> 03:53:13,690
are now back to the main motion,

1730
03:53:25,350 --> 03:53:27,390
waiting for my screen to clear there.

1731
03:53:28,310 --> 03:53:34,030
On the main motion, Councillor Steele,

1732
03:53:36,600 --> 03:53:41,340
thank you Deputy Mayor, I just like to reiterate

1733
03:53:41,340 --> 03:53:48,780
how important affordable housing is, however, unlike many other municipalities across the

1734
03:53:48,780 --> 03:53:54,540
country, that are more active and affordable housing than we are. We don't receive the

1735
03:53:54,540 --> 03:53:59,560
same level of support from our provincial government to support this type of work.

1736
03:54:00,680 --> 03:54:07,660
Municipal taxes were never intended for broad social programs and we have moved into this space

1737
03:54:07,660 --> 03:54:15,420
and we're now beginning to move even further into this space. I'd like to see this $200,000

1738
03:54:15,420 --> 03:54:20,700
or whatever it is, spend on things like infrastructure renewal, transit, public safety,

1739
03:54:21,020 --> 03:54:24,940
some of the things that I'm hearing from my residents every day.

1740
03:54:25,460 --> 03:54:29,580
I'll just give you a concrete example, and it's actually a boat concrete as well.

1741
03:54:30,340 --> 03:54:35,400
I live in Clayton Park West, the street near to me, actually it's a street I walk my dogs on,

1742
03:54:35,540 --> 03:54:38,960
so I get to discuss this every evening almost.

1743
03:54:39,880 --> 03:54:44,900
We did some maintenance work to replace a failed curb.

1744
03:54:45,580 --> 03:54:49,920
And we left a small, we did about 98% of the street.

1745
03:54:50,100 --> 03:54:54,320
We left a few properties where the curb wasn't fixed.

1746
03:54:55,180 --> 03:54:59,740
So, and the reason why we couldn't do that was for $28,000.

1747
03:55:00,260 --> 03:55:02,620
So the whole street was done except for one,

1748
03:55:02,940 --> 03:55:05,380
except for the curb in front of one property.

1749
03:55:06,600 --> 03:55:10,000
And so, you know, I face that every day,

1750
03:55:10,480 --> 03:55:14,380
there's many countless places like that in my district.

1751
03:55:14,380 --> 03:55:23,440
and that's why I and and I want them to fix the curbs and all your districts and make the sidewalks safe. I'd like to see bears late made accessible.

1752
03:55:24,020 --> 03:55:38,500
We need money to do that. I I walked with one of my residents last Friday who was in a wheelchair and I walked around and tried to see how things look from her point of view and they are extremely unsafe.

1753
03:55:38,500 --> 03:55:42,200
I felt unsafe and I wasn't I'm not in a wheelchair.

1754
03:55:42,200 --> 03:55:49,500
So that's why I hate to see us migrating into these areas that I believe other levels of

1755
03:55:49,500 --> 03:55:52,160
government could and should be funding.

1756
03:55:52,580 --> 03:55:57,780
I think it's a fantastic strategy, but I want I wish to vote separately an item number

1757
03:55:57,780 --> 03:55:58,060
two.

1758
03:55:58,380 --> 03:55:58,720
Thank you.

1759
03:56:04,920 --> 03:56:06,280
Thank you, Councillor Steele.

1760
03:56:06,420 --> 03:56:07,220
Councillor Perty.

1761
03:56:07,920 --> 03:56:08,880
Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

1762
03:56:09,100 --> 03:56:16,020
And I couldn't agree more with Councillor Steele's assessment of things financially, absolutely.

1763
03:56:16,020 --> 03:56:23,400
and when I spoke to this at CPAD, I'm not going to go into everything that I said there,

1764
03:56:23,640 --> 03:56:31,120
but one thing that I did say that I do want to reiterate today is I feel like we had

1765
03:56:35,030 --> 03:56:41,250
unfulfilled promises from the Housing Accelerator Fund that this money from the federal government

1766
03:56:41,870 --> 03:56:47,770
did not actually improve affordability for anyone. And in fact, we've seen prices just continue

1767
03:56:47,770 --> 03:56:53,530
you to climb costs of living, continue to climb, has not produced affordability.

1768
03:56:53,850 --> 03:57:03,930
So just kind of dashed expectations and has done other zoning changes in our municipality

1769
03:57:03,930 --> 03:57:09,090
that have not been in the best interests of our residents either.

1770
03:57:09,330 --> 03:57:15,150
So I'm not sure I'm sure some good has come from it and we've heard it and we see the affordable

1771
03:57:15,150 --> 03:57:25,930
while housing strategy, but I agree we are spreading ourselves too thin over things that

1772
03:57:25,930 --> 03:57:33,030
are not core municipal issues. When we have so many, so many core municipal issues that

1773
03:57:33,030 --> 03:57:39,150
do need to be addressed in all of our districts. And I'm going to ask also if we can do what

1774
03:57:39,150 --> 03:57:44,050
we did at CPED and vote on these points separately if we could vote on one and three together

1775
03:57:44,050 --> 03:57:49,110
and then vote on number two separately because I do not support moving forward staff

1776
03:57:50,230 --> 03:57:52,910
at this point in our budget process.

1777
03:57:56,830 --> 03:58:00,570
All right so it's been requested when we vote that the

1778
03:58:00,570 --> 03:58:05,770
vote is split one and three and two separately. Councillor Austin.

1779
03:58:07,450 --> 03:58:20,270
Thank you, Ms. Deputy, and I want to ask staff about the piece about support for non-profits

1780
03:58:20,270 --> 03:58:25,530
through the tax program because we did have some council motions on that and, you know,

1781
03:58:25,750 --> 03:58:32,250
as far as I understand it from reading the strategy, this work looking at that question of

1782
03:58:32,250 --> 03:58:39,490
HREM's program, that would still be looked at in the future through a report to be prepared

1783
03:58:39,490 --> 03:58:40,210
by finance.

1784
03:58:40,470 --> 03:58:41,910
So, am I reading that correct?

1785
03:59:03,430 --> 03:59:03,930
Planner.

1786
03:59:04,270 --> 03:59:07,070
Sorry, Dave Patterson, Principal Planner for Regional Committee Planning.

1787
03:59:07,410 --> 03:59:11,190
Thank you through the Deputy Mayor to the Councillor.

1788
03:59:11,950 --> 03:59:15,050
The action on tax relief, it's a bit of a two-parter.

1789
03:59:15,430 --> 03:59:22,210
One is to continue with the current program as it's currently provided by finance for

1790
03:59:22,210 --> 03:59:29,090
all nonprofits, but also to review that program moving forward in the in the short term for

1791
03:59:29,090 --> 03:59:34,590
the overall sustainability objectives of that program. Looking at the range of affordable

1792
03:59:34,590 --> 03:59:42,450
housing projects and sites that are supported really just maybe distinctly from the other

1793
03:59:42,450 --> 03:59:47,970
nonprofits that are also supported in that program. So that work is ongoing in the next few

1794
03:59:47,970 --> 03:59:56,970
years is led by finance. So led by finance, does planning come into it? Because I mean, I think

1795
04:00:00,000 --> 04:00:29,720
On this question, in the, 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.

1796
04:00:29,720 --> 04:00:39,500
And so, you know, I'm fine with this action if it's a both sort of piece because I think both perspectives need to be there for Council to be really making a good decision on it.

1797
04:00:45,750 --> 04:00:59,250
Yeah, thank you. So, that is something, you know, we brought that up last budget session about the, you know, the increase in our grants program from our redesign.

1798
04:00:59,250 --> 04:01:26,370
And one of the things that, you know, we did with the redesign was put more weight on the housing component to provide more grants in that area, right, which is schedule D, I believe what we're seeing in that space affordable housing is nonprofits have become very active in that space.

1799
04:01:26,370 --> 04:01:36,950
the YWCA, which is, will there 100% exempt from taxation through legislation, but as nonprofits

1800
04:01:36,950 --> 04:01:43,910
come in like, for example, if Killam is getting rid of old stock, nonprofits are buying up that

1801
04:01:43,910 --> 04:01:53,190
stock, and then they're getting eligibility for the grants program. So from a sustainability point

1802
04:01:53,190 --> 04:01:59,570
of you were really seeing profits become very active in the affordable housing space,

1803
04:01:59,810 --> 04:02:05,270
which is creating, you know, an additional pressure on our grants program.

1804
04:02:06,470 --> 04:02:14,710
So overall, I mean, I think one of the things we really need to look at is really where does

1805
04:02:14,710 --> 04:02:21,830
council want to put that overall grants envelope in the future. Is it more around

1806
04:02:22,490 --> 04:02:28,070
supporting affordable housing? You know, I know we moved away a little bit from supporting more

1807
04:02:28,790 --> 04:02:34,670
athletic associations and things like that, but that is a review that you know certainly will

1808
04:02:34,670 --> 04:02:41,150
will need to undertake. I think it's were two years and since the last grants review.

1809
04:02:42,070 --> 04:02:46,850
Thank you, Jerry. I just have about 20 seconds left here, so I just pose the question.

1810
04:02:47,570 --> 04:02:52,530
In that review, is there going to be an outcome-oriented thing? Because consistently what

1811
04:02:52,530 --> 04:02:57,530
I hear from the nonprofits out there is, it's not glamorous the way you get to cut a ribbon

1812
04:02:57,530 --> 04:03:03,990
on a new project, but that ongoing funding, because it's predictable and ongoing, is actually

1813
04:03:03,990 --> 04:03:09,890
among the most important supports that we actually provide. I'm just wondering if in that program

1814
04:03:09,890 --> 04:03:17,790
in those considerations, whether or not that sort of perspective is going to be captured as well.

1815
04:03:18,210 --> 04:03:20,250
I hear what you're saying about the financial piece.

1816
04:03:20,530 --> 04:03:25,770
That's important, but I really, that planning part, I think, needs to be part of that work too,

1817
04:03:26,510 --> 04:03:31,290
to assess what the outcome could be of additional support or not.

1818
04:03:34,610 --> 04:03:45,770
I agree, the finance and planning need to work together on that whole grand piece.

1819
04:03:47,370 --> 04:03:49,710
Okay, thank you, Mr. Deputy, thank you, Jerry.

1820
04:03:51,150 --> 04:03:54,690
Thank you, Councillor Steele, sorry,

1821
04:03:56,950 --> 04:03:59,070
Mr. Mayor, do you want to close or do you want to speak

1822
04:03:59,070 --> 04:03:59,290
now?

1823
04:04:00,030 --> 04:04:00,350
You want to close?

1824
04:04:00,670 --> 04:04:00,850
Okay.

1825
04:04:00,850 --> 04:04:08,630
Councillor Steele. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. A couple of questions I think for Dave. The Affordable

1826
04:04:08,630 --> 04:04:14,190
Housing Grant Program, a certain portion of it, of course, has been funded through density

1827
04:04:14,190 --> 04:04:20,730
bonuses, another portion funded through half. We're coming to an end of the half funding,

1828
04:04:21,210 --> 04:04:25,250
so what's the plan there? Do we have a plan?

1829
04:04:27,710 --> 04:04:30,650
Thank you, through the deputy mayor.

1830
04:04:31,150 --> 04:04:34,150
Really, the plan is going back to where we were prior to half.

1831
04:04:34,790 --> 04:04:40,790
So prior to half, the affordable housing grant program was really built around the density

1832
04:04:40,790 --> 04:04:45,490
bonus program, density browsing was originally in the regional center.

1833
04:04:45,670 --> 04:04:48,330
It's now expanded to the suburban area.

1834
04:04:49,010 --> 04:04:53,150
And we're starting to see projects and funding come in through the suburban areas as well.

1835
04:04:53,150 --> 04:05:00,710
So half has provided a chance to sort of fridge some of that funding and extend that funding in the last three years.

1836
04:05:01,310 --> 04:05:10,870
But the plan for the grant program is to really go back to where we were as a public benefit coming out of the density bonusing program.

1837
04:05:11,330 --> 04:05:16,970
Okay. And I don't have the corporate memory here.

1838
04:05:16,970 --> 04:05:45,310
In terms of the density-bonusing, have we ever provided any funding to anything other than affordable housing such as, you know, recreation, I don't mean clubs, but I mean, you know, parks, you know, trails, community centers, that kind of thing that, you know, increased population bills, have we, has that ever been done through our grants program or through the density-bonusing funding?

1839
04:05:49,750 --> 04:06:01,210
I'm sorry, referring back to Kate Green back there, but the vast majority has been through affordable housing. Also, other work goes into public, public urge as well as heritage.

1840
04:06:01,650 --> 04:06:01,870
Okay.

1841
04:06:02,230 --> 04:06:07,710
But the requirement right now is that at least 60% of the contributions go for affordable housing.

1842
04:06:08,270 --> 04:06:10,410
By the practice, we've seen a higher amount than that.

1843
04:06:10,570 --> 04:06:14,730
That's a policy decision that was taken by this council or a previous council.

1844
04:06:15,070 --> 04:06:15,430
That's correct.

1845
04:06:15,430 --> 04:06:16,850
Okay. Thank you.

1846
04:06:20,790 --> 04:06:22,870
Thank you. Councillor Austin.

1847
04:06:24,610 --> 04:06:30,930
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And so the other piece I wanted to ask about is regarding public

1848
04:06:30,930 --> 04:06:38,390
housing. I mean, I note the report talks about, you know, the option of each room creating

1849
04:06:38,390 --> 04:06:49,070
a housing corporation. We really aren't contemplating any discussions with the province under

1850
04:06:49,070 --> 04:06:54,830
this about taking on public housing because of course that was uploaded to the province in 96.

1851
04:06:56,810 --> 04:07:02,990
I'm assuming we're not there's there was no real dive into looking at that question.

1852
04:07:11,510 --> 04:07:16,990
Yeah. Well, I mean, I'm not going to I'm not going to be to dead horse here on this one.

1853
04:07:17,510 --> 04:07:21,790
I mean, I would just say in a perfect world like when I look at this, if you were setting up

1854
04:07:21,790 --> 04:07:26,310
responsibilities for government. The order of government that does planning probably

1855
04:07:26,310 --> 04:07:29,910
should be the order of government that's doing public housing because then when applications

1856
04:07:29,910 --> 04:07:33,950
come in and you have your own housing authority that's sitting right there at the discussions,

1857
04:07:34,250 --> 04:07:39,270
you could actually get projects done in a much more effective way and we might not have gone

1858
04:07:39,270 --> 04:07:45,530
through basically 30 years of public housing being basically abandoned because we were in this

1859
04:07:45,530 --> 04:07:51,050
new liberal sort of age where the idea that government could do things was kind of

1860
04:07:51,050 --> 04:07:56,650
pass A, but down at our level, that never really went away because we build and operate stuff

1861
04:07:56,650 --> 04:08:01,750
all the time. It's what we do. So, you know, just philosophically. I mean, I think public

1862
04:08:01,750 --> 04:08:06,830
housing belongs at the municipal level, but that's a perfect world type solution, and we

1863
04:08:06,830 --> 04:08:10,730
don't live in a perfect world. We live in Nova Scotia, and that's not about to change, so I think

1864
04:08:10,730 --> 04:08:12,570
I will leave it at that. Thank you.

1865
04:08:15,150 --> 04:08:18,290
Thank you, Councillor Austin. Mr. Mayor, before you close,

1866
04:08:18,290 --> 04:08:19,370
I have a few comments.

1867
04:08:20,450 --> 04:08:20,710
Thank you.

1868
04:08:21,550 --> 04:08:28,750
So I am a little bit confused about this conversation because having an affordable housing

1869
04:08:28,750 --> 04:08:32,990
strategy, seeing a municipal role in this was part of the half agreement.

1870
04:08:33,570 --> 04:08:38,990
We talk about support from other orders of government and we have received $80 million from the federal

1871
04:08:38,990 --> 04:08:39,450
government.

1872
04:08:40,010 --> 04:08:42,150
11 million is tied to this last piece.

1873
04:08:42,710 --> 04:08:48,070
So when we say we're not being supported by other orders of government, this was a targeted

1874
04:08:48,070 --> 04:08:54,110
initiative specifically to address affordable housing and to Councillor Perty's points

1875
04:08:54,110 --> 04:08:59,550
that half hasn't delivered on affordable housing is promised. This is the promise and

1876
04:08:59,550 --> 04:09:04,190
implementing this strategy is part of that promise so we can start to see an increase

1877
04:09:04,190 --> 04:09:08,290
in affordable housing. So this is it. This is the piece that you're looking

1878
04:09:08,290 --> 04:09:16,030
for. I would have some questions about how we manage the half money and when we get that

1879
04:09:16,030 --> 04:09:21,670
that final installment, how it's used, and how it would continue to support housing initiatives.

1880
04:09:22,710 --> 04:09:29,610
I don't know if we ever got to the point where we've created investment funds to help fund the continuation of programs,

1881
04:09:30,350 --> 04:09:35,370
or if we just put that into our coffers and spend it on other things.

1882
04:09:36,130 --> 04:09:44,970
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.

1883
04:09:44,970 --> 04:09:48,890
I feel we have done that so far by using density

1884
04:09:48,890 --> 04:09:51,950
bonuses in supporting affordable housing initiatives,

1885
04:09:52,690 --> 04:09:55,750
where people get extra development rights in exchange

1886
04:09:55,750 --> 04:09:58,970
for money that goes into support affordable housing.

1887
04:09:59,570 --> 04:10:03,110
But the ongoing implementation of the strategy

1888
04:10:03,110 --> 04:10:05,610
and given that we've had this money from half,

1889
04:10:06,250 --> 04:10:11,690
I'm wondering as any thought gone into how we can sustainably

1890
04:10:11,690 --> 04:10:18,830
continue to fund these initiatives. I also want to talk about how we add positions

1891
04:10:18,830 --> 04:10:26,130
but we never take them away. That's not necessarily true. We've looked at vacancy positions

1892
04:10:26,130 --> 04:10:35,730
that we haven't filled and that's essentially not filling positions. It becomes a net benefit

1893
04:10:35,730 --> 04:10:41,450
because we're not adding positions. We're using vacancies. We also have attrition and we've

1894
04:10:41,450 --> 04:10:46,310
talked a great length about that, where, you know, through natural retirement or people

1895
04:10:46,310 --> 04:10:52,750
may be resigning or moving on to other other jobs, you know, using those positions to kind

1896
04:10:52,750 --> 04:10:57,430
of keep our workforce in check. So it's not just about removing positions. It's about looking

1897
04:10:57,430 --> 04:11:05,350
at the whole picture and managing it from that perspective. When we are adding these positions

1898
04:11:05,350 --> 04:11:11,370
in at this point into the budget, but until we get to the budget, we don't know what the

1899
04:11:11,370 --> 04:11:15,970
full departmental ask is going to be when it comes forward, and there's opportunities

1900
04:11:15,970 --> 04:11:20,910
to manage it at that level too. And again, these are like many of us have said. These are

1901
04:11:20,910 --> 04:11:27,410
discussions we can have when it comes to budget time. I think this is a critical piece of work,

1902
04:11:27,690 --> 04:11:32,730
and I'm very, very happy to finally see it come forward, and I know a lot of effort has gone into

1903
04:11:32,730 --> 04:11:37,950
it. I know there's a lot of support in the community for it, and there's a lot of need amongst our

1904
04:11:37,950 --> 04:11:39,890
residents for affordable housing.

1905
04:11:40,310 --> 04:11:44,910
So I will be supporting the motion as presented by staff.

1906
04:11:45,630 --> 04:11:48,750
With that, I'll pass it back to the mayor to close.

1907
04:11:49,110 --> 04:11:49,390
Thank you.

1908
04:11:50,810 --> 04:11:52,670
Okay, thank you very much, Deputy Mayor.

1909
04:11:53,170 --> 04:11:57,850
And I have to say, make a few points here, but just to be really clear in

1910
04:11:57,850 --> 04:12:03,110
the way I close, as I was in the way that I started that my intervention has

1911
04:12:03,110 --> 04:12:07,410
nothing to do with lack of support for affordable housing and

1912
04:12:07,410 --> 04:12:13,450
we have in front of us. My concern is around staffing levels and the affordability of residents

1913
04:12:13,450 --> 04:12:20,110
in nature. It's my position that we need to get away from the idea here that every new

1914
04:12:20,110 --> 04:12:25,710
priority necessarily requires new permanent staff sometimes it will, but before adding positions

1915
04:12:25,710 --> 04:12:29,690
we should also be asking whether the work can be done differently, whether there are resources

1916
04:12:29,690 --> 04:12:34,790
other in other places in the organization that can be redeployed, whether processes can be

1917
04:12:34,790 --> 04:12:37,470
simplified, whether we're getting the best value

1918
04:12:37,470 --> 04:12:39,090
from the organization we already have.

1919
04:12:39,870 --> 04:12:43,130
And that is exactly why we've asked the organization

1920
04:12:43,130 --> 04:12:45,610
to undertake the core service review.

1921
04:12:46,370 --> 04:12:48,770
At the same time, our staff and complement continues

1922
04:12:48,770 --> 04:12:49,190
to grow.

1923
04:12:49,850 --> 04:12:52,330
You will have read that this year, 300 more

1924
04:12:52,330 --> 04:12:55,050
additions to the Sunshine List were now over 1600 people

1925
04:12:55,050 --> 04:12:57,430
making over $100,000 a year at HRM.

1926
04:12:57,910 --> 04:12:58,910
People are noticing this.

1927
04:12:59,070 --> 04:12:59,950
They're talking about it.

1928
04:13:00,070 --> 04:13:02,030
They're holding us accountable for that.

1929
04:13:02,030 --> 04:13:16,450
and so we want to be aware of that, it should cause us to look very seriously at the size and the structure and the cost of the organization, particularly when residents are telling us they cannot simply cannot continue to absorb escalating costs.

1930
04:13:17,370 --> 04:13:24,690
This isn't about diminishing the work around employees or suggesting that individual positions are not valuable at its core, it's about discipline.

1931
04:13:25,290 --> 04:13:29,530
Adding staff can not always be our first response to a problem or to a new priority.

1932
04:13:30,250 --> 04:13:35,270
As others have said today, we need to focus on what municipal government needs to do and

1933
04:13:35,270 --> 04:13:41,310
what we can do better and where our existing resources should be refocused and re-concentrated.

1934
04:13:41,950 --> 04:13:45,930
And that's why I believe permanent staffing increases should, as a matter of course, be

1935
04:13:45,930 --> 04:13:49,510
considered through the budget process to see the whole picture at one time.

1936
04:13:50,830 --> 04:13:54,930
And why the course service review needs to meaningfully inform those decisions going forward.

1937
04:13:54,930 --> 04:14:00,810
We can always support ambitious priorities we can that can include affordable housing but at the same time

1938
04:14:00,810 --> 04:14:07,070
We can still ask about how we can deliver them as efficiently and as responsibly as possible. Those two priorities

1939
04:14:07,070 --> 04:14:14,170
Can not only can but should go hand in hand. So I'm going to ask that you defeat item two and emotion and

1940
04:14:14,730 --> 04:14:18,590
Prove the very important affordable housing strategy. Thank you.

1941
04:14:21,570 --> 04:14:22,490
Okay. Thank you

1942
04:14:23,550 --> 04:14:24,070
question

1943
04:14:25,430 --> 04:14:35,670
Okay, questions being called and we'll vote first on 1 and 3 and there we go,

1944
04:14:55,620 --> 04:14:56,180
that passes.

1945
04:15:19,060 --> 04:15:20,160
And that passes.

1946
04:15:22,850 --> 04:15:26,050
Thank you. Next.

1947
04:17:26,060 --> 04:17:28,240
We are now ready

1948
04:17:33,870 --> 04:17:34,990
to go in camera.

1949
04:17:48,280 --> 04:17:49,560
15.1 now.

1950
04:17:54,950 --> 04:17:55,570
Okay.

1951
04:17:57,800 --> 04:18:11,360
Okay. We are at 15.5.1, deputy mayor Cuddle, HRM parks, washrooms and drinking fountain strategy. And the floor is yours, deputy mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Okay. So we've had a few discussions.

1952
04:18:11,360 --> 04:18:18,380
questions of this meeting about strategies that we have that aren't funded and are implemented

1953
04:18:18,380 --> 04:18:28,100
and also questions about priorities. One of the strategies we approved was the HR and

1954
04:18:28,100 --> 04:18:34,480
parks washrooms and drinking fountain strategies. I have one of those parks that was promised

1955
04:18:34,480 --> 04:18:41,380
of bathroom, a washroom that hasn't been delivered yet and it's I'm coming up to six

1956
04:18:41,380 --> 04:18:47,440
years coming onto my seventh year on council. So sometimes we can do things and build things

1957
04:18:47,440 --> 04:18:55,360
and deliver things and sometimes we can't. In this case I'm really looking for an update

1958
04:18:55,980 --> 04:19:02,000
on the implementation of our washroom and drinking fountain strategy which was approved

1959
04:19:02,000 --> 04:19:09,100
in 2020 and to get a sense of what projects are being prioritized and what the next steps are

1960
04:19:09,100 --> 04:19:14,360
so we can continue to see this move forward. There is a larger discussion that happened over

1961
04:19:14,360 --> 04:19:20,800
the summer around access to washrooms and drinking fountains. Some of it is a human right.

1962
04:19:21,400 --> 04:19:30,060
Some of it is about wayfinding. Some of it about being able to enjoy our recreational spaces

1963
04:19:31,640 --> 04:19:34,940
through having access to a washroom.

1964
04:19:36,080 --> 04:19:39,540
I've been to many other cities where I've seen washrooms.

1965
04:19:39,680 --> 04:19:42,060
They don't all need to cost millions of dollars.

1966
04:19:42,700 --> 04:19:46,520
There's out-of-the-box solutions that we could be considering.

1967
04:19:47,120 --> 04:19:50,400
I don't really know where we are on this strategy.

1968
04:19:51,020 --> 04:19:55,060
And I thought this was an opportune time for us to take a look

1969
04:19:55,060 --> 04:19:58,980
and get a sense of what the next priorities are

1970
04:19:58,980 --> 04:20:02,680
and where we are in implementing our strategy and what's needed.

1971
04:20:03,120 --> 04:20:09,540
So, this is looking for an information report and I hope you support the motion.

1972
04:20:09,960 --> 04:20:10,140
Thank you.

1973
04:20:13,680 --> 04:20:14,640
Table of motion.

1974
04:20:15,700 --> 04:20:15,800
Yeah.

1975
04:20:16,500 --> 04:20:17,080
Thank you.

1976
04:20:18,240 --> 04:20:20,100
Thank you, Councillor Steel.

1977
04:20:20,300 --> 04:20:21,340
I'm getting ahead of myself here.

1978
04:20:22,460 --> 04:20:29,060
So, with that, I move that Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer

1979
04:20:29,060 --> 04:20:35,080
to prepare an information report, providing a progress update on the implementation of

1980
04:20:35,080 --> 04:20:40,100
the H&R on Washrooms and Drinking Fountain Strategy approved by Regional Council in September

1981
04:20:40,100 --> 04:20:46,700
2020, an update on Washroom and Drinking Fountain projects completed underway or approved since

1982
04:20:46,700 --> 04:20:52,100
the adoption of the strategy. Three, an update on the status of the projects identified in the

1983
04:20:52,100 --> 04:20:55,600
strategies, implementation plan, and subsequent staff.

1984
04:20:56,060 --> 04:20:58,560
The dendoms and four recommendations,

1985
04:20:58,780 --> 04:21:00,960
respecting the next priority washroom

1986
04:21:00,960 --> 04:21:02,860
and drinking fountain projects for consideration

1987
04:21:02,860 --> 04:21:06,700
through future business planning and capital budget processes,

1988
04:21:07,100 --> 04:21:10,120
including any revised prioritization criteria,

1989
04:21:10,560 --> 04:21:14,180
funding opportunities, or implementation considerations.

1990
04:21:17,560 --> 04:21:19,700
I think that was Councillor Steele there.

1991
04:21:19,700 --> 04:21:24,960
Would you like to, have you already said you're introductory piece, Deputy Mayor?

1992
04:21:25,180 --> 04:21:25,280
Okay.

1993
04:21:25,620 --> 04:21:27,800
Then we'll go to the board and I see Councillor Austin, please.

1994
04:21:29,060 --> 04:21:30,320
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

1995
04:21:30,620 --> 04:21:33,340
And I support the deputy's request for review on this.

1996
04:21:33,380 --> 04:21:35,980
It's probably actually, it's about time.

1997
04:21:36,920 --> 04:21:38,900
The original strategy was 2020.

1998
04:21:39,300 --> 04:21:43,200
It was on something that I'd originally asked for in my first term on council and it kind

1999
04:21:43,200 --> 04:21:44,480
of came at the very end of it.

2000
04:21:45,080 --> 04:21:51,040
And now we're basically five years on, five years is probably a good time to sit down

2001
04:21:51,040 --> 04:21:56,280
and kind of do a report as to, well, what's worked, what hasn't, how are we doing?

2002
04:21:56,560 --> 04:21:59,100
So I think the time for this is good.

2003
04:22:00,240 --> 04:22:06,940
The only thing I'll just add, the main disappointment when the strategy first came forward to us was

2004
04:22:07,540 --> 04:22:13,640
how bloody expensive washrooms are and how little your dollars actually get you.

2005
04:22:13,640 --> 04:22:17,820
And, you know, there's certainly, I think there's things you can do to reduce that, but

2006
04:22:17,820 --> 04:22:21,920
it's financial is still going to be the main limitation on this no matter how we look

2007
04:22:21,920 --> 04:22:22,340
at it.

2008
04:22:22,640 --> 04:22:28,260
And so it really, it's not so much, I think, a strategy question as a budgetary question

2009
04:22:28,260 --> 04:22:30,100
we can have the washrooms we want to pay for.

2010
04:22:30,360 --> 04:22:35,680
So I think getting that sort of question and seeing what our wish list now looks like,

2011
04:22:35,820 --> 04:22:40,300
what has been accomplished and what we've learned is a good idea at this stage.

2012
04:22:40,300 --> 04:22:42,180
So I think this is a good time for a review.

2013
04:22:42,520 --> 04:22:42,760
Thank you.

2014
04:22:43,320 --> 04:22:44,800
Thank you, Councillor Hinch, please.

2015
04:22:46,860 --> 04:22:47,880
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2016
04:22:48,040 --> 04:22:55,360
I just want to thank Deputy Mayor for bringing this forward because I do have an area that

2017
04:22:55,360 --> 04:22:57,560
I do believe is a priority which is out fromville Park.

2018
04:22:58,720 --> 04:23:04,660
The fact that they are still with a porta-party at this point is baffling to me.

2019
04:23:06,980 --> 04:23:12,900
So I'm getting ready to meet the staff with regards to out ofville Park and I'm hoping that

2020
04:23:12,900 --> 04:23:18,340
it can be a priority at some point in time and yeah I just want to say thank you for bringing this

2021
04:23:18,340 --> 04:23:18,540
forward.

2022
04:23:21,490 --> 04:23:26,430
Thank you Councillor Hartling please. Thank you very much Mr. Mayor and thank you to

2023
04:23:26,430 --> 04:23:31,090
the deputy mayor for bringing this forward. I just want to chime in really quick about the

2024
04:23:31,090 --> 04:23:32,690
drinking fountain strategy.

2025
04:23:35,030 --> 04:23:38,770
I just want to call it that there might be funding opportunities elsewhere

2026
04:23:38,770 --> 04:23:53,190
for a waste diversion when it comes to drinking fountains because if we have drinking fountains in there fewer people purchasing water bottles and, you know, fewer bottles end up in the landfill and there's less recycling.

2027
04:23:53,810 --> 04:24:05,150
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 obviously using a drinking fountain to refill your cup.

2028
04:24:05,990 --> 04:24:11,650
is a zero-way strategy. So I think it's helpful on many levels. Yeah, I just

2029
04:24:11,650 --> 04:24:15,150
thought I'd leave that there. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Morse, please.

2030
04:24:16,550 --> 04:24:20,530
Thank you. Yeah, I support this as well. I think it's very timely. One thing that's

2031
04:24:20,530 --> 04:24:24,890
changed since we first started looking at this a number of years ago is I think our

2032
04:24:24,890 --> 04:24:28,950
parks are working a lot harder than they used to. You know, we're having more

2033
04:24:28,950 --> 04:24:33,610
events at our parks. We're having bigger events at our parks. Our population is

2034
04:24:33,610 --> 04:24:39,050
grown and each park is doing more than it ever did before. And we need to have washrooms

2035
04:24:39,050 --> 04:24:43,370
who kind of people are using the forest as they were doing in my district at an event

2036
04:24:43,370 --> 04:24:47,070
last summer. So anyway, I think it's very timely. So thanks for bringing it forward.

2037
04:24:48,030 --> 04:24:55,370
Thank you. Councillor Hensby. Thank you much, Mr. Mayor. I've seen in my particular district

2038
04:24:55,370 --> 04:24:59,950
some of these washrooms being converted to some of our community facilities and actually

2039
04:24:59,950 --> 04:25:01,430
that are working progress at the present time,

2040
04:25:01,570 --> 04:25:02,330
they're not completed yet.

2041
04:25:02,910 --> 04:25:04,650
The St. Tres Center and Grand Desert,

2042
04:25:05,430 --> 04:25:07,030
the Bulkham Center and Port Duffron,

2043
04:25:07,750 --> 04:25:09,230
and the Mojah River Community Hall.

2044
04:25:09,970 --> 04:25:11,630
We're looking at doing bathroom motivations,

2045
04:25:11,910 --> 04:25:14,330
but the problem now is we aren't converting it

2046
04:25:14,330 --> 04:25:17,370
to the gender neutral design.

2047
04:25:17,750 --> 04:25:19,270
There's no way we know male, female,

2048
04:25:19,270 --> 04:25:22,070
washrooms anymore, it's all gonna be gender neutral.

2049
04:25:22,430 --> 04:25:26,650
And there is some opposition, some community members

2050
04:25:26,650 --> 04:25:28,350
in regards to how these things change.

2051
04:25:28,350 --> 04:25:34,270
But it also may be difficulty with the building design or what confined spaces are in the building.

2052
04:25:34,530 --> 04:25:39,910
So I'm kind of curious how staff are trying to adapt to those situations and

2053
04:25:39,910 --> 04:25:41,210
hopefully that could be part of the report.

2054
04:25:41,810 --> 04:25:45,030
And also when it comes to drinking water, I'm not just thinking about fountain projects.

2055
04:25:45,090 --> 04:25:46,530
I'm thinking about access to water.

2056
04:25:47,110 --> 04:25:54,950
I've been working with my community groups for organizations and look at what facilities have adequate water supplies like the Legion and the Cheat Harbor.

2057
04:25:54,950 --> 04:26:02,570
We just drilled the well for the council's rescue groups and sheet harbors well and looking at the port Dufferin and an emotional river

2058
04:26:02,570 --> 04:26:09,810
Community halls that they have adequate water all we need to do is have an outside tap for the communities access the water when the wells are going lower dry

2059
04:26:09,810 --> 04:26:12,890
So we have opportunities there to provide water

2060
04:26:12,890 --> 04:26:19,330
We just need to have the infrastructure proper infrastructure in place and also with that which also requirement of

2061
04:26:19,330 --> 04:26:23,230
of testing the water to make sure it meets environment standards for

2062
04:26:23,230 --> 04:26:24,410
product water use.

2063
04:26:24,650 --> 04:26:28,470
So, but I want to make sure that's also part of the information report that

2064
04:26:28,470 --> 04:26:32,130
comes forward with regards to the, if we're providing drinking water,

2065
04:26:32,410 --> 04:26:35,650
how are we testing it to make sure it's safe for our residents to use?

2066
04:26:36,130 --> 04:26:36,390
Thank you.

2067
04:26:38,110 --> 04:26:39,130
Thank you very much.

2068
04:26:39,290 --> 04:26:40,270
No other names on the list?

2069
04:26:40,350 --> 04:26:40,810
What's your pleasure?

2070
04:26:41,650 --> 04:26:42,430
Question is called.

2071
04:26:54,680 --> 04:26:55,500
The motion carries.

2072
04:26:55,500 --> 04:27:02,840
So, that brings us to item 16.2, my own motion regarding fairies, so we will switch seats

2073
04:27:02,840 --> 04:27:03,220
again.

2074
04:27:03,420 --> 04:27:04,040
Bear with us, please.

2075
04:28:12,570 --> 04:28:12,790
Okay.

2076
04:28:13,090 --> 04:28:21,490
We are now on item 16.2, which is a motion by Mayor Fillmore and the floor to you, Mr.

2077
04:28:21,590 --> 04:28:21,670
Mayor.

2078
04:28:22,390 --> 04:28:29,710
Thank you very much, colleagues, as we know, Halifax and HRM are growing very rapidly right

2079
04:28:29,710 --> 04:28:34,590
now recent federal announcements reinforce our role as Canada's defense city and we'll

2080
04:28:34,590 --> 04:28:38,390
bring more jobs, more businesses and more residents to the region and increasing numbers.

2081
04:28:38,890 --> 04:28:42,970
That growth is an opportunity but it also requires us to plan for the infrastructure and

2082
04:28:42,970 --> 04:28:48,050
core services that people depend on and our fairies system is a very clear example of that.

2083
04:28:48,630 --> 04:28:52,130
The fairies connecting DARPA and the NALFACs move thousands of residents every day.

2084
04:28:52,530 --> 04:28:55,050
They provide a reliable alternative to driving.

2085
04:28:55,050 --> 04:29:01,550
they reduced pressure on our bridges in roads, yet for much of the past year, service frequency

2086
04:29:01,550 --> 04:29:09,270
was reduced from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. In fact, in Q4 of last year, as many as nearly 4,000

2087
04:29:09,270 --> 04:29:15,390
trips were canceled due to unplanned maintenance, and that resulted in a loss of about 21 percent

2088
04:29:15,390 --> 04:29:22,070
of scheduled service. And riders correctly told us that that's not good enough. And interestingly,

2089
04:29:22,070 --> 04:29:26,810
that's at a time when ferry ridership is up 3% over the last year and over the

2090
04:29:26,810 --> 04:29:32,990
same year bus ridership was very hardly down 3% so ferries are in demand

2091
04:29:32,990 --> 04:29:38,710
right now. The ferry fleet hasn't not expanded since 2018 but since 2018 our

2092
04:29:38,710 --> 04:29:43,850
population has by 100,000 people and right now all five vessels are

2093
04:29:43,850 --> 04:29:47,610
approaching a mandatory midlife overhaul those overhauls will take vessels out of

2094
04:29:47,610 --> 04:29:51,930
service potentially placing further pressure on a system that already lacks

2095
04:29:51,930 --> 04:29:57,010
sufficient redundancy and resiliency, excuse me we've already started addressing the investments.

2096
04:30:00,000 --> 04:30:04,320
Last month, we passed Councillor Austin's motion to bring options for recapitalizing our existing

2097
04:30:04,320 --> 04:30:11,080
ferry system into the 27-28 budget process. This motion is the next step. As we plan to

2098
04:30:11,080 --> 04:30:15,160
maintain the system, we have, we also need to understand whether we have the fleet capacity

2099
04:30:15,160 --> 04:30:20,500
and resilience, a growing municipality will need in the years ahead. We should assess that

2100
04:30:20,500 --> 04:30:26,220
risk before another disruption forces our hand. Therefore, I move that Halifax Regional

2101
04:30:26,220 --> 04:30:31,820
Council, Director Chief Administrative Officer, to return to Council by November 2026 with

2102
04:30:31,820 --> 04:30:36,460
options to purchase one new passenger ferry servicing Aldermy Landing and Woodside

2103
04:30:36,460 --> 04:30:36,760
routes.

2104
04:30:39,670 --> 04:30:44,170
Thank you very much, Councilor Hensby. I would point out colleagues that this motion

2105
04:30:44,170 --> 04:30:49,450
today clearly does not authorize a purchase. It simply asks staff to identify the options,

2106
04:30:49,450 --> 04:30:54,070
the costs, the potential service benefits, so that Council can make an informed decision during

2107
04:30:54,070 --> 04:30:59,790
the upcoming budget process. This motion also does not prioritize purchasing a new asset over

2108
04:30:59,790 --> 04:31:05,230
Council's previous to examine infrastructure, direction to examine infrastructure renewal options

2109
04:31:05,230 --> 04:31:11,830
for the Halifax Dartmouth Fair Service. It's a logical companion to that decision and will provide

2110
04:31:11,830 --> 04:31:17,250
Council with a complete picture of the available options and their associated costs. The motion is

2111
04:31:17,250 --> 04:31:22,930
also in line with the Acting CIOs request the Council table any motions impacting but budget before

2112
04:31:22,930 --> 04:31:27,810
the end of this calendar year to allow staff to do their work and would return to council.

2113
04:31:28,710 --> 04:31:32,010
This will also align with the expected delivery of the service review.

2114
04:31:32,910 --> 04:31:36,230
I have consistently argued that we cannot do everything at once.

2115
04:31:36,650 --> 04:31:41,010
Physical discipline, however, does not mean avoiding investment. It means concentrating

2116
04:31:41,010 --> 04:31:47,530
limited public dollars where they have the greatest impact. Transit is a core municipal service.

2117
04:31:48,210 --> 04:31:51,690
You have a sixth fairy could improve reliability, protect service during scheduled

2118
04:31:51,690 --> 04:31:56,170
with overholes and support future growth, Council should understand that business case

2119
04:31:56,170 --> 04:31:59,150
and weigh it against our other priorities through the budget process.

2120
04:32:00,070 --> 04:32:03,890
Major infrastructure takes years to plan, fund, build and put into service.

2121
04:32:04,270 --> 04:32:08,630
The prudent time to assess our needs is before they become a crisis and I hope that you

2122
04:32:08,630 --> 04:32:10,630
will support this motion.

2123
04:32:10,810 --> 04:32:11,370
Thank you very much.

2124
04:32:13,790 --> 04:32:16,710
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and that was seconded by Councillor Hensby.

2125
04:32:20,200 --> 04:32:22,920
First on the list, we have Councillor Mancini.

2126
04:32:23,740 --> 04:32:28,940
Thank you, Deputy Mayor, so fairies. Well, no surprise around these chambers who loves the fairies.

2127
04:32:29,240 --> 04:32:34,480
Definitely I do, and as many of you do. You know, I've always been a strong supporter of the

2128
04:32:34,480 --> 04:32:38,260
fairie. Actually, I've really believed this meeting here, this before-goating camera, I'm

2129
04:32:38,260 --> 04:32:42,160
hitting on the fairie. So, you know, the fairie is really key to our municipality.

2130
04:32:43,480 --> 04:32:48,380
We need to take all the transfer and including fairie to the next level.

2131
04:32:51,020 --> 04:32:51,620
And the

2132
04:32:51,620 --> 04:32:57,460
opening comments about his motion, you know, the 4,000 trips canceled reduction of service

2133
04:32:57,460 --> 04:33:02,020
this past year because of staffing and because of maintenance and mechanical breakdowns.

2134
04:33:02,360 --> 04:33:06,940
And you all know my opinion of the delay in the tap and pay, you know, it just goes on

2135
04:33:06,940 --> 04:33:11,160
and on and on, our frustration, when it's working, man, it's the best ticket in town.

2136
04:33:12,060 --> 04:33:16,020
And we need to get our ferry and our bus service to the next level.

2137
04:33:16,500 --> 04:33:20,600
We need more people out of their cars and going into transit.

2138
04:33:20,600 --> 04:33:24,120
But until it's reliable, they're not going to do it.

2139
04:33:25,100 --> 04:33:29,920
And so, you know, to add fairies, to add buses, as I supported, when Councillor Morris

2140
04:33:29,920 --> 04:33:33,800
brought up the 10 buses, I think we added it at budget time, fully supported that.

2141
04:33:33,900 --> 04:33:35,020
We had a purpose for it.

2142
04:33:35,120 --> 04:33:39,460
There was an application right after that for it, previous of that, the buses we were going

2143
04:33:39,460 --> 04:33:39,960
to retire.

2144
04:33:40,460 --> 04:33:42,540
We didn't retire because we still needed to use them.

2145
04:33:43,340 --> 04:33:47,000
So I'm all for looking at this, but I have some questions, Mr. Mayor, on it.

2146
04:33:49,620 --> 04:33:55,060
My question to staff is we had a ferry today, a brand new one just arrived, and we're launching

2147
04:33:55,060 --> 04:33:56,040
to tell you how it would be used.

2148
04:33:56,640 --> 04:34:02,240
How would it help to address the challenges in service, would be one question I have?

2149
04:34:03,300 --> 04:34:09,740
The cost is not only the purchase of the ferry, it goes along with that, too.

2150
04:34:10,340 --> 04:34:16,560
It also means more personnel, so let's make sure we include the cost of the bodies their

2151
04:34:16,560 --> 04:34:20,700
associated with it. But the main thing, Mr. Mayor, that I want to see that we include in this,

2152
04:34:21,320 --> 04:34:26,080
it's we also need to make sure we have a place to dock the ferry. Right now, my understanding,

2153
04:34:26,300 --> 04:34:32,020
we have one place that we lease, and I'm not even sure how that leasing works, but it's only one

2154
04:34:32,020 --> 04:34:38,200
ferry. So we need to make sure we have a place to dock this additional ferry, and the maintenance that

2155
04:34:38,200 --> 04:34:42,200
goes along with it. Our biggest challenge now with all the challenges we have our ferries is maintenance.

2156
04:34:42,200 --> 04:34:53,920
We don't have our own maintenance facilities, so when we have to go to maintenance for our ferry, it has to go elsewhere to sometimes even leave the harbor, so that just causes that pain when it comes to service.

2157
04:34:54,080 --> 04:35:02,760
So I'm hoping Mr. Mayor that you would include the not only the cost of the ferry but the staff at the docking location and the maintenance associated with that.

2158
04:35:02,760 --> 04:35:06,380
But that has sort of staff come back, they said, okay, it's going to cost ex-several dollars

2159
04:35:06,380 --> 04:35:06,780
of the ferry.

2160
04:35:07,440 --> 04:35:09,760
We need this number of additional staff if any.

2161
04:35:10,380 --> 04:35:15,660
And we also have to include the docking location and the maintenance associated with it.

2162
04:35:15,760 --> 04:35:17,220
So hopefully you could include that with it.

2163
04:35:17,700 --> 04:35:19,440
And if you can, then I support it.

2164
04:35:19,560 --> 04:35:24,080
But there's a lot of questions here that I have, but I'm always game to have another ferry,

2165
04:35:24,440 --> 04:35:25,760
or another bus, but I'll miss.

2166
04:35:26,440 --> 04:35:32,000
If that's a free, can I make that friendly member include that it's Madame Madame Madame

2167
04:35:32,000 --> 04:35:32,200
Madame Madame.

2168
04:35:32,400 --> 04:35:34,840
Could you provide the wording to the board?

2169
04:35:34,840 --> 04:35:40,900
To also include and may help you with the wording to make sure we include the cost associated

2170
04:35:40,900 --> 04:35:46,560
with finding a docking location and the cost associated with that staffing and any additional

2171
04:35:46,560 --> 04:35:47,580
maintenance is required.

2172
04:35:48,360 --> 04:35:54,140
I don't know if we capture that Madame Clerk but the variation of that and who seconded

2173
04:35:54,140 --> 04:35:56,420
That motion was Councillor Hensby second the motion I think.

2174
04:36:01,650 --> 04:36:02,390
Are you okay with that front name?

2175
04:36:03,190 --> 04:36:03,350
Yep.

2176
04:36:04,510 --> 04:36:05,170
Do we have that capture?

2177
04:36:05,850 --> 04:36:06,050
Yeah.

2178
04:36:08,240 --> 04:36:09,400
Sorry about that.

2179
04:36:24,100 --> 04:36:26,380
And docking location.

2180
04:36:27,440 --> 04:36:30,140
It may not be right to your terminology, but nothing

2181
04:36:33,720 --> 04:36:35,020
like trying to write and having thousands

2182
04:36:35,020 --> 04:36:36,100
of people watch your writing.

2183
04:36:38,080 --> 04:36:39,020
Add a pressure, right?

2184
04:36:39,980 --> 04:36:40,360
Thousands?

2185
04:36:40,660 --> 04:36:42,400
Thousands of millions of watching at home.

2186
04:36:58,720 --> 04:37:09,840
I guess we assume that includes costs with that I'm looking at Jaclyn so I'm okay that if Mr. Mayor you're okay with that and David's looking for that is the staff

2187
04:37:18,900 --> 04:37:25,980
etc. Maintenance I'm looking at the acting CAO that's my intent here is to make sure we're considering

2188
04:37:25,980 --> 04:37:32,900
the docking location to be fine one and the cost associated with that, along with any additional staff needed to add another ferry.

2189
04:37:33,880 --> 04:37:38,740
Well, we're amending this. There's also additional suggestion from the city solicitor.

2190
04:37:39,360 --> 04:37:39,460
Sure.

2191
04:37:42,510 --> 04:37:48,210
Thank you. Mr. Rang, it's just for clarity if we could refer to a staff report.

2192
04:37:48,850 --> 04:37:55,570
In there just as after the words November, there we are. Clerk's putting it in. Thank you.

2193
04:37:59,250 --> 04:38:04,890
So I look like Madam Deputy Mayor, that's a friendly everyone accepts that, and I'm

2194
04:38:04,890 --> 04:38:05,190
good with that.

2195
04:38:05,270 --> 04:38:06,130
Thank you very much for your time.

2196
04:38:08,080 --> 04:38:08,580
Thank you.

2197
04:38:09,360 --> 04:38:12,540
Next on the list, we have Councillor Hensby.

2198
04:38:14,280 --> 04:38:16,000
Thank you much, Deputy Mayor.

2199
04:38:17,360 --> 04:38:20,640
I'm an advocate of having more ferries for our harbor.

2200
04:38:20,940 --> 04:38:23,700
I always felt that we should have two ferries per terminal.

2201
04:38:24,380 --> 04:38:26,500
Each of our terminals can house two ferries.

2202
04:38:26,500 --> 04:38:30,360
So therefore we have six parking spots for each of our fairies.

2203
04:38:30,480 --> 04:38:34,020
We have five now I believe fairies and a six one will fill that capacity.

2204
04:38:34,460 --> 04:38:38,420
I also believe we should have a seventh fairy in rotation because we always have one

2205
04:38:38,420 --> 04:38:44,800
fairy or maybe two at a commission for the standardized transport Canada in inspections

2206
04:38:44,800 --> 04:38:47,500
that has to go through after so many hours of operation.

2207
04:38:48,880 --> 04:38:53,800
So I think that down the road as we bring on the the the Bedford terminal and stuff and

2208
04:38:53,800 --> 04:38:57,100
other ferry terminals, which we ramping up the amount of boats that we have.

2209
04:38:57,520 --> 04:39:01,980
And also it's good for our local economies, our latest ferry has been built, I believe,

2210
04:39:01,980 --> 04:39:07,840
by the tarot shipyards down in South Shore, in the Shelburne, the armored area.

2211
04:39:08,460 --> 04:39:14,180
And so I'm hoping that they can continue on with that shipbuilding legacy that they have

2212
04:39:14,180 --> 04:39:14,640
with us.

2213
04:39:15,200 --> 04:39:20,280
But I believe that if we talk about how important our harbor is, regardless of transportation,

2214
04:39:20,280 --> 04:39:35,420
you know, we don't need to pave it. We don't need to snow plow it. Occasionally we have a nice flow jam from time and time, but I think that's an important way to boost our capacity on the harbor, and then I'm full support of this motion. Thank you.

2215
04:39:38,800 --> 04:39:40,740
Thank you. Councillor Austin.

2216
04:39:42,160 --> 04:39:48,600
Thank you, Mr. Deputy, and Councillor Hensby built locally with Canadian steel.

2217
04:39:56,240 --> 04:40:06,060
I mean, I'm supportive of taking a look at this, but right now, I think it's an unknown

2218
04:40:06,060 --> 04:40:08,320
as to whether actually this is what we need.

2219
04:40:09,080 --> 04:40:14,280
Because the operational review into the ferry service hasn't been completed yet, right?

2220
04:40:14,280 --> 04:40:19,000
like we still have that work to come back to us and part of that work is looking at the

2221
04:40:19,000 --> 04:40:25,120
asset management of the boats that we have. Would we have had the service disruptions that

2222
04:40:25,120 --> 04:40:29,000
we've been through from a maintenance point of view if we were doing our jobs properly with

2223
04:40:29,000 --> 04:40:33,540
the fleet we have? And I think that's the first and foremost question that we have to have answered

2224
04:40:33,540 --> 04:40:44,260
before we jump to the idea of we need another ferry. I'm happy to see this request from the

2225
04:40:44,260 --> 04:40:48,640
Because we are, you know, my understanding that work is coming back this fall anyway.

2226
04:40:49,400 --> 04:40:52,120
And so then the two things would align.

2227
04:40:52,720 --> 04:40:54,440
I know we don't normally ask staff.

2228
04:40:54,440 --> 04:40:56,000
I was trying to find that.

2229
04:40:56,600 --> 04:40:59,100
What's the deadline for the operational review?

2230
04:40:59,680 --> 04:41:01,660
I'm pretty sure they were working to the fall.

2231
04:41:03,280 --> 04:41:05,700
Deputy Mayor, I can speak to this.

2232
04:41:07,180 --> 04:41:13,220
Yes, Deputy Mayor, through you to Councillor Austin, the very service review is underway and

2233
04:41:13,220 --> 04:41:18,900
And we'll provide that more holistic look at service, the state of the service and potential

2234
04:41:18,900 --> 04:41:19,960
service expansion.

2235
04:41:20,500 --> 04:41:26,560
We are looking at a later fall timeline than the motion.

2236
04:41:27,020 --> 04:41:32,660
So certainly, staff can endeavor to provide information at a higher level.

2237
04:41:32,800 --> 04:41:38,060
I think the rail challenge will be around some of the cost estimates, but certainly we can

2238
04:41:38,060 --> 04:41:43,140
provide some preliminary information to council if that's the wish at this time?

2239
04:41:44,100 --> 04:41:49,840
Yeah, that would be good. I think that's good advice. I wonder, Mr. Mayor, whether you consider it

2240
04:41:49,840 --> 04:41:54,020
friendly, if instead of by November, so I'm just reading Christus over the shoulder here,

2241
04:41:54,440 --> 04:42:00,980
to return to council by November 20, 1026, whether instead it could be to return to council alongside

2242
04:42:00,980 --> 04:42:06,240
the operational review so that we get both pieces of info at the same time. Because I think I don't say

2243
04:42:06,240 --> 04:42:07,780
that we can make one decision without the other.

2244
04:42:13,780 --> 04:42:14,320
Mr. Mayor.

2245
04:42:14,660 --> 04:42:14,800
Thank

2246
04:42:17,070 --> 04:42:17,890
you.

2247
04:42:18,170 --> 04:42:19,670
It seems to make sense to me,

2248
04:42:19,890 --> 04:42:23,310
I would just maybe look to the acting CAO

2249
04:42:23,310 --> 04:42:26,290
to see if that is a complicating factor

2250
04:42:26,290 --> 04:42:29,630
or a simplifying factor if that's knowable today.

2251
04:42:32,390 --> 04:42:35,110
We will certainly endeavor to have it to you by November.

2252
04:42:35,430 --> 04:42:37,930
I am mindful of the budget timeline as well,

2253
04:42:38,070 --> 04:42:40,150
which I know was the spirit of the mayor's motion

2254
04:42:40,150 --> 04:42:42,590
to try to get some information to counsel

2255
04:42:42,590 --> 04:42:44,270
ahead of the budget process.

2256
04:42:44,270 --> 04:43:04,930
And I think we can make the November timeline doable and we may not have the level of detail on the cost estimates at that point, but we would certainly have information flowing on the context of the service review.

2257
04:43:06,430 --> 04:43:10,930
I think the Mayor's question was more, could the two things come together?

2258
04:43:15,520 --> 04:43:21,540
Councillor Austin is proposing a friendly amendment that would have the two come back together

2259
04:43:21,540 --> 04:43:25,360
and I just wanted to make sure that didn't create a hardship or make something harder

2260
04:43:25,360 --> 04:43:27,440
for you for the staff rather than easier.

2261
04:43:28,940 --> 04:43:36,100
I think from a staff perspective the November timeline and having the two aligned is likely

2262
04:43:37,960 --> 04:43:55,240
I just don't want to, I guess, commit that we will have full blown analysis of all the aspects that I know have been referenced around the maintenance costs and all of that, you know, with the report, but we will certainly endeavor to provide it.

2263
04:43:55,240 --> 04:44:03,160
Well, the ferry service review and the in the November timeline, okay, then then yes, it seems a friendly amendments in order

2264
04:44:04,910 --> 04:44:07,210
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, as long as I

2265
04:44:09,350 --> 04:44:11,110
Alongside a review

2266
04:44:17,800 --> 04:44:18,680
Okay,

2267
04:44:23,500 --> 04:44:26,340
so that's considered a friendly amendment. We'll move on to the next speaker

2268
04:44:27,820 --> 04:44:31,820
Councillor Kent. Yes, thank you Madam Deputy Mayor

2269
04:44:31,820 --> 04:44:34,440
I am I can support this at this time

2270
04:44:34,440 --> 04:44:40,420
I might too think that the most important piece I think that will come out of the operational

2271
04:44:40,420 --> 04:44:45,860
review would be something identifying this. I've always been in favor of more fairies

2272
04:44:46,540 --> 04:44:52,840
with now with my connection back to Woodside. Most of my concerns around fairies for just

2273
04:44:52,840 --> 04:44:56,580
three come through the woodside avenue for

2274
04:45:00,000 --> 04:45:29,860
An extra ferry, when it's related, it says, you know, to support the two ferries, but one ferry to me just complicates it. Having two ferries, because there's, where does it go? What's the schedule? Where's, you know, who's gone, which, which avenue will it take? That's information that has to come forward before we can decide whether one or two or whatever. The other piece about this is the, is the importance of parking. And I know we want to get people out of,

2275
04:45:29,860 --> 04:45:35,780
vehicles, 100%, but there is part of this municipality that it's just not probably not

2276
04:45:35,780 --> 04:45:41,340
going to happen without more parking that they could park and then use another mode

2277
04:45:41,340 --> 04:45:46,540
of transportation, which would be fairies. Perhaps there would be more parking rides

2278
04:45:46,540 --> 04:45:51,720
that have to come in so people can get other cars as they enter into a suburban area, but

2279
04:45:51,720 --> 04:45:56,260
that also is another part of transit that has to support these kinds of things.

2280
04:45:57,900 --> 04:46:04,380
The requests come in regularly for more service at Woodside, and I know Councilor Austin would

2281
04:46:04,380 --> 04:46:05,140
agree.

2282
04:46:05,340 --> 04:46:10,480
You know, people are people want to use it, but don't always have the capacity mostly

2283
04:46:10,880 --> 04:46:12,580
for the Woodside Fairies around parking.

2284
04:46:13,100 --> 04:46:16,780
So I can support this as well for now.

2285
04:46:17,200 --> 04:46:20,020
The operational review will be very interesting to see.

2286
04:46:20,020 --> 04:46:27,120
I know I've had some conversation with Robin Girouce, and I think that he is committed

2287
04:46:27,120 --> 04:46:35,240
certainly to finding resolutions to our transit and our very operational and our infrastructure

2288
04:46:35,240 --> 04:46:37,680
and all of those layers, it's complicated.

2289
04:46:38,380 --> 04:46:40,800
Transportation and municipality like this is complicated.

2290
04:46:41,560 --> 04:46:47,880
And one thing can have a trickle effect into the complexity.

2291
04:46:47,880 --> 04:46:53,880
city. So we have to be mindful of that. I'm okay with asking for something to come back

2292
04:46:53,880 --> 04:47:02,760
in November, but I don't necessarily think that, as Jacqueline mentioned, that they're

2293
04:47:02,760 --> 04:47:07,620
going to have all the information that is going to go to it. We as a council have supported

2294
04:47:07,620 --> 04:47:14,100
buses and ferries from Bedford, then we send them back and say, okay, now get the real

2295
04:47:14,100 --> 04:47:20,580
information that has to come forward. So, this is a long process to go forward. So, it has to start somewhere. So, I'll support this.

2296
04:47:24,810 --> 04:47:28,190
Councillor Hartling. Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor.

2297
04:47:29,910 --> 04:47:34,370
I'm not going to lie. I really struggle with this one. I understand the importance of fairy service

2298
04:47:35,210 --> 04:47:40,350
for folks in, you know, folks across the municipality, but I understand why there's so much support

2299
04:47:40,350 --> 04:47:46,810
on that side of the horseshoe and the Dartmouth side. And I really appreciate that. I understand that we did

2300
04:47:46,810 --> 04:47:55,770
have some significant issues and real challenges with reliability in a pretty recent past around

2301
04:47:55,770 --> 04:48:02,410
fairy service. However, you know, based off of my understanding, we had pretty significant

2302
04:48:02,410 --> 04:48:07,330
parts problems that were aggravated by a supply chain problem. I'm not convinced that, you

2303
04:48:07,330 --> 04:48:12,990
know, having one new fairy will solve the problems that we experience and I think it's really

2304
04:48:12,990 --> 04:48:17,030
important that we get that addressed before we look at investing in a new one.

2305
04:48:18,650 --> 04:48:24,590
The other thing is, and I know that there is this very operation review going on, and

2306
04:48:24,590 --> 04:48:28,990
I appreciate that there might be an opportunity for that to come back in advance of budget.

2307
04:48:29,650 --> 04:48:35,610
I'm also thinking very long and hard about the core service plan that, you know, from transit,

2308
04:48:36,130 --> 04:48:40,650
I don't recall asking for a ferry being part of that, being part of that.

2309
04:48:40,650 --> 04:48:53,510
So I think, you know, for me, I have much more confidence in putting my vote behind things

2310
04:48:53,510 --> 04:49:01,030
where I understand where the net benefit to our residents will be and that net benefit

2311
04:49:01,030 --> 04:49:06,650
is weighed against all of the potential benefits that we could be putting, we could be putting

2312
04:49:06,650 --> 04:49:11,770
tax dollars towards them and where we could be investing. And I don't have that confidence yet.

2313
04:49:12,010 --> 04:49:17,690
So, I appreciate that this is only for a staff report, but I'm just putting those

2314
04:49:17,690 --> 04:49:22,950
hesitations out there that I don't see the immediate value add based off of the information

2315
04:49:22,950 --> 04:49:24,790
that I know today. Thank you.

2316
04:49:28,320 --> 04:49:30,540
Thank you. Councillor Steele.

2317
04:49:31,460 --> 04:49:36,180
Thank you, Deputy Mayor. My comments are similar to Councillor Hartlings.

2318
04:49:36,180 --> 04:49:44,080
things. I was looking forward to receiving the operational review. I should say at front,

2319
04:49:44,300 --> 04:49:48,820
though, rapid and reliable public transit is super important. It's important for the

2320
04:49:48,820 --> 04:49:53,980
municipality and, yes, Councillor Kent, we need to get people out of their cars. We need

2321
04:49:53,980 --> 04:50:03,080
to have good bike lanes to get them to the ferry. But I do have some hesitation about this request

2322
04:50:03,080 --> 04:50:09,840
for an additional ferry because I think something else that has been brought up is the overall service levels.

2323
04:50:10,060 --> 04:50:17,260
What service levels are we ideally trying to achieve? I know when the re-decking took place on the

2324
04:50:17,260 --> 04:50:24,140
Macdonald Bridge, there was enhanced service levels were brought to bear and some of those service

2325
04:50:24,140 --> 04:50:30,580
levels were retained. Well, perhaps the ridership justifies this but I'm hopeful that some of this will

2326
04:50:30,580 --> 04:50:33,740
will be looked at to be identified.

2327
04:50:34,140 --> 04:50:35,960
And we currently have five fairies.

2328
04:50:36,080 --> 04:50:38,900
One is a backup and we've had a lot of issues

2329
04:50:38,900 --> 04:50:42,500
and maybe we'll have a future year similar to this year.

2330
04:50:43,040 --> 04:50:47,900
But I do have some hesitation with this request

2331
04:50:47,900 --> 04:50:50,420
and I don't really understand

2332
04:50:50,420 --> 04:50:56,160
sort of what's driving it mayor Philmore with all due respect.

2333
04:50:56,500 --> 04:50:59,900
I, it wasn't part of any of our capital budgeting

2334
04:50:59,900 --> 04:51:06,660
or I didn't see it identified in the core service review or other identified needs and

2335
04:51:06,660 --> 04:51:09,880
I haven't heard it from our staff as being one of the needs.

2336
04:51:10,220 --> 04:51:15,300
Although I do know there's a lot of maintenance being scheduled for the paris that we have,

2337
04:51:15,540 --> 04:51:18,680
so I'm hesitant.

2338
04:51:19,120 --> 04:51:19,440
Thank you.

2339
04:51:22,030 --> 04:51:22,210
All right.

2340
04:51:22,370 --> 04:51:22,750
Thank you.

2341
04:51:23,230 --> 04:51:24,330
Councillor Morris.

2342
04:51:26,830 --> 04:51:27,230
Thank you.

2343
04:51:27,350 --> 04:51:30,150
And similar to Councillor Hartling and Steele.

2344
04:51:30,150 --> 04:51:36,430
I'm not sure where this is coming from and whether it will address the reliability concerns

2345
04:51:36,430 --> 04:51:38,650
that I've heard this afternoon.

2346
04:51:39,350 --> 04:51:42,730
Just a reminder, it wasn't in the core services plan.

2347
04:51:43,350 --> 04:51:48,830
It took about a year to develop the core services plan for transit and it was a three year plan.

2348
04:51:49,830 --> 04:51:56,310
So it just, you know, we don't tend to put a major capital item with big implications

2349
04:51:56,310 --> 04:52:10,090
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.

2350
04:52:14,400 --> 04:52:15,280
All right, thank you.

2351
04:52:16,500 --> 04:52:18,040
Councillor Dagle-Gammon.

2352
04:52:19,280 --> 04:52:22,100
Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor Madam Chair.

2353
04:52:22,100 --> 04:52:32,140
where the theme continues with me about where has this come from. You know, even when

2354
04:52:32,140 --> 04:52:37,700
we do notice, the notice of motion was there at the last meeting I believe, so we did

2355
04:52:37,700 --> 04:52:43,100
know that this was coming. I don't know if it came through transportation standing committee

2356
04:52:43,100 --> 04:52:47,320
if there was any conversation there. I'm not on that committee, so I'm just curious if

2357
04:52:47,320 --> 04:52:48,960
there was any conversation there or not.

2358
04:52:50,020 --> 04:52:53,400
It's interesting that nobody from transit is here.

2359
04:52:54,060 --> 04:52:57,420
And we're talking about a report for a new ferry.

2360
04:52:59,120 --> 04:53:00,960
So there's so many questions.

2361
04:53:01,660 --> 04:53:04,040
The original motion, I absolutely knew

2362
04:53:04,040 --> 04:53:07,780
that I wasn't going to be, that I would have grave concerns

2363
04:53:07,780 --> 04:53:10,060
over and I was looking forward to this conversation.

2364
04:53:10,600 --> 04:53:16,240
The additions to the motion make it a bit better

2365
04:53:16,240 --> 04:53:19,060
because there are so many other costs besides just one ferry.

2366
04:53:19,680 --> 04:53:22,600
I'm glad to see the solicitor said a staff report,

2367
04:53:22,820 --> 04:53:25,660
because otherwise it looked like it was just options for funding.

2368
04:53:26,220 --> 04:53:28,840
And I was like, how do we know we need one?

2369
04:53:29,520 --> 04:53:31,760
And there have been so many issues with transit.

2370
04:53:32,260 --> 04:53:36,120
And it's not a surprise to anybody around this room that,

2371
04:53:36,440 --> 04:53:40,880
you know, I've voiced concerns about we need a real review of transit.

2372
04:53:40,880 --> 04:53:51,440
that there are some issues within that department that need to be addressed and I was hoping the operational review will put a light on that.

2373
04:53:51,800 --> 04:54:02,720
The operational view might even tell us that we want to see maybe the AG to look at transit and what's happening and what's not and what we're doing and what we're not doing and what we're following, what we're not following.

2374
04:54:02,720 --> 04:54:09,480
but there are a lot of issues here and I'm like, you know, the end of last budget last minute,

2375
04:54:09,740 --> 04:54:15,400
we threw ten buses at a problem. Now, are we throwing a ferry at a problem that I don't understand

2376
04:54:16,280 --> 04:54:21,920
where it is a problem or how it is? So, like I said, even though the amendments to the motion,

2377
04:54:22,780 --> 04:54:25,880
you know, they make it better, but I still struggle to figure out

2378
04:54:26,560 --> 04:54:32,300
an especially thinking that it's going to come before this budget. There's a lot to look at.

2379
04:54:32,720 --> 04:54:40,050
to get all of that information in front of us before budget time, even just the cost

2380
04:54:40,050 --> 04:54:40,550
of a ferry.

2381
04:54:40,970 --> 04:54:43,810
How many staff are required per ferry?

2382
04:54:45,490 --> 04:54:46,450
That's an interesting thing.

2383
04:54:46,810 --> 04:54:50,950
We just debated two staff for affordable housing, and we talked about affordability as

2384
04:54:50,950 --> 04:54:57,390
being one of our core mandates, and so we debated for an hour or more on two staff for that,

2385
04:54:57,550 --> 04:55:03,910
but we don't even know how many staff are required for servicing a new ferry and whether or not

2386
04:55:03,910 --> 04:55:09,050
the docking location is there and the costs and the maintenance. So to me there's just so much

2387
04:55:09,890 --> 04:55:15,830
work that needs to be done before we get to this kind of emotion. We may get here in a

2388
04:55:15,830 --> 04:55:19,370
years' time, but I'm not sure that we're ready to be here now. Thank you.

2389
04:55:22,210 --> 04:55:22,910
All right, thank you.

2390
04:55:23,590 --> 04:55:30,830
Councillor St. Amal. Thank you Madam Chair. Councillor Vigil Gammon you kind of read my mind.

2391
04:55:30,950 --> 04:55:35,790
I mean I was thinking exactly that same thing. I mean we spent a considerable amount of time debating

2392
04:55:35,790 --> 04:55:41,350
whether or not it was warranted to look at two permanent staff in order to stop doing napkin

2393
04:55:41,350 --> 04:55:46,770
math on the side of a desk in order to provide resources to our affordable housing strategy.

2394
04:55:47,230 --> 04:55:51,230
This would, I have to think, involve more than just two people.

2395
04:55:51,430 --> 04:55:55,930
I mean, anytime I've been on a ferry, there's been more than two people on board, and there's more

2396
04:55:55,930 --> 04:56:02,830
still on the shore. But at the same time, you know, the value proposition of a service enhancement

2397
04:56:02,830 --> 04:56:09,250
is a little bit easier to articulate to residents and when we get staff reports back on one subject

2398
04:56:09,250 --> 04:56:12,750
versus another sometimes it illuminates the path that we shouldn't take as opposed to the

2399
04:56:12,750 --> 04:56:17,750
path that we thought we were going to take when requesting the information. So I'm comfortable

2400
04:56:17,750 --> 04:56:23,030
supporting this motion particularly in light of the revisions that have been already made to it

2401
04:56:23,030 --> 04:56:31,190
that allow us to look at the comparison with other reports that are in flight and I will note that

2402
04:56:31,190 --> 04:56:37,950
the Milco Ferry Project next report, the next update is due to come back sometime around

2403
04:56:37,950 --> 04:56:44,150
that same time as well. And for anybody that needs a reminder, that too had an operational

2404
04:56:44,950 --> 04:56:50,550
maintenance bay as part of the capital project. And so some of the things that Councillor

2405
04:56:50,550 --> 04:56:57,390
Mancini asked to be included to ensure that operational costs associated with the maintenance and

2406
04:56:58,210 --> 04:57:08,950
looking at having somewhere to dock the various different vessels, some of that may be incorporated within that future capital project even though it wouldn't be something that would be initiated right away.

2407
04:57:09,510 --> 04:57:15,210
So it's good to have some of these three related projects coming back to us with at least a degree of crossover.

2408
04:57:15,990 --> 04:57:27,370
And I just wanted to voice my support for the mayor's motion here for that reason and to have Jacqueline make a note that at least there's some connective tissue between those.

2409
04:57:27,370 --> 04:57:33,190
Those three that we would ultimately want to have looked at, and in particular, I am curious

2410
04:57:33,190 --> 04:57:39,670
to know whether or not, as part of this motion, whether the analysis will include a degree

2411
04:57:39,670 --> 04:57:45,790
of lens coming from transit side, because as some of my Councillors have already noted, and

2412
04:57:45,790 --> 04:57:51,570
in particular, Councillor Degrogane, and we, you know, pulled the trigger on looking for buses

2413
04:57:51,570 --> 04:57:57,210
is in part because more buses were raised as a prospect within the core services plan

2414
04:57:57,210 --> 04:58:02,170
coming from transit. This is a little bit of an outlier that wasn't specifically requested,

2415
04:58:02,290 --> 04:58:07,110
but I think it's important that we look at the analysis through that same lens to understand

2416
04:58:07,110 --> 04:58:13,010
what kind of relationship, an investment in a new ferry for the Halifax to Dartmouth crossing

2417
04:58:13,010 --> 04:58:15,590
would wind up meaning to that overall network.

2418
04:58:20,780 --> 04:58:22,940
Thank you. Councillor Perty.

2419
04:58:22,940 --> 04:58:24,620
thank you Deputy Mayor.

2420
04:58:26,780 --> 04:58:33,340
Yeah I I'm going to support this I and I think where

2421
04:58:33,340 --> 04:58:40,060
this is coming from is is the five months of impacted service with our

2422
04:58:40,060 --> 04:58:45,060
ferries so that's I think responding to a need and obviously the many

2423
04:58:45,060 --> 04:58:50,820
residents who reached out with concerns affecting their commuting.

2424
04:58:53,840 --> 04:58:56,480
I'm wondering, the cost

2425
04:58:57,840 --> 04:58:58,960
analysis, Jacqueline,

2426
04:59:01,220 --> 04:59:05,320
I mean, kind of earned uncertainty. So even if we did get a report with

2427
04:59:05,320 --> 04:59:12,880
accurate or accurate to the day cost analysis, I mean in five months, six months, one year,

2428
04:59:12,880 --> 04:59:16,660
that could completely change and be completely thrown off anyway.

2429
04:59:16,860 --> 04:59:23,500
So any numbers we get, we have to take with a grain of salt, I think, with where we're

2430
04:59:23,500 --> 04:59:33,600
at, unfortunately, but if it could be pushed out another month to get a more accurate understanding

2431
04:59:33,600 --> 04:59:41,800
of the financial impact, I'd be happy to wait the month to get a more accurate view.

2432
04:59:43,360 --> 04:59:50,100
even if it's not going to be accurate in the long run I guess, so I will be

2433
04:59:50,100 --> 04:59:54,520
supporting this and happy that the amendments, the friendly amendments were

2434
04:59:54,520 --> 04:59:56,760
added because I think it gives them more fulsome.

2435
05:00:04,140 --> 05:00:07,380
Thank you. Councillor Hinch.

2436
05:00:12,060 --> 05:00:36,200
Thank you, Deputy Mayor. I'll support the motion with the amendments as well. My only concern is that with getting a new ferry and still having the old ferries that are hardly ever working. Is that going to is it going to make anything any better? I feel like once we get a new ferry, if we get a new ferry,

2437
05:00:36,200 --> 05:00:44,720
then we have these O-Feries that are going to remain O-to-commission and not fully be repaired in

2438
05:00:44,720 --> 05:00:50,080
a timely manner. That's my only concern about this because, again, they get a new ferry so

2439
05:00:50,080 --> 05:00:55,740
oh well we don't have to rush to fix the ferry that's O-to-commission right now. So those are my

2440
05:00:55,740 --> 05:01:02,800
concerns and I feel that we're going to go back into that same predicament that we're in right now

2441
05:01:02,800 --> 05:01:06,580
with the lack of service, that would be my only concern.

2442
05:01:07,500 --> 05:01:10,260
But I will support the motion going forward.

2443
05:01:10,680 --> 05:01:10,980
Thank you.

2444
05:01:14,110 --> 05:01:14,670
Thank you.

2445
05:01:15,250 --> 05:01:17,730
And everyone on the list has spoken once,

2446
05:01:18,120 --> 05:01:19,830
if I could make a few comments from the chair.

2447
05:01:22,030 --> 05:01:25,990
Yeah, so just so you know when those fairies leave,

2448
05:01:26,130 --> 05:01:29,010
the harbor, to go get repaired, they end up in Sandbro head

2449
05:01:29,010 --> 05:01:29,950
in District 11.

2450
05:01:31,050 --> 05:01:33,930
I don't think people quite realize how industrialized

2451
05:01:33,930 --> 05:01:38,090
it is out in San Mar. There's a lot that goes on there and you can often see our fairies

2452
05:01:38,090 --> 05:01:45,510
like hoisted up getting repaired and I always love seeing that. So I had a friend once who

2453
05:01:45,510 --> 05:01:51,930
said that she hated projects that continued to have babies. And I feel that this motion here

2454
05:01:51,930 --> 05:01:57,790
is one of those motions that's continuing to have babies because there's a lot of things wrapped

2455
05:01:57,790 --> 05:02:04,070
around this ask that weren't considered in the original motion that we're now adding

2456
05:02:04,070 --> 05:02:09,270
on and even though I agree with the comments that it's making the motion better, I do

2457
05:02:09,270 --> 05:02:14,350
think that there's an opportunity to go back and strengthen the motion and not look at

2458
05:02:14,350 --> 05:02:22,150
this in a silo. You know, we brought up, we've heard about the parking at Woodside already

2459
05:02:22,150 --> 05:02:27,690
as being an impediment to people getting on the existing ferry. So I haven't seen

2460
05:02:27,690 --> 05:02:34,530
the case made that adding an additional ferry would add to increased ridership if there's

2461
05:02:34,530 --> 05:02:40,610
nowhere to park. We've also had this discussion with Melcove. You know, we looked again at

2462
05:02:40,610 --> 05:02:45,530
that in a silo and we didn't have a good grasp on what the supporting infrastructure around

2463
05:02:45,530 --> 05:02:50,390
that ferry terminal was going to cost us in terms of additional bus routes and in terms

2464
05:02:50,390 --> 05:02:56,590
of additional buses to get people to the ferry. So we need to understand that. Like do we

2465
05:02:56,590 --> 05:03:01,790
do we need new bus routes to support an additional ferry in order to get the ridership?

2466
05:03:02,190 --> 05:03:03,250
I haven't seen the case.

2467
05:03:04,310 --> 05:03:10,470
I think that we really need to take a comprehensive look and a comprehensive understanding.

2468
05:03:10,990 --> 05:03:14,970
We've seen in the course service plan, like bigger ambitions around ferries.

2469
05:03:14,970 --> 05:03:22,250
We've seen hopefully additional ferries to Shannon Park and additional ferry routes across the harbor and

2470
05:03:22,250 --> 05:03:28,330
and taking advantage of our harbor for transportation.

2471
05:03:29,130 --> 05:03:35,050
But in buying one ferry does that then compromise perhaps a future purchase

2472
05:03:35,050 --> 05:03:37,830
of multiple ferries and better pricing.

2473
05:03:38,370 --> 05:03:42,350
So I feel that this is a bit of an orphan motion at the moment,

2474
05:03:42,870 --> 05:03:44,950
and I can't support it.

2475
05:03:45,370 --> 05:03:50,890
I also think that the rationale around looking at impact is interesting.

2476
05:03:51,510 --> 05:03:56,850
You know, 3% increase in ferry and a 3% decrease in transit.

2477
05:03:57,570 --> 05:03:59,810
You know, what is behind those trends?

2478
05:04:00,410 --> 05:04:02,450
And also look at the total numbers.

2479
05:04:03,090 --> 05:04:07,130
What is the total number of people being moved by ferries versus the total number of people

2480
05:04:07,130 --> 05:04:08,150
being moved by buses?

2481
05:04:08,770 --> 05:04:13,650
And we know that thousands more are moved by buses.

2482
05:04:14,690 --> 05:04:24,310
And so, you know, that rationale is, doesn't necessarily hold water for me.

2483
05:04:24,430 --> 05:04:27,050
And you've also got to ask, well, why is there a decrease in transit?

2484
05:04:27,490 --> 05:04:32,310
And we know it's because we're having issues with on-time performance with overcrowding.

2485
05:04:32,590 --> 05:04:36,810
The bus is driving by people on the sidewalk with roots being canceled.

2486
05:04:36,810 --> 05:04:52,570
So, it doesn't necessarily mean there's a decrease in demand, it could be a number of factors contributing to those stats, and we don't know enough at this point to kind of use that as a basis for making a decision on this motion.

2487
05:04:53,670 --> 05:04:58,050
You know, I really agree with, I think it was Canada's sort of camp who said we need

2488
05:04:58,050 --> 05:05:02,890
to be mindful that what we need right now are real solutions with real impacts.

2489
05:05:03,670 --> 05:05:06,190
So I'm all for fairies.

2490
05:05:06,350 --> 05:05:07,290
I think fairies are awesome.

2491
05:05:07,430 --> 05:05:08,470
I'm all for using our harbor.

2492
05:05:08,590 --> 05:05:10,250
I think it's one of our greatest natural assets.

2493
05:05:10,750 --> 05:05:15,370
I just can't support this motion at this time and we'd like to see it come back as part

2494
05:05:15,370 --> 05:05:19,030
of, you know, with a longer term view of a fairie strategy.

2495
05:05:20,050 --> 05:05:25,650
What's required to support that very strategy and see it within the core service plan.

2496
05:05:26,510 --> 05:05:31,470
You know, I think there are questions about what's driving this, both figuratively and

2497
05:05:31,990 --> 05:05:33,070
literally as well.

2498
05:05:33,830 --> 05:05:34,130
Thanks.

2499
05:05:37,000 --> 05:05:37,400
Okay.

2500
05:05:37,820 --> 05:05:38,640
Councillor Mancini.

2501
05:05:40,980 --> 05:05:42,340
Thank you, Deputy Mary.

2502
05:05:42,700 --> 05:05:45,060
You know, there's a lot of questions with this motion.

2503
05:05:45,780 --> 05:05:50,480
They're all about the questions and it is unfortunate that the transit is not here today and

2504
05:05:50,480 --> 05:05:53,220
And typically, you're not going to count for a mayor brings forward a motion.

2505
05:05:53,400 --> 05:05:57,320
We don't usually have debate over that, we don't have staff respond to it.

2506
05:05:57,820 --> 05:06:01,440
Sometimes we have to hear they will, but it's unfortunate because I think some of the

2507
05:06:01,440 --> 05:06:04,940
questions we have, they could respond to today, and that would help us.

2508
05:06:05,400 --> 05:06:09,200
And I understand the concerns, and I have some of the same questions.

2509
05:06:09,400 --> 05:06:13,680
I was wondering why is the mayor bringing this forward at this point in time, but he is.

2510
05:06:14,160 --> 05:06:15,800
And so there's an opportunity to learn.

2511
05:06:15,800 --> 05:06:19,280
We always talk about evidence-based decision-making.

2512
05:06:19,520 --> 05:06:20,880
Well, let's get some evidence here.

2513
05:06:21,200 --> 05:06:23,720
Just because you have questions is not,

2514
05:06:23,900 --> 05:06:25,800
in my opinion, not a reason to not support

2515
05:06:25,800 --> 05:06:27,580
what the mayor is asking here.

2516
05:06:28,140 --> 05:06:29,920
Let's get those questions answered.

2517
05:06:30,360 --> 05:06:32,080
Let's have the discussion back in November,

2518
05:06:32,320 --> 05:06:34,180
along with the operational review.

2519
05:06:34,360 --> 05:06:36,280
And I've seen pieces of that operational review,

2520
05:06:36,440 --> 05:06:37,940
but not in entirety.

2521
05:06:38,480 --> 05:06:41,000
So let's have this conversation about the ferry,

2522
05:06:41,000 --> 05:06:41,960
because I have the same question.

2523
05:06:42,340 --> 05:06:43,980
We'll add in a ferry, do anything.

2524
05:06:44,940 --> 05:06:50,620
maybe the answer is no, well then that decision is much easier. Or maybe it's yes and it has a

2525
05:06:50,620 --> 05:06:55,820
significant change and impact that will improve our service. I really hate the discussion I've heard

2526
05:06:55,820 --> 05:07:00,540
in the chambers about buses versus fairies. It's not an either or scenario. We need both. We need

2527
05:07:00,540 --> 05:07:06,020
an enhanced both. Yes, we can move more people with buses. We also can move more people who are now

2528
05:07:06,020 --> 05:07:13,540
by having a improved transit service. So I ask colleagues, even though you have lots of questions

2529
05:07:13,540 --> 05:07:16,820
and they're very good questions and I have the exact same questions.

2530
05:07:17,040 --> 05:07:18,120
Let's get the information.

2531
05:07:18,480 --> 05:07:19,760
Let's not kill the motion now.

2532
05:07:19,980 --> 05:07:20,960
Let's come back.

2533
05:07:21,120 --> 05:07:23,980
I really like Councillor Osmond's change to the motion.

2534
05:07:24,180 --> 05:07:27,220
So we bring it back the same time as the operation review,

2535
05:07:27,480 --> 05:07:30,220
which staff for the room when we can have this more in-depth question.

2536
05:07:30,420 --> 05:07:31,460
So I ask you to support it.

2537
05:07:31,800 --> 05:07:34,840
I also ask the Jacqueline when it comes back with this kind of emotion.

2538
05:07:35,400 --> 05:07:37,820
And we should be looking at most of our motions like this when there's added costs.

2539
05:07:38,440 --> 05:07:42,480
You know, whatever the cost is for the ferry, the staffing,

2540
05:07:42,480 --> 05:07:47,300
the docking, what's the impact on the tax rate, right?

2541
05:07:47,400 --> 05:07:48,620
What's that impact on it?

2542
05:07:48,760 --> 05:07:50,760
We're going to be sure we include that at the same time.

2543
05:07:51,080 --> 05:07:52,220
I don't think I need that in the motion,

2544
05:07:52,460 --> 05:07:54,720
but Jack will be okay with that.

2545
05:07:55,120 --> 05:07:55,880
We could include that.

2546
05:07:56,000 --> 05:07:57,720
So, colleagues, great questions.

2547
05:07:58,380 --> 05:08:00,260
I have some of the same questions you have.

2548
05:08:00,780 --> 05:08:01,940
Let's get all the information.

2549
05:08:02,400 --> 05:08:04,600
Let's have this discussion again in November,

2550
05:08:04,800 --> 05:08:06,860
and then we can decide that and what's the right thing to do.

2551
05:08:07,440 --> 05:08:08,500
Appreciate your time, thank you.

2552
05:08:08,500 --> 05:08:09,280
Thank

2553
05:08:13,120 --> 05:08:13,380
you.

2554
05:08:13,640 --> 05:08:15,680
To close, Mayor Philmore.

2555
05:08:16,900 --> 05:08:18,220
Thank you very much, Deputy Mayor.

2556
05:08:18,600 --> 05:08:21,960
And thank you colleagues for a very full discussion here.

2557
05:08:24,100 --> 05:08:25,700
There are a lot of things we don't know.

2558
05:08:26,380 --> 05:08:30,220
And that's exactly why I have moved the motion so that we can know.

2559
05:08:30,660 --> 05:08:31,840
We can know the cost.

2560
05:08:32,060 --> 05:08:34,160
We can know the impact on ridership.

2561
05:08:34,240 --> 05:08:39,800
We can know the interplay between fairies and the buses that serve them.

2562
05:08:40,740 --> 05:08:43,520
We do, but we do already know quite a few things.

2563
05:08:43,740 --> 05:08:48,280
We know that we've had five fairies in service since 2018 and in that time the population

2564
05:08:48,280 --> 05:08:49,780
has grown by 100,000 people.

2565
05:08:50,500 --> 05:08:53,180
We know that those fairies are now aging.

2566
05:08:53,640 --> 05:08:58,560
They're spending more time in the repair depot than they did in the last several years.

2567
05:08:59,300 --> 05:09:02,960
A five-fairy system was designed so that one could be in scheduled maintenance and the

2568
05:09:02,960 --> 05:09:05,320
other forward run and maintain 15-minute service.

2569
05:09:05,320 --> 05:09:13,720
We no longer have five fairies that can reliably, four services that can reliably be in service while the fifth is in scheduled maintenance.

2570
05:09:13,960 --> 05:09:26,400
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 fairy crossings.

2571
05:09:26,400 --> 05:09:32,880
And even with that loss of fairy crossings in one quarter, the demand grew by 3%.

2572
05:09:33,660 --> 05:09:35,980
Ferrys are increasing demand.

2573
05:09:36,620 --> 05:09:37,680
The population is growing.

2574
05:09:38,120 --> 05:09:40,800
People are looking to the fairies as an alternative to congestion.

2575
05:09:41,620 --> 05:09:46,700
This is where we can have enormous impact on people's lives.

2576
05:09:47,560 --> 05:09:54,040
And whether the motion goes today or next year, we will hold on and try to get more information.

2577
05:09:54,040 --> 05:10:03,600
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 to their daycare when the fairies weren't running.

2578
05:10:04,660 --> 05:10:09,160
They don't want us to wait a year to have this conversation. They're ready for us to solve this problem now.

2579
05:10:10,640 --> 05:10:18,020
The point about bus routes, the sixth ferry is about maintaining 15 minutes service.

2580
05:10:18,020 --> 05:10:24,640
it wouldn't change the bus routes or systems that feed them, it's simply about restoring

2581
05:10:24,640 --> 05:10:28,300
the service that we have enjoyed in the past to 15-minute service.

2582
05:10:28,920 --> 05:10:33,040
So that happens irrespective of impact on larger bus routes.

2583
05:10:33,920 --> 05:10:40,220
If we think about the ferry system in Halifax Harbor 20 years from now, it's not going

2584
05:10:40,220 --> 05:10:43,160
to be these beautiful boats made by Terrio, it's going to be something different.

2585
05:10:44,180 --> 05:10:47,440
It's going to be hybrid, they're going to be electric, whatever it's going to be, we're

2586
05:10:47,440 --> 05:11:00,140
going to be building new ferry terminals that are going to have a different technology incorporated into them, but the system we have today is designed for those oval ferries with joystick controllers, with staff that are trained on them with local maintenance and knows how to fix them.

2587
05:11:00,520 --> 05:11:04,080
And that system is missing a ferry because of how they're aging right now.

2588
05:11:04,400 --> 05:11:15,080
The system is underperforming and failing and the fix for that is adding a ferry of the same technology to make the most of the infrastructure that we've already invested in that we already own.

2589
05:11:15,080 --> 05:11:18,260
While the work continues on what the ferry system of the future will be.

2590
05:11:21,500 --> 05:11:27,740
So I chose October because I wanted to be in line with what the acting CAO asked us for

2591
05:11:27,740 --> 05:11:28,960
for major capital ideas.

2592
05:11:29,640 --> 05:11:34,420
If December works for what the acting CAO suggested, I believe he said the end of the year.

2593
05:11:35,460 --> 05:11:38,640
We get someone said to go, we add a month and get more information, I'm happy to add a month

2594
05:11:38,640 --> 05:11:42,780
after they change that to December, if it's in the spirit of what the acting CAO asked for.

2595
05:11:42,780 --> 05:11:54,860
So if that gives a little bit more comfort so we can get a little bit more data in the report, that's fine, but I think it's clear that our riders are asking us to improve the various service.

2596
05:11:56,240 --> 05:11:56,840
Thank you.

2597
05:12:24,140 --> 05:12:26,680
Right, so that motion passes.

2598
05:12:29,520 --> 05:12:33,020
We will now switch seats back.

2599
05:13:38,230 --> 05:13:40,050
Colleagues, now we're ready to go in camera.

2600
05:13:42,520 --> 05:13:44,480
Yes, Councillor Dagle game.

2601
05:13:47,090 --> 05:13:47,670
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2602
05:13:47,890 --> 05:13:54,390
I was just wondering if we might be able to quickly go through 18.1 before we go in camera on the added items.

2603
05:13:55,670 --> 05:13:57,550
I think it's the only added item.

2604
05:14:03,360 --> 05:14:08,540
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

2605
05:14:09,080 --> 05:14:14,520
Reordering the agreed upon order. No, we're good. Okay. Then if everyone's fine with that

2606
05:14:14,520 --> 05:14:18,680
I don't see any dissent in the room. We'll jump ahead to 18.1

2607
05:14:19,620 --> 05:14:24,460
Which perhaps well your name is on the list. Would you like to put the motion on the floor? Okay

2608
05:14:25,740 --> 05:14:26,700
Thank you. Yes

2609
05:14:27,440 --> 05:14:33,480
I'd move that the Halifax Regional Council one adopt the proposed 2027 Halifax Regional Council meeting

2610
05:14:33,480 --> 05:14:37,880
Schedule as outlined in attachment one of the staff report dated July 9th

2611
05:14:37,880 --> 05:14:42,440
2026 and two adopt the proposed 2027 28 budget

2612
05:14:42,920 --> 05:14:48,080
scheduled as outlined in Attachment 2 of the staff report dated July 9th, 2026.

2613
05:14:50,510 --> 05:14:54,270
Seconded by Councillor Steedle. Would you like to say more?

2614
05:14:54,550 --> 05:14:57,130
Thank you. Yes, if I may. Thank you very much.

2615
05:15:00,000 --> 05:15:00,180
Council.

2616
05:15:02,240 --> 05:15:08,420
Schedule, but on the budget schedule, there's, you know, we did a really nice debrief

2617
05:15:08,420 --> 05:15:13,960
with mayor and council around what was worked well last year and what we can approve upon.

2618
05:15:14,420 --> 05:15:21,120
So the schedule that's proposed here is like 13 days and then six days that are contingency

2619
05:15:21,120 --> 05:15:27,120
days should we need them. And I do know that, you know, it's a, it's a long process because

2620
05:15:27,120 --> 05:15:33,420
it does go from like one day in November, one day in December, one day in January, and

2621
05:15:33,420 --> 05:15:37,280
then February and March are the heaviest times.

2622
05:15:38,700 --> 05:15:45,820
We can streamline our work by doing all of our research beforehand, which I think is

2623
05:15:45,820 --> 05:15:49,280
a great way for us to make this go more smoothly.

2624
05:15:50,480 --> 05:15:55,000
We do have the evening session on January 26th, which is great.

2625
05:15:55,000 --> 05:16:02,360
it. Also, though, it's important for members of the public to know that before any of the

2626
05:16:02,360 --> 05:16:08,380
bundles, before operations, for example, capital plan, operations, public safety, corporate,

2627
05:16:08,840 --> 05:16:15,180
the bell, that the public can welcome to participate in the budget and can speak to anything

2628
05:16:15,180 --> 05:16:20,900
on the budget that they require. So I do think that it's a good list. I know that some people

2629
05:16:20,900 --> 05:16:27,100
are worried, you know, that maybe our budget process is too lengthy. It's very transparent.

2630
05:16:28,020 --> 05:16:34,720
We do a good deep dive into everything that we do, so I think that's important. The only

2631
05:16:34,720 --> 05:16:40,120
other thing I would add in is that when we spoke about this, that executive standing committee

2632
05:16:40,120 --> 05:16:46,280
was to make sure that it's added in on a list that on January 12th is when we will see

2633
05:16:46,280 --> 05:16:50,940
the report from PVSC, and that's when we'll see the assessment role.

2634
05:16:51,720 --> 05:16:54,600
Those are my comments to this point. Thank you.

2635
05:16:57,750 --> 05:17:00,850
Okay. I don't see any other names on the list show we have the question.

2636
05:17:02,310 --> 05:17:02,990
Questions called.

2637
05:17:18,480 --> 05:17:21,120
And the motion carries. Thank you very much for that.

2638
05:17:23,780 --> 05:17:27,180
We are now, now, now ready to go in camera.

2639
05:17:55,210 --> 05:18:00,930
Okay. Is there a motion to go on camera? Councilor Steele, seconded by Councillor Prody.

2640
05:18:01,390 --> 05:18:03,250
Thank you. We'll just give a moment for the room to get prepared.

2641
05:18:11,090 --> 05:18:16,710
Colleagues, the clerk raises an interesting question. I just noticed in the text thread

2642
05:18:16,710 --> 05:18:21,810
that we're interested in forging ahead without ordering supper and getting the thing done.

2643
05:18:22,490 --> 05:18:25,290
Would you then like to have a little nature break now?

2644
05:18:25,290 --> 05:18:35,490
Yeah, okay, then how about we come back at 315 and we'll be in camera. Thank you

2645
06:50:13,680 --> 06:50:34,600
All right. We're back in business and we're in open session. And the first order of business is to ratify a number of the end camera decisions that were made. 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.

2646
06:50:34,600 --> 06:50:35,460
Thank you.

2647
06:50:38,260 --> 06:50:47,420
I move that the matter pertaining to providing instruction and direction to officers

2648
06:50:47,420 --> 06:50:49,920
and employees of the municipality pertaining.

2649
06:50:56,230 --> 06:50:59,230
Under here. Okay. Thank you. I was going

2650
06:50:59,230 --> 06:51:07,090
to say better. Where is this leading? Okay. Yes. I move that Halifax Regional Council adopt

2651
06:51:07,090 --> 06:51:12,370
the recommendations is outlined in the private and confidential report dated July 30th, 2026,

2652
06:51:13,010 --> 06:51:19,050
and two direct that the private and confidential report dated July 30th, 2026 be maintained private

2653
06:51:19,050 --> 06:51:25,860
and confidential. Seconded by Councillor Young. And all those,

2654
06:51:29,830 --> 06:51:31,170
colleagues, this is a digital vote.

2655
06:51:31,170 --> 06:51:32,650
We'll go to the vote and

2656
06:51:55,690 --> 06:52:03,090
the motion carries. We will then go on to item 17.4 and I'll turn to

2657
06:52:03,090 --> 06:52:04,110
Councillor Steele, please.

2658
06:52:05,450 --> 06:52:06,610
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2659
06:52:06,890 --> 06:52:09,530
I move that Halifax Regional Council 1

2660
06:52:09,970 --> 06:52:12,030
adopt the recommendations as outlined

2661
06:52:12,030 --> 06:52:13,950
in the private and confidential report

2662
06:52:13,950 --> 06:52:17,090
dated July 30, 2026 and 2

2663
06:52:17,550 --> 06:52:19,750
direct that the private and confidential report

2664
06:52:19,750 --> 06:52:22,670
dated July 30, 2026 be maintained

2665
06:52:23,290 --> 06:52:24,630
private and confidential.

2666
06:52:26,450 --> 06:52:27,410
Is there a seconder?

2667
06:52:28,070 --> 06:52:29,170
Councillor Hartley.

2668
06:52:30,610 --> 06:52:32,670
Okay, and we'll go to the electronic voting, please.

2669
06:52:56,640 --> 06:52:58,740
and the motion carries. Thank you.

2670
06:52:59,860 --> 06:53:07,020
This brings us to item 17.6, and I believe I'm going to Councillor Dagle-Gammon for that.

2671
06:53:09,920 --> 06:53:15,340
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and motion that the Halifax Regional Council won adopt the recommendations

2672
06:53:15,340 --> 06:53:21,000
as outlined in the Private and Confidential Report, dated August 14, 2026, and to release

2673
06:53:21,000 --> 06:53:26,720
the Private and Confidential Report, dated August 14, 2026, to the public once the conditions

2674
06:53:26,720 --> 06:53:28,880
as outlined in the report have been met.

2675
06:53:29,420 --> 06:53:33,780
Seconded by Councillor Hensby, and we will go to the digital vote.

2676
06:53:46,760 --> 06:53:47,560
The motion carries.

2677
06:53:48,360 --> 06:53:52,880
This brings us to 17.7, for which I will also return to Councillor David Wigaman.

2678
06:53:54,340 --> 06:53:55,380
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2679
06:53:55,760 --> 06:53:59,600
Move that the Halifax Regional Council one, adopt the recommendations as outlined in the

2680
06:53:59,600 --> 06:54:05,240
Private and Confidential Report, dated August 20th, 2026, and two direct at the Private

2681
06:54:05,240 --> 06:54:08,400
and Confidential Report, dated August 20th, 2026,

2682
06:54:08,400 --> 06:54:10,400
be maintained private and confidential.

2683
06:54:12,160 --> 06:54:15,360
Seconded by Councillor Hensby, and we'll go to the digital vote.

2684
06:54:29,800 --> 06:54:30,560
And the motion carries.

2685
06:54:32,000 --> 06:54:37,520
Okay, colleagues, that leaves us with our final item of business, which is notices of

2686
06:54:37,520 --> 06:54:38,080
motion.

2687
06:54:39,180 --> 06:54:41,620
And I'll just look and see who jumps on the board there,

2688
06:54:44,400 --> 06:54:45,740
Councillor Austin, please.

2689
06:54:46,820 --> 06:54:47,880
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

2690
06:54:48,020 --> 06:54:50,000
This is for Councillor Mancini.

2691
06:54:50,000 --> 06:55:03,680
I take notice that at a future meeting of Halifax Regional Council, I intend to introduce a motion to adopt amendments to the terms of reference for the Act of Transportation Advisory Committee, ATAC, and the Point Puzzle Park Advisory Committee PPDAC.

2692
06:55:04,020 --> 06:55:10,380
The purpose of the proposed amendments is to implement recommendations arising from phase one of the governance review and other housekeeping amendments.

2693
06:55:11,340 --> 06:55:17,380
So noted. Thank you very much. Excuse me, anyone else? I don't see anyone else. I've

2694
06:55:17,380 --> 06:55:23,720
got one myself. So take notice that at a future meeting of Halifax Regional Counsel, I

2695
06:55:23,720 --> 06:55:27,720
intend to move a motion. That Regional Counsel directs the Chief Administrative Officer

2696
06:55:27,720 --> 06:55:33,540
to conduct a comprehensive review of the decision to establish the mayor's office as an independent

2697
06:55:33,540 --> 06:55:36,440
to office following the one-year anniversary of the decision.

2698
06:55:38,140 --> 06:55:41,820
Thank you. Any others? Any other norms today?

2699
06:55:43,280 --> 06:55:45,540
Not seeing any? Is there a motion to adjourn?

2700
06:55:46,620 --> 06:55:47,920
I think that was Councillor Young today.

2701
06:55:48,960 --> 06:55:50,580
Thank you very much, colleagues. Have a wonderful evening.