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Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to
council meeting number 23 for Tuesday,

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August 25, 2026.
Uh before we get down to our official

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business, uh just want to express
regrets from Councelor Elliot. Uh he's

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under the weather tonight, so we hope
that he makes a speedy recovery. Um and

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um there's a couple of changes before I
ask for um a motion to approve the

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agenda. And that is that given the fact
that um uh councelor Elliot will not be

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here tonight, report number E1, housing
solutions table report, that will be

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deferred until the next council meeting.
And also item number G2, which is the um

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the Cornell minor hockey letter, that's
deferred for staff and minor hockey to

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work out some details. So that'll be
coming forward at a future meeting. So

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with those changes, could I have a
motion to adopt the minute or drop the

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agenda as a as a as amended? Okay,
councelor Rudenberg is moving and I saw

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councelor Runge is seconding. All in
favor? Opposed? Carried. Uh, now we look

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for a motion to adopt the regular
minutes of the meeting held July 28,

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2026. Moved. Councelor Goule, seconded.
Councelor McCelie. All in favor?

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Opposed? Carried. Now we move to
presentations and delegations.

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And uh it's my pleasure to um uh welcome
our Cornell Ambassador Leadership

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Program outgoing presentation as well as
a welcome to the new incoming um 2026

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ambassadors. It's my pleasure to welcome
the Cornell Ambassador Leadership

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Society President Cindy Sherstan and the
2025 outgoing royalty and the new 2026

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royalty to tonight's council meeting.
After I introduce each outgoing

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ambassador, please come to the front to
receive your plaque and your rose. and

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please remain upfront until all
presentations have been made so that we

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can get a group photograph. Now,
Councelor McKelie has graciously agreed

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to help me with the with the
presentation. So, I'm going to stay here

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uh and uh work the microphone and
councelor McKelie is going to do the

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presentations.
So, first of all, outgoing uh royalty,

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and if you could come up one at a time
as I call your name for your rose and

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plaque presentation. Oia Woodruff,
PLEASE.

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» HELLO.
>> HI.

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» Thank you for everything you did.

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that will become a family heirloom. So,
guard it jealously. Okay. And uh and

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next is um Grace Cassidy. Come on up,
Grace.

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» Hi, Grace. Thank you for everything.

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Now I would like to introduce the new
2026 Cornell ambassadors. After I eat

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after I introduce each ambassador,
please come to the front to receive your

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rows. Please remain up front until all
presentations have been made so that we

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can take that uh group photo as well. So
again, one at a time. 2026 Ambassadors

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incoming royalty Abigail Russell.

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Congratulations

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» and Nora Aziz.

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» Congratulations. Good luck this year.
Now we have one for for Cindy.

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» Oh, for Cindy. Cindy, come on up.
>> YES.

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» I finally get to meet the person behind
the computer. Congratulations, Cindy.

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Thank you. and and thank you to uh to
you and to um all of the uh the other

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movers and shakers of this because um I
mean this dates back to the Quinnell

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leadership uh or the Quinnell Miss
Quinnell leadership uh program and

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leadership certainly is the operative
word because these young people are our

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future leaders.
Okay. So, time for a group photograph.

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If uh any family members would like to
come up and and capture this moment,

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please do that now.

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Pardon me.
>> The outgoing and incoming.

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» Oh, separate. Separately. Okay.
So, can you come up and Okay. So, we're

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going to have the outgoing um first
and then and then the incoming. So, if

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you could sort of separate just for your
is that what you wanted was uh to have

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them separated.
>> Oh, I see. Okay, that's fine. Yeah,

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we'll carry on carrying on here.
We don't have a playbook for this, so

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we're

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» maybe separate yourselves a little bit
and then we take separate pictures.

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» You're going to have a few words. I have
a few words. You're going to have a few

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words.

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We should just use the microphone over
there.

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» That's a good idea.

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» Both of them like both sets.
>> Okay. So, if if the gonna have a few

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words
>> I I know. I'm just trying to sort out

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whether it's the outgoing or the
incoming or both. Uh, we're all going to

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take turns.
>> Okay.

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» Okay.
>> Lead on.

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» I don't know what Okay. I'm Grace
Cassidy. I am one of the 2025 Quinn

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Ambassadors. I just want to say how
proud I am of Abby and Nora for becoming

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the 2026 Quinnel Ambassadors and how
proud I am to be best friends with OIa.

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We celebrated our year together and it
wouldn't be how great it was without the

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support of our city and the society. So,
thank you everyone who supported us

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THROUGHOUT OUR REIGN.

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HI, I'M OSIA WOODRUFF, your 20 2025
Cornell Ambassador. And Nora and

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Abigail, you guys are so incredible and
I hope you guys have an amazing year

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during your reign. Grace, I love you so
much and I wouldn't have wanted to reign

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with anyone else. I want to say thank
you to the society and to the city of

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Quinnell for everything they've done to
keep this program an awesome and

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positive experience and I hope you guys
enjoy your reign.

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» Now, would the incoming like to say a
few words? You're certainly welcome

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here.

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» We're starting together.
>> Okay. Starting.

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» All right.
Good evening everyone. My name is Norah

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Aziz and I'm one of the new 2026 Cornell
ambassadors.

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» And I'm Abigail Russell and I am the
other 2026 Quinnell ambassador.

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We are incredibly honored to be
representing Quinnell over the next

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year.
There are so many incredible people in

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Quinnell and we cannot wait to be
serving them by going to all of these

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events and stuff. We're so excited.
>> We'll miss our former Cornell

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ambassadors dearly and so we'll do our
best to take up their work.

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» Okay. So I think that basically
concludes our our uh our presentation

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event. So uh so thank you ambassadors
whether you're incoming or outgoing

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you're always ambassadors. So so thank
you for that and and all best wishes.

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Okay. Thanks again ambassador program.
Okay. Now we're going to go to item two

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under presentations and delegations.
Cornell Health Services 2020 2026

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updates from Northern Health Authority.
And we have Daryl Pzul, the senior

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operating officer for Northern Health
Rural. And also um we have Michelle

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Lawrence, the special service
specialized services executive director

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at Northern Health. So I I believe that
you're you're both online. I see you

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there, Darl. So the floor is yours.

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I think you may be muted.

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Please bear with us while we sort out
our technical technological glitches. It

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happens quite often.
Not not necessarily here, but

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everywhere.

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Uh Michelle or Daryl, could one of you
or both of you just say something to do

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a bit of a sound test?
Okay. So Daryl, you're not coming

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through

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and neither are you, Michelle. So we're
we'll keep working on this. We'll we'll

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get it done.

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while while we're doing this and we just
of course had had the presentation to

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the Cornell ambassadors program and just
after I was elected um I had the

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ambassadors into my mayor's office and
they were each to ask me a question and

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uh one young lady says what's the most
challenging part of being the mayor and

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I said technology ology. So here here it
is proving itself out.

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Darl, can you hear us? Give us a thumbs
up if you can hear us. Okay, so

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And so Darl, obviously you are not muted
on your end, so perhaps it's originating

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at our end.

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Well, we'll give it another couple of
minutes or else um if we can't get it

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resolved, we're going to have to move
on.

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» Sure. Yeah.

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» Moving on.
Let's

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side of things

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have to wait

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Hello.

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I thought that was an encouraging sound.

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» Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear
you, Darl.

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» Okay, I'm gonna just message Michelle to
to join quickly here.

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» Good job, Laura.
>> Yes, thank you, Laura.

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» And there's Michelle. And is the audio
still good?

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» Well, we can hear you, Darl. Maybe
Michelle if you could just

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» There you are in true flesh and blood
reality. So um the floor is yours.

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» Excellent. Thank you very much, Mayor
Paul. And good evening everyone.

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So I have a PowerPoint that I'm going to
present. And as you mentioned, Mayor

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Paul, uh technology, I'm hoping this
works because I rarely work in Zoom.

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Usually it's teams. So, I'm going to
going to share my screen now.

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And now it's not
Michelle, would you be able to try

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sharing yours and I'll talk?

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I will pray.

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Yeah. Uh, councelor Vic has come up with
a suggestion here. We have the

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PowerPoint here in front of us on hard
copy.

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So if Oh, I think we're I think we're
looking good here. I I see it on the

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screen now. So I'll let you carry on.
>> Okay.

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» Thank you very much. Apologies for the
for the delays. So uh good evening

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everyone. Uh uh as Mayor Paul mentioned,
my name is Daryl Pzel. I work as the

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senior operating officer for the rural
region surrounding Prince George. So

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that would include Burns Lake and area
east to Veil Mountain from McKenzie

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south to us here in Cornell. Um
uh I live in Cornell with my family. Um

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myself and that's where I am tonight. Um
and Michelle, if you want and Michelle,

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why don't you introduce yourself quick
if you don't mind?

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» Sure. Thanks. Um thanks for having us.
My name is Michelle Lawrence. and the

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executive director for specialized
services for Northern Health. Um, and

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I'm calling in from the unseated
traditional territory of the Clayton

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today and Prince George. Um, and my
areas uh cover uh the whole region uh

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for specialized services which includes
complex medically frail mental health

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and substance use, child and youth um
specialized services and some

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specialized clinics.
>> Thank you, Michelle. If you don't mind

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going to slide three to start it off.
So, I have quite a lengthy presentation

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and due to time constraints, I'm really
going to have to go through this quick

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because I want to hear questions at the
end, which I suspect is probably most

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important to the folks in the room
tonight. So, I'll start by by setting

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sort of the stage and the context of
where health care is right now in

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general. My PowerPoint has a lot of good
news stories and more light-hearted uh

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content, but make no mistake, uh healthc
care is in a a real tough situation

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right now across the province and across
the country. Um as you're probably all

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aware, um when I last came to council to
present, it would have been a little

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over a year ago. And I would say that
things in Quinnel have improved

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slightly. there's a long way to go. Um,
but we're sitting we're sitting a little

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better in in certain circumstances than
than we were uh roughly this time last

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year. So, not a surprise to anyone, but
we're dealing with a pretty significant

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workforce shortage. Uh we're dealing
with changes in the workforce in terms

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of what people want out of their
careers. Uh we're dealing with the

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oldest population Canada has ever had in
its history. We're dealing with

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declining significantly declining birth
rates. Um increased complexity with

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people that are coming to the hospital.
Uh plugged up hospitals, uh not enough

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long-term care beds or assisted living
beds. Um and a variety increased

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violence. Uh that's another thing that
uh can't be forgotten about. H we are

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seeing doesn't matter what hospital
you're working in we're seeing

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significantly more in uh numbers of
violent incidents and just a less civil

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society I would say in general.
So we're at a we're at a tough spot

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right now. So um you know ever since CO
hit six years or so ago it it's it's

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been a tough go with things. Um it's led
to some changes in the way we deliver

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health care and some opportunities.
We're really getting into virtual

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delivery of health care. Uh currently in
our at our UPCC, our urgent primary care

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center in the hospital, we're using
what's called TEDOC where we have a

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physician on a video screen who's able
to talk and see patients and even listen

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to uh through a stethoscope and and
other things like that. So that stuff is

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really cutting edge and it will always
have a place in health care. I think

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we're starting to see AI being used in
healthcare. So, a lot of exciting stuff

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is coming. Um, but we have a uh for sure
have a ways to go. Michelle, if you can

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go on to the next slide, please.

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So, this is a very busy slide of I
always get asked about the physician uh

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shortages in Cornell and this is a busy
and rather confusing slide. It comes

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from the the physician human resource uh
folks, the ones that deal with

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recruitment on a full-time basis. Um,
long story short, in terms of

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comparisons to other many other
communities in Northern BC, Cornell is

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doing well. We're still short probably a
good six or so family doctors. Um, we've

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received the number this year. We uh we
have a couple more arriving very shortly

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and we have at least two confirmed for
next year as well. So our recruitment um

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efforts are are paying dividends. Now we
again we have a ways to go. Um I know

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what it's like not to have a family
doctor. I went through quite a time

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myself with one. Um as did some family
members and it's uh it's a very it's not

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a good place to be. So
um but we've uh we've got quite a

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complement of specialists in Cornell.
We've got a couple of general surgeons,

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ear nose and throat surgeon, uh couple
of internists, uh couple of doctors who

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specialize just in emergency medicine, a
psychiatrist, and quite a number 20 that

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21 is actually a little more than that
now. So quite a number of family

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doctors. Next slide, Michelle.

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Um, just something to note and some of
the folks at the city will be aware of

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this, but we're seeing a real change in
terms of how doctors are practicing. So,

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gone are the days where doctors would
finish school and then buy a medical

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practice and want to run that business.
Um, we're not seeing that at all

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anymore. Um, so what we're doing is
we're contracting with physicians and

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they're working on a alternative payment
plan basically where they work in a

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Northern Health run and staffed clinic
like the one on Front Street there. So

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right now I'm in the middle of uh if
it's not out already, there's going to

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be one soon. An expression of interest
to the community because we need to

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acquire more space to to accommodate the
uh the physicians that are coming.

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Next slide.

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Uh I'm going to quickly brief uh through
this. So I'll just say in the interest

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of time that we are constantly training
our nurses in Quinnel in specialty areas

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like emergency, ICU, maternity, and
other programs. Uh I've already

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mentioned we have two emergency
physicians that both work full-time in

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our emergency. Um and that last uh point
is more about uh post-secondary learning

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and I won't get into that right now. You
can go to the next one.

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Um more of the same. Uh you know we're
we're we're

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training uh more o nurses along with the
other specialties. We currently run two

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operating room room rooms uh
simultaneously in Cornell uh which is

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good. Um weight lists are not that bad.
If you need surgery and you live in

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Cornell and it's general surgery or even
ear, nose, and throat uh your weights

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will not be that long compared to the
rest of the province. The Ministry of

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Health sets provincial benchmarks that
we must or we should strive to hit in

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terms of different types of surgeries.
And the vast majority of that time in

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Cornell, we're meeting those. Uh it's
it's actually impossible to hit them

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100% of the time because there's uh
there's a number of factors outside of

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our control. Next slide.
uh you know we we have very skilled and

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experienced staff who have retired. So
we we our recruitment not only is about

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getting students and people from outside
of the region but bringing people back

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00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:38,880
into work who have a wealth of
knowledge. Uh uh we have a new uh family

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doctor who's starting oncology or cancer
care training this fall. So another

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00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:52,279
person locally physician will be trained
in in oncological medicine. So that's uh

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very positive for Cornell. Next slide.

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Uh some ideas uh a little snapshot of
some of the other work going on. Um lot

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00:25:59,279 --> 00:26:05,679
of acronyms in this by the way and my
apologies. I got to remember that people

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00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:11,120
that don't work in healthcare aren't
going to know what all these letters

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mean. ESN there refers to employed
student nurses. So these are nurses that

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are in their second year or higher of
training and we can hire them um as paid

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staff. So they get to learn and uh learn
the people they're working with, learn

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nursing skills and make a make an
income. So we're doing that constantly.

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Um, we've got a provincial maternity
project to reduce C-section rates, uh,

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ongoing right now. And of course, we
opened our maternity clinic last year in

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March. Next slide.
I've already talked about TEDoc at UPCC.

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Um, we've, uh, we've been successful in
recruiting new doctors to UPCC uh, over

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the past eight months or so. So, we've
tripled our our visits. Um

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00:27:02,559 --> 00:27:12,080
last year at this time we were hitting
around 250 individual visits per day um

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or per per month I mean and uh now we're
well over 600 if not over 700 uh

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00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:23,720
individual visits per month at our UPCC.
And we can go to the next slide.

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Michelle

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I've talked about that first point a
little bit. Uh nurse triage system. I

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won't get into this too much, but it's
regarding UPCC and uh we no longer have

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00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:42,559
to a patient can come in and they no
longer have to see a physician before

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00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:48,080
they leave. Nurses can make a
determination to to book them based on

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urgency uh the next day or a couple days
from now or hand them off to a social

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00:27:50,559 --> 00:27:58,880
worker or a nurse that's skilled in a
certain uh specialty um just to make it

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00:27:57,039 --> 00:28:03,039
a little more efficient for for the
public. and we're getting some positive

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00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:07,760
comments about that. We're going to roll
that out in it's called clear triage and

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we're going to roll that out in other
communities in Northern Health. Next

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00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:17,279
slide, Michelle.
I'm not going to get into this. The one

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thing about this this this shows you
some of the the increase in visits at

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00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:28,720
our UPCC, but you can go to the next
slide. It's a little

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more useful. So the purpose of our UPCC
is to reduce pressure on an emermergency

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department and for years it wasn't doing
that. Um but with some of the changes

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we've made in this year um it's actually
finally started to take the pressure off

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00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:51,520
our emergency department so we can
protect our emergency

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uh room for people that need truly need
emergency care. So that's actually it's

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00:28:53,919 --> 00:29:01,440
the first time we've shown that uh bias
statistic. So we're going to be keeping

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00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:04,440
an eye on that as we go forward. Next
slide.

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00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:12,880
Okay. Uh hospital auxiliary. So just an
example of some of the equipment the

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00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:20,159
auxiliary has purchased and we're ever
so thankful for our auxiliary who have

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00:29:15,679 --> 00:29:24,799
been around for a long time. Um yeah, I
won't get into the details about this,

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but we also have some uh televisions
being installed in uh all the inpatient

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rooms uh thanks to the Cornell Community
Foundation. So those two groups have

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00:29:33,679 --> 00:29:39,520
helped us immensely. Next slide,
Michelle.

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Little bit more about some of the
equipment. So we constantly are buying

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00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:52,880
equipment. uh stuff gets used 24/7 365
and it end either ends up getting to end

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00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:57,360
of life or not be being able to be
supported from a technological

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00:29:54,799 --> 00:30:02,720
standpoint. So always buying new
equipment and of course the regional

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00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:08,720
hospital district uh funds a significant
amount of this equipment. So here's some

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00:30:04,799 --> 00:30:15,440
examples. Next slide.
More examples uh probably won't make a

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00:30:12,159 --> 00:30:21,279
lot of sense. So uh ECG is kind of heart
monitor system

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00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:26,159
um medical imaging software. So just to
give you an example of the the high cost

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of anything healthcare related I mean
just the software alone can be upwards

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00:30:28,399 --> 00:30:38,000
of $100,000 and that's for our
ultrasound and MRI units uh in the X-ray

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00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:44,320
department. Couple of other things there
and then an ECT is electrocombulsive

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00:30:40,799 --> 00:30:49,600
therapy. So that's used uh in the O for
people with certain types of mental

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00:30:46,799 --> 00:30:52,840
illness.
Next slide.

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And a couple more examples of changes.
Dunroen. There's a few things going on

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00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:08,960
there. Um won't get into it too much.
You a couple of examples there. We also

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00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:14,480
have some uh redundant uh generators
being installed and some the nurse call

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00:31:11,679 --> 00:31:20,320
system uh being redone as well. So, next
slide.

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00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:25,919
Okay, getting into this is Michelle's
area and it uh I'm sure it's of uh great

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00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:30,159
interest uh to folks in the room. So,
this is getting into our mental health

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00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:35,840
and addiction stuff. So, just just a
quick brief highle overview. So, we have

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00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:40,960
our assertive community treatment team
um where we have folks out in the

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00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:46,320
streets uh meeting up with people with
with known illness um uh you know being

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00:31:44,399 --> 00:31:51,760
proactive about things. We have our
mobile crisis intervention team. That's

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00:31:48,799 --> 00:31:57,360
where we have our CMP and a nurse. Uh
that's been a very successful program

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00:31:54,159 --> 00:32:01,679
over quite a number of years. Um and
then mobile support team. This is in

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00:31:59,679 --> 00:32:06,320
partnership with First Nations Health
Authority and they provide outreach

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00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:12,600
treatment in our local indigenous
communities.

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00:32:09,279 --> 00:32:12,600
Next slide.

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00:32:13,039 --> 00:32:21,679
And then so some of the other things. So
overdose prevention services or ops,

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00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:29,679
this is what was formerly at Elliot
Street. Um, this is now being performed

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00:32:26,159 --> 00:32:35,120
uh on a as a mobile treatment. So, we
have the team going out in a van with

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00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:40,240
supplies and meeting people where
they're at out and about in the

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00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:45,519
community. Um, or people, patients,
clients can phone a number and uh have

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00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:51,360
the the team come to their place
wherever that may be. So right now it's

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00:32:48,159 --> 00:32:57,200
uh it's being managed uh you know on an
outreach basis. Opioid agonist therapy

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00:32:54,240 --> 00:33:00,960
is what folks think when they or yeah
what you think when you hear methadone

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00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:07,840
program. So there's other treatments
other than methadone but um just think

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00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:14,559
of it like that. Uh so that is currently
happening at the the uh the building I

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00:33:11,279 --> 00:33:19,760
think it's MLAN Street uh by Dr. C's
office there. Um, so that's when people

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00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:24,960
come in, see a uh a specialist
prescriber and get monitored with those

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00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:31,039
medications. We also have our Grace
Young activity center at that building

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00:33:27,679 --> 00:33:36,960
and currently we have around 58 people
belonging to that program and we have

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00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:44,279
psychosocial rehab, vocational rehab and
uh community uh engagement in that

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00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,279
program. Next slide.

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00:33:44,399 --> 00:33:52,559
quick. Um I won't because of time I'm
not going to get into this but uh due to

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00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:56,480
a number of recruitment incentives uh
you know it's really helped people in

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00:33:54,559 --> 00:34:01,840
Northern are us in Northern Health
attract and and retain staff. So we're

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00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:09,440
hoping that kind of stuff uh continues
on into the future. Next slide.

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00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:13,520
I will say that us in Northern Health,
Quinnell included, we're at a

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00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:18,159
disadvantage compared to people in the
southern areas of the province because

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00:34:15,599 --> 00:34:24,879
we we struggle to attract people in
general, no matter what industry you're

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00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:28,879
in. Um, and so, yeah, I'm I'm just
really hopeful that some of these

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00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:33,040
recruitment incentives will continue and
we won't know more from the ministry

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00:34:30,879 --> 00:34:38,399
until the fall.
Uh you can see here uh numbers of new

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00:34:35,839 --> 00:34:42,399
grads we've hired across Northern Health
and what these numbers are not

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00:34:40,639 --> 00:34:49,040
completely accurate because they're a
couple months old. So you can assume 15

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00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:55,520
to 20 new grads hired this year. Uh so
that's work in progress all the time.

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00:34:52,000 --> 00:35:00,960
Quinnel has has had for five years one
of the lower vacancy rates in terms of

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00:34:58,079 --> 00:35:05,359
all positions in Northern Health. And I
think that's due to a number of reasons.

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00:35:03,119 --> 00:35:12,000
And it's still quite uh quite nice
compared to to other communities. Um and

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00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:16,320
26 applicants to date have received the
the recruitment incentives that that are

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00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:21,839
being rolled out. Next slide, please,
Michelle.

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00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:26,800
Uh we're this is big. So we're doing
this around Northern Health. And so

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00:35:23,839 --> 00:35:31,280
we're paying people basically to attend
school. We're paying for the education

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00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:35,040
and giving them a stipen to live on
while they take this training. And

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00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:40,560
there's six different things we're doing
right now. The healthcare assistant

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00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:46,000
program has absolutely saved our bacon
in terms of enabling us to staff

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00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:50,880
long-term care. So, that has been
unbelievably successful. We are now

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00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:56,000
doing practical nursing, the same thing.
We're about to start our second cohort

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00:35:53,440 --> 00:36:00,400
of of students through that program. And
then you can see some other uh

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00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:06,000
professions here. Rehab assistants,
pharmacy techs, mental health support,

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00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:11,680
and x-ray and lab technologists.
Next slide.

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00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:16,480
Couple of uh more examples of equipment.
And I had to include that that middle

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00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:21,280
one, the transport bike bicycle. So
that's at Dunroven. I thought that was

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00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:27,280
really cool. Never seen that before. But
uh so that'll be at Dunroven if it isn't

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00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:31,200
already. and it gets people and a bit a
chance to get outside in some fresh air

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00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:35,839
and go for a go for a little burn
through the neighborhood. The pickline

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00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:40,960
and equipment insertion that's big for
Cornell. Prior to just recently, we had

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00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:46,240
to send all patients to Prince George to
get that inserted and now we can do it

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00:36:43,599 --> 00:36:52,000
in in Cornell. So, won't get into
details. Happy to answer them if there's

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00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:57,839
any questions. Next slide.
And then finishing up. So we're we're

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00:36:55,119 --> 00:37:03,760
always in contact with post-secary
institutions and high schools. So this

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00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:08,400
is some pictures from Coraloo um where
the staff the team local team took over

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00:37:06,079 --> 00:37:12,640
some equipment and did some scenarios
with the uh with the high school

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00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:17,920
students. So trying to encourage folks
to go into health care and uh hopefully

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00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:22,240
were successful. But they do this every
year.

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00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:28,480
So sorry to whip through that so
quickly. Um but uh there was a lot to

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00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:34,240
get through and I'm I I think people
will be more excited or interested in

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00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:38,640
asking questions. So over to uh to the
room.

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00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:43,359
» Okay. Thank you um Daryl and Michelle
for that. Um yes, I'm going to open up

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00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:48,640
the floor to questions. So I'll start
over on this side. Anyone?

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00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:52,560
Go ahead. Councelor Vic.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Hey, Daryl. How

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00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:55,760
you doing?
Nice to see you.

377
00:37:54,240 --> 00:38:01,280
» I just got a couple of questions, Darl,
and I and I understand if it's too early

378
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:05,359
to give some answers on a couple of my
questions, but I'm just curious and I

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00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:09,760
maybe the community is. Um, as you know,
we have the major development occurring

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00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:16,000
at Caribou Field from Providence Living.
It's going to add a lot of uh capacity

381
00:38:12,079 --> 00:38:21,119
to our system for uh long-term care. How
how do you see that uh interacting with

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00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:24,640
what's available at Dun Roven? What's
Dun Roven's role going to be in the

383
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:29,520
future?
>> So, Dun Roven is not

384
00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:35,200
Yeah. So, I'm glad you brought that up.
I had that on my notes to talk about and

385
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:40,320
I I missed that uh being in a rush, but
So, that project is absolutely going

386
00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:48,640
ahead as you know. Um it's expected to
be open in 2030. So, construction

387
00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:54,880
supposed to start in the new year. Um,
Dun Roven, the new part of Dun Roven

388
00:38:51,119 --> 00:39:00,960
will remain as is. Uh, so that new
expansion that came about in 2008, that

389
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:07,200
will carry on as a long-term care home.
The old part of Dun Roven,

390
00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:12,880
the the decision hasn't been made yet as
to what that's going to be. And just for

391
00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:17,280
folks awareness,
the reason that they're building this

392
00:39:14,720 --> 00:39:22,320
new one is a because we definitely need
more beds. There is absolutely no doubt

393
00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:32,640
about it. And that facility will bring
200 net new beds um to Cornell. Uh 144

394
00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:37,359
are uh are long-term care and 144 are
assisted living. And once you factor out

395
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:45,440
the old part of Dunroin that will close,
we'll end up with 200 net new beds. Um,

396
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:51,520
so Mitch, that uh the decision has not
been made. I have absolutely nothing to

397
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:57,920
unfortunately say about that. It is a
number of years out. The reason it's uh

398
00:39:54,960 --> 00:40:02,480
going to stop being used as a as a care
facility is because when we get into the

399
00:40:00,079 --> 00:40:09,200
I mean that's a 50 something year old
building and it becomes very very

400
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:16,240
difficult and very very expensive to to
keep running at the the standards uh we

401
00:40:12,240 --> 00:40:21,599
need it to run at. Um, and it's, you
know, it doesn't it doesn't meet a lot

402
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:26,400
of needs, uh, in terms of what
expectations are nowadays for long-term

403
00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:31,839
care. I mean, it's better than nothing,
but uh, I'm just quite thankful we're

404
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:34,160
getting this new build. I We need it so
bad.

405
00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:37,119
» Thank you, Darl. I really appreciate
that. And then the

406
00:40:35,599 --> 00:40:43,280
» I will say, Mitch,
>> sorry. I I will say that when I do hear

407
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:47,119
about what the plans are for that part
of the field facility, I I will

408
00:40:45,599 --> 00:40:51,440
absolutely
let the city know. Um yeah, but nothing

409
00:40:50,560 --> 00:40:55,200
yet.
>> Perfect. That's great. Thanks for that.

410
00:40:53,359 --> 00:41:01,520
And then the second question, if you'll
permit me, Mr. Mayor, I I understand uh

411
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:05,839
we've got uh a renewal of the clean team
coordinator position, which is not I

412
00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:09,920
know that's a slightly different
relationship we have with you on what

413
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:13,599
the role of that coordinator is, and we
certainly appreciate that. I'm wondering

414
00:41:11,599 --> 00:41:18,000
if you could speak to long-term
sustainability of that coordinator

415
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:23,680
position.
>> Yeah, that's uh that's come up a number

416
00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:29,920
of times uh for a few reasons. one
because I from what I hear of that

417
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:36,480
position, it's very much very very much
appreciated by the community of Cornell

418
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:41,280
for a number of reasons. Um that of
course uh is ministry funding that we

419
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:46,560
contract out with the with the city and
we Michelle may have the most upto-date

420
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:51,680
information on this as it falls a little
bit more to to her. All I know is that

421
00:41:50,079 --> 00:41:59,200
2627
was a go. I have not heard that uh there

422
00:41:55,680 --> 00:42:03,920
will be funding pulled beyond that and I
will turn it over to Michelle if you

423
00:42:01,119 --> 00:42:07,280
have anything else to add.
Thanks. This is a direct funding

424
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:12,400
initiative through the Ministry of
Health. Um and so it is year to year at

425
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:16,400
this time but we've been advocating for
the funding to be sustained and

426
00:42:14,319 --> 00:42:20,480
specifically um for this particular
contract because we've seen such great

427
00:42:18,079 --> 00:42:24,560
success. So, it is covered for this year
and we are working towards stabilizing

428
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:28,160
and ongoing funding.
>> Thanks for your help with that. Really

429
00:42:25,839 --> 00:42:32,400
appreciate it.
>> Okay. Thank you. Anyone else at this

430
00:42:30,319 --> 00:42:39,359
point? Go ahead, Councelor Rudenberg.
>> Thank you. And good evening you guys.

431
00:42:35,280 --> 00:42:43,920
Appreciate the uh update. Um I'm just
going to tag off of um the counselor

432
00:42:42,079 --> 00:42:48,400
here who just spoke about the clean team
funding. So, thank you for that. We know

433
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:51,920
that you know this is a good program in
Cornell and we appreciate how you can

434
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:57,520
advocate for us outside of the
advocating that we do as a council. So,

435
00:42:53,920 --> 00:43:01,680
thank you very much for that. Um, so you
talked a little bit about the incentive

436
00:42:59,839 --> 00:43:06,480
that you provide to applicants in
Quinnell around the rural and remote

437
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:13,119
recruitment incentive. Is that the um
30,000 that you're talking about?

438
00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:18,240
Okay. So that's um you know that's uh
you asked them to stay for 24 months. Uh

439
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:24,720
you've said you've had 26 new applicants
that um have been uh able to get the

440
00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:31,200
incentive dollars. Have we managed to
keep them after the 24 months or is this

441
00:43:27,599 --> 00:43:36,000
they are still in that 24-month period?
>> Yeah. So, I mean that's a good question

442
00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:41,760
and this if I had more time I wanted to
get into this a little bit but we are

443
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:46,319
seeing and I might be kind of long-
winded with this but across the board

444
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:52,480
whether it's physicians, nurses,
technologists, whatever the workforce

445
00:43:49,359 --> 00:43:59,200
has changed what the workforce wants in
their jobs and how they practice has

446
00:43:54,960 --> 00:44:05,200
changed. Um almost all of our physicians
are now international physicians. Um and

447
00:44:02,880 --> 00:44:10,319
same with nursing by the way we are
recruiting an awful lot of international

448
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:17,520
nurses right now particularly via the
US. So to answer your question are we

449
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:24,960
retaining folks? I can unequivocally say
yes we are um both physicians and

450
00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:32,000
nursing and other staff. However, it is
absolutely not 100% either. Uh, off the

451
00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:37,440
top of my head, I I I can't give you a
figure, but that's why it's so important

452
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:43,839
and the local team knows this. It is so
important to make the community and the

453
00:44:41,599 --> 00:44:49,280
work with the with the city recruiter
for example the welcoming the the the

454
00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:55,280
wraparound welcome to the community the
help the the attention to their spouses

455
00:44:52,400 --> 00:45:02,319
partners children all of the make them
welcome all of that helps no matter what

456
00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:07,920
and yes we do keep a lot um a little bit
less so with physicians in general but

457
00:45:05,200 --> 00:45:12,640
certainly staff best.
>> Well, thank you. That's appreciative.

458
00:45:10,240 --> 00:45:17,119
It's better than zero, right? And I
think that anytime we can keep them here

459
00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:21,040
longer than their two years, um, Quinnel
starts to grow on you and they want to

460
00:45:18,400 --> 00:45:24,800
stay here. So, um, I appreciate the fact
that you actually offered them

461
00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:29,200
incentives because I know years ago when
this healthc care crisis was starting, I

462
00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:33,280
can remember Fort St. John offering an
incredible amount of money to keep

463
00:45:31,359 --> 00:45:36,720
physicians in their communities for up
to two years. and then those guys took

464
00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:41,440
their 100,000 or whatever it was because
it was the city and they just left. So,

465
00:45:39,839 --> 00:45:44,319
it's good to hear that we're managing to
keep some of them. So, thanks a lot,

466
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:47,359
Darl.
>> Okay. Thank you, councelor Roenberg.

467
00:45:46,000 --> 00:45:50,800
Councelor Runge.
>> Yeah, thanks Darl and Michelle for the

468
00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:55,119
presentation. It's uh it's actually
really nice and positive for in a lot of

469
00:45:53,040 --> 00:46:01,359
things. uh with regards to I'm just
tagging on to our the last counselor's

470
00:45:57,599 --> 00:46:05,200
uh question here. Did do you ever hear
about any additional supports that our

471
00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:09,280
community
uh you know engagement team could do?

472
00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:13,040
Like I mean that's what we as a council
you know if there's something else that

473
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:16,880
we're missing. I'd love that you share
that with our staff so that we it comes

474
00:46:14,720 --> 00:46:20,640
out so we can find a way to keep you
know keep that support going.

475
00:46:20,079 --> 00:46:25,839
So that's
>> yeah that

476
00:46:23,119 --> 00:46:32,160
thank you for the question and I I think
that's a great question for the the

477
00:46:29,520 --> 00:46:39,119
local team including our chief of staff
and I am happy to to set up a meeting

478
00:46:36,079 --> 00:46:44,160
with Karen Keys as administrator and Dr.
Nicole Robbins who have the finger on

479
00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:50,560
the pulse about what is happening in our
hospital because that to answer that

480
00:46:47,440 --> 00:46:53,839
question we have to hear directly from
the folks that are arriving here and

481
00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:59,280
that have been here for a little while
to see if we're missing anything or we

482
00:46:56,079 --> 00:47:05,200
could do something differently. So
I all I've heard to be frank is that

483
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:10,640
position and the the work with the city
has been very very much appreciated and

484
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:17,520
I've heard it myself from physicians in
particular. They feel welcome in

485
00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:24,800
Cornell. Um and I I can't recall to be
honest a a a single concern beyond

486
00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:29,839
housing. Now that brings me to my my
next point is one of the things that

487
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:37,079
comes up repeatedly and it's actually
come up very recently with a physician

488
00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:37,079
is lack of of housing

489
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:45,440
and I know that I'm preaching to the
choir and I've sat on many in a a

490
00:47:43,359 --> 00:47:52,240
meeting with uh with folks in the city
about this issue but uh yeah it's still

491
00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:54,640
it still comes up as a as an issue.
Thank you. And I hope some of these new

492
00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:59,040
buildings that are being built are going
to help out there. Uh my f other

493
00:47:57,200 --> 00:48:05,680
question if I if I can with regards to
the u earn and learn programs uh for for

494
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:09,520
me uh because I was actually very
involved with that school program. Uh

495
00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:12,480
you know it was it came out of actually
our accessibility committee meeting and

496
00:48:11,119 --> 00:48:19,280
then from there it went to the school
this year. I sometimes feel that we are

497
00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:24,720
missing the link in between the city,
the school board and the high school to

498
00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:29,920
let the students know that these things
are available going forward, you know,

499
00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:34,000
so that our grade 11 and 12 students can
actually start planning for that. So,

500
00:48:32,079 --> 00:48:37,440
you know, I
I'm no longer in that role in career

501
00:48:35,680 --> 00:48:42,480
programs, uh, but, you know, Cheryl
McFarland has taken over that role for

502
00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:45,119
me at at the school district. And I I
really think it's really extremely

503
00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:48,880
important. And if there's anything else
that I can do to help with that, just

504
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:53,040
let me know and I'll push some buttons
at the school board or or wherever

505
00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:58,079
because for me that's the step that I
feel we're kind of missing for our local

506
00:48:55,680 --> 00:49:03,599
students so that they know that there's
a a path for them into what a lot of

507
00:49:01,119 --> 00:49:13,359
kids do like to do. And that was just I
guess a kind of a statement. Thank you.

508
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:18,079
» Uh excellent excellent point. Um it it
I I need to ask Karen Keys if if when

509
00:49:16,240 --> 00:49:22,559
they are going to the schools if they
are exploring these earn and learn

510
00:49:20,319 --> 00:49:28,079
programs with students. I I'm not sure
if they are. So I will absolutely take

511
00:49:25,040 --> 00:49:33,359
that away and uh see what we're doing.
But I completely agree with you if we

512
00:49:30,079 --> 00:49:38,640
aren't doing that is it is a real missed
opportunity. So I'll get on that and

513
00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:42,720
find out. And just sorry just one quick
add- on to that just because they work

514
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:46,400
on a semester program uh when they had
this we had this in December last year

515
00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:50,160
beginning of December so we hit the
first semester students it was fabulous

516
00:49:48,559 --> 00:49:53,200
uh but we missed the second semester
students that you know some of the

517
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:56,000
students in the science classes so just
that you keep that in the back of your

518
00:49:54,400 --> 00:49:59,760
head that there's also there's two
semesters in the high school there so if

519
00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:04,319
we can hit them twice I think that's
going to be really beneficial thank you

520
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:09,280
» okay thank you councelor Range I'm now
going to go to councelor McKelie

521
00:50:07,040 --> 00:50:14,400
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Hi, Darl and
Michelle. Thank you for this incredible

522
00:50:12,559 --> 00:50:17,280
presentation. It's always nice to get
this one. I know I certainly look

523
00:50:15,839 --> 00:50:21,599
forward to it, and I'm sure the public
does, too. It's nice to see that we're

524
00:50:19,760 --> 00:50:28,079
getting a lot of new equipment in the
hospital. That's positive. Um, I want to

525
00:50:24,559 --> 00:50:35,680
draw your attention to the UPCC,
the urgent primary care graph that goes

526
00:50:32,559 --> 00:50:46,480
from December of 25 to January. and it
jumped from uh UPCC visits from 700 up

527
00:50:42,880 --> 00:50:52,319
to,00 in January. What do you attribute
that to? That is a is quite a jump. I'm

528
00:50:49,119 --> 00:50:58,800
just wondering if you you can uh tell us
why you there's such a an increase in

529
00:50:55,920 --> 00:51:01,839
visits.
>> Oh, I see which one. I see which one

530
00:51:01,119 --> 00:51:07,760
you're looking.
>> Yeah. Thank you.

531
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:12,800
What happened uh around that time last
year was we recruited uh a couple of

532
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:17,359
international medical graduates. So
these are foreign trained physicians

533
00:51:15,119 --> 00:51:22,480
that have their licenses that come to
Canada. Um and we they have to be

534
00:51:20,079 --> 00:51:28,800
supervised for a couple of years uh
before they get full Canadian lensure.

535
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:34,240
Um so we managed to recruit two uh to
Quinnell, not full-time but but a good

536
00:51:32,079 --> 00:51:37,520
chunk of the time. So the visits just
skyrocketed.

537
00:51:35,760 --> 00:51:43,040
Um
yeah, so and that's still in effect. One

538
00:51:40,400 --> 00:51:47,920
of them is on a leave right now. I I
can't remember uh what type of leave,

539
00:51:45,200 --> 00:51:52,720
but one of them is on a leave. Um but we
have backfilled some of that with that

540
00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:56,440
TEDoc that I talked about, that virtual
physician service.

541
00:51:57,280 --> 00:52:02,880
» Thank you very much and keep up the
great work.

542
00:52:00,640 --> 00:52:08,079
» Okay. Thank you, Councelor McKelby. Any
go ahead, councelor Goule.

543
00:52:06,319 --> 00:52:12,960
» Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thanks, Darl and
Michelle. Uh, great information in here.

544
00:52:10,640 --> 00:52:17,280
Just want to tag on to the last one with
the with the Coraloo Senior Secondary. I

545
00:52:15,599 --> 00:52:21,359
just want to make mention of the Rotary
and what they've done with Adventures in

546
00:52:18,880 --> 00:52:27,040
Healthcare and taking the kids to the
CNC for some um almost if you could say

547
00:52:24,240 --> 00:52:31,119
book work and then a tour of the actual
hospital and the facilities and ER and

548
00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:36,000
what's happening that life experience.
Um listening to some of the u the the

549
00:52:33,599 --> 00:52:39,200
kids that took the program um they were
quite excited. It's not just about

550
00:52:37,520 --> 00:52:42,559
nursing and doctoring. There's other
things. There's lab technicians. There's

551
00:52:40,800 --> 00:52:46,240
all these other pieces that they could
get interested into. So, it's a

552
00:52:44,400 --> 00:52:49,520
wonderful program and we hope to see
that going as as we continue and a great

553
00:52:48,079 --> 00:52:54,160
job for just want to shout out to the
Rotary Club of Point. My other um

554
00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:56,960
comment and it was mentioned already
housing and I was going to ask that when

555
00:52:55,760 --> 00:53:01,040
I had that on my list but you had
already mentioned one of the one of the

556
00:52:58,720 --> 00:53:05,359
major was you know recruitment and
retention the housing piece. So glad

557
00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:08,400
that that's on the radar and I think we
can work through different things but I

558
00:53:07,040 --> 00:53:12,319
just wanted to make a comment about the
the Rotary exchange and adventures in

559
00:53:10,720 --> 00:53:15,599
healthcare. So thanks.
>> Okay. Thank you, Councelor Goule. I've

560
00:53:14,240 --> 00:53:21,119
got a couple I don't really have any
questions, but but a couple of comments

561
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:29,520
and and that is that as the mayor, I'm
um constantly inundate inundated with um

562
00:53:24,960 --> 00:53:35,920
more um bouques than beefs about health
care generally in Quinnell. And I and I

563
00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:41,119
a lot of it goes to uh GR Baker and and
Dun Roven and and basically the whole

564
00:53:38,960 --> 00:53:46,000
healthc care picture generally. So
again, keep up the good work and when we

565
00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:51,599
turn on the news and see what what other
communities are going through, uh we are

566
00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:58,720
very thankful that um that we've got um
you know basically zero um touch wood um

567
00:53:56,559 --> 00:54:05,520
er closures. So so keep up the good
work. Um also I was going to put in a a

568
00:54:03,520 --> 00:54:10,720
comment about the good news on the clean
team, but that's already being covered

569
00:54:07,359 --> 00:54:17,200
off. I just want to mention that um my
daughter is is a recent graduate of the

570
00:54:14,720 --> 00:54:22,800
um the healthc care assistant program.
She moved over from education to to

571
00:54:19,680 --> 00:54:27,280
healthc care and she absolutely loves
her new job. So so thank you for that.

572
00:54:25,359 --> 00:54:33,359
And finally, I've got a little story for
you, and that is um when I go to see my

573
00:54:30,960 --> 00:54:39,040
family doctor occasionally, uh he likes
to hear my stories about basically um

574
00:54:36,319 --> 00:54:42,480
snowmmoiling and fishing. And I said to
him one day, I says, "Hey, doc, have you

575
00:54:40,720 --> 00:54:45,839
ever been fishing here in the caribou?"
And he says, "No." And I says, "Well,

576
00:54:44,160 --> 00:54:51,280
how would you like to go?" And he says,
"Yeah, I'd love that." So, uh, Pat and I

577
00:54:48,480 --> 00:54:57,200
were busy setting up a fishing trip out
to Tensicut Lake for he and his, um,

578
00:54:54,240 --> 00:55:03,280
wife and and three kids and get
everything loaded up and ready to go and

579
00:54:59,599 --> 00:55:07,680
got the res the, um, the the reservation
at the resort because we we didn't want

580
00:55:05,599 --> 00:55:12,480
to take a chance. We were at Tensicut
Lake and didn't want to take a chance

581
00:55:09,599 --> 00:55:17,680
with the forestry campsite and all ready
to go. And then at the last minute, I

582
00:55:14,319 --> 00:55:21,760
get the phone call. Oh, I'm sorry. I got
called in to work. So, he's on the

583
00:55:19,599 --> 00:55:27,040
waiting list for uh for another fishing
trip. So, um I understand the problems

584
00:55:24,880 --> 00:55:32,559
and and um we're going to get that
fishing trip um looked after as soon as

585
00:55:29,599 --> 00:55:36,559
possible. So, any more questions or
comments?

586
00:55:34,160 --> 00:55:40,880
Okay, seeing none, I thank you Darl and
Michelle for your presentation and we'll

587
00:55:38,800 --> 00:55:45,520
just give you a minute to to clear the
technology and and get the new tech.

588
00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:49,280
Well, we've got them in in in true true
flesh and blood reality here. So

589
00:55:47,599 --> 00:55:55,880
hopefully we don't have to rely on
technology. So thank you again.

590
00:55:52,640 --> 00:55:55,880
» Thank you.

591
00:56:25,599 --> 00:56:31,920
Okay. Are we ready to go?
>> Yes, sir.

592
00:56:28,319 --> 00:56:35,839
» We are. We have Amy Faker, um, CEO of
the Caribou Chilcoten Coast. I remember

593
00:56:34,319 --> 00:56:39,680
when it was the Caribou Tourism
Association. And I'm really dating

594
00:56:37,280 --> 00:56:45,440
myself when I say that. So the triple
CTA and Amy, if you could uh use your

595
00:56:42,799 --> 00:56:50,960
loud voice because uh some of us are a
little hearing impaired. So not me, but

596
00:56:48,559 --> 00:56:53,119
» not you. Not me. I can do that. I've
been told I have a mom voice and can

597
00:56:52,720 --> 00:56:56,960
project.
>> So the floor is yours, Amy.

598
00:56:55,119 --> 00:57:01,359
» Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you
everyone for having me. I just want to

599
00:56:59,200 --> 00:57:05,920
acknowledge um two quick things before I
get started today. our team member Patty

600
00:57:03,839 --> 00:57:11,119
Jiardi, who's normally with you, is in
the gallery with me today. Um, and a

601
00:57:08,319 --> 00:57:15,359
shout out to Amy and her team for
helping put together numbers that matter

602
00:57:13,440 --> 00:57:18,960
and leading the other economic
development officers across the Caribou

603
00:57:17,119 --> 00:57:22,799
Regional District. So, thank you very
much.

604
00:57:20,480 --> 00:57:27,920
So, in the next 12 minutes, I have a
script to stay on topic because I too

605
00:57:25,359 --> 00:57:32,559
talk often and long. I'm going to walk
through some of the things that the

606
00:57:29,440 --> 00:57:37,280
municipal regional district tax program
otherwise known as MRDT has delivered

607
00:57:35,280 --> 00:57:41,760
for tourism across the Caribage Cotton
Coast region. So, no picture asked for

608
00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:46,880
you today and not your regular marketing
update meeting, but a report on the

609
00:57:43,920 --> 00:57:52,079
overall MRDT results across the region
since inception.

610
00:57:49,359 --> 00:57:57,040
So, let's start where we began. A decade
ago, destination BC had pulled back all

611
00:57:55,040 --> 00:58:02,000
its marketing programs and funding
support for your from your rural

612
00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:07,119
communities and tourism operators. Our
regional communities had limited budgets

613
00:58:04,240 --> 00:58:12,079
to replace these funds and most were not
significantly investing in tourism

614
00:58:09,040 --> 00:58:17,119
marketing on its own. Tourism operator
budgets were stretched thin. The Tourism

615
00:58:14,640 --> 00:58:22,720
Accommodation Assessment Relief Act was
outdated and underresourcing tourism

616
00:58:19,599 --> 00:58:26,880
operators. BC fairies had even cancelled
the Bellakula to Port Hardy route,

617
00:58:24,799 --> 00:58:32,079
cutting off a key access point for
travelers to the region. And the result

618
00:58:29,200 --> 00:58:36,720
was predictable. It was serious. This
region was losing tourism businesses. We

619
00:58:34,720 --> 00:58:40,799
were losing market share to the rest of
the province. And there were no

620
00:58:38,559 --> 00:58:45,760
marketing programs left to help our
operators recover.

621
00:58:43,280 --> 00:58:50,400
Here's what that looked like in numbers
from Destination BC's own regional

622
00:58:48,160 --> 00:58:56,559
profile for the Caribou Chukoten Coast.
In January of 2015,

623
00:58:53,119 --> 00:59:02,720
the region held 1% of BC's population,
but less than 1% of the province's

624
00:58:59,520 --> 00:59:10,319
tourism revenue. Room revenue across the
entire region sat at $21.2 million. We

625
00:59:06,960 --> 00:59:15,760
were pulling 3% of BC's visitors with 2%
of overnight stays, but less than 1% was

626
00:59:13,920 --> 00:59:22,520
staying in business's pockets as
revenue. The average daily room rate

627
00:59:18,400 --> 00:59:22,520
then was just $12469.

628
00:59:23,520 --> 00:59:31,520
One of the strong regional goals we
heard across businesses was that we

629
00:59:28,480 --> 00:59:37,040
needed to generate at least 5% annual
growth and take back 1% of the

630
00:59:34,480 --> 00:59:42,160
province's tourism revenue share to help
them be viable. This became a

631
00:59:39,520 --> 00:59:47,280
foundational goal in the first MRDT
collection plan.

632
00:59:45,280 --> 00:59:53,280
Getting there took years of persistence
and was not a single decision as many of

633
00:59:49,680 --> 00:59:57,920
you in the room know. In 2015, tourism
operators across the region asked

634
00:59:55,040 --> 01:00:04,240
Caribou Chukoten Coast for a solution.
Research and industry input was

635
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:09,680
undertaken. In 2016, our board took to
ask local governments if they would be

636
01:00:06,720 --> 01:00:14,079
willing to take on MRDT. Most of them
said no, but businesses continued to

637
01:00:12,000 --> 01:00:20,960
push the organization.
By 2017, the first regional collection

638
01:00:17,359 --> 01:00:27,040
plan was in place. And in May of 2018,
MRDT was launched across the majority of

639
01:00:23,440 --> 01:00:33,920
the region with 141 businesses remitting
in that first year. In 2019, we launched

640
01:00:31,520 --> 01:00:40,960
the land without limits consumer website
to give the region a real marketing home

641
01:00:36,480 --> 01:00:47,599
again. And in May 2023 on our first MRDT
renewal, it expanded to cover the entire

642
01:00:43,680 --> 01:00:53,200
Caribbean coast with 166 remitting
businesses.

643
01:00:50,079 --> 01:00:59,119
With that funding finally in place in
2017, here is what was set out for us to

644
01:00:56,720 --> 01:01:04,720
do in that first plan and has been
accomplished. We used destination BC's

645
01:01:02,000 --> 01:01:10,400
open pool funding to extend reach into
existing markets. Invested in key travel

646
01:01:07,920 --> 01:01:14,960
corridors like the gold rush trail.
Built regional branded marketing

647
01:01:12,400 --> 01:01:20,880
initiatives that were aimed squarely at
those goals of growing room occupancy

648
01:01:17,680 --> 01:01:26,000
and rate across the region. We ran
targeted campaigns. We advocated for

649
01:01:23,200 --> 01:01:31,680
better transportation across access,
including road, rail, air, and that darn

650
01:01:28,960 --> 01:01:36,319
ferry. We grew funding for destination
development, secured marketing staff for

651
01:01:34,240 --> 01:01:42,160
the region to execute the plans, and
kept the businesses engaged in shaping

652
01:01:38,559 --> 01:01:46,799
those plans every step of the way. Most
recently, we introduced responsible

653
01:01:44,319 --> 01:01:51,359
travel campaigns to protect what makes
the region and our communities worth

654
01:01:49,200 --> 01:01:56,000
visiting.
We've also started work that is still

655
01:01:53,520 --> 01:02:00,240
building momentum today from that plan,
including investing in third-party media

656
01:01:58,400 --> 01:02:04,960
rights on behalf of operators and
communities, and putting real research

657
01:02:02,880 --> 01:02:09,520
and performance monitoring behind
decisions instead of marketing

658
01:02:06,799 --> 01:02:14,240
guesswork. We support new tourism
products and experiences, are investing

659
01:02:12,079 --> 01:02:19,520
in strengthening industry knowledge and
business skills, and are tightening how

660
01:02:16,640 --> 01:02:23,680
we measure the return on every marketing
dollar.

661
01:02:20,960 --> 01:02:28,400
The team is reinforcing the identity of
the region as an outdoor recreation

662
01:02:26,079 --> 01:02:33,760
destination based on business's
direction, exploring new co-op and

663
01:02:31,119 --> 01:02:38,640
corporate partnerships, working directly
with the region's indigenous tourism

664
01:02:35,920 --> 01:02:45,040
operators, and growing programs in
sustainability, accessibility, and

665
01:02:41,440 --> 01:02:50,160
overnight stays across the board. But
our work from that first plan is still

666
01:02:47,200 --> 01:02:54,720
not done. We need more training for
frontline and visitor center staff so

667
01:02:52,559 --> 01:03:00,240
that every visitor to the region gets a
warm welcome and a quality experience

668
01:02:57,280 --> 01:03:05,520
start to fish finish. We need a real
signage strategy for our offhighway

669
01:03:02,720 --> 01:03:10,960
routes and remote destinations. And
beyond that, we're actively asking

670
01:03:07,680 --> 01:03:15,680
operators what are the new opportunities
in front of us today in the shifting

671
01:03:13,200 --> 01:03:20,240
landscape.
So is it actually working? Let's look at

672
01:03:18,240 --> 01:03:24,480
the numbers. This is the heart of what
we put together to come and share with

673
01:03:22,079 --> 01:03:29,839
you today. Starting with business
success in 2018,

674
01:03:27,680 --> 01:03:36,720
141 accommodation properties were
remitting MRDT.

675
01:03:31,839 --> 01:03:44,400
By 2022, that had grown to 166. And in
2025, it's 194 properties. 53 more

676
01:03:41,599 --> 01:03:50,880
businesses eligible and remitting in 7
years. Now to be fair, we can't fully

677
01:03:47,200 --> 01:03:55,599
separate new businesses growing the new
businesses joining the program from

678
01:03:52,799 --> 01:04:02,799
natural growth because the increase in
2024 included that inclusion of Quinnel

679
01:03:59,839 --> 01:04:07,599
and Wells into the new collection. But
the trend underneath it is real and

680
01:04:04,799 --> 01:04:12,240
positive. Despite business transitions
across the region, we can say we've

681
01:04:10,079 --> 01:04:17,200
reversed the trend of losing tourism
businesses despite CO and other

682
01:04:14,640 --> 01:04:21,839
emergency impacts.
Referrals and leads to tourism

683
01:04:18,960 --> 01:04:28,799
businesses have grown even faster. In
our first year from 2017 to 18, the

684
01:04:25,440 --> 01:04:37,200
organization generated 9,678
referrals to business. This past year

685
01:04:31,680 --> 01:04:43,039
from 2025 to 26 that number was 54,685
and was up 12% from the year previous.

686
01:04:40,480 --> 01:04:47,200
These are real qualified business leads
being driven by marketing and handed

687
01:04:45,200 --> 01:04:52,079
directly to businesses in the region
every year.

688
01:04:49,359 --> 01:04:57,440
Now to room revenue. From where our core
target at the beginning was 5% annual

689
01:04:54,960 --> 01:05:07,440
growth in the first five years of
collection from 18 to 22 room revenue

690
01:05:00,799 --> 01:05:12,559
grew from $21.2 million to nearly 35 65%
growth more than $9 million ahead of our

691
01:05:10,559 --> 01:05:19,200
target while the rest of British
Columbia grew at only 36% in the same

692
01:05:15,680 --> 01:05:27,200
time period. In our current MRDT term,
between 2023 and 2025, we've added

693
01:05:22,640 --> 01:05:32,160
another 20% growth from 44.6 million to
53.7 million.

694
01:05:30,000 --> 01:05:36,240
The growth is beginning to moderate and
businesses are starting to tell the team

695
01:05:34,240 --> 01:05:41,039
that they are fully booked at certain
times of year. And this is exactly the

696
01:05:38,559 --> 01:05:45,920
kind of problem that we want to have.
This conversation will be an important

697
01:05:43,359 --> 01:05:51,680
one with operators when we begin to set
new targets in the next 5-year plan. And

698
01:05:49,440 --> 01:05:58,160
on to that provincial share. The
original goal was to take back 1% of

699
01:05:54,400 --> 01:06:06,559
BC's tourism revenue. In 2018, the
region held 0.75%

700
01:06:01,359 --> 01:06:12,480
and in 2025 we'd earned back to 1.08%.
43% growth or roughly a third of a

701
01:06:09,440 --> 01:06:18,400
percentage point of real hard one market
share taken back one campaign at a time.

702
01:06:15,839 --> 01:06:23,680
But we're not done yet. With revenue
growth exceeding expectations and more

703
01:06:20,960 --> 01:06:28,400
than doubling regional room revenue in
eight years of marketing and programs,

704
01:06:26,480 --> 01:06:32,880
our board feels that marketing is
actually making a difference.

705
01:06:31,440 --> 01:06:36,319
So, I'm going to move quickly through
the next few slides because this is

706
01:06:34,640 --> 01:06:41,760
where we're headed, not where we've
been. I mentioned research, and this is

707
01:06:39,200 --> 01:06:47,440
some personabased visitor profiling from
Environics Analytics. It maps out

708
01:06:44,799 --> 01:06:53,039
exactly who the core and opportunity
travel segments are across British

709
01:06:50,400 --> 01:06:58,880
Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario as our
core domestic markets. and the same

710
01:06:55,839 --> 01:07:05,520
profiling for our secondary US markets
in Washington, Oregon, California,

711
01:07:02,000 --> 01:07:10,240
Florida, Texas, and Colorado. This data
is the foundation for the new generation

712
01:07:07,760 --> 01:07:14,559
of targeted marketing for this region.
Reaching the right travelers with the

713
01:07:12,319 --> 01:07:21,119
right message instead of marketing
broadly and hoping it continues to land.

714
01:07:19,039 --> 01:07:26,480
None of this works without the operators
and businesses. 92% of tourism

715
01:07:24,400 --> 01:07:30,880
businesses in this province are small
businesses and they are the backbone of

716
01:07:28,799 --> 01:07:37,440
local economies right across this
region. In 2023, BC's tourism industry

717
01:07:34,720 --> 01:07:46,240
employed 125,700
people, up 7.9% from 2022, and paid out

718
01:07:42,400 --> 01:07:50,559
5.9 billion in wages and salary, up
11.8%

719
01:07:47,760 --> 01:07:55,520
from the year before. These businesses
and employees in our communities are the

720
01:07:53,280 --> 01:08:00,640
backbone of tourism and who we're proud
to continue to serve.

721
01:07:58,880 --> 01:08:05,520
A strong criticism we've heard
repeatedly is that we refuse to share

722
01:08:03,119 --> 01:08:10,640
local details on collection. So that's
all very nice, but what actually gets

723
01:08:08,079 --> 01:08:14,079
collected right here in Quinnel. And
I've shared before our frustrations that

724
01:08:12,720 --> 01:08:18,799
we actually can't share that
information. So here is an MRDT

725
01:08:16,719 --> 01:08:24,159
statement in black and white. This is
what we get monthly in our dispersement

726
01:08:21,520 --> 01:08:28,560
letter from the provincial government.
The net payments on that letter

727
01:08:26,080 --> 01:08:35,920
represent local businesses across the
region that remit MRDT directly via

728
01:08:31,839 --> 01:08:40,719
their PST returns. The OAP line is
online accommodation platform

729
01:08:38,000 --> 01:08:46,319
allocations where a local business may
pay that fee to a platform such as

730
01:08:42,719 --> 01:08:50,799
Airbnb or VRBO and then they remit to
the province on their behalf. The

731
01:08:48,560 --> 01:08:56,080
province then takes their admin fee for
administering the program. They take the

732
01:08:53,359 --> 01:09:00,640
tourism events deduction fee which funds
fairs, festivals and event programs

733
01:08:58,480 --> 01:09:04,799
across the province including in our
communities. And the bottom balance are

734
01:09:03,040 --> 01:09:10,239
the real dollars that are transferred
directly to support the tourism

735
01:09:06,960 --> 01:09:14,480
marketing we've shared. As frustrating
as it may be, and our team shares the

736
01:09:12,480 --> 01:09:19,120
frustration when we're planning, there
is no way for us to carve out of those

737
01:09:16,719 --> 01:09:23,839
numbers what comes from right here in
Quinnel.

738
01:09:21,520 --> 01:09:32,560
So in closing, where does that leave us
today? In 2025, the Caribbean coast held

739
01:09:28,080 --> 01:09:38,719
1% of BC's population and 1 08% of its
tourism revenue. 43% growth in our

740
01:09:35,920 --> 01:09:45,920
provincial share since we began. Room
revenues are up to 53.7 million, more

741
01:09:42,640 --> 01:09:52,000
than double where we started in 2018.
And there are more than 20% more

742
01:09:48,640 --> 01:09:57,440
accommodation businesses remitting MRDT
than when the current term began.

743
01:09:54,719 --> 01:10:01,920
We're overindexed on exactly the right
visitor profiles that we want coming to

744
01:09:59,840 --> 01:10:06,960
the communities and businesses in our
region. We're generating more than

745
01:10:04,480 --> 01:10:12,960
50,000 warm qualified leads to
businesses every year. And last year,

746
01:10:09,679 --> 01:10:19,760
the program also created over $1.7
million in free media advertising at no

747
01:10:17,040 --> 01:10:24,719
additional cost and not out of our MRDT
budget. That's what a decade of

748
01:10:22,159 --> 01:10:29,520
investment, persistence, and partnership
with communities like yourself has

749
01:10:26,719 --> 01:10:33,199
built. Thank you very much for your time
and your continued partnership and

750
01:10:31,280 --> 01:10:37,520
leadership in your community. The
contacts on the screen, but I'd be happy

751
01:10:35,040 --> 01:10:42,480
to answer any questions.
>> Okay, thank you for that. Uh I think

752
01:10:39,440 --> 01:10:46,400
it's bundled up to be good news. So, so
thank you very much for that. I'm going

753
01:10:44,080 --> 01:10:50,080
to open the floor to questions. Uh
councelor Runge.

754
01:10:47,840 --> 01:10:54,719
» Yeah, thanks for the report. And yeah, I
do have questions. So, you you were able

755
01:10:52,239 --> 01:11:01,199
to give us uh that number of pe of
businesses that are submitting uh the

756
01:10:57,120 --> 01:11:06,000
MRDT text from 166 to 192 in 2024 that
included our local area. Do you know how

757
01:11:03,679 --> 01:11:10,000
many are from here?
>> No.

758
01:11:06,800 --> 01:11:15,520
» So, so that number that is given to you
by the province, the 166 to the 192.

759
01:11:13,040 --> 01:11:20,159
» No. Great question. uh we figure out
that number because we know what the per

760
01:11:17,760 --> 01:11:24,960
property submission fee for the admin
fee is. So I showed you that letter and

761
01:11:22,239 --> 01:11:30,719
we see what they take. If you divide it
by their per property submission admin

762
01:11:27,280 --> 01:11:35,120
fee then each month I can see the number
of businesses that remitted and average

763
01:11:32,800 --> 01:11:40,320
it over the year because of privacy and
PST they won't release any business

764
01:11:37,760 --> 01:11:44,480
information. almost fair but you know
it's too bad uh because you know what

765
01:11:42,480 --> 01:11:48,480
for me my my question is actually goes
back to the you know the triple C you

766
01:11:46,640 --> 01:11:53,199
know what are you hearing from our local
operators and once again from a city's

767
01:11:50,880 --> 01:11:58,640
perspective is there something that we
are missing here at the city costless of

768
01:11:56,640 --> 01:12:03,440
course that we can support these
business with businesses with you know

769
01:12:01,040 --> 01:12:07,440
from my past experiences with some of
our hotels and things and asking for

770
01:12:05,920 --> 01:12:11,440
funding during fairs and things like
that a lot of replies were, "Oh, it's

771
01:12:09,840 --> 01:12:16,000
not helping." But, you know, these
numbers actually speak a very different

772
01:12:14,000 --> 01:12:19,280
story. And it's a real positive story.
But I, you know, for me, it's still if

773
01:12:17,600 --> 01:12:22,880
there's something that you're hearing
that you communicate it, not with me,

774
01:12:21,199 --> 01:12:26,880
with staff so that they can come back to
us, right? And we can find a way to

775
01:12:25,199 --> 01:12:31,199
continue to support things. It's, you
know, for me it's really unfortunate

776
01:12:28,320 --> 01:12:36,960
that we can't get better numbers because
we're actually I'm not sure what of that

777
01:12:34,000 --> 01:12:40,800
1% we are that Barkerville is that, you
know, where that support is. So, it

778
01:12:38,239 --> 01:12:47,280
becomes a a feel-good story, but one
that is ultimately just a feel-good

779
01:12:43,280 --> 01:12:51,040
story. Thank you.
>> Okay, Councelor McKelby.

780
01:12:49,520 --> 01:12:56,719
» Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just have a
comment. I just want to thank uh you Amy

781
01:12:53,920 --> 01:13:00,640
and Patty for being here and I this is
really encouraging and thank you for

782
01:12:59,040 --> 01:13:04,560
your hard work. It's all in the numbers
and they're proving that it's working.

783
01:13:02,480 --> 01:13:09,040
Thank you.
>> Okay. Thank you, Councelor McKelby.

784
01:13:06,239 --> 01:13:14,000
Councelor Rudenberg,
>> thanks and good evening you guys. Good

785
01:13:11,120 --> 01:13:18,480
to see you again. Um, so I know you
touched on a couple things like uh

786
01:13:15,679 --> 01:13:23,679
signage strategy, which I totally get
because I we actually traveled over to

787
01:13:21,360 --> 01:13:28,000
uh Velmont last weekend and I know
that's outside of the triple CTA, but

788
01:13:26,320 --> 01:13:31,360
it'd be really nice if the province, you
know, if we could get that that one

789
01:13:29,760 --> 01:13:34,640
style of signage for everybody, so you
knew exactly what you were looking for

790
01:13:32,719 --> 01:13:39,120
when you're looking at signage. Just
saying might be something you can talk

791
01:13:36,159 --> 01:13:42,800
to your colleagues about. Um, I know
this might be outside of the the scope

792
01:13:41,280 --> 01:13:47,199
of what you're doing, what you're
presenting today, but I'm kind of

793
01:13:44,960 --> 01:13:53,040
curious of what your wildfire strategy
is because we know that when people see,

794
01:13:50,000 --> 01:13:58,560
oh my god, the, you know, Colona is on
fire, they avoid the entire area all

795
01:13:55,600 --> 01:14:03,120
summer. So when we talk about our area,
what type of strategy have you in place

796
01:14:00,560 --> 01:14:06,719
that you know encourage people to come
when it's safe and that it's okay to

797
01:14:05,040 --> 01:14:11,679
come because everything's still in place
and we can still offer what you're

798
01:14:09,040 --> 01:14:16,560
looking for as a as a visitor.
>> Yeah, really great question. Um, we've

799
01:14:14,239 --> 01:14:22,800
done a lot of research. We've had a lot
of experience collectively together over

800
01:14:19,040 --> 01:14:28,080
the years. Um so the first step is
because we do so much digital targeted

801
01:14:25,360 --> 01:14:32,880
marketing now our marketing doesn't turn
off collectively like you had to turn

802
01:14:30,159 --> 01:14:37,679
off a program. It turns off an area
that's being impacted and continues to

803
01:14:35,120 --> 01:14:44,080
support the surrounding areas. So we're
better able to manage that flow and

804
01:14:40,719 --> 01:14:50,239
response. The media team um within our
wildfire strategy does a lot of media

805
01:14:46,640 --> 01:14:53,520
monitoring and education about the size
of the region, the size of British

806
01:14:51,920 --> 01:14:57,199
Columbia, the distance between
communities, sort of all of that to your

807
01:14:55,440 --> 01:15:02,480
point of just because there's a fire in
Colona doesn't mean you can't come to

808
01:14:59,600 --> 01:15:06,960
Quinnell or Prince George or Bella. Um
and they have a full-time monitoring

809
01:15:04,320 --> 01:15:12,800
strategy that corrects misinformation in
media. um so that we can

810
01:15:10,800 --> 01:15:16,880
you know retractions don't always change
what people saw but sometimes we can get

811
01:15:15,040 --> 01:15:21,600
a positive story out of that in an
education piece u and then we work very

812
01:15:19,920 --> 01:15:26,880
closely with the emergency management
team and British Columbia on people

813
01:15:24,159 --> 01:15:32,000
movement um ensuring those businesses
that are impacted have access toss and

814
01:15:29,920 --> 01:15:36,320
logistics and opportunities should they
choose to to have a different revenue

815
01:15:34,159 --> 01:15:41,199
stream during the interruption and then
finally the marketing team works on

816
01:15:38,960 --> 01:15:45,440
recovery marketing and messaging. So,
they're just getting ready to deploy new

817
01:15:43,120 --> 01:15:50,239
toolkits. Um, we shared information with
our operators this year about using

818
01:15:47,760 --> 01:15:53,440
social media to showcase real time.
Well, the North Caribou had blue skies

819
01:15:52,000 --> 01:15:58,719
and everybody thought there were smoke
advisories. We're encouraging businesses

820
01:15:55,600 --> 01:16:04,080
to show those daily photos and, you
know, use the power of people to break

821
01:16:01,840 --> 01:16:07,280
the misinformation that's in media. And
I think that's that's one of the

822
01:16:05,760 --> 01:16:12,719
important things is getting, you know,
the the local people who are in the

823
01:16:09,840 --> 01:16:17,600
midst of this. Um I just think there's
probably other opportunities and I can't

824
01:16:15,199 --> 01:16:23,440
tell you them off the top of my head how
the triplect can really reinforce the

825
01:16:20,960 --> 01:16:27,199
fact that you know the caribou and the
you know is doing well. You know it's

826
01:16:25,600 --> 01:16:31,199
almost like you know you put that blast
out there. It's not about following the

827
01:16:29,679 --> 01:16:35,040
online stuff, but it's about being
proactive and saying, "Listen, we know

828
01:16:33,040 --> 01:16:37,920
there are fires here, but check out
what's going on here." It's almost like

829
01:16:36,400 --> 01:16:42,080
you have to have those preemptive kind
of messaging to go out so that people

830
01:16:40,320 --> 01:16:46,560
really do get it because it takes more
than once for people to understand. So,

831
01:16:44,080 --> 01:16:51,360
I do appreciate that you have a fire
strategy, but I think that it's about

832
01:16:49,199 --> 01:16:54,239
being out ahead of the game more than
anything else in my mind's eye. So,

833
01:16:53,600 --> 01:16:56,880
thank you.
>> Thank you.

834
01:16:55,199 --> 01:16:59,840
» Okay. Thank you, Councelor Rudenberg.
Councelor Vic.

835
01:16:58,320 --> 01:17:03,920
» Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Hi.
>> Hi.

836
01:17:00,640 --> 01:17:09,280
» Uh, definitely the it seems the results
show to a lot of improvement at large

837
01:17:06,560 --> 01:17:13,760
for the entire region and and I think
what where we've had questions in the

838
01:17:11,440 --> 01:17:20,400
past is trying to drill down to see what
local businesses, local entrepreneurs in

839
01:17:17,600 --> 01:17:28,000
this space are saying. Have you given
any thought or any um consideration for

840
01:17:25,440 --> 01:17:32,000
creating data points from your office to
focus on

841
01:17:30,159 --> 01:17:36,480
nucleuses like Quinnell might be a
nucleus, Williams Lake might be on what

842
01:17:34,320 --> 01:17:43,440
the local operators are saying about how
things are going. Um have just so we can

843
01:17:41,280 --> 01:17:48,960
this is good data and it I'm proud of
that that our region writ large is doing

844
01:17:46,159 --> 01:17:53,679
well. But ultimately, as councelor Rush
sort of alluded to, it it's it's not

845
01:17:51,520 --> 01:17:59,120
in-depth enough for our community.
>> Yeah, I completely understand and thank

846
01:17:56,719 --> 01:18:04,480
you for the question. We do have
operators that share financials with our

847
01:18:01,440 --> 01:18:09,360
team um and share what's going on and
share details and we have that

848
01:18:06,719 --> 01:18:13,679
internally for decision making. We've
worked with the BCO tele association

849
01:18:11,440 --> 01:18:19,199
about trying to get some of that data
clustered. And what uh we run into both

850
01:18:16,719 --> 01:18:22,800
at that level and at our level is the
moment we say we want to roll it up and

851
01:18:20,960 --> 01:18:29,280
share it, but they're willing to share
becomes very much less because of

852
01:18:25,360 --> 01:18:35,040
competition. Um, so we don't have a
dashboard sort of being invested in at

853
01:18:31,679 --> 01:18:39,199
this point because of the challenges of
the number it takes to report without it

854
01:18:37,360 --> 01:18:44,960
being obvious that you're like, "Oh, I
know who that was." Um, for data

855
01:18:42,400 --> 01:18:48,480
security across it, but it is an ongoing
conversation that happens around our

856
01:18:46,480 --> 01:18:49,920
table and our marketing board all of the
time.

857
01:18:49,520 --> 01:18:54,640
» Yeah.
>> Just a quick followup, Mr. Mayor, and

858
01:18:51,760 --> 01:18:59,120
that and I I respect that. Um, but I
know Amy's team quite frequently sends

859
01:18:57,040 --> 01:19:04,640
out surveys to the business community in
Quinnell and I think that data has ended

860
01:19:02,320 --> 01:19:12,159
up being shared at large to the whole
community um during council meetings. So

861
01:19:07,840 --> 01:19:15,840
is there a way to draft a survey which
doesn't get into the weeds on financials

862
01:19:14,400 --> 01:19:20,080
for a business where they don't feel
comfortable sharing but at least gets a

863
01:19:17,679 --> 01:19:26,000
sense on how they feel about the
direction of your organization about the

864
01:19:22,960 --> 01:19:31,920
state of the world and and in business.
>> Yeah, absolutely. I can take back. We do

865
01:19:28,560 --> 01:19:36,320
um an industry satisfaction survey and
so does destination BC every year that

866
01:19:34,080 --> 01:19:40,159
asks not like less the financial of how
they're doing in business but what they

867
01:19:38,000 --> 01:19:45,360
think and familiarity with programs and
value. I can definitely ask the data

868
01:19:42,640 --> 01:19:48,880
teams how finely we're allowed to slice
that or whether they could change the

869
01:19:46,800 --> 01:19:54,520
wording when it goes out to ask it to be
shared at a community level.

870
01:19:50,800 --> 01:19:54,520
» Yeah, you're welcome.

871
01:19:55,120 --> 01:20:04,640
Okay, we're good to go. Anyone else?
Well, well, thank you, Amy. And uh I

872
01:20:01,360 --> 01:20:12,480
just want to put a bug in your ear that
uh 2028 is Quinnel's 100th anniversary.

873
01:20:09,280 --> 01:20:14,640
A great year to have your AGM here in Q
Town. So,

874
01:20:13,360 --> 01:20:17,440
» all right, put that in the book.
>> I'll talk to the team.

875
01:20:16,800 --> 01:20:22,159
» Thank you.
>> Okay. And again, uh thank you to you and

876
01:20:19,520 --> 01:20:27,600
Patty for uh for the presentation. As I
said, it's it it's very positive and uh

877
01:20:25,280 --> 01:20:32,080
that's all a tribute to to your hard
work and your due diligence. So, thank

878
01:20:29,760 --> 01:20:36,280
you again and we'll we'll stay in touch.
>> Thank you, Mayor. It takes a team.

879
01:20:38,640 --> 01:20:48,960
» Okay. So,
we have no items arising from previous

880
01:20:46,080 --> 01:20:55,040
special closed meetings. Now we will go
to reports and note that uh committee

881
01:20:52,400 --> 01:21:01,120
report regarding the housing solutions
table uh will be deferred until the next

882
01:20:57,760 --> 01:21:08,320
council meeting when um councelor Elliot
is back again. So I'll now go to

883
01:21:04,480 --> 01:21:13,920
committee report August 18th 2026
financial sustainability and audit

884
01:21:10,800 --> 01:21:18,480
committee councelor Vic to report.
>> Thank you Mr. Mayor. Uh we had a pretty

885
01:21:16,320 --> 01:21:23,360
thick agenda at our last meeting. So
understanding that council's probably

886
01:21:21,199 --> 01:21:28,239
read this report, I'll try and zip
through it a little quicker. Um so the

887
01:21:26,239 --> 01:21:35,600
first order of business was uh we took a
first pass at comprehensive fees bylaw

888
01:21:31,840 --> 01:21:41,440
for for the upcoming year. Um basically
no no big surprises. We do have some

889
01:21:38,480 --> 01:21:46,800
typical inflationary pressures. So
things like our utility rates will rise

890
01:21:43,360 --> 01:21:51,920
marginally for inflationary reasons but
nothing that uh we haven't seen in the

891
01:21:49,199 --> 01:21:57,040
past. Um the bigger discussion on this
part was regarding our cemetery rates.

892
01:21:55,360 --> 01:22:02,400
The the fee structure is going to
change. um residents in the city will

893
01:22:00,320 --> 01:22:06,159
not see a change but regional district
residents will see a change and that's

894
01:22:04,719 --> 01:22:13,120
by virtue of the fact that their
contribution to the cemetery function

895
01:22:09,520 --> 01:22:18,480
their contribution has lowered. So that
has resulted in a change to the fees

896
01:22:15,600 --> 01:22:25,199
that those residents will pay for plots
at the cemetery. Uh next we went into

897
01:22:21,760 --> 01:22:31,760
nonprofit permissive tax exemptions. So
there um BA basically uh there's two

898
01:22:29,120 --> 01:22:36,560
changes primarily this time around. One
of them is we'll be removing the tax

899
01:22:33,840 --> 01:22:40,800
exemption for the SPCA as they are no
longer acting as our city pound and that

900
01:22:38,960 --> 01:22:47,679
was a prerequisite for them to receive
the permissive tax exemption. Also the

901
01:22:43,360 --> 01:22:52,080
TICOM society has uh has a lot flurry of
activity with their folios. So there'll

902
01:22:49,679 --> 01:22:57,520
be a degree of consolidation
um to clean that up. Uh next we talked

903
01:22:55,280 --> 01:23:01,840
about funding to outside groups which
there are uh to my math there are six

904
01:23:00,000 --> 01:23:07,199
outside groups that we provide funding
to with the new council coming in. Uh

905
01:23:05,040 --> 01:23:12,960
we'll be asking each of these groups to
explain uh their needs uh how things are

906
01:23:10,560 --> 01:23:17,600
going so they can uh educate the new
council on their function and why uh

907
01:23:15,679 --> 01:23:23,440
they're receiving money from the city of
Cornell. Um, the big the big ticket item

908
01:23:21,520 --> 01:23:27,679
that we talked about at this meeting was
capital prioritization. I'm not going to

909
01:23:25,840 --> 01:23:31,679
get in too much depth on this because
Director Bolton will be covering this

910
01:23:29,120 --> 01:23:36,480
off in a staff report in a few minutes,
but basically this was the real meat and

911
01:23:33,760 --> 01:23:45,760
potatoes of the meeting. We have several
high priority capital projects uh coming

912
01:23:39,600 --> 01:23:52,320
to bear and we had to uh prioritize or
sort of have a function and a and a and

913
01:23:48,400 --> 01:23:59,199
a series of criteria to prioritize these
um projects. In the end, one of the key

914
01:23:55,679 --> 01:24:06,400
um factors in prioritization
was regulatory um compliance and that

915
01:24:04,239 --> 01:24:11,600
ultimately leads to a discussion on
water treatment as we are uh required to

916
01:24:10,159 --> 01:24:16,800
uh treat our water because of the
manganesees issue that sort of trumps

917
01:24:14,480 --> 01:24:22,800
other issues. So in the end, this
committee uh will recommend that that

918
01:24:19,520 --> 01:24:26,480
project receives priority and director
Bolton will talk a little bit more about

919
01:24:24,320 --> 01:24:29,760
that in her report.
Um

920
01:24:28,080 --> 01:24:34,080
basically that's that's about it. A
little bit of good news. Uh Director

921
01:24:31,360 --> 01:24:37,040
Bolton uh informed us that they were
able to rebuild a loader. I know it's a

922
01:24:35,840 --> 01:24:42,480
small detail, but I think it's good
news. We were able to re rebuild one of

923
01:24:39,040 --> 01:24:47,120
our loaders, and that uh may save us
$375,000 in borrowing. uh this year

924
01:24:45,760 --> 01:24:51,920
because we didn't have to buy a new
loader. So I thought that was great news

925
01:24:48,639 --> 01:24:56,639
and I thank the team for that and uh
there are the three uh for reference

926
01:24:54,159 --> 01:25:01,120
only the the recommendations that the
finance has made but that will be

927
01:24:58,800 --> 01:25:05,280
covered off in director Bolton's report
and the next scheduled meeting is the

928
01:25:03,440 --> 01:25:09,440
middle of September. I'll take any
questions if anyone has any.

929
01:25:06,719 --> 01:25:15,440
» Okay. Thank you councelor Vic. questions
from the from the council comments?

930
01:25:13,760 --> 01:25:20,639
Anyone?
Okay, seeing none, I'll um and you have

931
01:25:18,560 --> 01:25:24,560
no no recommendations that we need to
follow up as a result.

932
01:25:23,040 --> 01:25:27,760
» Not from this report. They're all for
reference only. They're going to be

933
01:25:25,679 --> 01:25:32,639
covered off from Director Pton's report.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So I'll go

934
01:25:29,840 --> 01:25:39,199
to the next item and that is a report
from myself uh on the excuse me June

935
01:25:36,320 --> 01:25:46,159
19th Caribou Regional District Board
meeting and I apologize because this

936
01:25:42,480 --> 01:25:52,480
report I'm been re being relying on the
CRD for their uh reports that come out

937
01:25:49,440 --> 01:25:58,000
and this just came into our office. So,
I think what I'm going to have to do is

938
01:25:54,560 --> 01:26:02,800
craft a a report immediately after uh
attending a CRD meeting rather than

939
01:26:00,480 --> 01:26:08,639
relying on waiting for the Caribou
Regional District's report because this

940
01:26:05,280 --> 01:26:17,520
goes back about 3 months and uh we need
to do better than that. So um very

941
01:26:12,480 --> 01:26:24,480
briefly um regarding the um the nil
Hitzel eco

942
01:26:20,560 --> 01:26:29,760
um wind wind project uh that that uh
there was a a letter or pardon me the

943
01:26:26,560 --> 01:26:35,199
board received a presentation and um I
understand that the board has uh uh

944
01:26:32,560 --> 01:26:40,560
submitted a letter in support of that
and actually we have um a staff report

945
01:26:38,800 --> 01:26:46,159
coming up immedi immediately following
this. So there there will be some more

946
01:26:42,960 --> 01:26:51,520
business uh on that particular project.
Um the 2025 statement of financial

947
01:26:49,280 --> 01:26:56,560
information came out as it as it does
for all municipalities and regional

948
01:26:54,080 --> 01:27:00,880
districts uh in the car or in the in the
province. Uh the board approved

949
01:26:59,040 --> 01:27:07,280
sponsorship funding for the Williams
Lake First Nation annual POW and um

950
01:27:04,800 --> 01:27:13,360
performances in the park partnership
renewal. That is again a Williams Lake

951
01:27:10,080 --> 01:27:18,480
event that the uh the board approved.
And there were a bunch of other um

952
01:27:15,920 --> 01:27:24,800
pieces of business that dealt with um
South Caribou uh Regional Airport and

953
01:27:21,280 --> 01:27:28,480
Esler Recreation Capital projects. Uh so
I'll conclude right there and if there's

954
01:27:26,480 --> 01:27:31,480
any questions, I'd be happy to answer
them.

955
01:27:32,080 --> 01:27:41,280
Okay, seeing none, let's move on to
staff report uh 6426.

956
01:27:38,800 --> 01:27:46,000
And this this is on the Hixon I can't
pronounce that. I'm sorry, the wind

957
01:27:42,960 --> 01:27:52,080
project at Hixon. And um so I'm going to
go to manager Reed for this report.

958
01:27:50,000 --> 01:27:56,719
» Thank you, Mayor. The purpose of this
report is to provide clarification

959
01:27:53,840 --> 01:28:00,000
regarding the Nili Eco wind project's
planned use of the Quinnell landfill.

960
01:27:58,400 --> 01:28:06,159
And if it's okay, I'll just say wind
project going forward. At the July 28th

961
01:28:03,840 --> 01:28:09,600
council meeting, council requested staff
bring further information regarding the

962
01:28:07,760 --> 01:28:16,320
use of the Cornell landfill by the wind
project. The draft socioeconomic impact

963
01:28:13,199 --> 01:28:20,239
assessment summary states non-hazardous
materials will be collected and also

964
01:28:18,480 --> 01:28:24,719
disposed of in accordance with
applicable provincial and federal

965
01:28:22,320 --> 01:28:29,120
regulatory requirements. The Quinnell
landfill is the closest landfill to the

966
01:28:26,719 --> 01:28:33,199
project site and it is anticipated the
bulk of non-hazardous materials will be

967
01:28:31,520 --> 01:28:37,440
transported there depending on the
ability of the landfill to accept

968
01:28:35,440 --> 01:28:42,800
project related waste at the time of
construction. If project needs cannot be

969
01:28:40,400 --> 01:28:47,120
easily accommodated by existing landfill
capacity,

970
01:28:44,400 --> 01:28:51,440
NET Ecoenter will explore alternative
disposal locations with local and

971
01:28:49,600 --> 01:28:56,159
regional authorities in adherence with
local permitting requirements.

972
01:28:54,560 --> 01:29:00,000
I did reach out to the project manager
and he couldn't provide an accurate

973
01:28:57,920 --> 01:29:05,600
volume estimate at this time, but his
email noted that it would likely be a

974
01:29:02,560 --> 01:29:09,199
few construction bins per month. He also
confirmed that if capacity was a

975
01:29:07,280 --> 01:29:13,440
concern, an alternate location for waste
disposal could be identified. Once

976
01:29:11,840 --> 01:29:17,840
volumes can be confirmed, the city may
deny access to the landfill. A letter of

977
01:29:16,159 --> 01:29:23,360
support for the project will not be
considered approval to use the landfill

978
01:29:19,760 --> 01:29:28,000
for waste generated during construction.
So the recommendation is that council

979
01:29:25,440 --> 01:29:32,480
provide a letter of support for the wind
project for their energy regulator

980
01:29:29,840 --> 01:29:36,120
activities act permit application.
>> Okay. Thank you.

981
01:29:47,520 --> 01:29:53,600
» Yes. Thank you. Thank you for putting
that call out because it was us that

982
01:29:50,800 --> 01:29:58,000
requested uh the the landfill question
and and I do I'm really happy to hear

983
01:29:55,199 --> 01:30:01,440
that it the amounts here and like I said
before, you know, as long as it's been

984
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:05,520
it's been approved, we're not worried
about end of life things right now, but

985
01:30:03,360 --> 01:30:08,400
I see that the city can at any time if
if it's stuff that we can't deal with,

986
01:30:07,040 --> 01:30:11,600
they can just say no. So, I do
appreciate you reaching out. If there's

987
01:30:10,239 --> 01:30:16,800
a chance for me ever to talk to them,
I'd love to find out more about this. Uh

988
01:30:13,920 --> 01:30:21,360
but thank you very much for for checking
in on us for for this.

989
01:30:19,280 --> 01:30:25,760
» Okay, thank you for that. Any further
questions before I call the question on

990
01:30:23,760 --> 01:30:32,639
the question?
Okay, seeing no further comment or

991
01:30:28,159 --> 01:30:37,280
question. Are we all in favor? Opposed?
One opposed. You wish your vote

992
01:30:34,159 --> 01:30:43,679
recorded. Uh so please record councelor
McKelby's vote.

993
01:30:39,920 --> 01:30:49,560
Okay, thank you for that. And then we
will go now to staff report 65/26

994
01:30:50,159 --> 01:31:00,480
city staff report local government
climate action program reporting local

995
01:30:55,199 --> 01:31:04,400
government intermuel to report.
>> Thank you Mr. Mayor. The purpose of this

996
01:31:02,639 --> 01:31:07,440
report is to provide council and the
public with a copy of the local

997
01:31:05,760 --> 01:31:12,560
government climate action report
submitted by the city for 2025's

998
01:31:10,159 --> 01:31:17,440
greenhouse gas emissions.
The local government climate action

999
01:31:14,480 --> 01:31:21,840
program LGCAP
provides stable funding to local

1000
01:31:19,120 --> 01:31:25,920
governments and modern treaty nations.
This funding supports local climate

1001
01:31:23,840 --> 01:31:31,840
actions that reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Municip mi municipalities

1002
01:31:29,520 --> 01:31:36,480
with a population exceeding 5,000
residents must measure and report their

1003
01:31:34,320 --> 01:31:41,280
corporate emissions profiles for
traditional services to remain eligible

1004
01:31:38,480 --> 01:31:46,400
for funding. The most recent statistics
Canada data for 2021 states the

1005
01:31:44,239 --> 01:31:49,719
population of Cornell census subdivision
is 9,889.

1006
01:31:50,000 --> 01:31:56,320
The survey requires greenhouse gas
emissions to be reported as tons of CO2

1007
01:31:54,800 --> 01:32:01,600
equivalent.
In 2025, the greenhouse gas emissions

1008
01:31:59,440 --> 01:32:07,120
for traditional services directly
delivered and contracted services as

1009
01:32:04,239 --> 01:32:10,520
defined by LGCAP
were 1,144.37

1010
01:32:10,560 --> 01:32:20,280
TCO2E,
which is a 3% increase from 2024's

1011
01:32:16,159 --> 01:32:20,280
11,000 sorry 1,11.44

1012
01:32:20,320 --> 01:32:28,480
TCO2E.
the it's my sorry it's the recommend the

1013
01:32:26,560 --> 01:32:33,440
point of this proposal is just for the
council to receive this report for

1014
01:32:30,239 --> 01:32:38,080
information only. Thank you.
>> Okay. Thank you for that. So um yeah

1015
01:32:35,840 --> 01:32:44,159
we've been advised that uh this is for
for council information. So therefore uh

1016
01:32:40,639 --> 01:32:49,280
no um resolution is required but I will
open the floor to questions from anyone

1017
01:32:46,159 --> 01:32:52,719
that uh that wishes.
Okay. seeing you're you're you're

1018
01:32:50,719 --> 01:32:56,880
getting off easy here tonight. So So
thank you for your report. Okay. So the

1019
01:32:55,120 --> 01:33:03,440
next one
is staff report

1020
01:32:59,840 --> 01:33:07,760
uh 66/26
capital prioritization. Director Bolton

1021
01:33:06,320 --> 01:33:12,080
to report.
>> Thank you. The purpose of this report is

1022
01:33:10,080 --> 01:33:16,080
to discuss the prioritization of major
projects in the 20-year capital plan and

1023
01:33:14,320 --> 01:33:19,920
articulate some recommendations for the
new council arriving this fall. The

1024
01:33:18,239 --> 01:33:23,679
financial sustainability and audit
committee has reviewed this report and

1025
01:33:21,520 --> 01:33:27,679
recommends the resolutions included in
the report. So, a major challenge facing

1026
01:33:26,320 --> 01:33:31,199
the community is that infrastructure
costs continue to rise without a

1027
01:33:29,280 --> 01:33:34,320
matching increase in revenue. With the
city's assessment base remaining

1028
01:33:32,719 --> 01:33:38,960
relatively stable, these costs are
generally passed on to residents through

1029
01:33:35,920 --> 01:33:42,239
higher taxes taxes and user fees. At the
same time, the city faces ongoing

1030
01:33:40,560 --> 01:33:46,080
pressure to direct more operating funds
towards social and other needs. The

1031
01:33:44,639 --> 01:33:49,120
challenge is not expected to ease
significantly in the near future through

1032
01:33:47,679 --> 01:33:52,320
growth, new revenue sources, or
additional provincial funding. As a

1033
01:33:50,719 --> 01:33:56,639
result, council will need to consider
how much taxes and fees can reasonably

1034
01:33:54,320 --> 01:33:59,760
increase to maintain existing services
and whether some service levels should

1035
01:33:58,400 --> 01:34:03,679
be reviewed to support long-term
sustainability.

1036
01:34:01,520 --> 01:34:07,920
And then I've given just different ways
we evaluate capital projects at uh c at

1037
01:34:06,080 --> 01:34:12,480
budget time, just the things we think
about. So strategic alignment, whether

1038
01:34:10,239 --> 01:34:16,239
or not there's a regulatory requirement,
improvements to service levels,

1039
01:34:14,480 --> 01:34:20,159
consequence of failure is a big one.
Other operational risks and economic

1040
01:34:18,800 --> 01:34:22,639
impacts. Those are all the things we
think about when we look at every

1041
01:34:21,280 --> 01:34:26,960
project and decide whether or not it
should go forward. We did do the master

1042
01:34:24,880 --> 01:34:30,000
infrastructure plan just a year and a
half ago, I guess, now, and it looked at

1043
01:34:28,639 --> 01:34:34,080
all our projects that we need in the
20-year plan to maintain our services.

1044
01:34:32,159 --> 01:34:38,080
And it showed that property taxes will
need to increase by at least 1% per year

1045
01:34:36,159 --> 01:34:41,600
for the foreseeable future to fund the
current level of roads, drainage,

1046
01:34:39,760 --> 01:34:46,480
buildings, and related infrastructure,
and that water fees will need to

1047
01:34:43,199 --> 01:34:49,840
increase by 1.5% and sewer fees by 1%.
All of this is before inflation. And of

1048
01:34:48,800 --> 01:34:52,800
course, as we all know, the world's
going a bit crazy right now, so we don't

1049
01:34:51,520 --> 01:34:56,639
know where inflation's going. So, it's
something we'll have to continue to

1050
01:34:54,000 --> 01:35:00,159
watch. So, the infrastructure plan and
20-year financial plan were based on

1051
01:34:58,239 --> 01:35:04,080
using debt for any large significant
building renovations in the future, such

1052
01:35:01,760 --> 01:35:07,600
as the RCMP building, and assume
significant grant funding for water

1053
01:35:05,760 --> 01:35:11,840
treatment. So, I gave a little summary
of how some of our capital funding

1054
01:35:09,040 --> 01:35:15,760
sources are changing. And then we talked
about the three projects that are in the

1055
01:35:13,679 --> 01:35:20,400
20-year capital plan that will likely
require debt financing. So that's

1056
01:35:17,920 --> 01:35:24,320
replacing a fire ladder truck, the RCMP
renovation if it proceeds, and water

1057
01:35:22,480 --> 01:35:28,480
treatment.
So these will all require debt. I spoke

1058
01:35:26,880 --> 01:35:32,560
a little about our debt capacity. It's
not an issue. I mean, we've run out of

1059
01:35:30,960 --> 01:35:36,880
taxes to pay the debt before we'd run
out of debt capacity. Um, so then here's

1060
01:35:35,440 --> 01:35:40,480
the large projects that we need to think
about. So water the water treatment

1061
01:35:38,639 --> 01:35:44,560
project is a regulatory requirement and
the largest project facing the city in

1062
01:35:42,159 --> 01:35:47,520
the near future. The water treatment is
a project that infrastructure grants

1063
01:35:46,000 --> 01:35:51,600
have been given for in the past. So,
we'll continue to look for grants for

1064
01:35:49,040 --> 01:35:55,040
that. Our city's our current water fees
are lower than average than across the

1065
01:35:53,440 --> 01:35:58,800
province because we aren't currently
paying for water treatment. So, this is

1066
01:35:57,120 --> 01:36:02,320
one we'll look for grant funding for. I
gave just some examples there. You can

1067
01:36:00,639 --> 01:36:06,639
see depending on how much grant funding
we get, how much this will cost us per

1068
01:36:04,400 --> 01:36:10,159
year. Um, one of the in in addition to
the capital cost, water treatment also

1069
01:36:08,480 --> 01:36:13,520
has approximately a million dollars of
operating costs once it's up and

1070
01:36:11,679 --> 01:36:17,520
running. So that'll increase our water
costs each year.

1071
01:36:15,600 --> 01:36:21,120
The RCMP detachment, another project
that could potentially require debt. So

1072
01:36:19,280 --> 01:36:24,080
the renovation is a priority project for
the detachment. Although parking issues

1073
01:36:22,880 --> 01:36:27,760
related to the project remain
unresolved, the project should be

1074
01:36:26,080 --> 01:36:30,159
reviewed with the new council, including
the discussion of the parking

1075
01:36:28,800 --> 01:36:34,080
requirements and the preferred timing
for a referendum on the required debt

1076
01:36:31,920 --> 01:36:36,960
funding. Because there's currently no
reserve funding for major building

1077
01:36:35,520 --> 01:36:40,560
projects, works of the scale will
generally need to be funded through

1078
01:36:38,239 --> 01:36:43,679
debt. At this time, there are no other
significant building projects

1079
01:36:41,840 --> 01:36:48,239
anticipated. So, in the 20-year plan, we
don't have any other big buildings

1080
01:36:45,440 --> 01:36:52,639
coming at us. So, again, I showed the
potential tax increase just due to the

1081
01:36:51,040 --> 01:36:56,560
debt payments that we would be required
if we take debt for our share of the

1082
01:36:54,159 --> 01:37:00,800
RCMP renovation. The province would pay
part of that building because they have

1083
01:36:58,239 --> 01:37:03,760
officers in that building, too. And then
the fire equipment. We've got a ladder

1084
01:37:02,800 --> 01:37:07,040
truck that we're going to have to
replace here in a few years. The last

1085
01:37:05,119 --> 01:37:12,960
one was debt funded, and that's debt is
almost out. So then we would take a debt

1086
01:37:09,360 --> 01:37:16,960
to fund the new one. So I've included a
copy of all our large projects over the

1087
01:37:14,800 --> 01:37:21,760
next 10 years just for information. And
I also included a chart of the potential

1088
01:37:19,040 --> 01:37:25,119
tax increases. This is just estimates
ballparks just so someone knows kind of

1089
01:37:23,840 --> 01:37:28,880
where we're headed and kind of the
challenges facing us. But I just want to

1090
01:37:26,719 --> 01:37:33,440
make sure it is estimates and of course
the new council will have a lot of input

1091
01:37:30,480 --> 01:37:36,960
into this. So the recommendations just
to give some direction to staff as we

1092
01:37:35,520 --> 01:37:41,040
move forward on these especially the
unfunded projects. Do you want me I'll

1093
01:37:39,040 --> 01:37:44,159
do them one at a time. The first one is
that council directs the water treatment

1094
01:37:42,560 --> 01:37:47,520
capital project to be the priority
project for infrastructure grant

1095
01:37:45,600 --> 01:37:50,239
funding. Recognize the city will be
required to fund a portion of the

1096
01:37:48,880 --> 01:37:54,760
project and to seek grants that
contribute at least twothirds of the

1097
01:37:51,760 --> 01:37:54,760
cost.

1098
01:37:57,840 --> 01:38:06,080
» Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Councelor
Run is moving seconding councelor Vic.

1099
01:38:03,040 --> 01:38:12,639
Any discussion, comments?
Okay. Are we all in favor? Opposed?

1100
01:38:09,199 --> 01:38:17,040
Carried. Thank you. That's a big one.
>> Okay.

1101
01:38:13,679 --> 01:38:20,560
» Okay. So, now um
we go to council information.

1102
01:38:19,520 --> 01:38:25,199
» No, I I've still got two more
resolutions. I'm sorry. Yeah.

1103
01:38:22,159 --> 01:38:28,080
» So, the
I I've got two more resolutions.

1104
01:38:27,040 --> 01:38:30,880
» Oh, okay.
>> Okay. Go ahead.

1105
01:38:29,440 --> 01:38:34,960
» The second one is the council directs
future budgets to be built with a 1.5%

1106
01:38:33,440 --> 01:38:38,480
increase per year in taxation to the
capital reinvestment reserve to fund the

1107
01:38:37,119 --> 01:38:42,320
capital replacement projects in the
master infrastructure plan. This is in

1108
01:38:40,719 --> 01:38:47,760
addition to the required increases for
sewer and water fees each year.

1109
01:38:45,199 --> 01:38:54,320
» Okay. I'm sorry I misread that. I
thought it was all sort of an omnibus um

1110
01:38:51,040 --> 01:38:59,840
resolution. So this is the second of
three resolutions. Councelor Vic, you're

1111
01:38:56,400 --> 01:39:03,600
moving. Councelor McCelby is seconding.
Any discussion? Councelor Runge.

1112
01:39:02,400 --> 01:39:07,840
» Yeah, I think this is a good way to
slide into some of these other things

1113
01:39:04,960 --> 01:39:12,719
too. Uh, with regards to our debt funded
projects because this is pushing a lot

1114
01:39:09,199 --> 01:39:16,320
of this 1.5% in my mind. Uh, and also
some of these other things going forward

1115
01:39:14,080 --> 01:39:20,000
with regards to the ladder truck, are we
able to maybe consider, you know, what

1116
01:39:18,239 --> 01:39:23,440
what is actually being used? I think is
a fairly common practice across North

1117
01:39:21,600 --> 01:39:26,639
America, the same thing as the loader to
rebuild it at a significant cost. Is

1118
01:39:25,520 --> 01:39:28,880
that are we able to do that with
insurance?

1119
01:39:27,440 --> 01:39:32,159
» I don't think so. With the trucks,
there's very strict requirements about

1120
01:39:30,400 --> 01:39:36,080
what the fire underwriters insurance
requires. They can only be such an age.

1121
01:39:34,320 --> 01:39:41,280
So once they reach an age, we have to
either move them into a lower level of

1122
01:39:38,080 --> 01:39:44,320
service or we lose our level of in of
insurance that we have, which would

1123
01:39:42,400 --> 01:39:48,560
affect everyone's home insurance.
>> So, so I'd really like to request that

1124
01:39:46,400 --> 01:39:52,719
we can possibly have a chance sometime.
I'm not sure how busy staff is because

1125
01:39:50,960 --> 01:39:56,480
indications are on research is that
actually other communities do do this

1126
01:39:54,159 --> 01:40:00,080
and extend truck lives by 10 or 15 years
which would be above the 10 years that

1127
01:39:58,239 --> 01:40:02,800
they originally used them. So just if
that's a possibility it would be

1128
01:40:01,679 --> 01:40:06,080
wonderful. That's
>> you're talking fire truck specifically

1129
01:40:04,320 --> 01:40:10,719
» that fire in this case because it's a $3
million uh purchase if we were able to

1130
01:40:08,560 --> 01:40:15,040
spend something to extend it at a lower
cost that would push down other costs

1131
01:40:12,960 --> 01:40:19,600
going forward. Like I'm for me it goes
back to this 1.5%.

1132
01:40:17,760 --> 01:40:23,520
I understand we're going to be voting on
this and my understanding is that yes,

1133
01:40:22,080 --> 01:40:28,960
it's a baseline that we're going to be
looking on, but councils have to have

1134
01:40:25,360 --> 01:40:32,560
the ability to actually look at taxes
and say, "Hey, we can or can't afford

1135
01:40:30,880 --> 01:40:35,600
this at the given time." But it's it's
to make sure that we're getting that

1136
01:40:33,760 --> 01:40:38,560
money for the water treatment, which is
a must.

1137
01:40:36,239 --> 01:40:41,600
» And I just want to be clear, the 1.5% is
just for the capital reinvestment

1138
01:40:39,920 --> 01:40:44,880
reserve. So the debt projects are all on
top of that. So there's tax increases

1139
01:40:43,440 --> 01:40:49,119
for those that I've listed in those
charts below on top of that. So

1140
01:40:47,199 --> 01:40:52,480
» yeah, I'm just for me personally, I'm
just worried that we're, you know, if I

1141
01:40:51,040 --> 01:40:57,920
when I just look at these numbers
without the chance of re of revisiting

1142
01:40:54,880 --> 01:41:00,239
them by a future council or by
>> every budget will look at these things.

1143
01:40:59,040 --> 01:41:04,000
» Well, we have to look at these things
and say, is this actually a possibility

1144
01:41:02,159 --> 01:41:09,040
still? I understand that we have to put
a baseline there to say, look, if we

1145
01:41:06,239 --> 01:41:12,639
want water, we we need to start putting
stuff away for water. Uh, and I'm

1146
01:41:11,119 --> 01:41:16,960
hoping, you know, I'm, you know, with
all these crazy things going on

1147
01:41:15,280 --> 01:41:20,639
internationally and south of the border
and our Canada Builds funds that maybe

1148
01:41:19,040 --> 01:41:23,679
we can tweak someone's ear there in
Ottawa to say, "Hey, Cornell really

1149
01:41:22,480 --> 01:41:26,880
needs some water here. How about
chucking us 50 mil so we can get going

1150
01:41:25,360 --> 01:41:32,400
and build Canada strong here in
Cornell?" Uh, and and same possibly with

1151
01:41:29,679 --> 01:41:38,960
ARMP while we're at it. Anyway, uh,
yeah. So, and that's I guess that goes

1152
01:41:34,560 --> 01:41:44,080
to because people know that I'm
inc uh I'm adverse to increasing taxes

1153
01:41:42,560 --> 01:41:48,400
by too much. I mean, I don't think
that's that's uh you know, surprised by

1154
01:41:46,639 --> 01:41:53,119
anyone. So, I just So, for me, I want
the option still to I don't mind saying

1155
01:41:50,719 --> 01:41:56,159
yes, we're looking at this 1.5, but I
really need me or any other council

1156
01:41:55,040 --> 01:41:59,119
that's going to be in the future there
looking at saying here, can we still do

1157
01:41:57,840 --> 01:42:02,159
it?
>> Thank you.

1158
01:42:00,400 --> 01:42:05,520
» Yeah. Well, well said, councelor Runge.
Councelor Vic,

1159
01:42:03,280 --> 01:42:11,760
» thank you. It's a lot to unpack there,
sir, but yes, of course, any future

1160
01:42:09,199 --> 01:42:16,239
council can take a look at what we've
decided here tonight potentially, and

1161
01:42:14,159 --> 01:42:20,960
make adjustments based on the situation
they find themselves with at that

1162
01:42:18,400 --> 01:42:24,800
moment. The the goal here with these
three recommendations, which were

1163
01:42:22,400 --> 01:42:30,320
halfway through, is staff needed some
direction to focus energy. Right now,

1164
01:42:27,840 --> 01:42:35,840
we've identified the water treatment as
a critical critical issue and that's

1165
01:42:34,000 --> 01:42:40,800
where staff energy needs to be to try
and get these grant funds through Canada

1166
01:42:37,920 --> 01:42:45,440
builds or wherever else and we've
identified that it has to contribute at

1167
01:42:42,400 --> 01:42:50,560
least 2/3 of the cost otherwise the
burden becomes uh significant. And then

1168
01:42:48,880 --> 01:42:55,199
regarding the second element of our
recommendations, the 1.5% increase,

1169
01:42:52,800 --> 01:43:03,119
which is not to do with water treatment,
is just to to continue to um effectively

1170
01:42:59,920 --> 01:43:07,520
replace and and um repair the
infrastructure we have today because

1171
01:43:05,440 --> 01:43:12,320
these are projections for the future
costs and we will to to make sure we can

1172
01:43:10,239 --> 01:43:17,760
meet that baseline to cover off these
replacements. This 1.5% is what is

1173
01:43:15,360 --> 01:43:21,760
forecasted to cover those costs.
However, all of that can go out the

1174
01:43:19,840 --> 01:43:27,760
window if there is an acute issue with
taxation or the economy of the day of

1175
01:43:24,719 --> 01:43:30,960
the day. So, um anyway, thank you, Mr.
Mayor.

1176
01:43:28,560 --> 01:43:34,880
» Okay. Thank you. Any anyone else? Do I
do I have a mover and seconder for

1177
01:43:32,960 --> 01:43:39,679
resolution number two of three?
>> Yes, you do.

1178
01:43:35,440 --> 01:43:43,600
» Uh okay. Thank you. And um no more uh
questions or comments. So, I will now

1179
01:43:41,679 --> 01:43:48,320
call the question on resolution number
two. All in favor? Opposed? carried

1180
01:43:46,560 --> 01:43:52,239
unanimously. Okay, let's go to
resolution number three.

1181
01:43:50,400 --> 01:43:56,000
» And the final resolution that council
directs staff to look at the potential

1182
01:43:53,760 --> 01:43:59,920
solutions for RCMP parking and that this
be built into the plan for the RCMP

1183
01:43:57,840 --> 01:44:05,600
detachment renovation before going to
referendum.

1184
01:44:02,560 --> 01:44:11,760
» Okay, moving councelor Rudenberg
seconding

1185
01:44:07,199 --> 01:44:16,880
councelor Vic. Questions, discussion.
Okay, I'll call the question. All in

1186
01:44:13,360 --> 01:44:24,080
favor? Opposed? carried unanimously.
Okay, thank you. Moving right along.

1187
01:44:21,360 --> 01:44:31,360
Uh now we go to council information
package and I would ask that um uh

1188
01:44:27,679 --> 01:44:37,040
number one be brought forward. Um madame
clerk, I wonder if you can you summarize

1189
01:44:33,760 --> 01:44:42,280
that for us, please. Or do you want it
read into the record in in its entirety?

1190
01:44:48,080 --> 01:44:51,080
Yeah.

1191
01:44:51,199 --> 01:44:58,080
Would you like would you would you like
me to read it? I'm going to do that.

1192
01:44:54,639 --> 01:45:02,320
This is a letter from Lori Bowen. Um I
am a senior citizen, taxpayer, and

1193
01:45:00,159 --> 01:45:07,600
homeowner and business owner in the
Cornell area for 50 years. I have lived

1194
01:45:05,440 --> 01:45:12,159
in Cornell for 50 years, raised our
children in Quinnell and worked at the

1195
01:45:09,440 --> 01:45:15,679
se at several places of Northern Health
for Northern Health throughout the years

1196
01:45:13,840 --> 01:45:20,080
and served on many different sports
committees over these years. We have

1197
01:45:18,000 --> 01:45:24,400
never felt a worry about our children
going in our downtown and walking

1198
01:45:22,480 --> 01:45:30,159
around. I would never allow this to
happen with our grandchildren as it is

1199
01:45:27,119 --> 01:45:35,199
so unsafe now. I am disgusted and
disturbed with the number of homeless

1200
01:45:32,320 --> 01:45:40,960
wandering our downtown area now. Drug
use, theft, sex acts defecating on the

1201
01:45:38,719 --> 01:45:46,480
streets, not to mention the safety of
the residents of Cornell, which was once

1202
01:45:43,760 --> 01:45:51,760
a beautiful downtown area. I have
empathy for our business owners in the

1203
01:45:48,719 --> 01:45:57,679
downtown area, which have many stories
to date. I had an incident on Thursday,

1204
01:45:54,880 --> 01:46:01,840
July 9, midday. I was only out of my
vehicle for 5 minutes walking in front

1205
01:45:59,679 --> 01:46:08,480
of the Royal Bank when a lady approached
me yelling at me to call 911. I had to

1206
01:46:05,040 --> 01:46:13,440
back up and said no. She then became
aggressive and started swearing foul

1207
01:46:10,480 --> 01:46:18,960
words at me and coming closer. A female
security came along and got her to move

1208
01:46:16,080 --> 01:46:23,840
on. This is not okay for our citizens of
Quinnel. I have purchased a defense

1209
01:46:21,280 --> 01:46:28,080
mechanism for myself for the next time
something happens and I have full

1210
01:46:25,440 --> 01:46:34,960
intentions of protecting myself and I
also uh purchase some other family or

1211
01:46:31,920 --> 01:46:40,480
some four other family members. I am
writing in hopes that we can work on a

1212
01:46:37,040 --> 01:46:46,400
plan for making our city improved. I
have heard many other friends and family

1213
01:46:42,960 --> 01:46:50,800
and have confrontations on that have had
uh confrontations on the streets of

1214
01:46:48,159 --> 01:46:54,800
Cornell. I have heard for years that
city council received money from these

1215
01:46:53,040 --> 01:46:59,600
for these people being brought to
Quinnell. I still do not know the answer

1216
01:46:57,280 --> 01:47:04,239
to this. We know most of these people
are not from our town. So who is

1217
01:47:01,679 --> 01:47:09,440
bringing them and dropping them off to
destroy our town? If they are bust here,

1218
01:47:07,199 --> 01:47:14,239
who is footing the bill? Why do we have
to suffer the consequences of a bad

1219
01:47:11,760 --> 01:47:22,000
decision? This is signed as a concerned
citizen of uh Cornell Lori Bowen. Um so

1220
01:47:18,800 --> 01:47:28,639
this is obviously a a very heavyduty
letter and and I asked for it to to be

1221
01:47:25,040 --> 01:47:36,080
brought forward. Uh we we will be having
a uh PSP which is public uh safe or

1222
01:47:33,280 --> 01:47:41,360
public safety and policing uh meeting
coming up. We haven't set the date yet.

1223
01:47:38,560 --> 01:47:47,199
Uh but it it is coming and certainly
this item will be on that agenda. I I'll

1224
01:47:44,960 --> 01:47:52,080
leave it open to to council for any
questions. Councelor Rudenberg,

1225
01:47:48,960 --> 01:47:57,040
» not so much a question, but um so on the
very last paragraph, can you answer the

1226
01:47:54,800 --> 01:48:00,880
lady um the first question she asked is
that uh council receives money for

1227
01:47:59,119 --> 01:48:06,000
people that come into Cornell. Can you
let her know whether that's true or not?

1228
01:48:03,520 --> 01:48:10,159
I know what the answer is. Can you let
her know, please?

1229
01:48:07,840 --> 01:48:14,320
» I I certainly I mean, I'm I'm going to
call her. I've got I've got her number,

1230
01:48:11,760 --> 01:48:20,719
but I but I wanted to see this on on the
agenda. I mean um I I as a mayor and I'm

1231
01:48:18,880 --> 01:48:26,400
sure that other council members have
also received calls from people that um

1232
01:48:23,520 --> 01:48:31,040
they saw somebody u a bus unloading
people and and the last two that I've

1233
01:48:29,040 --> 01:48:35,520
received, I said, "Do you have a cell
phone?" "Yes, I do." I said, "Do you do

1234
01:48:33,440 --> 01:48:41,679
you do you know that there's a camera in
your cell phone?" I mean, nobody's ever

1235
01:48:38,480 --> 01:48:45,360
provided a picture or a photograph of of
a bus unloading people in the middle of

1236
01:48:43,600 --> 01:48:51,199
the night. So, um,
>> so, but my my my question to you is to

1237
01:48:48,400 --> 01:48:55,840
answer that first question that council
receives money for people coming to

1238
01:48:53,199 --> 01:49:00,320
Quinnel. And I think people need to hear
this from council that that is not true

1239
01:48:58,159 --> 01:49:04,239
and they need to hear it from the mayor
>> because I know I don't see it in the

1240
01:49:01,920 --> 01:49:07,360
budget. Do you see it in the budget? Uh
as chair of the finance committee, I

1241
01:49:06,000 --> 01:49:12,080
don't think you see money in the budget
coming in from

1242
01:49:09,360 --> 01:49:16,960
Sorry. So you say that to the community,
I believe, mayor. Well, that's what I've

1243
01:49:14,320 --> 01:49:22,159
been doing for the last two years is is,
you know, anytime that um somebody

1244
01:49:19,600 --> 01:49:27,520
accuses the city of accepting money
under the table or over the table, I I

1245
01:49:24,560 --> 01:49:30,159
say, "Where's your evidence?" I I it's
not true.

1246
01:49:28,560 --> 01:49:31,760
» Thank you. And I I just wanted you to
say that. So, thank you.

1247
01:49:31,520 --> 01:49:35,040
» Yeah,
>> I appreciate that.

1248
01:49:33,280 --> 01:49:40,320
» Okay. Is there anyone else on this one?
But as I say, it'll it will be coming up

1249
01:49:37,840 --> 01:49:46,880
at PSP and we just need to set a date
and and also we're we're discussing um

1250
01:49:44,239 --> 01:49:52,000
you know how that how that public safety
and policing meeting will be handled. Uh

1251
01:49:49,600 --> 01:49:56,480
some of these meetings are are held uh
behind closed doors and and I'm all for,

1252
01:49:54,800 --> 01:50:01,760
you know, opening the doors and and
having a a town hall of some sort. So

1253
01:50:00,000 --> 01:50:07,920
stay tuned.
Anything more on this one?

1254
01:50:04,320 --> 01:50:13,679
But I but I will be um contacting Miss
Bowen. And the uh the second one that we

1255
01:50:11,119 --> 01:50:20,400
have on the agenda or pardon me under
council information is number six and

1256
01:50:17,440 --> 01:50:25,280
it's just for council information. Um,
I'm not going to go into detail, but the

1257
01:50:22,639 --> 01:50:32,080
Quinnell Kangaroos are submitting a bid
to host the 2027 Western Canada Savage

1258
01:50:29,280 --> 01:50:37,199
Cup Hockey uh, Championships, and
they've asked for a letter of support

1259
01:50:34,080 --> 01:50:42,000
from the mayor. So I have just basically
put this letter of support on the agenda

1260
01:50:39,440 --> 01:50:46,719
to get the word out that uh that we are
in support of of them that this is not

1261
01:50:44,320 --> 01:50:53,520
the first time uh that the Koi or the
Koi Cup the the the Savage Cup follows

1262
01:50:50,480 --> 01:50:59,119
the Koi Cup and so this is not the first
time that we've ever that we've ever um

1263
01:50:55,920 --> 01:51:04,560
hosted the Savage Cup here in Cornell.
And uh so I'm I'm hoping that everyone

1264
01:51:01,679 --> 01:51:07,360
would be in agreement with that.
Councelor Rudenberg,

1265
01:51:05,840 --> 01:51:12,080
» thank you. And I appreciate that you've
responded to them. I hope that you could

1266
01:51:09,679 --> 01:51:16,159
uh perhaps send uh their request to
joint planning to see if joint planning

1267
01:51:14,320 --> 01:51:19,040
would like to send a letter of support
also.

1268
01:51:17,119 --> 01:51:22,880
» Okay, that that's that's a good idea.
They they had just asked for a letter

1269
01:51:20,800 --> 01:51:29,040
from the mayor, but you you raised a
good point. So if uh if uh we have in

1270
01:51:25,840 --> 01:51:34,239
fact we have a a a joint advisory coming
up. So maybe if if staff could uh put

1271
01:51:31,920 --> 01:51:38,880
that on the agenda to get a second
letter of support, I think that would

1272
01:51:36,320 --> 01:51:43,280
that would go a long way. I I do know
that they were up against a deadline for

1273
01:51:40,960 --> 01:51:50,080
this. So but but certainly if even if
the uh a letter from Joint Advisory is

1274
01:51:45,840 --> 01:51:59,040
is a few days late um so be it. So u
anything more on that?

1275
01:51:54,000 --> 01:52:05,360
Okay. So uh the next item is oh under
correspondence and I I'll just move

1276
01:52:00,960 --> 01:52:12,480
right into this one and um I will read
the letter from the um

1277
01:52:09,360 --> 01:52:18,480
from the legion. This is addressed to
mayor and city council. Dear Mayor and

1278
01:52:15,280 --> 01:52:23,840
Council, 2027 will mark the 100th
anniversary of the Royal Canadian Legion

1279
01:52:20,800 --> 01:52:29,199
Caribou Branch 94, and we are planning
several events to mark this milestone.

1280
01:52:26,719 --> 01:52:34,400
You might also be aware that our Senate
is in need of extensive repairs. This

1281
01:52:32,239 --> 01:52:39,760
will involve raising the monument to
allow for a new foundation to be poured.

1282
01:52:37,040 --> 01:52:45,040
Our executive feels that since the
Senate needs to be lifted and moved,

1283
01:52:42,400 --> 01:52:50,480
this may be an ideal time to consider
relocation. You are all aware of the

1284
01:52:47,840 --> 01:52:55,360
logistics required to put on a parade
such as on Remembrance Day as it

1285
01:52:52,560 --> 01:53:01,599
requires official, and I underline the
word official rrooting of Highway 97 on

1286
01:52:58,639 --> 01:53:07,520
Carson Avenue. I have received approval
from branch executive to request use of

1287
01:53:04,880 --> 01:53:13,520
the northwest corner of the city's
parking lot at Kinchant and Barlo for

1288
01:53:10,480 --> 01:53:20,000
permanent relocation of the Santa. This
would keep the memorial on Veterans Way

1289
01:53:16,880 --> 01:53:25,440
in close and safe proximity to the
branch and highly visible to the public.

1290
01:53:23,440 --> 01:53:32,000
It should be noted that this property
was sold to the city by the Legion at

1291
01:53:28,480 --> 01:53:37,520
the city's request in the late 1990s. If
approved, this would require relocation

1292
01:53:34,639 --> 01:53:42,960
of the city's public notice board, which
is located in the same spot. We would

1293
01:53:40,400 --> 01:53:50,719
appreciate having the Senate relocated
and repaired in time for rededicated

1294
01:53:46,960 --> 01:53:57,920
uh to be rededicated for the branch 94
100th anniversary date on October of

1295
01:53:53,760 --> 01:54:02,560
October 10, 2027. We do have access to
funding for this project. Thank you for

1296
01:54:00,480 --> 01:54:08,480
considering and hopefully approving our
request. I remain respectfully yours,

1297
01:54:05,119 --> 01:54:14,639
Doug. Doug Kerry Kerry, uh, chairman of
the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 94

1298
01:54:11,199 --> 01:54:18,639
100th anniversary committee. Um, so I'm
just going to bounce this over to staff

1299
01:54:16,320 --> 01:54:25,199
for comment. I don't know if we're we're
basically want to get this on the on the

1300
01:54:21,280 --> 01:54:27,760
table for for discussion uh by staff.
Then staff can come back with some

1301
01:54:26,880 --> 01:54:30,639
recommendations.
>> Yeah, we don't need a resolution for

1302
01:54:29,119 --> 01:54:33,679
this. I'll take this as staff direction.
And in fact, staff had a a meeting about

1303
01:54:32,480 --> 01:54:37,040
it briefly. We're going to meet again
next week to discuss how to to take

1304
01:54:35,599 --> 01:54:40,880
this. I do just want to pass on to
council. We will focus on that corner of

1305
01:54:39,040 --> 01:54:44,239
the parking lot, but we may also work
with the Legion on other areas within

1306
01:54:42,480 --> 01:54:47,599
that parking lot that might be might
also work. So, I don't want to limit it

1307
01:54:45,840 --> 01:54:50,880
just to that corner till we've had a
chance to look at the bigger picture and

1308
01:54:49,199 --> 01:54:54,000
implications for the city and our own
development plans.

1309
01:54:52,000 --> 01:54:58,239
» Yeah. Once staff has had an opportunity
to to review and and report on this, a

1310
01:54:56,480 --> 01:55:05,040
report will be coming back to council
for council's uh decision. So, we'll

1311
01:55:01,040 --> 01:55:10,960
leave it at that for now. Um, so now
under bylaws, uh, bylaw number 1985,

1312
01:55:08,960 --> 01:55:16,080
city of Cornell, appointment of officers
and delegation of authority amendment

1313
01:55:12,880 --> 01:55:21,920
bylaw number 1985 of 2026, final
adoption. Uh, mover moved by councelor

1314
01:55:18,800 --> 01:55:26,960
Goule, seconded councelor Vic. Any
discussion?

1315
01:55:23,520 --> 01:55:33,280
Seeing none, all in favor? Opposed?
Carried. Thank you for that. We have no

1316
01:55:30,080 --> 01:55:37,280
new business or business arising. Uh
information and question period. If

1317
01:55:35,520 --> 01:55:42,239
there's anyone in the gallery that
wishes to come forward and ask a

1318
01:55:39,360 --> 01:55:46,880
question. Uh and it's not a comment. You
have to ask a question that is

1319
01:55:43,920 --> 01:55:52,080
pertaining to the uh the agenda tonight.
And when you do come forward, simply

1320
01:55:48,880 --> 01:55:58,080
identify yourself for the record and um
and state your question.

1321
01:55:54,639 --> 01:56:07,440
Uh seeing none,
um we have no um we have no changes to

1322
01:56:03,119 --> 01:56:14,760
upcoming meeting schedule. Um we have no
changes to committee appointments,

1323
01:56:10,000 --> 01:56:14,760
announcements, and events. Anyone?

1324
01:56:15,040 --> 01:56:25,199
Okay, seeing none gallery questions.
No gallery questions. Okay, then this is

1325
01:56:22,639 --> 01:56:30,560
getting easy. So now a motion to
adjurnn. All in favor? Oh move. I'm

1326
01:56:28,639 --> 01:56:34,880
sorry. Councelor Rudenberg is moving and
councelor Goule is seconding. Now I call

1327
01:56:33,520 --> 01:56:39,679
the question. All in favor of
adjourning. Thank you everyone. Good

1328
01:56:36,960 --> 01:56:39,679
evening. Thank you.