Agenda
[4:41]
Call to Order
[4:44]
Land Acknowledgement
[6:22]
Declarations of Conflict of Interest
[6:29]
Motion to go into Closed Session
[3:02:51]
Motion to Reconvene into Open Session
[3:10:12]
Presentations
[3:10:14]
Jack Young Award Presentation
[3:26:40]
Petitions
[3:26:45]
Bloomingdale Traffic Calming
[3:26:48]
Delegations
[3:28:20]
Allan Carpenter, North Dumfries
[3:36:04]
Alida Wilms, Ward 3 Councilllor, North Dumfries Council
[3:45:59]
Dr. Terry Polevoy, Waterloo
[3:53:28]
David Marskell, CEO, THEMUSEUM
[3:59:47]
Craig Sloss, Waterloo
[4:07:48]
Minutes of Previous Meetings
[4:08:44]
Communications
[4:08:46]
Council Information Package - August 19, 2026 (Distributed to Councillors Electronically)
[4:08:46]
Correspondence - Jessica Dineen, Cambridge
[4:08:47]
Reports
[4:08:48]
Finance Reports
[4:09:41]
Committee Reports
[4:09:41]
Sustainability, Infrastructure, and Development Committee Summary - May 5, 2026
[4:10:22]
Library Committee Summary - June 18, 2026
[4:10:22]
Sustainability, Infrastructure, and Development Committee Summary - August 11, 2026
[4:11:18]
Community and Health Services Committee Summary - August 11, 2026
[4:12:01]
Administration and Finance Committee Summary - August 11, 2026
[4:12:55]
Library Committee Summary - August 20, 2026
[4:13:52]
Licensing and Hearings Committee Summary - August 20, 2026
[4:14:14]
Other Matters
[4:14:15]
Motions where notice has been provided
[4:14:09]
Councillor D. Craig
[4:30:30]
Notice of Motion
[4:30:33]
Unfinished Business
[4:30:38]
Other Business
[4:36:11]
Questions
[4:36:17]
Enactment of By-laws – First, Second & Third Readings
[4:36:44]
Adjourn
Transcript
SOURCE TRANSCRIPT
This transcript is downloaded from the source you provided but we haven't reviewed it for accuracy. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record. You can also request an AI-transcription of the audio file with the button to the left.
[3:52]
So good evening and welcome to our Council meeting on
[3:54]
August the 26, 2026. I will now call Tim Brubacher
[3:58]
Regional Clerk to conduct the roll call. There we go.
[4:08]
Thanks, Chair. Chair Redman. Present. Councillor Craig. Councillor Foxton. Present.
[4:17]
We have regrets from Councillor Gowing. Councillor Harris. Councillor James.
[4:24]
Present. Councillor Liggett. Councillor McCabe. Councillor Nowak. Councillor Rodriguez. Present.
[4:30]
Councillor Salonin. Councillor Shantz. Present. Councillor Vrbanovic is running a
[4:37]
little late. Councillor Wolf. Present. Thank you, Chair. I'd like
[4:41]
to acknowledge that the land on which we gather today
[4:43]
is a traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, the Anishnawbe
[4:46]
and the Chonnonton Peoples. In doing so, I want
[4:49]
to reflect on what it means to be doing important
[4:52]
community work like we are in engaging in collectively today.
[4:55]
And also my own individual relationship to the land. As
[4:59]
a settler, one of the most important aspects of my
[5:01]
individual journey towards truth and reconciliation has been to listen.
[5:05]
I am continually grateful to community who shares their stories
[5:09]
and their concerns with me. As well as the chair
[5:12]
of the region, I know that I carry a large
[5:14]
responsibility to ensure that it is not just myself on
[5:17]
an individual level listening and acting, but that as a
[5:20]
government, we are listening and creating action with community. I'm
[5:24]
offering this acknowledgement as one of the many actions I
[5:27]
am personally in the region largely is taking towards truth
[5:30]
and reconciliation. We acknowledge in during Presence of the Indigenous
[5:34]
people with whom we share this land today, their achievements
[5:37]
in their contributions to our community. I also want to
[5:41]
acknowledge a couple of days of significance this month. August
[5:45]
25th is Rohingya Genocide Awareness Day, which honours the memory
[5:49]
of the lives lost during the attacks by minimars, armed
[5:53]
forces on August 25th, 2017. August 31st, 2026 marks the
[6:00]
25th year of international overdose awareness day. It is a
[6:06]
day to remember those we've lost to drug overdose and
[6:09]
poisoning. And to acknowledge the grief carried by the families,
[6:13]
the friends, and the communities left behind. To commemorate international
[6:17]
overdose awareness day and exterior lightning of regional buildings will
[6:21]
be in purple on August 31st. Colleagues, are there any
[6:27]
declarations of conflict of interest. Seeing none I now would
[6:33]
consider a motion to go into close if I have
[6:36]
a mover in a second or move my councillor James,
[6:38]
seconded by Councillor. I'm going to ask you to use
[6:41]
your escribe, but we are going into a closed
[6:44]
meeting to receive advice, subject to clients this privilege regarding
[6:50]
potential, well - interference policy, receiving advice that is subject
[6:55]
to solicitor client privilege relating to litigation on the Ontario
[7:00]
Land Tribunal and discussions related to identify individuals and labour
[7:04]
relations regarding organisational structure. Colleagues, do I have unanimous consent
[7:10]
to go into closed. Yeah. Thank you. We will reconvene
[7:15]
in the Waterloo County room.
[3:09:45]
So I'd like to welcome all of a guests in
[3:09:47]
the gallery and I'm looking to counsel we need a
[3:09:50]
motion to reconvene an open session if I have a
[3:09:52]
move by accounts or fox and seconded by Councillor James.
[3:09:56]
Do I have unanimous consent to reconvene an open session?
[3:09:59]
Thank you. We are now back in open session. So
[3:10:04]
we begin to night with a very positive note to
[3:10:08]
our meeting. We come together to honour the recipients of
[3:10:11]
the 2026 Jack Young Civic Award. It is a pleasure
[3:10:16]
to gather with friends, family, and current and former colleagues
[3:10:20]
and members of Regional Council to celebrate two individuals whose
[3:10:24]
dedication and service have been, have made a lasting impact
[3:10:27]
on the regional Waterloo. The Jack Young Civic Award is
[3:10:31]
one of the region of Waterloo's highest civic honours named
[3:10:35]
after Jack Young, The Regent's First Chair. It recognises individuals
[3:10:39]
who exemplify the values that have defined his public service,
[3:10:44]
which were integrity, leadership, civic commitment, and dedication to improving
[3:10:49]
the lives of others. What makes this award especially meaningful
[3:10:54]
is that it honours people whose contributions closely are connected
[3:10:58]
to the region of Waterloo government, the programs, and the
[3:11:02]
services that support our community. Their work may not have
[3:11:06]
always been in the spotlight, but it has been atlasting
[3:11:10]
impact on the region of Waterloo and the residents we
[3:11:13]
serve. One of my favourite parts of being regional chair
[3:11:17]
is the Opportunity to recognise people who have made a
[3:11:20]
genuine difference. Tonight we celebrate two individuals whose dedication, professionalism,
[3:11:27]
and commitment to public service have strengthened both our organisation
[3:11:31]
and our community. Our first recipient this evening is Terri
[3:11:35]
Plummer. For 15 years, Terry served the region of Waterloo
[3:11:41]
with dedication, professionalism, and a genuine commitment to helping others.
[3:11:46]
During her career and council and administrative services, she supported
[3:11:50]
regional council and committees helped administer elections, manage the Waterloo
[3:11:55]
Regional Arts Fund and contributed to countless projects that help
[3:11:59]
keep the organization running smoothly. Terri became known as someone
[3:12:05]
colleagues could always count on. She stepped in whenever support
[3:12:09]
was needed and embraced new challenges and approached every task
[3:12:13]
with a positive attitude and a strong focus on service.
[3:12:18]
Through her work with the Waterloo Region Arts Fund, she
[3:12:21]
helped support local artists and cultural initiatives that continue to
[3:12:25]
enrich communities across the region. She also volunteered her time
[3:12:29]
to support elections and community initiatives always going above and
[3:12:34]
beyond what was required. What stands out most about Terri
[3:12:39]
is the way she treated people, whether working with residents,
[3:12:43]
volunteers, colleagues, our community organisations. She consistently demonstrated kindness, patience,
[3:12:51]
and professionalism. Even in retirement, Terri continues to give back
[3:12:55]
through volunteer work and fundraising efforts. Terri's commitment to service
[3:13:00]
and her positive impact on both the organisation and the
[3:13:03]
community make her a truly deserving recipient of the Jack
[3:13:07]
Young Civic Award. So please join me in congratulating Terri.
[3:13:12]
And if Terri, if you want to make a few
[3:13:13]
comments, you're welcome to the podium.
[3:13:25]
Thank you, Chair Redman. And Regional Councillors.
[3:13:31]
When I received the email notifying me that I had
[3:13:34]
been awarded at the Jack Young Civic Award, I just
[3:13:36]
thought that I had been included in an email as
[3:13:39]
a courtesy regarding someone I'd known and worked with, or
[3:13:42]
perhaps included inadvertently by mistake. But when I actually began
[3:13:46]
reading The Message written by Karen, I immediately burst into
[3:13:50]
tears. So as we go through our lives, we get
[3:13:58]
jobs, we do our work to the best of our
[3:14:00]
abilities. We try to do a good job. We try
[3:14:03]
to work well with others and working at the region
[3:14:06]
of Waterloo. We hope we make a small difference in
[3:14:08]
the everyday lives of people in our community. And then
[3:14:13]
if we're lucky, we retire. And we figure that's it,
[3:14:17]
right? Because we're often just remembered for that last project,
[3:14:23]
that last report rewrote. And the last meeting we were
[3:14:26]
at, mine was actually on my 65th birthday. I very
[3:14:30]
much appreciated working in the regional clerk's office. I was
[3:14:33]
fortunate to work with a lot of really wonderful people.
[3:14:39]
And our team was wonderful to work with every day.
[3:14:45]
I enjoyed working with others in many different areas at
[3:14:48]
the region, including. Craig Dyer. And I enjoyed the diversity
[3:14:53]
of the work that we did. I really, really did.
[3:14:56]
And I even provided Administrative support to the Jack Young
[3:15:00]
Civic Award Committee at one point for a little bit.
[3:15:03]
So full circle. One of the things I'm most proud
[3:15:06]
of was the work I did with the region of
[3:15:08]
Waterloo Arts Fund. Art has such a fundamental and diverse
[3:15:13]
role in our community. Creating beauty, providing entertainment and generating
[3:15:18]
conversations. It's all such an important part of what makes
[3:15:22]
this community vibrant and living. An artists are people I
[3:15:26]
have great admiration for. Providing our community with art is
[3:15:30]
a wonderful and a very hard thing. And making a
[3:15:33]
living added is even harder. I was pleased to be
[3:15:36]
able to work with so many creative people from artists
[3:15:39]
struggling to submit grant applications, and they did struggle. To
[3:15:45]
the artists who were successful in receiving grants. And I'm
[3:15:48]
very proud of the support I provided to the region
[3:15:50]
of Waterloo Arts Fund Board. Most of the more volunteers,
[3:15:54]
people who were artists, art administrators are just strong supporters
[3:15:57]
of the arts and lovers of the arts. So many
[3:16:00]
wonderful people who I admire for the hard work they
[3:16:03]
did to provide artists with the funding resources to bring
[3:16:05]
us all the art in our community. It's an honour
[3:16:09]
to receive this award. And I thank Karen. And the
[3:16:12]
other members of the Jack Young Civic Award Committee and
[3:16:15]
Stacey Abbott. Who nominated me. And I thank you all
[3:16:19]
for this recognition. Thank you very much. Can you join
[3:16:22]
me in the middle.
[3:17:09]
Our second recipient this evening is Craig Dyer. For more
[3:17:12]
than 36 years, Craig dedicated his career to municipal government,
[3:17:17]
public service, including 12 years as Region of Waterloo's Commissioner
[3:17:21]
of Corporate Services and our chief financial officer. Throughout his
[3:17:25]
career, Craig earned the respect of colleagues and elected officials
[3:17:29]
alike as a trusted advisor and exceptional leader. He helped
[3:17:34]
guide some of the region's most significant initiatives, including major
[3:17:38]
infrastructure investments, long - term capital planning, and the implementation
[3:17:42]
of the Ion Rapid Transit. One of Craig's greatest strengths
[3:17:48]
is his ability to take complex financial information and make
[3:17:52]
it understandable. His advice helped council make informed decisions that
[3:17:56]
balanced immediate needs with long - term interests of residents.
[3:18:01]
During the COVID - 19 pandemic, Craig's calm and steady
[3:18:05]
leadership helped guide the organisation through a period of significant
[3:18:09]
uncertainty while maintaining a focus on financial sustainability and responsible
[3:18:15]
stewardship. His expertise was respected not only within Waterloo region,
[3:18:21]
but across Ontario's municipal sector, where he became a trusted
[3:18:26]
voice on Financial Planning and Governance. Even after retirement, Craig
[3:18:31]
continues to contribute his knowledge and experience to the broader
[3:18:34]
municipal community. Craig's integrity, professionalism, and commitment to public service
[3:18:41]
reflect the very qualities that this award was created to
[3:18:44]
celebrate. So Craig, I'm going to invite you to the
[3:18:48]
podium if you'd like to say a few words.
[3:19:05]
I was hoping you wouldn't notice. So it's a bit
[3:19:12]
strange standing here. I got to say, and I should
[3:19:16]
start off by saying, no, I don't miss the 10
[3:19:19]
- hour budget meetings. At all. Um, and I should
[3:19:23]
also say that, uh, Terry and I did not have
[3:19:26]
any conversations about what our speeches would be like. The
[3:19:30]
fact that our opening paragraphs are virtually identical. Is, um,
[3:19:37]
truly, uh, coincidence, because nobody was more surprised than me
[3:19:41]
when I saw the email, I read it four or
[3:19:45]
five times and concluded that it had gone to the
[3:19:48]
wrong Craig. And, um. And, uh, I was surprised. And
[3:19:54]
I thought I was thinking afterwards about why was I
[3:19:57]
so surprised? And I was surprised because, um, I think
[3:20:01]
by definition as public servants, we think about the public
[3:20:04]
and we think about service. We don't think about, um,
[3:20:09]
I don't know, personal glory or, you know, our share
[3:20:13]
price or our profit margin. We're always thinking about how
[3:20:16]
do we deliver better service? And we're constantly asking ourselves,
[3:20:21]
you know, is this good public policy? I have a
[3:20:23]
little sign in my backyard office that says, is this
[3:20:27]
good public policy? Um, yes, I'm a nerd. I know
[3:20:32]
that. I was going to get to that later in
[3:20:35]
the speech, but, um, and I say all of this
[3:20:40]
because it seems to me we're at a time where
[3:20:41]
public servants, uh, are under an immense amount of pressure,
[3:20:46]
both elected officials and staff, the, you know, calm, respectful
[3:20:50]
public discourse is hard to find these days. And then
[3:20:54]
enough patience and not enough reflection and not enough desire
[3:20:57]
to better understand differing viewpoints. And so it seems even
[3:21:01]
more important to me that opportunities to recognise the great
[3:21:07]
work that gets done in local government, um, every day,
[3:21:10]
uh, are so important. And it's with that context in
[3:21:13]
mind. Um, that I find myself, um, deeply honoured and
[3:21:18]
grateful to have received this recognition. Someone took the time
[3:21:24]
to nominate me. I think I now know who it
[3:21:26]
is. Um, so thank you. Um, and thank you Chair
[3:21:31]
Redman and members of the award committee and regional council
[3:21:34]
for believing that, uh, self - confessed municipal finance nerd
[3:21:39]
is worthy of this level of recognition. Public service has
[3:21:43]
never, um, a one - time, sorry, a one person
[3:21:46]
effort. And I've been so fortunate throughout my career to
[3:21:50]
have spent time working with such smart, um, smart, dedicated
[3:21:54]
colleagues who share a commitment to the local government sector.
[3:21:57]
I've learned so much from so many of them. And
[3:22:01]
I'm grateful for the many relationships and friendships I've built
[3:22:04]
along the way, some of which continue strongly to this
[3:22:08]
day. And, uh, you know who you are. Um, for
[3:22:14]
the other finance nerds here today, municipal Finance happens, like
[3:22:19]
there like municipal finance. It's one of the conclusions I've
[3:22:23]
come to in the last while, um, it happens for
[3:22:27]
the most part, quietly behind the scenes, except for budget
[3:22:31]
time, of course. Um, but it plays a huge role
[3:22:36]
in building prosperous and sustainable communities. Well, at the same
[3:22:41]
time, uh, caring and showing compassion for those who struggle
[3:22:47]
to share in such prosperity in our communities. It's been
[3:22:52]
an honour to have contributed to this kind of work.
[3:22:55]
In municipalities across the province and most significantly at the
[3:22:59]
region of Waterloo. And then finally, I thank once again
[3:23:03]
my long suffering family who are here tonight back here,
[3:23:09]
um, for their patients, their understanding and support over the
[3:23:11]
years, especially when I subject them to another municipal finance
[3:23:16]
rant. Of which there have been many in the last
[3:23:20]
little while. Um, I feel truly honoured today. So thank
[3:23:23]
you very much. So Craig, if you'll join me in
[3:23:32]
the, at the round table, and I just want to
[3:23:34]
tell you from my perspective, I've been doing this a
[3:23:36]
little while. It's never only about money, but it's always
[3:23:39]
about money.
[3:24:48]
I know there are people at home watching this on
[3:24:50]
YouTube and they are not going to be able to
[3:24:53]
pan the gallery, but there are so many familiar faces
[3:24:56]
of current and past people who have made this region
[3:25:00]
what they are. So what we are. So thank you
[3:25:02]
very much for coming and supporting these two outstanding people.
[3:25:05]
And it doesn't surprise me that Craig and Terri had
[3:25:08]
very similar speeches because you're both incredibly humble people. And
[3:25:12]
you get the job done and you make sure that
[3:25:14]
everybody else has looked after, uh, you have provided amazing
[3:25:18]
leadership. So we thank you very much. Today we've recognised
[3:25:22]
two remarkable individuals whose contributions made Waterloo regions stronger. Terri
[3:25:29]
Plummer and Craig Dyer have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to
[3:25:33]
public service and have left a lasting legacy through their
[3:25:36]
work. So on behalf of Regional Council and the residents
[3:25:39]
of Waterloo Region congratulations and thank you for everything you've
[3:25:43]
done.
[3:25:56]
Now I'm going to invite all of you to stay
[3:25:58]
if you choose to, but we will not think poorly
[3:26:00]
of you if you decide that you want to, um,
[3:26:03]
carry on and do other things over the evening. Thank
[3:26:05]
you all for coming. Terri's offering to run the
[3:26:15]
cameras one of her old tasks.
[3:26:35]
So colleagues as the gallery, um, becomes a little bit
[3:26:38]
thinner and people are leaving. Um, I'm just going to
[3:26:41]
draw your attention to a petition that was received earlier
[3:26:45]
this week, The Bloomingdale Traffic Coming, uh, petition. And we've
[3:26:49]
received that for information. I'd now like to welcome our
[3:26:53]
delegations. There we will hear them as they're listed on
[3:26:57]
the agenda. And I would like to remind all delegations
[3:27:00]
of some guidelines for participation. If you are attending in
[3:27:04]
person, please proceed to the podium when you're called upon
[3:27:07]
to speak. The podium has the ability to be lowered
[3:27:10]
and raised using buttons on the right. If you're attending
[3:27:13]
virtually, please turn on your microphone and camera when you
[3:27:16]
are called upon. You will have five minutes to speak
[3:27:21]
if you registered before the deadline and three of you
[3:27:23]
registered afterwards. When the light on the podium turns yellow,
[3:27:27]
that means you have one minute remaining. When the light
[3:27:30]
turns red, that means your time is up and you
[3:27:33]
may hear me give you a reminder of your remaining
[3:27:35]
time. Additionally, some general reminders, if you conduct yourself in
[3:27:40]
any of the following manners, it will result in an
[3:27:43]
immediate removal from the meeting. Interrupting councillors, staff, or other
[3:27:48]
delegations derogatory statements about councillors, staff, or others. Turning on
[3:27:53]
your camera at inappropriate times and H speech or defamatory
[3:27:58]
comments. One last reminder for Delegations, please do not take
[3:28:02]
offence if following your presentation. There are no questions from
[3:28:06]
council. This is counsel's time to really listen and reflect
[3:28:10]
upon the opinions and the ideas shared with us from
[3:28:12]
our community members. And a quick reminder to members of
[3:28:15]
the audience, you're asked to maintain order. Our first delegation
[3:28:23]
is Alan Carpenter, North Dumfries. Alan, I believe you're here
[3:28:28]
in person. Welcome to the podium. You have five minutes.
[3:28:46]
Sorry. And our safety issues, uh, before us on the
[3:28:50]
road. Let me just read from my notes. Let me
[3:28:55]
pick it up. Um, so we're here before the region
[3:28:58]
for that purpose. We're talking about regional road 49 from
[3:29:03]
Scott Street to Spragues Road. Just a 5K road. And,
[3:29:08]
uh, it takes about, uh, 080K, which is the speed
[3:29:12]
limit. It takes, uh, 32 seconds. But if you drop
[3:29:16]
it down to 60, um, then I'm sorry, at 60,
[3:29:21]
it's 42. So it's just a difference of one minute
[3:29:24]
if we can get the speed down by 20K. So
[3:29:28]
we'll brief counsel here on the area resident concerns related
[3:29:32]
to road safety. Within the settlement area of Wrigley and
[3:29:35]
along the broader Wrigley Road corridor. So we request that
[3:29:41]
the region undertake speed reduction, to 60, okay. Within the settlement
[3:29:47]
area, I live in the settlement area and many of
[3:29:50]
our residents also. Also a speed review this summer, uh,
[3:29:54]
they did a speed review. And I mentioned it later,
[3:29:57]
but, uh, they did it in the wintertime. So you
[3:30:00]
can understand that the speeds are much, much different in
[3:30:03]
the summer. So we would look for, uh, a review
[3:30:06]
of speeds, uh, before the summer's finished. And Wrigley, as
[3:30:12]
I mentioned, is 5K in length under the jurisdiction of
[3:30:16]
the region of Waterloo, including authority over speed limits, road
[3:30:20]
design, driveway permits, and road maintenance. The road bisects are
[3:30:27]
settlement area of Wrigley where rural residential properties font. Directly
[3:30:33]
onto the corridor. And where there are no sidewalk cycling
[3:30:36]
facilities or streetlights. Residents on the north side would have
[3:30:41]
to cross the road carefully to retrieve their mail. The
[3:30:46]
current posted speed limit is 80, but I would mention
[3:30:52]
viewing westbound, at all. There's no sign. Uh, so 80
[3:30:58]
through the settlement area and along the corridor between Scott
[3:31:02]
Street and Spragues Road. Residents of raised concerns over the
[3:31:08]
past two years regarding vehicle speeds and broader road safety
[3:31:13]
conditions. Speed monitoring undertaken by the towns of North Dumfries
[3:31:20]
during the winter months. Approximately a high percentile at 78
[3:31:26]
kilometers an hour. A maximum record was 103 and approximately
[3:31:31]
10 percent of vehicles above the Post - 80 threshold
[3:31:35]
within the settlement area. Comparable regional roads throughout other rural
[3:31:40]
settlement areas in North Dumphreys are posted at lower speeds,
[3:31:44]
including Roseville, Clyde, branched in and Browns, which vary from
[3:31:48]
50 to 60 kilometers an hour. Only the Wrigley settlement
[3:31:53]
area has a posted speed of 80. Despite similar built,
[3:31:57]
uh, roads characteristics, when contrasted against other rural communities. The
[3:32:05]
residents along Wrigley Road, which is supported by an adopted
[3:32:08]
resolution of North Dumfries Council is requesting a broader road
[3:32:13]
safety study, not simply a posted speed limit review to
[3:32:17]
consider Pedestrian and cycle safety driveway movements. Centre line passing,
[3:32:23]
farm equipment, traffic volumes, car truck splits. Collision history, topography,
[3:32:32]
uh, and quarter land issues, uses. Recommended, we ask of
[3:32:38]
regional council, uh, that direct staff to compete a speed
[3:32:45]
review and comprehensive road safety assessment for Wrigley Road. Extending
[3:32:51]
from Scott in the west to Spragues at the east
[3:32:57]
end, particular attention to our settlement area and the transition
[3:33:00]
from approaching the settlement. This is a road safety request,
[3:33:08]
not simply a speed limit request. The residents along Wrigley,
[3:33:13]
which has been endorsed through an adopted resolution of North
[3:33:17]
Dumfries Township Council is seeking a comprehensive analysis of the
[3:33:22]
corridor becomes speed, traffic mix, roadside conditions. Settlement form and
[3:33:29]
vulnera world users must be considered together. Wrigley functions differently
[3:33:34]
within the settlement area than it does in the open
[3:33:37]
roll corridor. Rural residents, uh, front directly onto the road,
[3:33:42]
The Residence must interact with traffic from driveways along the
[3:33:46]
roadside with sidewalks, cycling facilities. Or treatment. No, no cycling.
[3:33:53]
Facilities and no street lighting. The current 80 posted should
[3:33:59]
be reviewed in context, although the winter months at about
[3:34:05]
78 an hour. The settlement context in comparison with other
[3:34:08]
rural sediment areas suggest that a review is warranted. Examples,
[3:34:14]
and I mentioned them Roseville Road, Clyde, Branchton, et cetera.
[3:34:19]
Alan, you're out of time if you want to sum
[3:34:20]
up, please. Okay. Um, that's too bad. Um, I will.
[3:34:28]
Um, so looking ahead, um, we've got a 290 housing
[3:34:33]
development coming in across from the air fire hall. And
[3:34:37]
we got two new gravel pits and that's going to
[3:34:39]
add a lot more traffic to Wrigley. My closing message
[3:34:43]
of I can read that and I'll be done. The
[3:34:46]
area residents along the Wrigley Road are recognized that
[3:34:50]
Wrigley Road is a regional facility and that any changes
[3:34:53]
must be informed by regional analysis. The request before regional
[3:34:58]
counsel is to undertake that analysis so that future decision
[3:35:01]
on speed, design, and road safety improvements are evidence -
[3:35:05]
based corridor - wide and responsible responsive to the settlement
[3:35:10]
context and road approaches. Uh, there was a Waterloo Regional
[3:35:16]
Police Service study last year. And it had a lot
[3:35:20]
of what we're asking for tonight to make road safe.
[3:35:24]
Thank you to Region for having us tonight, Mayor Foxton
[3:35:30]
and Andrew McNeely, Alita Wilma for forgetting us here tonight.
[3:35:35]
And, uh, I'll take any questions. Thank you. Hey, can
[3:35:38]
we, Alan, we do have some questions. So don't run
[3:35:40]
away. Uh, Councillor Foxton. I was going to make a
[3:35:44]
comment after the next Delegate, please. Thank you. Councillor Shantz.
[3:35:51]
Thank you. I don't have questions for the Delegate, but
[3:35:54]
I also have some comments and questions for staff. So
[3:36:01]
thank you, Alan. Uh, you can take your seat. Thank
[3:36:05]
you. So Council, the Shantz and Foxton, you want to
[3:36:10]
hear the next delegation before you pose your comments and
[3:36:13]
questions. I would like to. It's one of my councillors,
[3:36:16]
Alida Wilms. Thank you. So the next delegation is Alita
[3:36:21]
Wilms Councillor Ward for War 3 in North Dumfries. You're
[3:36:26]
joining us virtually and you have five minutes. Welcome. Thank
[3:36:30]
you. Good evening. Chair Redman, members of Council and staff.
[3:36:35]
My name is Alida Wilms and I'm award councillor in
[3:36:37]
North Dumfries. And thank you very much for this opportunity
[3:36:40]
to talk to you about a safety matter. That's important
[3:36:43]
to our shared community. Wrigley Road is a regional road
[3:36:46]
that connects the village of ayr, Cambridge, and Paris. It's
[3:36:50]
a very busy rule road with a lot of commuters
[3:36:52]
and trucks. But Wrigley Road is also home. It passes
[3:36:57]
directly through wetlands, active farms, local businesses, and their residential
[3:37:02]
Wrigley Rural Settlement area where the neighbours, before you Tonight
[3:37:05]
live. Currently, Reglonal Road is an 80 kilometer zone. It
[3:37:09]
has limited shoulders, no lighting, and is very straight and
[3:37:13]
flat. It's the only road in North Dumfries that
[3:37:16]
permits a speed of 80 kilometers an hour through a
[3:37:18]
designated residential settlement zone. That's fast. Residents in the settlement
[3:37:24]
need to access their mailboxes, mow their lawns, walk their
[3:37:27]
dogs, shovel their driveway, all within a couple of feet
[3:37:30]
of high speed, heavy traffic. Residents of Wrigley have been
[3:37:34]
concerned about the increase of traffic for some time. This
[3:37:38]
past winter, a young resident was severely injured when she
[3:37:41]
was hit by a car. In April, resonance appealed to
[3:37:45]
directly to North Dumfries Council for help. In turn, Council
[3:37:49]
unanosleep past emotion to bring this urgent matter before count
[3:37:53]
directly before the region. So we asked for two things.
[3:37:58]
An immediate reduction of the speed through the residential settlement
[3:38:01]
area to 60 kilometers an hour. So that's first. And
[3:38:04]
second, a traffic safety study for all of Wrigley Road
[3:38:07]
to evaluate engineering and traffic calming measures that could help
[3:38:11]
slow drivers down. We recognise that there are many rural
[3:38:16]
regional roads that share similar characteristics. They're straight, they're fought,
[3:38:20]
and they're busy. However, the concentration of residential homes and
[3:38:25]
daily pedestrian activity along this specific stretch creates an issue
[3:38:30]
that requires regional intervention. Our residents are simply asking to
[3:38:36]
feel safe outside their own homes. Please support our request
[3:38:40]
to bring moderation, lower speeds, and improve safety to Wrigley
[3:38:44]
Road. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you
[3:38:48]
very much, Alida. Um, Councillor Foxton, is this a question
[3:38:51]
or comment to the delegation or to staff? This is
[3:38:55]
two staff and council. Okay. Um, Councillor Shantz, your questions
[3:39:00]
to the Delegation or to staff. Okay. Thanks, Alita. You
[3:39:05]
may want to hang on because we are now going
[3:39:07]
to talk to staff. So Councillor Foxton, please go ahead.
[3:39:10]
Thank you. So you have to realise North Dumfries is
[3:39:12]
an air is an interesting community in that we are
[3:39:16]
a major arterial role to the 401. Dumfries Road runs
[3:39:20]
into Wrigley's world and it is the major arterial world
[3:39:24]
off the fore one going towards the 403. So these
[3:39:28]
residents are dealing with major, major Commuter traffic. On top
[3:39:32]
of that, you've got a letter today an email, I
[3:39:35]
believe from an individual that lives on Wrigley's Road talking
[3:39:38]
about they don't want the speed limit dropped. They said
[3:39:41]
it's a clear role. They can just fly on down
[3:39:43]
and it's great. And that's the whole point. If you
[3:39:46]
look at some of the pictures that were up, you'll
[3:39:48]
notice it's very tree - lined. So you can't really
[3:39:52]
see the houses. So this woman was that, that was
[3:39:57]
injured. She was out jogging on a winter's morning. She
[3:40:01]
got hit and thrown into the air. Into snow bank.
[3:40:06]
No, not even the bank, Snow in the field. One
[3:40:08]
of the regional snow ploughs saw this grey sweater. And
[3:40:14]
thought First thing we were going to do anything. And
[3:40:16]
then they thought it doesn't look right. So they stopped
[3:40:19]
the plough and went into that field and found her
[3:40:22]
body. He wasn't even sure she was alive. That's only
[3:40:25]
one of several cases. There's been fatalities on this world,
[3:40:29]
quite a few. Um, now you have to figure that
[3:40:32]
your rule. Some of my seniors, you have to cross
[3:40:35]
Wrigley road to get your mailbox. They're on the opposite
[3:40:39]
side. And you're competing with now we are getting as
[3:40:44]
it. We're getting two new subdivisions. One, the potential of
[3:40:50]
two gravel pits on either side of the boat and
[3:40:53]
a subdivision. So that traffic is going to be heading
[3:40:57]
towards the 401 Wrigley road. They're going to be going
[3:41:00]
either to Hamilton. So the girl on the Sprage's road
[3:41:03]
or they'll be going to the 401 to get to
[3:41:05]
wherever they go in the destination. So we're increasing the
[3:41:08]
amount of traffic there. We're putting these people in risk.
[3:41:12]
The only option you can say to them is only
[3:41:15]
getting your cars when you're going to go get your
[3:41:17]
mail only getting your cars that you're going to go
[3:41:18]
any threat. There's no walking to your neighbour. There's no
[3:41:21]
because otherwise you're putting your life at risk. And I
[3:41:23]
think this is a true situation of many of the
[3:41:27]
township roads. What they want is, and what we've done
[3:41:30]
as a council, every hamlet, every little set of communities,
[3:41:36]
settlement areas, we have lowered the speed. So that we
[3:41:39]
can try and at least control that and even have
[3:41:43]
police come out there and charge people. And that's what
[3:41:46]
right now they're asking is one, to have the speed,
[3:41:49]
Lord, in the hamlet area. It's about 15 houses, 20
[3:41:53]
hoses. Maybe 30. Maybe 30 houses. And this one area,
[3:41:59]
um, and then do a traffic study. And I think
[3:42:01]
you're probably going to hear from my colleague along the
[3:42:04]
same lines because of the Bloomingdale one is one that
[3:42:07]
came to us. So if we could do just these
[3:42:09]
few small things and you save one life, you've done
[3:42:14]
us tremendous thing. Thank you. Councillor Shantz. Thank you. And,
[3:42:22]
uh, thank you to the Delegates and to the folks
[3:42:25]
in Bloomingdale for sending this in. And it's a reminder
[3:42:29]
for me that, um, sometime in this term of counsel,
[3:42:34]
we asked for a rural strategy. For our towns because
[3:42:39]
all the world roads are connecting roads. And the speeds,
[3:42:43]
it doesn't matter what's posted. People drive too fast through
[3:42:47]
them. Um, I'm not sure if I've shared with you
[3:42:51]
a video of, um, from, from winterboure that was
[3:42:56]
shared with me. And it showed some kids out playing.
[3:42:59]
And while they were out playing someone hit a garbage
[3:43:03]
can and dragged it. And the sound was just horrifying.
[3:43:08]
Um, it's a problem. For all our regional roads coming
[3:43:13]
into towns and our hamlets and our villages. And so
[3:43:19]
I guess my question is what happened to that study.
[3:43:25]
Or that strategy. I was expecting it before now. Commissioner
[3:43:29]
Getsky. Thank you to you, Chair. You think you for
[3:43:34]
drawing our attention again. As you know, during this mandate,
[3:43:38]
um, a couple of years ago, the focus was very
[3:43:42]
much on automated speed enforcement as a tool that enables
[3:43:46]
to control speeds everywhere across the entire regional network. Uh,
[3:43:50]
that program was accelerated and then cancelled by the province.
[3:43:54]
So we had to pivot. Since the late spring of
[3:43:59]
this year, we initiated a township traffic calming program. Uh,
[3:44:04]
in partnership with area municipalities, we identified alongside in Bloomingdale
[3:44:08]
and Wrigley are part of it. Uh, there's 47 sites
[3:44:12]
in total. We understand that as, as more and more
[3:44:14]
houses get built in the townships, the settlements expand. And
[3:44:18]
that is becoming a more frequent problem. You're talking about
[3:44:22]
winterboure. There's many other communities that have similar problems
[3:44:25]
between, or friction between the houses that are being built
[3:44:29]
and the heavier traffic that may go through. So we
[3:44:32]
have 47 sites that are being investigated right now. So
[3:44:36]
the first part, um, that went through the summer was
[3:44:39]
about data collection. They will continue that. And we will
[3:44:41]
bring back that to council. I think the expected timeline
[3:44:45]
is mid next year to provide examples of countermeasures. Uh,
[3:44:52]
so measures that can be implemented to be able to,
[3:44:55]
uh, reduce speeds effectively, uh, and sustainably in these different
[3:45:00]
sites with all their specific, you know, the specific characteristics
[3:45:04]
of each of each hamlet, but also we want to
[3:45:07]
have some consistent solutions across the region throughout the townships.
[3:45:13]
Councillor Shantz. Not happy. Councillor Foxton. Uh, thank you. Colleagues,
[3:45:19]
my colleagues. I'm asking you to please watch this and
[3:45:22]
make sure that something's done. And you were trying to,
[3:45:26]
it's not that we want fancy things. We just want
[3:45:28]
to save lives. So if you could please on our
[3:45:32]
behalfs, keep your eyes on this for us. Thank you.
[3:45:37]
So Commissioner Getzky, I understand you need the data and
[3:45:41]
that you're trying to do this in a holistic way.
[3:45:43]
Can you maybe get back to council and see if
[3:45:45]
the way we could expedite that. They could come back
[3:45:48]
to council in a more time efficient manner. Uh, yes
[3:45:54]
we can. Thank you. I see no more questions in
[3:46:00]
this section. The next delegation is Dr. Terry Polevoy, from
[3:46:06]
Waterloo, who is joining us virtually. Terry, uh, you have
[3:46:11]
five minutes and you have the floor.
[3:46:27]
Can you hear me now? Yes, we can. Great. Okay.
[3:46:31]
I haven't spoken to the council for, um, many years.
[3:46:36]
The last time I was there was maybe 10 years
[3:46:38]
ago talking about tobacco issues. But this is basically, um,
[3:46:46]
I'm a retired physician. And been retired for about 10
[3:46:52]
years now. And I've been noticing thermography promotions. Which
[3:47:02]
is using a camera to claim to screen for breast
[3:47:08]
cancer, which is totally untrue. I have no commercial interest
[3:47:14]
in what I'm about to describe. And I'm not asking
[3:47:18]
the council to take a position on any of the
[3:47:21]
businesses. Which I'm not going to mention. What's being sold
[3:47:26]
here. In this region, women can pay hundreds of dollars.
[3:47:31]
For an infrared breast scan. That's advertised as a way
[3:47:36]
to assess their risks of developing breast cancer. Some of
[3:47:42]
this marketing promises and early morning, years before other methods.
[3:47:48]
Some of it grades a woman's result on a risk
[3:47:52]
scale. And then offers her treatment to move her score
[3:47:56]
down. This is not new. It's been going on for
[3:48:00]
over two decades in our region. Health Canada years ago
[3:48:07]
has addressed this only twice. We both notices. Are basically
[3:48:13]
hidden away on their website. In November, 2012, the Health
[3:48:20]
Canada Advised Canadians and Healthcare Practitioners that no thermography machines
[3:48:27]
have ever been approved to screen for breast cancer. Anywhere
[3:48:32]
in Canada. And that they may present a potential risk
[3:48:36]
for women who rely on these results. In 2017, September,
[3:48:44]
it went even further. These devices are licensed only to
[3:48:47]
measure skin temperature, like a simple thermometer. There's absolutely no
[3:48:53]
evidence that the cameras could detect breast cancer early. And
[3:48:58]
if a woman relies on thermography alone, cancer could go
[3:49:02]
undetected. I also said that I would follow up with
[3:49:07]
manufacturers because advertising or selling these devices for breast cancer
[3:49:14]
screening is prohibited in Canada. Yet they're all over the
[3:49:18]
place. Nine years have passed since I first contacted Health
[3:49:24]
Canada. And no outcomes of that follow - up has
[3:49:28]
ever been published on their website. Growth Health Canada notices
[3:49:34]
now carry an archive banner. So you're not going to
[3:49:38]
be able to find it very easily on health Canada
[3:49:41]
website. If you look for thermography. That happens automatically with
[3:49:49]
notices from healthcare after four years. The federal warning, a
[3:49:55]
woman finds today is marked as not updated while the
[3:50:00]
websites across Canada, especially in this region. Are selling the
[3:50:06]
scan. Continuously and they're updated regularly. My concern is not
[3:50:13]
the camera itself because a camera doesn't harm anybody. A
[3:50:17]
woman who's told her skin is normal may feel reassured
[3:50:22]
that that reassurance leads her to delay or skip mammography.
[3:50:27]
The delay is the harm. Not the picture. I want
[3:50:32]
to be clear that this is not only my view.
[3:50:35]
I wrote the region of Waterloo Public Health Associated Medical
[3:50:41]
Officer of Health recently. And described my concerns accurately. That
[3:50:46]
breast thermography may provide false reassurance and could discourage some
[3:50:50]
individuals from participating in evidence - based breast cancer screening.
[3:50:58]
The associate medical officer of health told me correctly that
[3:51:02]
medical devices advertising claims and regulated health professionals all full
[3:51:09]
outside the mandates of the local public health unit. I
[3:51:13]
accept that. I'm not here to ask counsel to overturn
[3:51:17]
it. But I would ask counsel to notice the pattern.
[3:51:23]
Health Canada have moved my complaint that queen its own
[3:51:27]
branches cancer care Ontario said publicly 20 years ago that
[3:51:33]
health candidate regulates the promotion of treatments not of screening
[3:51:37]
tests. And call this case of Buyer Beware. This month,
[3:51:44]
even state medical boards in the United States, like in
[3:51:47]
Texas, told me that they don't even track these devices.
[3:51:52]
Carry your eyes. They don't even have Terry you're out
[3:51:54]
of time. Can you just sum up please? Yes. Um,
[3:51:59]
I would like to make a request. That the council
[3:52:04]
issue a public advisory. On breast thermography. And it's not
[3:52:10]
going to cost you one nickel. It's not going to
[3:52:13]
cost anything to make that public announcement. And I've included
[3:52:18]
supplementation supplemented papers and so forth. For your review. Thank
[3:52:27]
you very much. Terry. Um, I see no questions. Dr.
[3:52:31]
Wong, would you like to give a response. Thank you
[3:52:36]
through you, the chair. So I would recommend that public
[3:52:40]
health act. Within its legislated role and establish program responsibilities,
[3:52:47]
uh, we do not regulate medical devices advertising claims or
[3:52:51]
health professionals. And we do not deliver the provincial breast
[3:52:56]
cancer screening program. Public health also does not lead breast
[3:53:00]
cancer screening communications. Provincial screening communications are coordinated through cancer
[3:53:06]
care, Ontario. And lastly, I would like to thank Dr.
[3:53:11]
Pollovoy's longstanding. Thank him for his longstanding service to our
[3:53:15]
community and his commitment to the health and wellbeing of
[3:53:18]
our residence. Thank you. Thank you Dr. Wong and thank
[3:53:22]
you Dr. Polevoy for Delegating. The next, I
[3:53:26]
see no further questions. The next delegation is David Marskell,
[3:53:29]
CEO of the Museum. David, you're here in person. Welcome
[3:53:33]
to the podium and you have five minutes. Thank you
[3:53:42]
very much. And it's good to see everybody. Um. I'll
[3:53:50]
move fairly quickly through the first part of the deck
[3:53:52]
because I assume you all received it and it's on
[3:53:54]
public record. Uh, but we have a wonderful and continue
[3:53:57]
to have a great stellar, uh, board of directors, um,
[3:54:00]
over the last two years. We will have turned that
[3:54:04]
over by 60 percent. Next. Um, we follow the mission
[3:54:12]
vision and values next. Um, and art and technology, a
[3:54:18]
play that was the original model of the children's museum
[3:54:21]
that opened 24 years ago, continues to be our model
[3:54:25]
for motto for all stages of life. Next. We have
[3:54:31]
a bright future. We've been working with the city of
[3:54:33]
Kitchener. We appreciate your support in terms of the annual
[3:54:36]
grant. We have been meeting the needs of the of
[3:54:39]
the, um, of the growing population. And we are getting
[3:54:43]
close to returning to pre - COVID numbers. Thank you
[3:54:46]
next. Our fiscal that just ended was extremely successful. Our
[3:54:51]
attendance was up over 20 percent previous over the last
[3:54:54]
year. And we had our highest numbers in terms of
[3:54:59]
March break, an individual day had 1, 700 people and
[3:55:03]
highest revenues ever in a number of lines. Um, and
[3:55:06]
we've started our fiscal July 1st and July was our
[3:55:09]
highest attendance since 2012 and August is on target. Next.
[3:55:15]
We have a stellar group of Canadian speakers, um, launching
[3:55:22]
the Leonardo da Vinci 500 years of genius exhibition. Um,
[3:55:27]
starting November 22nd with Bob McDonald. And we have a
[3:55:31]
nostril and we're bringing back to the community Margaret Atwood
[3:55:34]
next. Leonardo da Vinci, um, I'm sure you all know
[3:55:41]
him incredibly what he thought, what he did, what he
[3:55:45]
created from science, her monatomy to the Mona Lisa in
[3:55:50]
the last, uh, the last supper next. Um, we are
[3:55:56]
in partnership with a number of incredible organisations. Are there
[3:55:59]
any Italians in the room, Karen? Like we've got a
[3:56:03]
lot of Italian. I've been meeting so many Italian friends
[3:56:06]
across the province. Um, the ambassador will be opening the
[3:56:09]
event on September 23rd. And I messed up and you
[3:56:12]
have a council meeting. So we will figure out a
[3:56:15]
day right after that, uh, sometime to get you there
[3:56:18]
to, to enjoy the show. Uh, we're working with so
[3:56:22]
many groups across, um, The Italian Community. Next. The Da
[3:56:28]
Vinci Festival, which I think is what we do best
[3:56:32]
is wonderful. On the right is some of the galleries
[3:56:36]
and rooms that will be explored. On the left, we
[3:56:38]
are what we do normally from school groups
[3:56:44]
to some of our Special events. Next. Top right is
[3:56:51]
the anatomy room that you'll see some of the drawings.
[3:56:54]
Um, much of what he did. He didn't actually make.
[3:56:57]
He created drawings. So in the bottom right, you're seeing
[3:56:59]
some of the things like the bicycle, uh, and so
[3:57:02]
on. Um, we have our immersive eye pool room on
[3:57:06]
the left, which we'll talk about Florence and some of
[3:57:09]
the places that he lived. But that just gives you
[3:57:11]
a sense of what people will enjoy next. This is
[3:57:17]
the, this is the best part of it. From Margaret
[3:57:21]
Atwood to seven post - secondary, um, institutions from Villanova
[3:57:26]
all the way to Georgian College to our universities to
[3:57:29]
Guelph, um, Carlton. The speaker series, for the most part
[3:57:34]
on Sunday afternoons is incredible. Um, and, um, I would
[3:57:38]
urge you all to, to come to some or all
[3:57:41]
of those. Um, Dorothy, I don't know if you knew
[3:57:44]
this. I certainly didn't know that in Waterloo and the
[3:57:48]
Hydro Cut that the Waterloo Cycling Club created the Da
[3:57:51]
Vinci Bridge to make it passable for cyclists and people
[3:57:56]
walking in Waterloo. Um, it's a pretty awesome lineup that
[3:58:00]
we have next. The building wrap dropped last week on
[3:58:07]
furrowed last week as a beacon to downtown Kitchener in
[3:58:10]
the heart of the region. And I think we're winding
[3:58:13]
down. I don't see a clock, but I think I'm
[3:58:15]
on time. Next. Yeah. About 31 minutes. Seconds minutes. Oh,
[3:58:20]
minutes. I can go for, yeah. Anyway, it's, it's a
[3:58:23]
wonderful, um, really on brand for us what he embodies
[3:58:29]
an art and technology at play what we inspired to
[3:58:34]
bring to this community. It's probably the biggest brand that
[3:58:38]
we've ever done, notwithstanding the Rolling Stones, Titanic and all
[3:58:41]
of those things. This is probably the biggest one ever.
[3:58:45]
Next. Maybe you could say this word, Karen, so I
[3:58:51]
don't butcher. Grazie, grazie. There it is. And thank you
[3:58:55]
very, very much. That was all for information. So David,
[3:58:58]
thank you very much. I have to say, I'm very
[3:59:00]
excited about this and not just because, uh, Italian is
[3:59:05]
my family roots, but, um, it feels to me like
[3:59:08]
you're going to be able to go to Italy and
[3:59:10]
it's much cheaper way to get there and enjoy the
[3:59:13]
beautiful artifacts and the inspiration from Da Vinci. So thank
[3:59:17]
you very much for coming and presenting this. We actually
[3:59:19]
have one of our colleagues, I think is in Italy
[3:59:22]
as we speak. So I will make sure that he
[3:59:24]
comes too. So, um, thank you for accommodating. I was
[3:59:28]
very sad to see that it was opening on a
[3:59:30]
council night. So yeah, we were accommodating the ambassador who
[3:59:34]
was opening and I do apologise. One ambassador or all
[3:59:38]
of us, geese David. I'll call him in the morning,
[3:59:42]
see if we can switch it up. I don't see
[3:59:44]
any questions, but thank you very much again for inspiring
[3:59:46]
the community. Thank you all very, very much. Next delegation
[3:59:52]
is Craig Sloss from Waterloo. I believe you're here in
[3:59:57]
person, Craig. You have the podium and you have five
[4:00:00]
minutes. All right. Uh, good
[4:00:10]
evening chair and members of Council. My name is Craig
[4:00:13]
Sloss. I'm an actuary and a data scientist living in
[4:00:16]
Waterloo. A significant portion of my work these days relates
[4:00:20]
to policies and practices around responsible use of AI. Core
[4:00:25]
principles of responsible AI include having a clearly defined value
[4:00:30]
generating purpose. Understanding the costs and risks associated with AI
[4:00:35]
and enabling well - informed decision - making that balance
[4:00:39]
as benefits and risks of AI. From my experience with
[4:00:43]
my colleagues, I know that there are people who work
[4:00:45]
with AI diligently and ethically. From my experience as a
[4:00:49]
consumer of technology products, I know that these qualities are
[4:00:52]
rare. And speaking today as a resident and not as
[4:00:56]
a representative of my employer or profession, but my perspective
[4:00:59]
is informed by my years of experience thinking critically about
[4:01:02]
these trade - offs. I support the motion requesting a
[4:01:07]
report to inform policy direction on data centres. And we'd
[4:01:10]
like to highlight a few areas that may require additional
[4:01:13]
attention. First, the motion correctly recognises that data centres very
[4:01:20]
significantly in size function and resource requirements. By then see
[4:01:25]
that's explicitly reflected in the concrete proposed content of the
[4:01:30]
report. So data centres have a wide variety of uses.
[4:01:34]
Many of which generate significant value for society. Hosting websites
[4:01:38]
and email servers enabling us to share files with friends
[4:01:41]
and family and hosting databases to support local business operations.
[4:01:46]
But data centres are also used to flood our social
[4:01:49]
media fees with AI - generated slop, some of which
[4:01:52]
is fraudulent or pla plagiaristic. Waste and inefficiency are widespread
[4:01:58]
in the AI industry. We all see this every time
[4:02:01]
we do an internet search and get an AI summary
[4:02:04]
that we never asked for. Every time AI is used
[4:02:08]
without a valid purpose is a waste of data centre
[4:02:10]
capacity. Waste that threatens our drinking water, our electricity supply,
[4:02:15]
and our ability to grow food locally. The policy question
[4:02:19]
is, how do we ensure that limited resources are used
[4:02:23]
only for data centres whose function aligns with our community's
[4:02:28]
values and priorities and prevent local resources from enabling waste,
[4:02:33]
deception, and abuse. This means that any future policy direction
[4:02:39]
only to set different rules based on the purpose and
[4:02:42]
size of the data centre. And the report can support
[4:02:45]
this by identifying criteria the policymakers can use to categorize
[4:02:50]
data centres. This should be done in collaboration with the
[4:02:54]
lower tier municipalities who also need to update zoning bylaws
[4:02:58]
to reflect different cities in the size and purpose of
[4:03:00]
data centres. Using my own city of Waterloo, as an
[4:03:05]
example, our zoning bylaw contains a single definition of data
[4:03:08]
centre that makes no distinction based on size or purpose.
[4:03:13]
If we had a zoning bylaw that made no distinction
[4:03:15]
between a single detached dwelling and a 30 - story
[4:03:18]
residential tower, I think we'd all agree that would be
[4:03:21]
an absurd situation. But that's a situation we're currently in
[4:03:25]
with data centres. Having a clear definition of different categories
[4:03:29]
of data centres is a critical first step in developing
[4:03:33]
policy that allocates resources in accordance to our community's priorities.
[4:03:41]
This season to my second recommendation, which is that the
[4:03:44]
report should incorporate public feedback, gather through mechanisms such as
[4:03:48]
engage WR or public feedback meetings. Since the report will
[4:03:52]
be used to support future policy direction. This direction should
[4:03:56]
be informed by a summary of public perspectives on data
[4:03:59]
centres. This information will be needed so that any policy
[4:04:03]
developed around data centres will prioritize allocating resources to purposes
[4:04:08]
that are consistent with our values. Finally, I'm glad to
[4:04:14]
see the report is asking for information on the environmental
[4:04:17]
impact of data centres and greenhouse gases in particular. It's
[4:04:21]
important that the report address the impact that data centres
[4:04:24]
have on the greenhouse gas emissions of the grid as
[4:04:27]
a whole, not just the direct impact of data centres.
[4:04:31]
Data centres frequently make use of renewable energy sources. Forcing
[4:04:35]
other electricity users to rely on more carbon intensive sources.
[4:04:40]
We've already seen local impacts of increasing grid carbonization. In
[4:04:47]
April this year, the City of Kitchener reported it primarily
[4:04:54]
to a 27 percent increase. What's not clear to me
[4:04:58]
is how much of that increased carbon intensity is due
[4:05:01]
to the presence of data centres already in operation. And
[4:05:04]
this is an impact that needs to be better understood.
[4:05:08]
A full picture of greenhouse gas emissions needs to look
[4:05:10]
at the system - wide impact of adding data centres
[4:05:12]
to the grid. And, uh, thank you for taking the
[4:05:16]
time to listen to my feedback today. Thank you very
[4:05:19]
much Craig. You finished right on the button. And Councillor
[4:05:21]
Foxton has a question. Thank you. Um, very informative. Could
[4:05:25]
you share what you've stated with us. The notes you
[4:05:29]
mean. Yeah, the notes that you just read off. Yes.
[4:05:32]
Oh, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. You could share it with
[4:05:34]
the cloak and they can share it with us. Thank
[4:05:36]
you so much. Councillor Rodriguez. Yeah, thanks, Jared. Just a
[4:05:39]
question to staff at the end of the committee report
[4:05:44]
when we get there. Or I can hold for the
[4:05:46]
committee report when we get there. Well, I'm going to,
[4:05:49]
I see no further questions of the delegations.
[4:05:52]
and then you can, um, ask
[4:05:54]
your question. Craig, thank you for coming in. And it
[4:05:57]
was a very thoughtful presentation. So thank you for providing
[4:06:00]
us food for thought. Thank you. Uh, Matt, do you
[4:06:03]
want to, or Councillor Rodriguez. Thanks. Uh, thanks Chair. Um,
[4:06:08]
just to ask a question to staff. You know, I
[4:06:10]
think there's a lot of good discussion at committee day
[4:06:12]
about nuance and being specific about the different types of
[4:06:15]
things that we're talking about when we see the word
[4:06:17]
data centres. And just wondering if to the sort of
[4:06:20]
suggestion of getting an understanding of the different scales of
[4:06:24]
operations and maybe a bit of a local context. And
[4:06:28]
do you see that being part of the work that
[4:06:30]
will happen? Obviously there's, I'm sure equated an exercise, but
[4:06:34]
will there be that bit of an understanding of these
[4:06:37]
different contexts and what it can mean in our community.
[4:06:42]
Yeah, through you, chair Redman. Uh, yes, this is, uh,
[4:06:47]
the report that's underway under development is, uh, is a
[4:06:53]
summary piece. I think this is, you know, there have
[4:06:55]
been some excellent suggestions made here regarding, you know, addressing
[4:07:00]
or understand, trying to understand the current standards for categorizing
[4:07:05]
data centres, for example. Uh, we. I would say this
[4:07:12]
is really the beginning of a conversation with future council.
[4:07:17]
I would suggest it will probably trigger, uh, more questions
[4:07:21]
than it will answer. Um, and then, uh, following the
[4:07:27]
Presentation of this, which will be an information report, uh,
[4:07:32]
Council can provide direction, the future council provide direction on,
[4:07:36]
on how we want to engage further, uh, through public
[4:07:40]
consultation and towards, uh, policy agenda. That's a great update.
[4:07:45]
Thank you, Chair. Thank you. As you know, further questions,
[4:07:49]
uh, that is the end of our delegations. Colleagues are
[4:07:53]
going to move on to the minutes of previous meetings.
[4:07:55]
I need a mover in a seconder to move minutes.
[4:08:00]
They're under listed under item 9. 1 to 9. 17.
[4:08:05]
Move by Councillor Shantz, second to my Councillor Salanin. Please use
[4:08:09]
your eScribe to vote.
[4:08:33]
Colligues that is carried the next agenda item or Communications.
[4:08:37]
You have received an information package electronically, um, as well
[4:08:42]
as correspondence from Jessica Denin. Those are received for information.
[4:08:47]
Um, next gender item 11. 1 is Finance Reports. There
[4:08:54]
are three finance reports in unless there are any requests
[4:08:59]
to remove any of them from consent. I will take
[4:09:01]
them as one motion. I, if I could have a
[4:09:05]
mover in a second or move by Councillor Wolf seconded
[4:09:08]
by Councillor James, please use your eScribe to vote on
[4:09:11]
all three. Reports.
[4:09:32]
College that is carried next to gender item 11. 2.
[4:09:36]
1 is sustainable cenability infrastructure and development committee summary, May
[4:09:41]
5th. I need a mover in a seconder. For this
[4:09:46]
section. Moved by Councillor Henick, seconded by Councillor Erb. Please
[4:09:52]
use your eScribe to vote.
[4:10:16]
Collexit is carried the next. There are no recommendations from
[4:10:19]
the library committee, which was held on June 18th, 2026.
[4:10:23]
The next agenda item, uh, 11. 2. 3 is sustainability
[4:10:27]
infrastructure development committee summary from August the 11th. If I
[4:10:32]
could have a mover in a secondary councillor, like it
[4:10:34]
would you like to move this. Seconded by Councillor Now,
[4:10:40]
please use your eScribe to vote.
[4:11:13]
Colleagues said is carried the next agenda item is Community
[4:11:17]
and Health Services Committee summary from August 11th, 2026. If
[4:11:21]
I could have a mover in the secondary move by
[4:11:23]
Councillor Huinink, seconded by Councillor Craig. Please use your eScribe
[4:11:27]
to vote.
[4:11:48]
Councillor McCabe.
[4:12:00]
Colleagues that is carried. The next agenda item is administration
[4:12:04]
and finance committee summary from August the 11th, 2026. There
[4:12:09]
are two parts to this motion. We by Councillor Rodriguez,
[4:12:14]
seconded by Councillor Erb. Please use your eScribe to vote.
[4:12:45]
Councillor Liggett, are you in favor. Colleagues that is carried.
[4:12:52]
The next agenda item is licensing and hearing a committee
[4:12:55]
summary from August the 20th, 2026. If I could have
[4:12:58]
a mover into seconder. Move by Councillor McCabe, seconded by
[4:13:03]
Councillor Foxton. Please use your eScribe. I always tell you
[4:13:09]
there's too many animals on this side of the circle.
[4:13:17]
Got a wolf, we've got a fox.
[4:13:48]
Colleague, that is carried. Um, I have no other, um,
[4:13:52]
matters. Uh, we have no, or there is a notice
[4:13:56]
of motion by Councillor Craig at Councillor Craig. You're moving
[4:14:01]
it. Yes, Madam Chair. Sorry. And Councillor Wolf's going to
[4:14:09]
second it. Thank you. Moved by councillor Wolf. Go
[4:14:12]
ahead. Would you like to speak to it? Well, thank
[4:14:14]
you. Uh, members of Council, there's two parts to this
[4:14:17]
that I want to talk about. First of all, there's
[4:14:20]
the obvious things that I've written up in the motion.
[4:14:23]
Which talks about the need for impartial leadership. In terms
[4:14:27]
of whoever is in the regional chair. I think that's
[4:14:32]
relatively one of the most important things. Also the possibility
[4:14:35]
when you combine mayors and chairs together of conflicts of
[4:14:40]
interest that may arise. And also the concentration of authority.
[4:14:45]
Under both chairs and mere powers into one individual. And
[4:14:50]
I think that is really something that, uh, I have
[4:14:53]
a lot of concerns about. I think what's important is
[4:14:57]
that we need to say publicly what we believe as
[4:15:01]
a regional counsel in terms of the development and the
[4:15:07]
continuation of regional council into the future, what we believe.
[4:15:12]
And I think the motion is basically sending a message.
[4:15:15]
To Queen's Park. That we found, yes, this is an
[4:15:19]
affront to local democracy. That the people of this region
[4:15:23]
can choose their own chair and they've done that successfully
[4:15:27]
for a number of years and that we would like
[4:15:29]
to stay on that path. Um, I want to go
[4:15:32]
back just a bit in the history of the region.
[4:15:36]
As I think it's important. When I arrived here in
[4:15:39]
1991 as a regional council, it was a new breed
[4:15:44]
because it was the first time regional councillors were elected.
[4:15:48]
Before that, they were appointed within their municipal councils and
[4:15:52]
sent to the region. So at that time, here, we
[4:15:56]
had 26 regional councillors. Over the years, that was condensed
[4:16:03]
down in 1997 to 22 members. And in 2000 down
[4:16:10]
to 16. But along with that, you had the regional
[4:16:14]
chair became elected. Not appointed within the Council. And you
[4:16:20]
had, of course, uh, directly elected regional council. So the
[4:16:27]
transparency accountability in a Democratic forum. And over those years,
[4:16:33]
uh, there was this evolution and it was all done
[4:16:36]
up front publicly. And we, with Queens park, agreed to
[4:16:41]
these changes. And we dealt with these changes in a
[4:16:45]
public forum. This particular, uh, issue now in terms of
[4:16:49]
regional chairs and mayors, whenever the Queen's Park is dealing
[4:16:54]
with is really a step back. And I think it's
[4:16:58]
something that we should be concerned about. And it's something
[4:17:01]
that we need to, uh, and our own way as
[4:17:03]
a council, uh, state our position on. So I have
[4:17:08]
the motion in front of you. I'd like your support
[4:17:10]
on this as we go forward. And I think it's
[4:17:14]
important. And I come back to the words transparency, accountability
[4:17:19]
and Democratic. That's what's happened here over a number of
[4:17:23]
years and how we've performed how we've worked and how
[4:17:27]
we have progressed. As a regional community in terms of
[4:17:31]
how we see government. And my concern, of course, is
[4:17:34]
what Queen's Park is considering. Thank you, Madam Chair. Councillor
[4:17:40]
Wolf, would you like to speak to this as a
[4:17:41]
seconder? Yes, I would. Uh, I'm happy to second this
[4:17:45]
motion. I too believe they combining strong mayor powers with
[4:17:49]
the authority of the strong regional chair proofs. Concentrates too
[4:17:56]
much authority and influence in one individual. And risks creating
[4:18:01]
an imbalance in regional decision making. I'm also concerned about
[4:18:06]
fairness to the other municipalities within the region. The chair's
[4:18:11]
role is to represent the interests of the entire region,
[4:18:15]
not a single municipality. Finally, I believe the position of
[4:18:19]
regional chair is a full - time job that requires
[4:18:23]
full - time attention. Being a mayor is also a
[4:18:26]
full - time job. We know from past regional meetings,
[4:18:30]
which have gone very long, that some mayors have had
[4:18:33]
to leave our meeting to attend their city meetings. Given
[4:18:38]
the demands of both offices, it would be difficult for
[4:18:42]
one person to serve effectively in both roles. For these
[4:18:46]
reasons, the position of mayor and regional chair should remain
[4:18:51]
separate. And I urge you to support the motion. So
[4:18:56]
colleagues, I see no further speakers. We had this as
[4:18:59]
a notice of motion. It has been moved and seconded.
[4:19:02]
So I would ask you to please use eScribe. Oh,
[4:19:05]
Councillor James. Thank you through you, Chair. I just have
[4:19:10]
a question for Councillor Craig recognising the history that you've
[4:19:15]
outlined for us. Um, if there's, um, any appetite within
[4:19:20]
your motion to potentially put in a request for, um,
[4:19:23]
The Province to consider having the elected officials for the
[4:19:27]
next council be part of the process. If there's a
[4:19:34]
middle ground, the middle ground would be the elected officials
[4:19:38]
in the next election would within this horseshoe choose the
[4:19:42]
regional chair. That's a middle ground. That's what happened at
[4:19:46]
one point. Uh, and the late, uh, about 19 and
[4:19:51]
the year 2000. That's why we, we elected the chair.
[4:19:56]
It was done within the council. So it could be
[4:19:59]
a middle ground. And it may be something we should
[4:20:01]
talk to the province about, if in terms of backing
[4:20:06]
off what they're suggesting. I'll just, I think, you know,
[4:20:12]
there going through their process that they're in now. But
[4:20:16]
in Councillor Craig, a support, your motion, um, in terms
[4:20:20]
of, I see it potentially being really problematic. Um, I
[4:20:24]
just don't know in terms of where they are in
[4:20:26]
a process right now. Um, if that's something to find
[4:20:29]
some sort of common ground. Because what I worry about
[4:20:32]
is, um, the impacts. There's three things I think about.
[4:20:36]
I think about the community and we have a very
[4:20:39]
active and a very vocal community that is very engaged.
[4:20:43]
And if they are not trusting a process or trusting
[4:20:46]
who is in this very, um, influential and important position,
[4:20:51]
there could be, you know, a significant community outcry. I
[4:20:54]
think about the next term of counsel and next council
[4:20:57]
that is sitting here and the trust that needs to
[4:21:00]
be established for the person that's here. Um, and then
[4:21:04]
I think about, you know, our, our municipal employees. And
[4:21:09]
they think that there is, there's a lot, um, at
[4:21:13]
stake that I think that it's very nuanced and layered.
[4:21:17]
Um, so any appetite that could be there for the
[4:21:20]
province to think about, um, the next council being part
[4:21:24]
of this process, I think would be better this region.
[4:21:29]
So, um, you know, Councillor Craig, I don't, I support
[4:21:32]
this. I'm going to, uh, I just think they're, if
[4:21:35]
there was any appetite for the province to say, could
[4:21:38]
this council be part of that decision making process in
[4:21:41]
the end? Um, I think that's, that's some sort of
[4:21:44]
common ground in something that may benefit the community overall
[4:21:48]
in terms of how this region moves forward in terms
[4:21:50]
of its leadership and governance. Councillor Shantz. Thank
[4:22:00]
you. I've spent 12 years assuming that the region is
[4:22:08]
an organisation that works to bring the air municipalities together
[4:22:14]
and to work together and to provide services that serve
[4:22:18]
the area municipalities. And I can't support number two because
[4:22:24]
the way that reads, um, the mayors will no longer
[4:22:29]
sit here. You're seven. It's separating municipal and regional leadership.
[4:22:35]
And it's one and the same. It's not separate. So
[4:22:38]
as long as that's in there, I can't support this
[4:22:40]
motion. Thank you through your chair. I had the same
[4:22:48]
question about that particular, um, second part of separating, um,
[4:22:55]
municipal and regional leadership. I kind of wanted Doug to
[4:23:00]
provide clarity. Also, I guess the word municipal because we're
[4:23:03]
all municipalities of tears. I think the, uh, what I
[4:23:07]
was trying to get at, probably not worded very well
[4:23:11]
is the fact emerging or the marriage in one position
[4:23:15]
of a regional chair and mayor. That's essentially what I
[4:23:19]
was trying to say. And, uh, I apologise for the
[4:23:22]
bad wording.
[4:23:34]
Councillor. So I guess some negotiations going on maybe between
[4:23:41]
that point. If there's any, any wording changes, um, I'm
[4:23:45]
going to, um, I'm going to support this, um, enthusiastically,
[4:23:49]
um, in the, um, limited amount of campaigning I've done
[4:23:54]
to be reelected in certain groups you talk to in
[4:23:59]
certain neighbourhoods, transit speed, um, affordability is an issue. But
[4:24:04]
the number one consistent issue that I'm hearing from people
[4:24:08]
is the appointment. Of the regional chair number one. And
[4:24:12]
secondly, that it could be a mayor of one of
[4:24:15]
the municipalities and that it is a concern to the
[4:24:17]
public. They feel their Democratic right has been taken away
[4:24:20]
from them. And, um, it's, it's being articulated and voiced
[4:24:25]
by people who, um, who I have been talking to.
[4:24:29]
I don't know what the experience of other people have
[4:24:30]
been. And so I'm, um, I'm happy to support this
[4:24:34]
recommendation. Councillor Foxton. Thank you. So, uh, Councillor Craig, are
[4:24:40]
you going to make a change to the motion so
[4:24:42]
that it doesn't, uh, take it away from the mayor.
[4:24:47]
So the talents. I thought number two, my colleagues were
[4:24:51]
saying that number two, uh, takes away municipal representation. Well,
[4:24:57]
that's not the intent. You could take two right out
[4:24:59]
if you want. If you would consider that, that amendment.
[4:25:03]
I request that amendment. So Councillor Craig, you're suggesting that
[4:25:12]
you would just strike the second, um, number two. I
[4:25:16]
just strike it out. It's not was never the intent.
[4:25:19]
That's what I thought. That's what I've written in a
[4:25:21]
hurry and a late evening. Okay. I'll just take it
[4:25:25]
out. Councillor Wolf does striking that out. It's fine. Do
[4:25:29]
I have unanimous consent that we strike out? Number two
[4:25:33]
from the motion that's before us. Okay. I see no
[4:25:38]
dissenting votes. So that's great. Um, Councillor McCabe or Councillor
[4:25:44]
Foxton and that was the point you wanted to make.
[4:25:46]
Yes, ma'am. Councillor McCabe. Thank you through you, Chair. I
[4:25:52]
just wanted to thank Councillor Craig for bringing this forward
[4:25:54]
because I think it's, it's really important. And I echo
[4:25:57]
what Councillor said about this being an issue that people
[4:26:01]
are raising at the doors. They're very confused about why
[4:26:04]
this is happening. Um, but I just also wanted to
[4:26:07]
draw people's attention to, um, the AMO, which is a
[4:26:13]
provincial body to which I was just reelected to the
[4:26:17]
larger when caucus, Councillor Salonen was reelected to the small
[4:26:22]
urban rural, caucus, sorry, rural caucus and Councillor Gowing is
[4:26:28]
on the regional and single tier caucus. Okay. Got that
[4:26:32]
right. And I think you sit there sometimes too as
[4:26:36]
well. Chair through your position. I do as chair of
[4:26:40]
Marko. As Chair Marco. So well represented at AMO. But
[4:26:44]
AMO represents municipalities across the entire province from very, very
[4:26:48]
tiny ones to Toronto and everything in between. And
[4:26:53]
they have taken a very strong position against, um, Bill
[4:26:58]
100, which is called The Better Regional Governance Act. And
[4:27:04]
just wanted to underline that they sent a, we've had
[4:27:07]
lots of dialogue with the province around this point. Um,
[4:27:10]
and around the point that Councillor Craig's making and they
[4:27:15]
are across the board, um, in opposed to this direction
[4:27:19]
of the province and are calling on the province to
[4:27:24]
reverse Bill and to maintain the Democratic election of heads
[4:27:30]
of council. So just wanted to reinforce that municipalities represented
[4:27:35]
by their caucus representatives from across every corner of Ontario
[4:27:40]
also, um, are opposed to this direction, um, and Bill
[4:27:44]
100. Thank you. So I just want to recap for
[4:27:47]
everybody. So the notice of motion that we got stands,
[4:27:51]
um, regional counts, I'm not going to read the Whereas
[4:27:53]
as regional council pose any governance model allowing one person
[4:27:56]
to serve simultaneously as a mayor and regional chair. We
[4:28:00]
have struck number two. So the next bullet would be
[4:28:04]
regional council express concern about the concentration of strong mayor
[4:28:07]
and strong chair powers and one individual. And third, the
[4:28:12]
resolution before to the premier Ontario, the Minister of Municipal
[4:28:15]
Affairs and Housing Local MPPs, Area Municipalities and affected regional
[4:28:19]
municipalities. Councillor Henick, did you want to speak to this.
[4:28:23]
No, but I. M going to move it. It has
[4:28:27]
been moved in seconded. Um, we've had unanimous consent takeout
[4:28:31]
number two. Are there any further discussion. Okay. I would
[4:28:37]
ask you to please use eScribe and vote then.
[4:28:59]
Colleagues that has carried unanimously. And just in case we
[4:29:03]
all thought we were moving along at a great clip,
[4:29:06]
I actually skipped over one of the committee reports. It
[4:29:10]
is licensing and hearings committee summary August 20th, 2026. And
[4:29:16]
this is a motion from that committee that the region
[4:29:21]
of Waterloo continue providing on - call accessible taxis between
[4:29:25]
11 p. m. and 5 a. m. as of 2026
[4:29:29]
pilot project demonstrated increase in the demand to access overnight
[4:29:34]
accessible transportation services as outlined in a report dated August
[4:29:38]
2026. Councillor Huinink, would you like to move this. Councillor
[4:29:43]
Craig, would you like to second it. Okay. Please use
[4:29:46]
your eScribe to vote. Councillor Foxton, do you have your
[4:29:51]
hand up? I did have my hand up. Um, so
[4:29:53]
I just wanted to say that the pilot was a
[4:29:56]
huge success and that, uh, going with two is a
[4:30:00]
great thing. And I want to commend staff for the
[4:30:02]
work they did on this. Thank you. Now we can
[4:30:06]
all vote.
[4:30:25]
That is carried. I have no other notices of motions.
[4:30:29]
Is there any unfinished business. Councillor Craig. Very quickly. And
[4:30:35]
I don't want to step in on any toes about,
[4:30:39]
but I'm concerned about the tariff situation. And I know
[4:30:42]
that, uh, Mayor Vnovich has some sort of committee. But
[4:30:47]
I'm thinking at some point, if we could possibly get
[4:30:50]
an update from our economic development about what's happening and
[4:30:57]
what we might be able to do to help residents
[4:31:01]
in this region and dealing with this process. Now it
[4:31:05]
could be completely finished in two weeks. I know that.
[4:31:08]
And one is hopeful. But on the other hand, I
[4:31:12]
think we have to be prepared and have it in
[4:31:15]
our locker that we have another alternative to look at
[4:31:18]
this situation. That's all I'm suggesting. Madam Chair. So Councillor
[4:31:22]
Craig, I have to tell you how much I love
[4:31:24]
working with Optimists that you think this will be done
[4:31:26]
in a couple of weeks. We have, I believe, all
[4:31:29]
of us received, um, an email from Tony LaMantia on
[4:31:33]
behalf of WEDC. And he is calling BESTWR together. And
[4:31:37]
I, too, have been, um, corresponding with Tony to see,
[4:31:42]
um, as things unfold if we can have a conversation,
[4:31:45]
as you recall, we had one last time. That this
[4:31:48]
sort of surface. So we're on it. And we will
[4:31:52]
continue this conversation. Councillor Vrbanovic. Yeah. Thank you very much.
[4:31:58]
And thanks Councillor Craig for bringing this up. I mean,
[4:32:02]
this certainly is a significant issue. I think all of
[4:32:05]
us were glued to our computer screens in the news.
[4:32:12]
And then our phones, um, subsequent to, um, or emails
[4:32:18]
subsequent to, um, the news right around midnight on Friday
[4:32:23]
evening. This is an issue of, of significant concern to
[4:32:28]
many in our community. I think, uh, as we all
[4:32:31]
know, we have a depending on, uh, the numbers that
[4:32:35]
you look at anywhere between 17 and 20 percent of
[4:32:39]
our local economies based on manufacturing. We have a lot
[4:32:43]
related to automotive with the two Toyota plants in Cambridge
[4:32:49]
and Woodstock with many people living locally. A number of
[4:32:53]
tier one, two, and three part suppliers and others. Um,
[4:32:57]
and, and so as a result of all of that,
[4:32:59]
we are one of the more, uh, most trade impacted
[4:33:04]
communities in the country. Um, this is something that, um,
[4:33:09]
obviously our provincial and federal counterparts are aware of. I
[4:33:13]
know I've had some conversations with, uh, with some ministers
[4:33:16]
and so on in the last couple of days is
[4:33:18]
recently as this morning. Um, and, um, and FCM is
[4:33:24]
also, uh, getting significantly engaged in this issue. Uh, as
[4:33:29]
they have been since it started, uh, a year and
[4:33:31]
a half ago. So I too like, like you, uh,
[4:33:35]
chair, uh, would love to think that this was going
[4:33:39]
to be over in a couple of weeks, but, uh,
[4:33:41]
I think this is going to, uh, this is going
[4:33:44]
to be a challenge. And at the end of the
[4:33:46]
day, I think what's most important, uh, is that we
[4:33:49]
stand united with, uh, federal government with our provincial and
[4:33:53]
territorial premiers. Um, and, and overall as a country with,
[4:33:58]
with, with industry and sending a clear message, I think
[4:34:01]
there's very few things that have united us as much
[4:34:04]
as this has. Um, and also, you know, really, um,
[4:34:08]
focus here, um, at the region in particularly, um, in
[4:34:13]
terms, you know, we're a big purchaser of goods. And
[4:34:17]
so where it all possible, we really need to be
[4:34:19]
making sure that, uh, our procurement policies are buying Canadian
[4:34:25]
wherever possible going forward. Thank you. Thank you for that.
[4:34:30]
Um, other business. Oh, Councillor James. Thank you. Uh, through
[4:34:36]
you chair. And I guess this is a question for
[4:34:40]
Steph. We have someone from Finance here. In terms of
[4:34:43]
our procurement, and it may be something you come back
[4:34:46]
to us with, but I'd imagine with some of our
[4:34:49]
big construction, the back and forth between the U. S.
[4:34:53]
and Canada. Do we have any sort of idea of,
[4:34:56]
of regionally what, um, that looks like in terms of
[4:35:00]
a dollar figure. Thank you, three chair. Uh, at this
[4:35:09]
point we're just doing the analysis and we will look
[4:35:12]
at it and we can come back to, um, to
[4:35:15]
council with the numbers. Okay. And I think it's also
[4:35:19]
critical to know what the difference is with, with the,
[4:35:24]
whatever number we're at now. Um, as well. Okay. Thank
[4:35:27]
you. Darspreet's going to weigh in. Councillor James through your
[4:35:32]
chair. Yes. We're doing a full analysis right now. In
[4:35:34]
fact, for Water Waste Water where we have lots of
[4:35:36]
capital programs, we're moving forward with pre - procurement issuing
[4:35:41]
purchase orders so that our order is in line without
[4:35:44]
having an impact from potential tariffs. We just had a
[4:35:48]
lengthy discussion today with all the CLT members to explore
[4:35:51]
every procurement that we have underway and anticipated so that
[4:35:54]
we can take actions if they be required. So we'll
[4:35:57]
come back with some numbers and potentially some approvals from
[4:36:00]
council should they be needed so that we can avoid
[4:36:02]
any premiums that may have to be paid in the
[4:36:04]
coming months. Okay. Thanks, especially as we go into a
[4:36:07]
budget process. Yes. In a few months. So thank you,
[4:36:09]
Um, I'm going to assume that that was
[4:36:13]
under questions. Are there any other questions. Seeing none? Um,
[4:36:18]
I would now entertain a motion to enact the bylaws
[4:36:22]
first, second, and third readings. If I move by Councillor
[4:36:24]
Foxton and seconded by Councillor Nowak, do I have unanimous
[4:36:28]
consent to adopt the bylaws. So that is unanimously agreed
[4:36:35]
to. So this is the motion that makes everybody very,
[4:36:43]
very sad. I mean by Councillor Foxton and seconded by
[4:36:47]
Councillor Rodriguez that we now adjourned. Do I have unanimous
[4:36:50]
consent to adjourn. I'm looking for unanimous consent because a
[4:36:55]
lot of you have already unplugged your computers. Have a
[4:36:59]
great evening.