[0:23] Yes.
[0:31] Trailing table.
[0:49] It's nice.
[1:11] Good evening. It's 6:30. Members of
[1:13] council are assembled when you are ready
[1:15] to begin. Thank you very much. Good
[1:17] evening everyone. Like to welcome all
[1:19] members and uh welcome everyone in the
[1:21] gallery and everyone watching via the
[1:23] live stream uh this evening.
[1:41] Second item on the agenda is the land
[1:44] acknowledgement. I'll read the land
[1:45] acknowledgement this evening. We
[1:46] acknowledge that we are meeting on the
[1:47] traditional lands and treaty territory
[1:48] of the Sagin Ojiway nation which
[1:50] consists of the Chipuis of Sagin and the
[1:52] Chipois of Naywash unseated First
[1:53] Nation. We understand this land holds
[1:55] immense significance to the people of
[1:57] the Sagin Ojiway nation. We appreciate
[1:59] those who live and work alongside us
[2:00] today and who continued the traditions
[2:02] of their ancestors as stewards of the
[2:04] land we are privileged to inhabit. We
[2:06] thank them for the contributions they
[2:07] have made in both caring for the land
[2:08] and in shaping this community. We commit
[2:11] to truth and reconciliation to
[2:13] acknowledging the truth about what
[2:14] happened to indigenous peoples because
[2:15] of colonization and to reconciliation
[2:18] which begins with each and every one of
[2:20] us. And I might just share at this
[2:22] moment that um a couple of weeks ago I
[2:26] uh participated with Chief Richie in the
[2:30] ice bucket challenge at GC. I'm not sure
[2:33] if that was part of reconciliation or
[2:36] not, but it was certainly uh we both
[2:38] left uh cold. I'm not sure either of us
[2:40] have fully warmed up at this point, but
[2:43] it was it is a great exam. just it's a
[2:45] it really is always amazing to go there
[2:48] to GC Houston school and see the uh
[2:51] connection that the that uh school
[2:53] community has with the First Nation. Uh
[2:56] and that the school is always there to
[2:58] support things uh with the First Nations
[3:01] and the First Nation is always um the
[3:04] Sagine First Nation is always uh eager
[3:06] to be at the school and and support the
[3:09] programming that goes on there. And so
[3:10] it's just I just always appreciate going
[3:12] there. I think it's an outstanding
[3:13] institution in our community. Uh, and I
[3:16] just wanted to note that. So, as a local
[3:19] government and public organization, we
[3:21] are dedicated to learning about
[3:22] indigenous culture, to fostering a
[3:24] better relationship with First Nations
[3:25] and their people, and we commit
[3:27] ourselves to actions that move us
[3:28] forward on a path to healing along with
[3:29] the Sagino Jiuway nation. Third item on
[3:32] the agenda is disclosure of peerary
[3:34] interest. Ask any member if you have one
[3:35] of those you'd like to declare at this
[3:36] time. Seeing none, of course, you can do
[3:38] so anytime if you need to. Uh so that
[3:41] moves us on to adoption of minutes. We
[3:44] have uh the regular council minutes of
[3:46] May 20th, 2025 and May 26, 2025. And the
[3:48] resolution is the council adopt the
[3:50] minutes of the regular council meeting
[3:51] of June 9, 2025 as presented. Is there a
[3:54] mover and seconder? Moved by councelor
[3:56] Mayott. Seconded by councelor Dinsky.
[4:03] What did I read? Did I Oh, it said June.
[4:07] Oh, yeah. I just read that off like it
[4:09] was right, didn't I? Uh, so we are
[4:12] adopting the recommendation of adopting
[4:14] the May 20th, 2025 and May 26, 2025
[4:17] minutes. And it's been moved by Matt,
[4:19] seconded by Dinsky. Uh, questions or
[4:22] comments to either of those sets of
[4:23] minutes? Seeing none, all in favor? That
[4:25] is carried. Okay, so we're on to
[4:28] delegations. We have two delegations uh
[4:30] this evening. Just remind our
[4:31] delegations that council's allotted 10
[4:32] minutes for each of our delegations.
[4:34] Appreciate it if you'd stick to those
[4:36] timelines. Our first one is from the
[4:38] Society of United Professionals. They're
[4:40] here to talk to us about the Canada
[4:41] United campaign supporting Canadian
[4:43] labor
[4:45] force. And when you gentlemen are ready,
[4:47] the floor is
[4:51] yours. Mayor Charbano, Sagian Shores
[4:55] Council. Hello. We are Canada United
[4:59] campaign coming out of the uh Society of
[5:02] United Professionals. Uh up to my left I
[5:05] have our local vice president Dave
[5:06] Chexers and to my right we have unit
[5:09] director uh Jeff Lawson and I'm Eric
[5:12] Teasler, unit director as well. So this
[5:15] composes of I guess uh three fifths of
[5:19] our executive board team that actively
[5:22] bargains on behalf of over 1,400 members
[5:26] now growing 1500 members across site at
[5:29] the Bruce. I also like to recognize an
[5:32] exLVP Dave Matt uh is in the house. So,
[5:36] hello. Good to see you. Um for those of
[5:40] you that don't know, um Oh, you had one
[5:44] job, Dave. One job.
[5:47] It's okay. Uh don't fire me, please.
[5:51] Okay. So, um the Society of United
[5:53] Professionals represents actually over
[5:55] 10,000 uh professionals across Ontario.
[5:59] um including engineers, scientists,
[6:02] supervisors and uh legal aid lawyers
[6:05] more uh recently as well as Aboriginal
[6:08] uh rights lawyers. So um our biggest
[6:12] bargaining units is uh OPG um Hydro 1
[6:15] and Bruce Power of course the
[6:17] descendants from Hydro 1.
[6:19] Um, and we're proud to say that we
[6:23] represent uh some very fantastic members
[6:26] in your community, uh, including here,
[6:28] King Carden, and across Graham Bruce
[6:31] County. So, what is our ask? Uh, we're
[6:34] here to ask your support, which is
[6:36] similar to what you've already done,
[6:38] which is a passed a resolution back in
[6:40] October, uh, supporting Cano Energy, uh,
[6:44] and also Canadian supply chain. So, um,
[6:47] we got these beautiful shirts here and,
[6:50] uh, they are Canadian made, okay? And
[6:53] they are unionade as well. So, at the
[6:56] end of this presentation, I know some
[6:57] of, uh, your members here have already,
[7:00] uh, walked up to my uh, little booth
[7:02] over there, but I have some sizing. I I
[7:05] don't have So, we can maybe put it
[7:07] through uh, one of the assistants here
[7:10] an order, and we can bring them back to
[7:11] you. Um, but the intent here is to, I
[7:15] guess, celebrate uh, unity within
[7:18] Canada. Of course, we've all seen um,
[7:22] what's been going on down south with our
[7:24] neighbors?
[7:28] This
[7:29] one. Uh, where do you got to point it?
[7:32] There over there.
[7:35] Oh,
[7:38] pass it over to Jeff.
[7:41] I'm like uh Ron Burgundy. I need I need
[7:44] to have this in front of me. Oh, there
[7:45] you go. Okay. So, Canada is experiencing
[7:49] an unprecedented moment in in our
[7:51] history. So, there's been never been a
[7:53] more important time to uh be unified and
[7:57] you've seen it in the media. uh you've
[7:59] seen that uh you know we got through a
[8:01] federal election which was you know a
[8:03] little bit divisive at times uh but uh
[8:06] certainly uh the rally cry came loud and
[8:09] clear when Mr. Trump decided to um
[8:12] leverage his authority uh and create
[8:15] tariffs that have an impact to uh not
[8:19] just our our community but all
[8:22] Canadians. And uh so our union thought
[8:24] up of a campaign that would kind of
[8:26] dovetail nicely in um so we've raised
[8:30] over uh $3,500
[8:32] uh using these shirts in the workplace
[8:35] as uh you know we we sell them as a
[8:38] donation.
[8:39] um and we're able to give back to the
[8:43] community where people are going to
[8:44] start feeling the impacts of the tariffs
[8:47] if not now very very soon in terms of
[8:50] food supply. Um the other thing that we
[8:54] are concentrating on of course is to
[8:56] reinforce the argument uh that Bruce C
[9:00] should be a a can do unit. There's a lot
[9:04] of back and forth as to why an American
[9:07] uh reactor last year, certainly at CNA
[9:10] last year, it was all Westinghouse. Um,
[9:14] so I think what we're advocating for is
[9:17] if you're being, you know, asked or
[9:20] tasked by corporations that uh wish to
[9:24] have your
[9:25] support, think about Canadians first and
[9:28] ask those good questions to say say
[9:30] where's the engineering coming from?
[9:33] Where's the uranium coming from? Where
[9:36] is the labor coming from? you know, like
[9:38] we've we've enjoyed 60 years of success
[9:43] at Douglas Point, uh, Bruce A, Bruce B,
[9:48] and and so forth. Safe operation by our
[9:51] engineers and by our people, right? So,
[9:54] keep that in your hearts and minds. Um,
[9:57] I'll stop there and see if there's any
[9:59] questions or concerns. Well, thank you
[10:02] guys very much for your presentation.
[10:04] Thank you for the t-shirts, your
[10:05] beautiful t-shirts. I got mine here and
[10:07] I know all the other members if they
[10:09] don't have one already will put their
[10:10] orders in. Are there questions or
[10:12] comments from the members, the vice
[10:14] deputy mayor? Yeah, thanks for your
[10:17] presentation, uh, Eric and others. And I
[10:20] just for my order, I'd probably need
[10:22] like an extra large or something like
[10:23] that if you have an extra large t-shirt.
[10:26] Uh, no, but I wouldn't mind a t-shirt
[10:28] actually. That'd be wonderful. um just
[10:31] your messaging is is spot on and really
[10:34] appreciate the message what you bring
[10:36] tonight. And I just want to say while
[10:38] you're here though too is u thank you
[10:40] for all the good work you do in our
[10:41] community. I know you made a significant
[10:44] contribution to Lamont Sports Park
[10:46] wellness center, our doctor's residence
[10:49] and many many other projects. So I just
[10:51] want to say thank you very much.
[10:55] Absolutely. We'll get uh vice we'll get
[10:58] councelor Mette and then councelor
[10:59] Halpin. Thank you Mr. Mayor through you.
[11:02] Um as far as keeping the can do brand in
[11:05] Canada I think that's a great great uh
[11:07] endeavor to pursue. Keep and and I think
[11:10] uh at our our first um resident who's
[11:14] are going to be building at our
[11:16] innovation park is actually the Monarch
[11:18] brand candy reactor. Right. So, um the
[11:22] the town has put quite a bit of effort
[11:23] into building that in uh innovation park
[11:27] and uh hopefully one day very soon we'll
[11:30] see some groundbreaking there to get
[11:31] that uh can do brand built right into
[11:34] our community. So, we're with you on
[11:37] that one. Thank you. Absolutely. Council
[11:40] helping.
[11:41] Thank you, Mayor Tru. Uh just want to
[11:44] say keep up the good fight. Keep up the
[11:47] good work. Keep up the good fight.
[11:49] Elbows up.
[11:51] Thank you, Councelor Dinsky.
[11:53] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Through you,
[11:55] gentlemen. Thank you for your
[11:57] presentation. Thank you for the shirt.
[11:59] It speaks volumes. And I might
[12:03] add maybe a month and a half, two months
[12:06] ago, this council spoke volumes where we
[12:10] are proud to be able to support Canadian
[12:14] workers at anything we look at. Um,
[12:18] that's our first that's our first goal.
[12:21] If we have to go elsewhere, we have to
[12:23] go elsewhere. But, uh, it's elsewhere
[12:26] out this way as opposed to down south.
[12:30] So, thank you. Uh, thank you for that.
[12:33] Are these sweaters or t-shirts will they
[12:37] be available to the general public as
[12:40] well? I think uh we have a multiplatform
[12:43] state right now. It was like core Bruce
[12:45] power workers which is our you know
[12:47] bread and butter. Now we're reaching out
[12:49] to council and then eventually like
[12:50] we'll have shirts still to offer. I
[12:53] think we'll uh concentrate on Labor Day.
[12:57] I think uh Labor Day is the appropriate
[12:59] place for us to showcase this. So
[13:01] there's a good strong possibility we
[13:03] will have a vehicle ready and and giving
[13:06] out shirts to unify like giving out the
[13:09] last of them to uh kind of round out the
[13:11] campaign. I think that would be include
[13:13] people that are at the parade. Well, Mr.
[13:16] Mayor, I think that would look terrific
[13:18] as a picture with the streets
[13:21] solidified, solid, Canada united. So,
[13:26] best of luck and thank you. Thank you.
[13:30] Are there further comments? I just um
[13:33] for myself will just echo uh what the
[13:35] vice deputy mayor said about thanking
[13:36] society for all the work that you do in
[13:38] our community, all the support that you
[13:40] give us and recognize of course the fact
[13:42] that the reason why society is able to
[13:46] support the pool and our doctor
[13:49] recruitment and all of the things you
[13:51] support is because you are Canadian, you
[13:53] know, your workers in our community
[13:55] because there is um investments being
[13:58] made in Canadian technology and Canadian
[14:00] workers. that's why society has
[14:02] membership and uh and and so I think you
[14:07] know that is a a really important
[14:09] message to give to the community right
[14:10] that to get all to have all these things
[14:12] we're so lucky we live in the best place
[14:14] in the world um and the reason why it's
[14:17] such a great place is because we have
[14:19] people like yourselves working in our
[14:22] community earning a decent living who
[14:23] are able to give back and uh and you
[14:26] can't do that if uh you're if the
[14:29] technology you're building is all US
[14:32] technology. In fact, I learned from you,
[14:34] Eric, just at CNA, just how the
[14:37] um some of those US technologies how I
[14:41] had always thought, well, you build a
[14:42] nuclear reactor, Canadian engineers are
[14:43] going to get to work on it. It's in
[14:45] Canada, but that's not the case. Like,
[14:46] it's very much the case that you know
[14:49] where that technology is from very much
[14:52] dictates where the money will be spent
[14:53] and where the jobs will be to support
[14:56] that technology. So when you mix that in
[14:59] with the idea of having to buy enriched
[15:03] uranium from the United States and do
[15:04] other things uh with these other
[15:06] technologies, it just you know this
[15:08] council's already passed a resolution as
[15:10] you mentioned supporting can do
[15:11] technology. I I hold that view more
[15:14] firmly today than ever. Uh I mean we
[15:17] Canada should be building should we you
[15:19] know our next set of reactors should be
[15:21] Canadianmade can do reactors. It's the
[15:23] best nuclear technology on earth. uh
[15:26] safest, most efficient, most effective,
[15:29] and it employs Canadians. Um so I sure
[15:32] hope that you guys continue this
[15:34] campaign, get around all the rest of the
[15:36] municipal councils and everywhere else
[15:37] that you can send that message because
[15:39] we really need to be united, I think, in
[15:41] that view that Canadian technology is
[15:43] the best technology we could be. We
[15:45] should be the leaders. We should be the
[15:46] world's leaders in nuclear technology.
[15:49] We have everything that's required for
[15:52] that. Uh including all of your members.
[15:55] So, um, anyway, thank you guys for
[15:57] coming in. Thanks for the shirts and,
[15:59] uh, and we'll see you, well, we'll see
[16:01] you before then, but we'll see you on
[16:03] Labor Day. Yes, Labor Day. Okay, thanks,
[16:05] guys.
[16:08] All right, our second delegation is from
[16:09] the Canadian Federation of University of
[16:11] Women. It's Odet or Nikki. And, uh,
[16:14] Odette, whenever you're ready, the floor
[16:15] is yours.
[16:18] I told the gentleman before me not to
[16:20] screw the technology up, so let's
[16:23] see. It's going to be me
[16:26] instead. There we
[16:29] go. Mr. Mayor, council, members of the
[16:32] public at home and in the gallery and
[16:36] the town
[16:37] staff, CFUW is a nonpartisan voluntary
[16:47] voluntary self-funded uh organization.
[16:50] We have 90 clubs, 6700 members, which is
[16:54] down from a few years ago during the
[16:56] pandemic. And half of those clubs and
[16:59] members exist in the province of
[17:03] Ontario. CFUW Southport, which is our
[17:07] local club, was founded in 1989. We
[17:10] celebrated our 35th anniversary back in
[17:13] September, and our mayor was there.
[17:16] Thank Thank you for that. Uh we
[17:18] currently have 113 members and we are
[17:21] open to all women and individuals who
[17:24] identify as women and a university
[17:27] degree is not required. That's a a thing
[17:30] that sticks in the name because of legal
[17:34] uh requirements but um we have many many
[17:36] members now that do not have university
[17:39] degrees and we definitely value
[17:40] different types of education including
[17:43] life itself.
[17:46] Our main goal is we work to improve the
[17:48] status of women and to promote human
[17:51] rights, public education, social justice
[17:55] and peace both here at home. We do it
[17:58] locally, we do it proincially, we do it
[18:01] nationally and we do it globally. We
[18:03] have a voice at the UN every year which
[18:06] is very important to us.
[18:11] We have a scholarship fund here which to
[18:13] date has given out over $90,000 in
[18:17] scholarships. Uh that scholarship fund
[18:19] was established in our second year in
[18:22] 1990 by uh Miss Jane Kramer. Many of you
[18:25] know
[18:26] Jane. Right now we give out six
[18:29] scholarships for students who live in uh
[18:34] SGEN First Nation, Sagin Shores, Bruce
[18:37] County depending on which the
[18:39] scholarship is. They are for students
[18:42] graduating from St. Mary's in Owens and
[18:45] from Sin District Senior School here in
[18:48] Port
[18:51] Elgen. Two of the scholarships are for
[18:54] indigenous students. We also have one
[18:56] that is a memorial scholarship for Liz
[18:59] Squires uh specifically for a graduating
[19:03] student pursuing uh a career in
[19:06] education or in a field that helps
[19:08] children and youth. We also have a
[19:11] memorial scholarship by our founder
[19:13] Carolyn Day who is a very big
[19:15] environmentalist if any of you knew her.
[19:18] Uh there is a national uh provincial
[19:21] award uh dedicated to her as well. Um,
[19:25] we give an award in her name to a
[19:28] student who ha is or has been in the
[19:31] care of Bruce Gay uh, Child and Family
[19:34] Services. That student can live anywhere
[19:37] in Bruce County. And of course, there
[19:40] are two additional um, scholarships as
[19:42] well. In addition to the high school
[19:45] scholarships, we give a mature woman
[19:48] scholarship. And this is for a candidate
[19:50] who has been out of high school for
[19:53] whatever reasons for a minimum of one
[19:55] year. And that is the same criteria that
[19:58] most colleges use in this province. Um
[20:02] the candidate can be pursuing
[20:04] post-secary education through
[20:07] university, college or trades or
[20:09] apprenticeship programs. And there are
[20:11] other certificate programs that we
[20:13] consider too. Our new scholarship that
[20:16] we're here to talk to you about and I'm
[20:18] behind this um is a woman in trades
[20:22] scholarship. We're very very proud to
[20:24] kick this off uh this year. You may have
[20:27] seen uh information in the local
[20:30] papers. Only 8.1% or 7.4 nationally of
[20:35] the 144 skilled trades recognized in
[20:39] Ontario are filled by women. And yet 51%
[20:43] of the work for force is women. Kind of
[20:46] doesn't make sense when we're all
[20:48] looking for people to fill skilled
[20:50] trades
[20:52] jobs. I'm going to put a quote up for
[20:54] you. Women make up nearly half of the
[20:57] entire Canadian workforce, but the
[21:00] perception still exists that certain
[21:02] jobs, particularly those in the skilled
[21:05] trades, should only be done by men. In
[21:09] reality, women excel in all
[21:11] traditionally maledominated careers,
[21:14] including those in construction,
[21:17] manufacturing, automotive, mining, and
[21:20] welding and more. And that quote comes
[21:22] from an article um of a research article
[21:26] under the Canadian um Ontario Colleges
[21:29] website. And they have done studies that
[21:31] show that for some trades, for example,
[21:37] um I'm just going to forget the name of
[21:40] this. It's the welding that builds
[21:42] vessels or
[21:46] tanks.
[21:48] Pressure pressure welding. That one
[21:51] women have shown um to far outpace men
[21:54] in their ability to do that job.
[21:59] I I know there are things men do better
[22:01] too. Um the mature women scholarship,
[22:06] sorry this should be the women in trade
[22:09] scholarship is a winwin for sin shores.
[22:13] We know that here we've got a high
[22:15] growth rate in uh housing needs and
[22:18] other types of construction development
[22:21] as well as the green energy that um the
[22:24] previous uh speakers talked about. Uh in
[22:28] fact, we learned recently uh by visiting
[22:31] our spark center here in town that Bruce
[22:34] Power has 700 electricians hired. 700. I
[22:39] don't know what all the others are, but
[22:41] that's that's a lot of people to keep
[22:43] replacing uh with attrition and with
[22:47] growth. Women are also um able to better
[22:52] provide for their families when they
[22:54] have well-paid jobs. And here's where
[22:56] I'm going to go a little bit aside and
[22:58] tell you about a woman I met in Windsor
[23:01] uh about this time last year. Uh she was
[23:04] at Fansaw call fans Shaw College with a
[23:07] group of people promoting a uh
[23:11] government funded Canadian federal
[23:12] government prof funded skills trades
[23:15] program for women. That grant has since
[23:18] died. But what she told my partner and I
[23:21] is that prior to doing that course um
[23:25] she was a single mom with two kids. She
[23:27] worked at a grocery store full-time and
[23:29] she worked two part-time jobs and her
[23:32] total income was
[23:34] $37,000. After completing an
[23:36] electrician's program, she is now making
[23:38] close to 100. You can imagine the
[23:41] difference that makes to her family and
[23:44] her life. Uh I think it's really
[23:47] important. I mentioned Sparks briefly.
[23:50] Um my um scholarship committee uh mates
[23:55] and I had a lovely visit to Sparks. If
[23:57] you haven't had that chance, it's worth
[24:00] going. You will see uh both men and
[24:03] women of a variety of different programs
[24:06] doing the welding and electrical right
[24:08] now. And I I think they had plumbing and
[24:11] probably some others at different times,
[24:13] too. I've been told um by uh Rob Stanley
[24:17] how many they've graduated out of there.
[24:20] And the night that I was there, there
[24:22] were uh union officials from Boiler
[24:25] Makers and another union and they were
[24:27] there to recruit these these young
[24:31] people. So, it's a great program. I know
[24:33] the town uh provides some funding for
[24:36] them and I also know that their bigger
[24:39] grants are up.
[24:41] Uh we have some good partners that are
[24:44] helping us to get get our um program off
[24:47] the ground and there they are. Ryan
[24:50] Walker of Walker Homes, Lynn James
[24:52] Interiors by Design and Elsen Melie Oxa
[24:57] from Shorebound um Contracting. I hope I
[25:00] have pronounced uh the names correctly.
[25:03] Um but when they were approached by
[25:05] members of the scholarship committee
[25:07] about the idea, a they said um do you
[25:10] have any women you know who are ready
[25:12] now and b yeah yeah we'll we'll support
[25:15] your scholarship. So it's going to be
[25:18] awarded um by September and we will let
[25:21] you know about that. We're we're really
[25:24] looking forward to um announcing the
[25:26] winner of our first women in trade
[25:29] scholarship and we're very proud to be
[25:31] doing that in the town of Saging Shores.
[25:33] Thank you. Well, thank you very much.
[25:35] Questions or comments from members? Uh
[25:37] the deputy mayor.
[25:41] Um thank you Odet for the presentation.
[25:43] I I just wanted to
[25:45] um show appreciation for the the entire
[25:49] group CFUW Southport for providing some
[25:53] support for students. Um, I know when I
[25:55] was a kid going to school here that um I
[25:58] received some help from a number I it
[26:00] was before CFUW Southport existed, but I
[26:03] received support um in my own university
[26:05] experience from a number of local groups
[26:07] and it it made a difference and um so
[26:10] thank you very much for adding to the
[26:13] list um and um supporting people who
[26:17] from our area who are are doing
[26:19] interesting things and that support as I
[26:21] said it just it makes a big difference.
[26:23] So, thank you very much for that. Thank
[26:25] you. Further questions or comments?
[26:26] Councelor Grace.
[26:29] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thanks, Odette.
[26:31] And I'm part of that committee. So, um
[26:34] I'm a little biased about this uh
[26:36] program, but um I also just wanted to
[26:39] say a few things also about the Sparks
[26:41] tour that we had, which was really
[26:45] fascinating,
[26:46] um and very inspirational. And I want to
[26:50] thank councelor Met and councelor Halpen
[26:53] for their work in volunteering to be
[26:56] part of that program. And I'm glad our
[26:59] town is supporting that program. Um Rob
[27:02] told us on the tour a couple of
[27:04] statistics. I think he said
[27:07] 34% of the attendees are women. Um
[27:11] 30 around that 33 32% are indigenous. I
[27:17] know the other thing we saw, we saw a
[27:18] number of um people who were immigrants
[27:23] and uh I just wanted to call people up
[27:28] who who uh criticize immigration in our
[27:31] country and say come and look at these
[27:33] young folks who are in here learning how
[27:36] to uh wire something properly or
[27:39] learning how to weld. a very
[27:42] inspirational uh couple of young men we
[27:45] met who started their lives in an
[27:47] Ethiopian refugee camp and are now
[27:50] living in Owen Sound and learning how to
[27:52] weld and doing a fantastic job of it. So
[27:56] anyway, I could just break it. I could
[27:58] go on and on about that. Those two young
[28:00] men from Ethiopia uh last week were um
[28:04] given apprenticeships at Leona.
[28:09] And I should mention too that councelor
[28:10] Grace is um co-chair of the scholarship
[28:14] committee and has done a wonderful job.
[28:16] Thank you again. No surprise there.
[28:19] Further questions or comments? Uh
[28:21] council man. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
[28:24] Thu. Yes, I I I'm really really pleased
[28:27] to see that you're offering this skilled
[28:29] trade scholarship and I'll put it out
[28:31] there as as a director and and same as
[28:33] councelor Halpin on the board for the
[28:35] Sparks Training Center that uh we would
[28:37] be pleased to work with you in any way
[28:40] to help you find suitable candidates to
[28:42] to fit into that scholarship program
[28:45] because I think it'll just be a great
[28:46] kickstart for for any young lady or
[28:50] maybe not so young lady that wants to
[28:52] redefine her career and get things going
[28:55] and and there's lots of opportunities
[28:56] through the you mentioned the the union
[28:58] partners. I was remiss when I didn't
[29:00] mention the uh the Society of United
[29:02] Professionals is also a great sponsor of
[29:04] the Sparks Training Center and they've
[29:06] been at most of our events as well. So
[29:09] um congratulations and keep up the good
[29:11] work and look forward to hearing from
[29:12] you. Thank you. Are there further
[29:15] questions or comments counselor HP?
[29:17] Thank you mayor through you.
[29:19] um working in Spark but also working for
[29:22] years as a high school teacher. Uh you
[29:25] know, our female students just have
[29:27] always had a greater attention to
[29:29] detail, better manual dexterity, and
[29:32] that makes them excel at woodworking and
[29:36] welding. Those two things, I mean,
[29:38] welding and electrical wiring. And uh so
[29:43] those are and and I believe electrical
[29:46] is the trade job that has the highest
[29:49] amount of uh female
[29:51] membership. And I would just encourage
[29:54] anyone out there thinking of
[29:57] that, try it, you know, like let let's
[30:01] let's forget about Walmart and those
[30:03] places and let's let's give those people
[30:06] a chance to, as you say, really improve
[30:09] their livelihood and the life of their
[30:11] families. So, thank you for the work
[30:12] that you're doing with that. Thank you.
[30:15] Are there further questions or comments
[30:16] from members? Well, I'll just reiterate
[30:18] the comments. Thanks to you, Odet and to
[30:20] CFW for all the work that you do in our
[30:22] community. This sounds this is a great
[30:24] uh scholarship. I think that uh you know
[30:26] there's um we hear all the time that
[30:29] there's as you mentioned a deficit in
[30:31] the number of folks working in our
[30:32] skilled trades. How we need more people
[30:34] working in skilled trades and we have
[30:36] you said what only 8% of the folks
[30:38] working in skilled trades are women.
[30:40] That number should be at least 50%.
[30:42] That's a heck of a gap, right? That's
[30:44] 42%. We should be that's a lot of people
[30:46] who we could be getting into the skilled
[30:48] trades and help us fill that gap and
[30:50] help us build the things that we plan to
[30:52] build and want to build in Canada. We're
[30:53] hearing a lot of talk about building new
[30:55] projects and getting Canad Canada's
[30:58] economy rolling and uh and so women
[31:01] should should play as much a part of
[31:03] that as men do. And uh and so helping
[31:06] this kind of help uh that you're
[31:08] offering to get uh women the opportunity
[31:10] to get those kinds of jobs is fantastic.
[31:13] And I would just conclude by saying it's
[31:14] really
[31:15] cool sitting here to see we get all of
[31:19] these we all the synergies are happening
[31:21] between groups and organizations right
[31:23] in our community we had society here we
[31:25] have two representatives of sparks you
[31:27] folks here from CFUW and all the
[31:29] collaboration that is happening between
[31:31] all these different groups and
[31:32] organizations that are making things
[31:34] happen you know in our community
[31:36] creating these opportunities for young
[31:37] people uh you know it's it's it's the
[31:41] kind of thing that it gives you so much
[31:43] optimism, I guess, about about what our
[31:46] future's going to look like and and and
[31:48] how we can overcome whatever challenges
[31:49] we have because we have all these
[31:50] different groups and organizations
[31:52] making things happen. So anyway, and one
[31:55] of them uh one of the most valued is CFW
[31:57] and we really appreciate all your work.
[31:58] So thanks for coming in tonight, Odette,
[32:00] and we'll see you again
[32:02] soon. Okay, so that brings us to the end
[32:04] of our delegation. So um we uh we have
[32:09] no items uh for um decision. We have a
[32:13] we have a series of items on the consent
[32:15] agenda. Does anybody want to have any of
[32:16] the consent items voted on separately or
[32:20] questions or comments are okay but votes
[32:22] uh we need to pull it out for. So if you
[32:25] don't wish to vote on any of these items
[32:28] separately, I will just read the
[32:29] recommendation that items 10.1 through
[32:32] 10.8 be approved and received for
[32:34] information. Is there a mover and
[32:36] seconder for that? The deputy mayor and
[32:37] the vice deputy mayor. So questions or
[32:40] comments on any of these items? Uh the
[32:42] deputy mayor. Um just to avoid bouncing
[32:45] around. Um did you want to move through
[32:47] each of them in turn to see if there's
[32:50] questions? I can if if we think there's
[32:54] going to be questions on on many of
[32:56] them. Why don't I do that? How about
[32:57] 10.1? Anybody have any questions on the
[32:59] art school lease
[33:01] agreement? Don't see any. How about
[33:03] 10.2? The IT manage detection and
[33:07] response. Doesn't look like it. How
[33:09] about 10.3? The preliminary operating
[33:14] financials. Nope. Uh the winter
[33:17] operations plan. Uh councelor man or
[33:19] pardon me. Geez, I'm forgetting who
[33:21] everybody is. Councelor Alban.
[33:24] Thank you, mayor, and through you. Um, I
[33:26] think that this is just uh pretty
[33:30] impressive the amount of sidewalk that
[33:32] we are plowing and I I recently heard a
[33:35] ghost to the moon. Um, but
[33:40] but I think
[33:42] that we're we're not just talking the
[33:45] talk. We're we're we're walking the walk
[33:48] and plowing the walks when it comes to
[33:50] providing active transport for people
[33:53] and and for promoting that active
[33:56] transport and for making it a more car
[33:58] like a walking friendly environment and
[34:01] everything. So, um you know I I think I
[34:05] think Sogging Shores just has excellent
[34:08] snow removal and you guys have done a
[34:10] good job and this is a great addition.
[34:12] So, just thanks very much
[34:14] for for this and uh you know, this is
[34:18] going to cost a little bit more money,
[34:20] but it seems that something that people
[34:22] really want. So, I think this is good
[34:24] news and it's good to see all that stuff
[34:26] plowed. Thank
[34:27] you. Further comments on this one, the
[34:30] deputy mayor.
[34:32] Um I just wanted to acknowledge too that
[34:34] it's a a really good read um the report
[34:37] and I do hope um I had sent in a a
[34:41] couple of comments that I think were
[34:43] just um slight corrections to the report
[34:47] um to include um language that I guess
[34:49] was a little more inclusive in terms of
[34:51] priorities both Port Algen and
[34:52] Southampton and um not just indicating
[34:55] Port Algam but I think this is the kind
[34:57] of report that um I know that the town
[35:00] um social media IA stuff picks up on a
[35:03] lot of things. It's a really interesting
[35:05] read when you look at the the the
[35:07] priorities associated with how roads get
[35:10] plowed in the winter and what the
[35:13] priority route is. um which because a
[35:15] lot of people um you know automatically
[35:17] think the shore road but in fact you
[35:20] know there's there's another road which
[35:22] a series of roads that connect up that
[35:25] take Port Algen right into the hospital
[35:27] in Southampton that um it's the kind of
[35:29] report that anybody um in in the
[35:32] community I think would find something
[35:34] of interest in it. So I'm sure it'll get
[35:37] to be a Facebook post maybe at a more
[35:39] appropriate time perhaps just before
[35:41] snowfall next fall. Um, but thank you
[35:43] very much, Matt, for for just such a
[35:46] great update. Um, it's it's very good.
[35:49] Thank you. Just a note, there will be a
[35:50] press release on this particular item
[35:53] tomorrow likely. Councelor Grace.
[35:56] Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you,
[35:58] Matt, for the report.
[36:00] I too want to say how pleased I am and
[36:04] uh I know there are many residents in
[36:07] Southampton who are very pleased to see
[36:09] that additional over 10 kilometers of
[36:12] sidewalk being plowed in Southampton and
[36:14] thanks to staff uh and council for
[36:18] budgeting for this additional plow. Um,
[36:21] and yes, we are so grateful and I hear
[36:24] over and over how people really really
[36:29] appreciate uh the fine work that our uh
[36:32] snow plowing and winter control group
[36:35] do.
[36:36] Um, I like the de deputy mayor said is
[36:41] suggesting to residents that it is
[36:43] important to read this report because
[36:46] what this report makes clear is that is
[36:49] the level of detailed preparation that
[36:53] goes into a successful winter operations
[36:56] plan.
[36:58] um that the training that staff goes
[37:00] through every year, the maintenance and
[37:04] and upkeep of all the equipment, the
[37:06] materials that need to be ordered in
[37:08] advance, the weather
[37:11] monitoring several times a day, every
[37:14] calendar day between October 1st and
[37:17] April 20th, and then the rest of the
[37:19] year, um once a calendar day. I pe you
[37:24] know, people don't I didn't know that.
[37:26] Um, I should have, but I didn't. Um, the
[37:28] fact that staff monitors our pavement
[37:31] temperatures with infrared devices on
[37:34] their
[37:35] vehicles. I mean, it's it's pretty
[37:37] intriguing. And so, um,
[37:40] and very comforting and it's then no
[37:44] surprise that we have such great,
[37:47] um, winter control operations. And we
[37:50] also have dedicated staff who get up at
[37:52] 3:00 in the morning to actually go out
[37:54] and and see what the conditions are
[37:57] like. So, um, thank you very much, Matt.
[38:00] It was a great, uh, great report and
[38:03] your work all year round is great. Thank
[38:05] you. Thank you, Councelor Dinsky.
[38:10] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I can only echo
[38:12] what everyone has said. Um, but I do
[38:17] have a message for those that may be
[38:20] tuning in and watching. Now is the time
[38:24] to take a look at this report, not when
[38:28] the first snowfall hits. Look at it now
[38:32] in in the sunshine out on your patio,
[38:35] whatever the case may be, and see what's
[38:39] happening here. the plan that we have
[38:41] not only for sidewalks, which councelor
[38:45] Grace and I went through a lot with that
[38:47] over the past couple of years, but the
[38:49] new roads that will be plowed as well.
[38:53] Don't wait until the first snowfall and
[38:55] then start calling in to Matt or anybody
[38:58] else because they're out there doing
[39:00] their job based on what we're presenting
[39:03] today. So, make sure you check this out
[39:07] and uh do it now. Thank you. Thank you.
[39:10] Further comments. Of course, we do all
[39:13] this planning uh so that the folks out
[39:15] there in the community don't need to
[39:16] think, don't need to worry about it on
[39:17] their patios in the summertime. Uh and
[39:20] uh but it's but it's been a good note
[39:22] that's been made by folks around the
[39:24] table that uh that an awful lot of
[39:26] planning does go into the uh go into the
[39:30] winter operations uh plan and all of our
[39:33] operations and and I think it's worth uh
[39:35] remembering that and uh and celebrating
[39:38] it. I will note uh this evening uh we
[39:40] have our uh new manager of operations
[39:44] Trevor Robinson in the room public oh
[39:47] sorry public works our manager of public
[39:49] works uh in the room so um he's got a
[39:54] lot to do with implementing all of this
[39:56] and uh and so we appreciate having him
[39:58] in the room uh with us and I see that
[40:01] the director has a comment he'd like to
[40:02] make so the director
[40:06] uh thank you and through your your
[40:07] worship and I'd like to thank everyone
[40:09] for their kind words acknowledging the
[40:11] efforts of our staff. I do want to
[40:14] acknowledge that uh Trevor Robinson who
[40:17] is now the manager of public works as
[40:19] you indicated uh has succeeded Pete
[40:22] Nectel but Pete also contributed to
[40:25] contributing uh to this report as well.
[40:27] Dave Souza um our other road supervisor
[40:31] has currently Trevor is wearing both
[40:34] hats until we backfill his position. Um
[40:37] and we have decided to call him Skinny
[40:39] Pete because it seems appropriate.
[40:43] So well we'll probably we probably won't
[40:45] refer to him as that at
[40:47] council but anyway welcome aboard Trevor
[40:51] and thank you for your work. I will just
[40:53] say that the real headline from this
[40:55] report is 20 km of additional sidewalk
[40:58] plowed which is a 33% increase in the
[41:01] amount of sidewalk that the towning jars
[41:03] will will be plowing. We're going to
[41:04] increase the amount of sidewalk we're
[41:06] plowing by a full third uh which is a
[41:09] huge huge increase which is going to
[41:12] improve pedestrian access throughout the
[41:14] municipality. And I might add that a big
[41:16] chunk of those sidewalks that are being
[41:19] added are in existing residential
[41:20] neighborhoods. So, a chunk of them are
[41:22] in new developments as you would expect,
[41:24] but a bunch of them, a very large
[41:26] percentage of them, maybe even half, am
[41:27] I about right? Give or take. About half
[41:29] of those uh 20 km are in neighborhoods
[41:32] that are already existing, which is a
[41:34] demonstration of the direct benefit that
[41:38] people who have lived here their whole
[41:40] lives get from the growth of the
[41:41] community. It's only because the
[41:43] community is growing that we are able to
[41:46] buy new sidewalk snow plows and able to
[41:49] enhance levels of service across
[41:51] existing neighborhoods in the
[41:53] municipality. So, um, people often ask
[41:56] me, you know, what do I get out of the
[41:58] growth of this community? What benefit
[42:00] do I see? Well, here it is. There's an
[42:02] example right there. And I think it's a
[42:05] great thing. People ask us all the time
[42:07] to clear their sidewalks. and uh
[42:09] increasingly we're making our way
[42:11] towards getting all those sidewalks
[42:13] plowed. It won't happen overnight, but a
[42:15] 33% jump in one year is a heck of a step
[42:17] in the right direction. So anyway,
[42:19] thanks again Matt and Trevor and to your
[42:21] whole
[42:22] team. All right. Um so the next one is
[42:25] 10.5, the government relations and
[42:27] advocacy report. Uh start with the
[42:29] deputy mayor and then come down and
[42:30] around.
[42:32] Um thank you. Um I just wanted to get a
[42:35] little more information. Um, there's
[42:37] mention in this report about a specific
[42:39] grant associated with the cemetery. Um,
[42:43] someday I hope to live in one of our
[42:44] cemeteries. So, I'm uh I'm just curious.
[42:48] I don't recall hearing about what this
[42:50] grant is all about. So, I I I hope we
[42:52] might just be able to get a comment or
[42:54] two about what what the outcome of that
[42:57] grant is. I think it's about $80,000. I
[43:00] might be out by a few. I think that's
[43:02] right. The CEO.
[43:05] Thank you. through you, Mr. Mayor. I'm
[43:07] just trying to find it was a grant topup
[43:09] on our um OMF funding of $80,000. So,
[43:14] over the last uh three years, uh Jill
[43:17] Rude, our manager of strategic
[43:19] initiatives, myself, the mayor,
[43:20] Wellington, Dupont, and those members of
[43:22] council that have traveled with us to
[43:24] Roma or AMO know that we've made
[43:26] repeated delegations regarding the
[43:28] Pioneer Cemetery in Southampton. And uh
[43:32] this year it was noted that that OMFP am
[43:36] I saying I always get it backwards.
[43:39] OMPF OMF funding uh received a top up of
[43:45] $80,000. I I would say that specifically
[43:48] for Pioneer Cemetery, but they did note
[43:51] that that could be one of our uses of
[43:52] it. Uh I will also note that you know
[43:55] this council has in front of it a
[43:58] significant budget request related to
[43:59] that pioneer cemetery if we are going to
[44:02] save it from um from any further
[44:04] slumping into the sogggin. So we will
[44:07] continue to uh ask and invite our member
[44:10] of parliament uh Lisa Thompson to come
[44:12] up which we're working on for this
[44:14] summer to see it uh with the hopes of
[44:16] continuing to have that conversation
[44:17] with the province of Ontario for
[44:19] additional
[44:20] funding. Councelor Halpin and then
[44:23] Grace.
[44:25] Thank you, Mayor and through you. Um,
[44:28] uh, how much do we pay, uh, Dupont
[44:31] Wellington DW per year, the CEO?
[44:40] Thank you for the question. And through
[44:41] you, Mr. Mayor, uh, we budgeted
[44:43] approximately 72,000 in 2025 for
[44:47] Wellington Dupont's retainer.
[44:52] And um uh sometimes uh we you also
[44:56] mentioned in this that you have grant uh
[44:59] you have grant writers working and how
[45:01] does the the grant match writers? How
[45:03] does that work and how are they
[45:05] renumerated?
[45:09] Thank you for the question. So yeah, so
[45:11] it's a team effort any time we apply for
[45:13] the grants and a shout out to all those
[45:15] in the room tonight that have helped the
[45:16] town in acquiring over that $5 million
[45:18] mark that we've had in the last year. Uh
[45:21] and so we do use a company called Grant
[45:24] Match and they help us with um
[45:26] completing the submissions for the
[45:27] grants because they are quite ownorous.
[45:29] Uh Grant Match is um on retainer with
[45:32] the town and uh their retainer is that
[45:35] if they are successful they are paid.
[45:38] So, while they're included in the same
[45:39] report around government um relations
[45:42] and advocacy, uh Wellington Dupont and
[45:45] Grant Match are two separate entities
[45:47] that we contract with.
[45:53] Okay. Thank you. And I was kind of
[45:55] surprised to learn that the connecting
[45:57] links was something that we had to apply
[46:00] to or that all of these
[46:03] grants are so competitive to get. I
[46:06] thought by right because we have a
[46:08] highway running through us that the
[46:10] government by right would help to look
[46:12] after that but that is not the case.
[46:15] I might I can just note that with
[46:18] several years now of experience with
[46:19] connecting
[46:20] links we're we have traditionally been
[46:24] less successful than successful with
[46:26] getting connecting link funding like
[46:27] it's been a challenge to get connecting
[46:29] link and there was a period actually
[46:31] under the previous government where they
[46:32] almost eliminated the program altogether
[46:34] um but uh um I would say and I think
[46:38] it's a real that to me is sort of a a
[46:40] real testament to the success we've had
[46:42] with Wellington Dupont is the fact that
[46:43] in the last couple of years we've We've
[46:45] received several like what are we at
[46:47] three now connecting link grants in like
[46:49] two years which is in my experience
[46:52] completely unprecedented. So, um, so
[46:55] that's a it's true that, um, everybody
[46:58] knows that you shouldn't have to
[47:00] advocate, you shouldn't have to have
[47:02] lobbyists to get this money. Uh, but in
[47:04] the end, uh, if you want to get the
[47:06] money, that's what you do and it works.
[47:09] Council helping you.
[47:11] Thank you, Mayor. And those are my
[47:13] thoughts. Uh, exactly. I think it's a
[47:16] shame that we have to spend taxpayers
[47:19] money to talk to the government which is
[47:23] run on the taxpayers's money and I I
[47:27] don't think it should be like that. I do
[47:29] have to acknowledge the success of DW
[47:34] and the amount of grant money that we've
[47:36] had this particularly this last year and
[47:40] um I was you know I was eager to get rid
[47:45] of them at the last budget time but the
[47:47] fruit seemed to have coming in but again
[47:50] I I just think it's a this is no
[47:52] criticism of all the people that work in
[47:54] the grants. It is not a criticism of it,
[47:56] but I I just think you kind of can't get
[47:58] over it that we have to use taxpayers
[48:01] money to talk to the government. So, but
[48:05] uh thank you and thank you for
[48:06] everyone's work on all these grants and
[48:09] they is there a total number for how
[48:11] many how much grants we received this
[48:13] year the CEO through you Mr. Mayor? So,
[48:17] the number right now sits at just around
[48:19] 5.2 2 million and the report outlines um
[48:23] not only the additional grants we're
[48:25] looking at applying for but also the
[48:27] advocacy issues that aren't related to
[48:29] grants that uh Wellington DuPont um is
[48:33] working on with us and there's several
[48:35] under that area as well that they're
[48:36] helping support us on and I just want to
[48:38] give a shout out to our staff as well
[48:41] who do spend a lot of time um director
[48:44] Shrider and her staff uh director Paulie
[48:47] uh Rulin uh have done a lot of work on
[48:50] those grant applications to get them in
[48:52] as well. So, thanks to all of them.
[48:55] Uh, thank you. Thanks to staff and thank
[48:57] you, Mayor. Thank you, Councelor Grace.
[48:59] And then the vice deputy mayor. Uh,
[49:02] thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, thank you,
[49:04] Cara, for the report. Um, I know I've
[49:07] said this before that I witnessed
[49:10] firsthand, experienced firsthand the uh,
[49:14] preparation and the fine preparation and
[49:18] support that Wellington Dupont provided
[49:21] to our team at the uh, AMO conference in
[49:25] Ottawa last summer.
[49:28] And uh but I until I read this report, I
[49:31] did not know
[49:34] the variety of ways that they are
[49:38] advocating for our
[49:40] municipality. And uh just one example,
[49:43] something that I was involved in when I
[49:45] was a member of the rail trail board, um
[49:48] trying to get those paved shoulders on
[49:51] the rail trail to try and make it the
[49:54] highway crossing more accessible to
[49:56] people. uh who are coming off the rail
[49:59] trail and trying to, you know, trans
[50:02] transition from that gravel shoulder to
[50:06] the highway uh pavement. And um so
[50:09] apparently that's something that they're
[50:11] assisting with and looks like we're
[50:14] successful in getting that. That's
[50:16] something that the rail drill has been
[50:19] trying to get for years. So uh I
[50:22] completely support our use um of
[50:24] taxpayer money. I think it it is a shame
[50:27] we have to do it but that's the way of
[50:30] the world and I think Wellington Dupon
[50:32] is doing a really fine job for us. Thank
[50:34] you. Hugh the vice deputy mayor. Yeah.
[50:39] Thank you Mr. Mayor and I I also think
[50:40] Wellington Dupon are doing a an
[50:42] extremely good job there. I did I did I
[50:45] had a question for the CEO. I did meet a
[50:47] um a company and at the Olsson
[50:49] conference who would dearly love to be
[50:52] able to bid on this contract and um I've
[50:56] been in the business 25 years and gave
[50:58] me some ideas around some of their
[51:01] successful projects and so there are
[51:03] other companies and I guess my question
[51:04] to the CEO you may is that car was this
[51:08] was this soul sourced um did we go for a
[51:11] request for proposal was it a tender
[51:14] process or was it soulsource source.
[51:22] Thank you for the question and through
[51:24] you, Mr. Mayor. If you'll remember back
[51:26] to 2023, I think is when we started
[51:29] working with Wellington DuPont, we
[51:31] specifically brought them on board in
[51:33] relation to the uh aquatic and wellness
[51:36] center and securing funding for that. If
[51:39] they're watching at all tonight or
[51:41] anyone from the province or the federal
[51:43] government is watching, we're still
[51:44] waiting for funding for that. So it is
[51:46] one of the places where weekly we're
[51:48] asking for the updates on but that was
[51:50] the original intent in in bringing them
[51:53] in and it did um sort of grow from there
[51:56] to the request that we made of council
[51:58] last year to extend their contract. So
[52:00] it hasn't gone through an RFP. Uh if
[52:04] this was a recommended uh company to us
[52:07] from our member of parliament and so if
[52:09] there is somebody else that you have in
[52:11] mind, I'd be happy to explore that
[52:12] option with them. And I thanks for that.
[52:15] I just I I promised I would raise that
[52:18] when the time was appropriate. So I'm
[52:20] raising it this evening and I'll pass
[52:21] that contact uh along to and and one of
[52:24] the contacts is actually a seasonal
[52:27] resident in Southampton. So, um I think
[52:29] if there's an opportunity to uh to
[52:31] tender RFP, Wellington Dupont are doing
[52:34] a great job. So, uh this council may may
[52:36] very well decide that we'll just stick
[52:38] with Wellington to Dupont, but I just
[52:40] wanted to pass it on. Thank you. Further
[52:43] comments? Yeah, I think it's Oh,
[52:45] councelor Matt. Go ahead.
[52:49] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Could I go back to
[52:51] um I think it's number three, the IT
[52:54] managed one. Well, why don't we just let
[52:56] me just I have a comment just I want
[52:57] briefly on this. We can go back. Um, I
[52:59] just I just wanted to um follow up on
[53:03] what the vice deputy mayor just said and
[53:04] and note that I think probably it is a
[53:06] good idea since we sort of um this has
[53:10] sort of become a thing since as the CIO
[53:12] raised because of the aquatics and
[53:13] wellness center and we've sort of
[53:16] realized the usefulness of having a
[53:18] government relations firm and so um it's
[53:21] been evolving for the last couple years
[53:22] I would say and now it's maybe reaching
[53:24] more of a state of maturity in terms of
[53:26] becoming more of a permanent part of our
[53:28] operations.
[53:29] In which case, I think probably it's
[53:31] smart uh to go along the lines of what
[53:34] the vice deputy mayor said to start to
[53:35] formalize it and and at some point put
[53:37] it into a routine RFP. uh because as the
[53:40] vice deputy mayor quite rightly points
[53:42] out there are many government relations
[53:43] firms uh in the world all of which have
[53:47] um pros and cons to them and and we
[53:49] should um you know I find an appropriate
[53:52] time and and tender this like you would
[53:55] your auditors and other things like
[53:58] that. So um so I think that's a good
[53:59] note and one that we should definitely
[54:01] um follow up on. I just wanted to make
[54:03] that point. If there's nothing else on
[54:05] the uh government relations and advocacy
[54:08] report, we can double back up. The
[54:10] councelor wanted to talk about the
[54:11] number 10.2 IT manage detection and
[54:14] response. Counselor. Yes. Thank you, Mr.
[54:16] Mayor. U when I read this one that a
[54:18] question came into my mind and I just
[54:20] remembered it now is was uh like we keep
[54:22] getting these uh fake I presume fishing
[54:26] type emails and because this I usually
[54:28] just delete them because they do look
[54:29] fishy but um I'm just wondering uh with
[54:33] the current system that we have we had
[54:35] any attacks that have been repelled by
[54:38] our current system or have we uh or do
[54:42] you have a way of detecting that? That's
[54:44] why you never answer any of my emails
[54:49] daily. The manager of it. Yeah. Thank
[54:52] you. And through you, Mr. Mayor. Uh we
[54:54] do every day have uh things. It could be
[54:58] a website, could be a fishing email.
[55:00] That is almost all of them are
[55:02] definitely the bi-weekly automated ones,
[55:04] but we do get occasionally ones that
[55:06] come through and they do get flagged and
[55:08] and blocked and we have metrics on that.
[55:11] But um the the platform we're looking at
[55:14] is not related to the training part. Uh
[55:18] it's just through MISA and some of our
[55:20] working groups. There is uh some newer
[55:23] services that are 247 a little more
[55:26] proactive. You know, all of us have time
[55:29] off. They have staff and there are a
[55:32] couple that are fully Canadian um
[55:34] staffed designed. So, uh, just it's just
[55:38] an FYI that we'll most likely be going
[55:40] to RFP in 2026 for a new platform.
[55:46] And how much does, um, burgeoning AI
[55:49] space play into this? Uh, through you,
[55:53] Mr. Mayor. So, the some of the new
[55:56] systems do have machine learning, which
[55:58] is a form of artificial intelligence. um
[56:02] the gathers all that information from
[56:04] every single computer, cell phone,
[56:06] brings all the information back. So the
[56:08] biggest part is we're we're getting
[56:09] almost too much information from
[56:12] everybody's devices for an average
[56:14] person to sit there and make a decision.
[56:18] This is much more proactive. It makes
[56:21] all those decisions in the cloud and
[56:22] then sends us all the alerts. and they
[56:24] have staff that are monitoring it so
[56:26] that two in the morning doesn't matter
[56:29] if if your computer's on or I'm asleep
[56:32] someone's watching it and making those
[56:34] proactive decisions so we don't end up
[56:37] like an you know some of the
[56:38] municipalities that we have seen that
[56:40] didn't have this service so
[56:44] okay if there's nothing further on that
[56:46] one then we'll we're all the way down
[56:48] back and thank you Darren we're all the
[56:50] way back down to 10.6 6, the 2024
[56:52] council remuneration. Any questions or
[56:54] comments on that? Seeing none, then 10.7
[56:58] is the Bruce County Roads Authority
[57:00] Assessment Study. Anybody have anything
[57:02] on that one? The deputy mayor. Um, thank
[57:05] you. Um, I don't know who who the
[57:08] question is directed at. This this looks
[57:10] really interesting, but it's also a
[57:13] little bit concerning um because it does
[57:15] talk about uploading or downloading
[57:17] roads eventually. So, um, and, um, it
[57:21] says something along the lines of we're
[57:23] expecting a report perhaps by the end of
[57:25] this year, which, um, you know, that
[57:28] doesn't give us much time to prepare if
[57:30] if the situation is is recommending, um,
[57:35] the downloading of some roads and
[57:37] because it's not just county roads, it's
[57:39] talking about provincial roads, too. So
[57:41] um who will participate in this from our
[57:44] community and um what are the
[57:48] expectations in terms of timeline for
[57:50] council to hear um about how it's all
[57:54] unfolding because it does sound very
[57:56] interesting and make sense and we all
[57:58] know that there are roads in our
[57:59] community that part of them is ours,
[58:01] part is the county and you know the a
[58:03] provincial highway crosses at an
[58:06] intersection. So, there's three
[58:08] different I'm talking about the CAW
[58:10] concession 6, highway 21 um
[58:13] intersection. There's three different um
[58:14] levels of government involved, but I'm
[58:16] I'm just curious um and I see two people
[58:19] at the mic. Um who's participating from
[58:21] us and and when when my council will be
[58:24] hearing some results of what's coming
[58:26] out of the working group and um I I look
[58:30] forward to the response. Thank you. The
[58:32] director of operations.
[58:34] Thank you. and through your worship. Um
[58:37] we've uh talked and we've decided that
[58:39] Trevor will stick handle participation
[58:41] in this uh Bruce County Roads Authority
[58:43] Assessment Study. Uh consequently, um he
[58:46] was prepared to do some speaking on this
[58:48] and I'm willing to let him do that right
[58:51] now as his debut before you.
[58:56] Thank you. And uh through you, Mr.
[58:57] Mayor. So, um, to answer the question,
[59:01] um, ultimately I think any changes at
[59:03] the Sogging Shores level, they will be
[59:05] have to report back to to town council.
[59:08] Um, but as stipulated in the report, it
[59:10] looks like their final final report, um,
[59:13] is expected in Q3 2026. So, that's
[59:16] something that, um, I think we're
[59:18] hopefully a long ways away from
[59:19] actually, uh, doing that and seeing
[59:22] what, uh, what findings come from this
[59:24] working group.
[59:29] Any further questions? I can just uh say
[59:31] too that uh in terms of the upload
[59:35] download scenario, but at least between
[59:37] the town and the county, it's very
[59:39] likely that that will be done
[59:40] cooperatively. And I I wouldn't uh I
[59:44] wouldn't be afraid that somehow we're
[59:46] going to have a lot of county roads
[59:48] downloaded on us or or um if if anything
[59:52] um it will be done I assume in a way
[59:54] that works out to the best in the best
[59:55] interest of both parties. There are some
[59:57] roads out there where we are, you know,
[1:00:01] for example, doing uh snow clearing in
[1:00:03] the winter that are county roads,
[1:00:04] picking up pieces of those roads or
[1:00:06] there may be oper there may be scenarios
[1:00:07] where it makes more sense for one
[1:00:09] jurisdiction or the other to have
[1:00:11] ownership, but as I say, I don't think
[1:00:12] we're going to I'm um I can be you can
[1:00:16] be pretty confident that we're not going
[1:00:17] to be um the pro the county at least
[1:00:19] will not be downloading a major burden
[1:00:21] onto the town of Hogy Shores. Are there
[1:00:24] further uh comments on this one? I don't
[1:00:28] see any. So, thank you, gentlemen.
[1:00:29] Appreciate it. Hope the vice deputy
[1:00:31] mayor, you have some. No, I just want to
[1:00:32] circle back to one if I would. Oh, yeah,
[1:00:33] sure. Go ahead. Which one? Yeah,
[1:00:35] it was for Jim a bunch and uh Jim um it
[1:00:40] was nice to see Daniel's signature on
[1:00:42] this report and yourself and um I just
[1:00:45] um it was a question I had Jim of um
[1:00:49] when you talk about the surplus of 13.8
[1:00:52] 8 million and I know much of that is
[1:00:55] attributed to the uh tax stabilization
[1:00:57] reserve and the remaining 8.2 million is
[1:01:00] reserves predominantly water and
[1:01:02] wastewater. Um so I look at that 13.8
[1:01:05] million and then I and I I flip over to
[1:01:08] the the other attachment
[1:01:10] um you know with showing the numbers for
[1:01:12] the just flipping to it and it's the
[1:01:15] operating results net operating income
[1:01:17] excluding debt. In the bottom right hand
[1:01:19] corner it says grand total. Uh on the
[1:01:22] right hand column it says remaining and
[1:01:24] um there's
[1:01:27] 758,554. Jim, could you explain the 13.8
[1:01:30] million surplus versus that bottom right
[1:01:33] hand number?
[1:01:36] The director of corporate services.
[1:01:39] Thank you for the question and through
[1:01:40] you Mr. Mayor. Uh the difference is in
[1:01:44] the column that's titled actual full
[1:01:46] year that is our our net income. So we
[1:01:50] had net income of $13.8 million. We had
[1:01:54] budgeted for net income of $13 million.
[1:01:57] That meant that we had a favorable
[1:02:00] variance to the budget of 3/4 of a
[1:02:03] million
[1:02:06] dollars. That explains it. So, um that
[1:02:09] 758554
[1:02:12] um that that that surplus at year end
[1:02:14] for
[1:02:15] 2024, where do those funds end up uh end
[1:02:19] up at the end of the year? Tax
[1:02:20] stabilization, where does it end up? The
[1:02:25] 754 the um as it relates to the impact
[1:02:29] on reserves, it is the actual column
[1:02:32] that of the 13.8 million that will be
[1:02:35] impacting reserves. It'll be impacting
[1:02:37] reserves better than we had expected uh
[1:02:40] back when we did the budget by
[1:02:42] threequarters of a million dollars.
[1:02:46] Okay. And that and the that accumulated
[1:02:49] surplus is up to what now? What's the
[1:02:51] number again? I think it's in the
[1:02:53] report, but I
[1:02:57] just as it relates to tax stabilization,
[1:03:00] uh we don't have the precise numbers at
[1:03:02] this time because there's this is just
[1:03:04] the net income. We still have transfers
[1:03:06] um that we're still working on and
[1:03:08] that'll be part of that what we'll
[1:03:10] present with the audited statements that
[1:03:12] we're hoping to bring forward in
[1:03:13] September of this year. Um but I'm
[1:03:16] anticipating that the tax stabilization
[1:03:18] reserve is going to be somewhere in the
[1:03:20] magnitude of around $6 million which
[1:03:22] would be an improvement of about a
[1:03:23] million half dollars from where it was
[1:03:25] the year before.
[1:03:28] Just a final comment. Is that 3/4 of a
[1:03:30] million dollar net operating surplus
[1:03:34] that one of the highest we've seen in
[1:03:36] the last 5 10
[1:03:39] years? Yep.
[1:03:43] Um I would say it's probably in the
[1:03:45] order of magnitude of what we've seen in
[1:03:47] the past.
[1:03:51] Okay. All right. So um we're down on to
[1:03:54] communications. four communications
[1:03:56] items there. Anybody have any comments
[1:03:57] they want to make to any of
[1:03:59] those? I don't see we will I'm just this
[1:04:03] is the last one under the consent
[1:04:05] agenda. So, do you have a comment the
[1:04:07] vice depos
[1:04:09] um Mr. Mayor, I I you know, at the last
[1:04:12] meeting when they they spoke here as a
[1:04:14] delegation, um you did have a fair
[1:04:16] number of questions and they were great
[1:04:18] questions and uh there was a follow-up
[1:04:20] request at the last budget meeting to to
[1:04:24] call the shareholders meeting and we're
[1:04:26] working on that and I know you've been
[1:04:28] in touch with uh with the with the
[1:04:30] partnering municipalities and uh so I
[1:04:32] think that's that's something that we'll
[1:04:34] look forward to and we have a meeting
[1:04:36] coming up in two weeks time where uh the
[1:04:39] boss for partner municipalities were
[1:04:41] asked to bring to the U table um some
[1:04:44] suggest some some suggestions
[1:04:46] recommendations around how our very old
[1:04:48] agreement could be upgraded the 1998
[1:04:51] agreement I think it is so that that
[1:04:53] discussion is going to take place in a
[1:04:55] couple weeks
[1:04:56] very good thanks for your work on that
[1:04:59] on any of the correspondence if not that
[1:05:02] brings us to the end of the consent
[1:05:03] agenda uh so the resolution's been moved
[1:05:05] and seconded all in favor of that is
[1:05:08] carried
[1:05:09] Okay, so now we're on to motions and
[1:05:11] notices of motion. And so presented here
[1:05:14] isn't really a motion, but it's the only
[1:05:16] place on the agenda we have to put these
[1:05:18] things at the moment. So there you go.
[1:05:19] Uh these are a set of um draft mayoral
[1:05:23] decisions uh presented by me to you for
[1:05:27] your review. You should you can think of
[1:05:29] this as something similar to what we do
[1:05:31] with site plan approval. I put them
[1:05:34] before you in their draft form. You tell
[1:05:36] me what you think of them. I take your
[1:05:38] input and uh if there is input and um
[1:05:42] and change them accordingly if required.
[1:05:44] So um so there's three here. I the first
[1:05:48] delegating the authority to appoint a
[1:05:50] chief administrative officer to council.
[1:05:53] The second delegating uh the management
[1:05:55] of the town's organizational structure
[1:05:56] and employment matters to the chief
[1:05:58] administrative officer and the third
[1:06:00] delegating uh the establishment uh
[1:06:03] function and appointment of chairs and
[1:06:05] vice chairs of all committees of council
[1:06:07] to council. Um these are the first
[1:06:10] three. There will be uh a uh future
[1:06:14] decision uh which I will put before you
[1:06:16] at some point uh pertaining to the
[1:06:18] budget. uh but these are uh the most uh
[1:06:23] critical for the moment for the time
[1:06:24] being with respect to the operation of
[1:06:26] the municipality. So um I'm open to your
[1:06:29] comments or questions on these items.
[1:06:31] Councelor Alen,
[1:06:34] thank you Marin through you. Uh well,
[1:06:36] Mayor, I I I really think you've done
[1:06:38] the right thing with this and I believe
[1:06:40] that you've uh earned a lot of respect
[1:06:42] in the community for what you're doing
[1:06:44] and um I I just really respect you for
[1:06:47] this and I think it's the the best
[1:06:49] decision. Thank you. Thank you, uh
[1:06:52] councelor Matt.
[1:06:54] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You I agree this
[1:06:57] you you've done taken the high road here
[1:06:59] and it's been recognized uh and it will
[1:07:01] be recognized in the media, I'm sure.
[1:07:03] Um, one question I have is will these
[1:07:06] have to be um, redone every term of
[1:07:09] council, do you think?
[1:07:12] I guess that's a open question. I would
[1:07:14] think that a a new mayor will need to
[1:07:19] make a a statement to the public and to
[1:07:21] council as to how they intend to use
[1:07:23] strong mayor powers. Um, I think that as
[1:07:27] long as I am mayor, uh, these decisions
[1:07:30] will stand. Um, so I don't anticipate
[1:07:33] renewing them, um, or changing them in
[1:07:35] any way. Um, but I think my guess is
[1:07:38] that the best approach would be a new
[1:07:40] mayor should make some statement about
[1:07:42] what they intend to do since it really
[1:07:43] is an individual's
[1:07:47] decision. Further questions or comments
[1:07:49] on these items? If not, uh, then, uh,
[1:07:52] you can anticipate that I will sign
[1:07:54] these decisions, uh, at the earliest
[1:07:58] opportunity. All right. Uh so now we're
[1:08:01] on to bylaws. Uh and we have one bylaw
[1:08:04] there which uh is uh well the resolution
[1:08:07] is that bylaw 61-2025 is here by red
[1:08:09] pass and sealed this 9th day of June
[1:08:11] 2025. Is there a mover and secondary?
[1:08:13] Moved by the deputy mayor. Second by
[1:08:15] councelor Dinsky. Questions or comments
[1:08:16] to the bylaw? Uh the deputy mayor.
[1:08:19] Um thank you. It's not really a
[1:08:21] question. It's just an observation. And
[1:08:22] I just wanted to um point out um the
[1:08:26] addition of the the
[1:08:28] the sentence the two sentences or the
[1:08:31] sentence at the bottom of the bylaw. And
[1:08:33] perhaps you can just speak to that. And
[1:08:35] um cuz I I had called cuz I thought it
[1:08:38] was funny that there's two lines for you
[1:08:40] to sign. There's just one right above
[1:08:42] the other. And I thought, you know, that
[1:08:43] seems a little awkward, but I think the
[1:08:46] second signature relates to the
[1:08:48] statement. So perhaps maybe that
[1:08:49] signature should be underneath it. But
[1:08:51] basically it reads, "By signing this
[1:08:53] bylaw on June the 9th, 2025, I, Mayor
[1:08:55] Luke Sharbono, will not exercise the
[1:08:58] power to veto this bylaw pursuant to
[1:09:00] subsection 284 um section 11 um item 4
[1:09:05] um sub item A. Can you just explain what
[1:09:08] that means because it's it's something
[1:09:10] new on the bylaws and I I definitely
[1:09:12] respect that it's here and um just want
[1:09:15] to point it out um that I think it's a
[1:09:17] good good thing. So I'll just let you
[1:09:20] comment. Sure. Yeah. So you'll recall
[1:09:22] when we heard from uh John Mascaren at
[1:09:24] our was that our last meeting or the
[1:09:26] meeting before uh a couple of meetings
[1:09:28] ago. Um we talked about the the new uh
[1:09:32] power that the mayor has to veto a
[1:09:35] bylaw. Uh the mayor has a certain amount
[1:09:37] of time to exercise that authority. Um,
[1:09:40] so that puts our bylaws into limbo um
[1:09:44] for a period of time where after council
[1:09:46] votes on it, it's uncertain whether the
[1:09:48] mayor might veto it or not. So to
[1:09:51] overcome that um we've added this line
[1:09:54] to each bylaw whereby I will So the way
[1:09:58] I conceive of this is that the top line,
[1:10:01] the first line
[1:10:03] um is a B is a that's the mayor or the
[1:10:07] chair of the committee. You know, if you
[1:10:09] were in the chair, deputy mayor, you
[1:10:10] would sign that line. What that is is
[1:10:13] the chair or presiding officer
[1:10:15] certifying the fact that council has
[1:10:17] approved the bylaw. So, if council, if a
[1:10:19] majority of members of council vote I,
[1:10:22] it's the obligation in my view of the
[1:10:24] presiding officer to sign on that line
[1:10:26] because that certifies council's
[1:10:27] approval. So, it's a separate signature
[1:10:30] line for then the mayor to say, "Council
[1:10:34] has approved this and I am not going to
[1:10:36] veto it." Um, and so that's why it's two
[1:10:40] lines. It's a little awkward, but in my
[1:10:42] this was done at my request in this way
[1:10:44] because I think it's the cleanest way
[1:10:46] and clearest way to do it. And so this
[1:10:48] way I can eliminate the limbo on the
[1:10:51] night I I can sign I can sign as the
[1:10:54] presiding officer and then immediately
[1:10:55] certify that I won't veto the bylaw. And
[1:10:58] then it everyone can be certain that it
[1:11:00] will be in full force in effect at that
[1:11:01] moment without having to wait
[1:11:03] for what's two days and then you can
[1:11:06] take two days to indicate you're going
[1:11:07] to do it and then another 15 days to
[1:11:09] actually do it. So it can put a bylaw
[1:11:11] into into limbo for two weeks which in
[1:11:14] many of our decisions would be which
[1:11:16] would be a long time. So I anyway this
[1:11:19] cleans that up and and um prevents that
[1:11:22] limbo. I hope that's a clear enough
[1:11:24] explanation. the deputy mayor. Um, thank
[1:11:26] you for that and and um to my colleagues
[1:11:29] on councel. Uh, I guess if we don't see
[1:11:32] that
[1:11:32] there, we we'll have some questions. Uh,
[1:11:36] so I really appreciate you putting that
[1:11:38] in into the the the format and the
[1:11:40] process going forward. That's that's
[1:11:42] very good. I might just add that there
[1:11:43] will be situations for example if I am
[1:11:45] away where you will deputy mayor we will
[1:11:49] sign on behalf of council but obviously
[1:11:51] you don't have the authority to decide
[1:11:53] whether or not it will be vetoed in
[1:11:54] which case my signature will not if I'm
[1:11:57] out of the country I won't be able to
[1:11:58] sign the bylaw uh so um it could be
[1:12:03] there there may be occasions where my
[1:12:05] signature does not show up on that line
[1:12:07] which is not an indication that I intend
[1:12:08] to veto the bylaw if the deputy mayor
[1:12:11] signed it likely that I wasn't present
[1:12:13] uh in time to do that, but I'll make
[1:12:15] every effort perhaps through electronic
[1:12:17] means or something. We can work with the
[1:12:19] clerk's office to ensure that my
[1:12:20] signature is placed on that line as soon
[1:12:23] as
[1:12:23] possible. Further questions or comments
[1:12:26] to this
[1:12:27] bylaw? Uh seeing none, then all in
[1:12:29] favor? That's carried. Okay. Uh so now
[1:12:33] we're on to the confirmatory bylaw. Uh
[1:12:35] and it's resolved that bylaw 62-2025
[1:12:38] being a bylaw to confirm the proceedings
[1:12:39] of the council of the towning shores is
[1:12:41] hereby read passed and sealed this 9th
[1:12:43] day of June 2025 is remove and seconder.
[1:12:45] Uh councelor Grace councelor Halpen all
[1:12:47] in favor that is carried. And finally
[1:12:49] the resolution is that this regular
[1:12:50] council meeting of June 9, 2025 hereby
[1:12:52] adjourns at 7:42 p.m. Mover and
[1:12:54] seconder. Uh c the vice deputy mayor
[1:12:58] councelor Grace all in favor. Council
[1:12:59] stands adjourned. Have a good evening
[1:13:00] everybody.