November 1, 2021, at 12:00 PM

Original link

1.   Disclosures of Pecuniary Interest

That it BE NOTED that no pecuniary interests were disclosed.

2.   Consent

Moved by E. Peloza

Seconded by J. Morgan

That Items 2.1 to 2.3, BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

2.1   City of London Days at the Budweiser Gardens – Showdown in the Downtown October 22, 2022

2021-11-01 Staff Report - City of London Days at Bud Gdns - Showdown in the Downtown-1

Moved by E. Peloza

Seconded by J. Morgan

That, on the recommendation of the City Clerk, the request to hold the Showdown in the Downtown – Knock Out Kidney Disease event on October 22, 2022, BE APPROVED as a City of London Day at the Budweiser Gardens; it being noted that five days remain for 2022, with no other requests pending.

Motion Passed

2.2   Various By-law Amendments to Implement Organizational Structure Change

2021-11-01 Staff Report - Various By-law Amendments

Moved by E. Peloza

Seconded by J. Morgan

That on the recommendation of the City Clerk, the following actions be taken with respect to various By-law amendments to implement organizational structure changes:

a)    the proposed by-law as appended to the staff report dated November 1, 2021 as Appendix “A” being “A by-law to amend By-law No. A.-7766-366, being “A by-law to approve and adopt a standard form Licence Agreement for the use of recreation spaces and assets; and to authorize the Managing Director, Parks and Recreation or the Managing Director Neighbourhood, Children and Fire Services, or their written designate, to insert information and execute Licence Agreements not exceeding $10,000, for the use of recreation spaces and assets, which employ this form and to repeal By-law No A.-6690-195 and any amendments thereto” to reflect the current organizational structure”, BE INTRODUCED at the Municipal Council meeting to be held on November 16, 2021; 

b)    the proposed by-law as appended to the staff report dated November 1, 2021 as Appendix “B” being “A by-law to amend By-law No. A.-7821-84, being “A by-law to approve the Grant Agreement between The Corporation of the City of London and Grand Theatre; and to authorize the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the Agreement” to reflect the current organizational structure” BE INTRODUCED at the Municipal Council meting to be held on November 16, 2021;

c)    the proposed by-law as appended to the staff report dated November 1, 2021 as Appendix “C” being “A by-law to amend By-law No. A.-7820-83, being “A by-law to approve the Purchase of Service Agreement between London Arts Council and The Corporation of the City of London; and to authorize the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the Agreement” to reflect the current organizational structure”, BE INTRODUCED at the Municipal Council meeting to be held on November 16, 2021; 

d)    the proposed by-law as appended to the staff report dated November 1, 2021 as Appendix “D” being “A by-law to amend By-law No. A.-7834-109, being “A by-law to approve the Purchase of Service Agreement between London Heritage Council and The Corporation of the City of London; and to authorize the Mayor and the City Clerk to execute the Agreement” to reflect the current organizational structure”, BE INTRODUCED at the Municipal Council meeting to be held on November 16, 2021; 

e)    the proposed by-law as appended to the staff report dated November 1, 2021 as Appendix “E” being “A by-law to amend By-law No. A.-7332-16 being “A By-law to approve and adopt the standard form Grant Agreement (London Community Grants Program); and to authorize a City Representative to insert information and execute agreements which employ this form; and to authorize a City Representative to insert information and execute agreements which employ this form” to reflect the current organizational structure”, BE INTRODUCED at the Municipal Council meeting to be held on November 16, 2021; 

f)    the proposed by-law as appended to the staff report dated November 1, 2021 as Appendix “F” being “A by-law to amend By-law No. A.-6790-81, being “A By-law to approve and adopt the standard form for Purchase of Services Agreements for Community Services” to reflect the current organizational structure” BE INTRODUCED at the Municipal Council meeting to be held on November 16, 2021; and,

g)    the proposed by-law as appended to the staff report dated November 1, 2021 as Appendix “G” being A by-law to amend By-law No. A.-6690-195 being “A By-law to approve the standard form for Office/Storage Space Licence Agreements” to reflect the current organizational structure and to repeal By-law No. A.-5962-42 and By-law No. A.-5962(a)-126”, BE INTRODUCED at the Municipal Council Meeting to be held on November 16, 2021.

Motion Passed

2.3   Pre-Authorization Tax Payment Plan By-law and Collection of Interim Property Taxes By-law

2021-11-01 Staff Report - Pre-Authorized Tax Payment Plan By-Law

Moved by E. Peloza

Seconded by J. Morgan

That, on the recommendation of the Deputy City Manager, Finance Supports, the following actions be taken with respect to property taxation for 2022:

a)    the by-law, appended to the staff report dated November 1, 2021 as Appendix A, BE INTRODUCED at the Council meeting on November 16th, 2021 to to amend by-law A.-5505-497, “a by-law to authorize the implementation of a pre-authorized payment plan” by updating Schedule A of the by-law to provide for the 2022 calculations; and,

b)    the by-law, appended to the staff report dated November 1, 2021 as Appendix B, BE INTRODUCED at the Council meeting on November 16, 2021, to amend By-law A-8 “a by-law to provide for the collection of property taxes” in Part 1 to provide for the calculation of the interim tax levy at a percentage of 41.20% of the previous year’s taxes.

Motion Passed

3.   Scheduled Items

None.

4.   Items for Direction

4.1   Application - Issuance of Proclamation - International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

2021-11-01 Submission - Proclamation-International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Moved by E. Peloza

Seconded by J. Morgan

That based on the application dated October 4, 2021 from Anova: A Future Without Violence, November 25, 2021 BE PROCLAIMED as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

4.2   Application - Issuance of Proclamation - Salvation Army Week

2021-11-01 Submission - Proclamation-Salvation Army Week

Moved by M. van Holst

Seconded by J. Fyfe-Millar

That based on the application dated October 19, 2021 from The Governing Council of The Salvation Army, December 17, 2021 BE PROCLAIMED as Salvation Army Week.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

4.3   Deferred Council Directions Concerning Indigenous Relations

2021-11-01 Submission - Deferred Council Direction-Indigenous Relations

Councillor M. Cassidy places Councillor M. van Holst in the Chair.

Moved by M. Cassidy

Seconded by E. Peloza

That the City Council directions as mentioned below BE REFERRED to the Indigenous Community Liaison Advisor for a report back with respect to these matters:

December 6, 2016

“That clause 6 [concerning a land acknowledgement at meetings of City Council] BE REFERRED back for further consultation with the Indigenous Community with respect to the proposed statement.”

May 16, 2017

“That the request to invite the Munsee-Delaware Nation, the Oneida Nation of the Thames and the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation to provide their flags and have them raised in an appropriate manner at London City Hall BE REFERRED to the Civic Administration in order to allow for consultation and report back with respect to this matter.”

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

Councillor M. Cassidy resumes the Chair.

4.4   Standing and Council Meeting Procedures

2021-11-01 Submission - Standing and Council Meeting Procedures

Moved by E. Peloza

Seconded by J. Morgan

That the City Clerk BE DIRECTED to bring forward to a future meeting of the Corporate Services Committee for consideration, a draft policy with respect to the participation in hybrid electronic meetings by Council Members, staff and the public.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

4.5   Removal of a City Councillor

2021-11-01 Submission - J. Kogelheide

Moved by J. Morgan

Seconded by M. Cassidy

That the communication from J. Kogelheide regarding the removal of a City Councillor BE RECEIVED;

it being noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received communications dated October 26, 2021 from A. Harnish and M. Borthwick.

Motion Passed (5 to 0)

5.   Deferred Matters/Additional Business

None.

6.   Confidential (Enclosed for Members only.)

Moved by J. Fyfe-Millar

Seconded by E. Peloza

That the Corporate Services Committee convene, In Closed Session, with respect to the following:

6.1          Land Acquisition / Solicitor-Client Privileged Advice / Position, Plan, Procedure, Criteria or Instruction to be Applied to Any Negotiations

A matter pertaining to the proposed or pending acquisition of land by the municipality, including communications necessary for that purpose; advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege; commercial and financial information, that belongs to the municipality and has monetary value or potential monetary value and a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality

6.2          Land Acquisition / Solicitor-Client Privileged Advice / Position, Plan, Procedure, Criteria or Instruction to be Applied to Any Negotiations

A matter pertaining to the proposed or pending acquisition of land by the municipality, including communications necessary for that purpose; advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege; commercial and financial information, that belongs to the municipality and has monetary value or potential monetary value and a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality

6.3          Land Acquisition / Solicitor-Client Privileged Advice / Position, Plan, Procedure, Criteria or Instruction to be Applied to Any Negotiations

A matter pertaining to the proposed or pending acquisition of land by the municipality, including communications necessary for that purpose; advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege; commercial and financial information, that belongs to the municipality and has monetary value or potential monetary value and a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality

6.4          Land Acquisition / Solicitor-Client Privileged Advice / Position, Plan, Procedure, Criteria or Instruction to be Applied to Any Negotiations

A matter pertaining to the proposed or pending acquisition of land by the municipality, including communications necessary for that purpose; advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege; commercial and financial information, that belongs to the municipality and has monetary value or potential monetary value and a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality

6.5          Labour Relations/Employee Negotiations

A matter pertaining to labour relations and employee negotiations.

Motion Passed

The Corporate Services Committee convenes, In closed session, from 12:37 PM to 12:54 PM.

7.   Adjournment

Moved by M. van Holst

Seconded by J. Fyfe-Millar

That the meeting BE ADJOURNED.

Motion Passed

The meeting adjourned at 12:57 PM.

Full Transcript

Transcript provided by Lillian Skinner’s London Council Archive. Note: This is an automated speech-to-text transcript and may contain errors. Speaker names are not identified.

View full transcript (49 minutes)

Okay, it’s 1201, so we will call the meeting to order the 18th meeting of the Corporate Services Committee. And it is a virtual meeting, as it has been for many, many months because of the COVID-19 emergency. Please check the city website for current details of COVID-19 service impacts. And as always, this meeting can be viewed via live streaming on YouTube and the city website.

The city of London is committed to making every effort to provide alternate formats and to communication supports for council, standing, or advisory committee meetings and information upon request. To make a request for any city service, please contact accessibility@london.ca or 519-661-2489, extension 2425. To make a request specific to this meeting, please contact CSC@london.ca. And after that long preamble, I will look for disclosures of conflict.

I’m seeing none in the room and I’m seeing none on screen. So we’ll move to the consent items. There are three of them. And I will start by welcoming our newest member of council, Councillor John Fife Miller.

Welcome to city council and toward 13 and consent. Any item to be pulled? And if not, any motion for the consent items. Moved by Councillor Paluzza, seconded by Deputy Mayor Morgan.

Any discussion on those items? Councillor Vanholst, go ahead. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just one question through you to staff for the preauthorization tax payment plan.

So item 2.3, what would be the effect of not passing this recommendation? Ms. Barbone. Through the chair.

So this sets out to be terms with which we are going to be able to issue a preauthorized payment and an intern billing to get the intern collection. If council were not to pass this, then we would not be able to proceed to have an intern billing at this time as this sets the parameters for which we would be able to collect the first installments with the tax levy still to be determined through the budget and through the tax policy that is set in April. So this ensures that we have some cash flow until the final billings are made and the parameters of which we would do that. So certainly if it were to be amended, then we could still proceed.

But if it were not to be passed at all, then we would not be able to issue any intern billings. Councillor. Okay. Well, thank you very much.

And is this the pre-authorization, is that? No, I think that’s that question was answered fine for me. Thank you. Wonderful.

Thank you, Councillor. Any other comments or questions? Seeing none, we have a motion on the floor. It’s been moved and seconded.

I will call the question. Closing the vote, the motion’s passed five to zero. Apologies to everybody watching the silent miming, going on here, we’re just clarifying some things here. I just wanted to amend my welcome to welcome Councillor Feifmiller to this committee as well as a member of the committee.

So we have no scheduled items, but we do have items for direction. And 4.1 is an application for a proclamation for International Day for the elimination of violence against women. Do I have a mover for that? Moved by Councillor Palosa.

Seconded by Deputy Mayor Morgan. Any discussion? Councillor Palosa. Thank you, Madam Chair.

This is an important recognition. Recognizing violence against women has been dramatically increased during COVID. And we’ve seen a spike in incidences and requests for services within our community with service providers. And just for the public’s interest tonight is the kickoff for the Shine the Light event at 530 of Victoria Park.

And the public is welcome to come out and join the community. Thank you, Councillor. Any other discussion? I will note, again, as I’ve noted previous times that this is also recognized by the Middlesex London Health Unit as well as an area of priority that the board has identified, domestic violence, as you mentioned, Councillor, has dramatically increased during the COVID-19 crisis.

And it is something that all sectors of the community across all sectors in the community of London need to address. So very good to be supporting this item. And if there’s no other discussion, I will call the vote on that. Posing the vote, the motion is passed five to zero.

Thank you. Next, another application for proclamation for Salvation Army Week. I have a mover for that. Moved by Councillor Vanholst.

Thank you. Seconded by, oh, thank you, Councillor Fyfe-Miller. Any discussion? Seeing none, I’ll call the question.

Posing the vote, the motion’s passed five to zero. The item is a submission that I’ve put on the agenda. So I would ask the Vice Chair if he’ll take the chair for this item. I have the chair and I go to you.

Thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer. So I’ve listed just a couple of the things that the last term of council, some decisions that were made in the last term of council, and they were both referrals back. And there has not been a significant amount of progress made on these items.

There are still other items as well that the last term of council we provided direction on, but these were the two that I personally was involved with. So I thought that I had a conversation with the new Indigenous Community Liaison Officer, as well as the Director of Diversity in the City of London and discuss these two matters specifically with them. So it’s very self-explanatory in the letter. I want to refer this back to Ms.

Antone George. And so she can then take this forward, do the consultation that needs to take place with the community, with the three First Nations, as well as local urban Indigenous people here in the City of London. As part of putting this together, I did a little search on the things that we had discussed in the last term of council with regards to building our relationship with First Nations that are our neighbors, as well as with our local community members who are Indigenous. And I’m really disappointed to see that we haven’t really discussed these issues very much during this term of council.

It’s something that has sort of fallen by the wayside, and I really hope that we can pick this up, and I’m hoping that this can be the start, that we will start to see some of these things that have been deferred addressed. So with that, I have the motion, I would like to put that motion on the floor, Mr. Presiding Officer, and I would look to committee members for a second, and I see Councillor Palosa putting her hand up, Mr. Presiding Officer.

Thank you, well, perhaps I could go to Councillor Palosa to see if she has comment along with the second. Thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer. Happy to second this motion.

I know that some of this says the letter states has been going on prior to my term on council, and it is an ongoing relationship, and this council’s consideration to have an Indigenous community liaison. This is precisely the type of work that, at least for me, I’d envision them helping with and helping facilitate those conversations and best practices moving forward, and I’m happy for a report back. Thank you very much, and I see Councillor Lewis has his hand up, I’ll go to you. Thank you, Mr.

Presiding Officer. I’m hoping to get either some clarification from the move we’re in seconder or from our staff, and I’m not sure whether it needs to be in the motion or whether it’s assumed, but I’m particularly concerned about the referral on the land acknowledgments in terms of I understand that the prior council did receive some legal advice from our staff, and I would like to see this referral not only include our Indigenous liaison officer, but also our city solicitor. Before we go down too long a road on consultations, I think it’s important that we’re aware of any potential barriers that may come up. I’m also aware that since this motion was originally moved by Councillor Cassidy in 2017, I believe that circumstances may have changed, and so the information that may have been provided to previous council may not represent the most up-to-date information, so I guess I’m looking through you, Mr.

Presiding Officer to the mover or to city staff as to whether or not the intent is to involve the city solicitor’s office in this consultation and referral as well. Well, I can certainly go to the mover first to ask if the councilor has brought up what might be a friendly amendment, but to you, Chair Cassidy, for your comment. Thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer, and thank you through you to Councillor Lewis for the question.

There were no legal concerns when both of these items were brought up way back in the day. The concern was about the appropriate language, knowing that there are three first nations, and there are cultural sensitivities, as well as sensitivities around treaties, and all the things that need to be acknowledged, as well, knowing that treaty language and treaty knowledge is an evolving science, really. And so there had been some consultation back in 2016, but most of it had taken place with Chippewa of the Thames Nation, and not so much with the other two nations. So that was the reason for the referral to work more on the language.

Ms. Anton George has already begun in her role to talk to the nations about the kind of language that they would like to see in our land acknowledgement. I don’t believe that it needs to be in the motion, but I think we could hear from city staff if that will be part of Ms. Anton George’s check-in to work with the city solicitor’s office.

I would note as well that our city solicitor is very knowledgeable in this area as he was once an employee of Oneida Nation of the Thames. So that also gives me some comfort as well, but I saw Ms. Livingston on the screen and I’m happy to hear her thoughts. Thank you, Ms.

Livingston. Thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer. Any work that is directed towards civic administration, we would undertake our full due diligence and making sure that we speak to whomever on staff needs to be consulted.

But the most important discussion is with the neighboring First Nations and as the chair has indicated, Ms. Anton George is well underway in those discussions. She has done a lot of work in this regard and we are hoping to bring forward a proposed land acknowledgement early in the new year. Hopefully tied to our report that we do on the truth and reconciliation actions.

And so a lot of work while Ms. Anton George has only been with us since late spring, a lot of work has been undertaken with her leadership and we’re appreciative of that. Thank you very much. And I would say to Councillor Lewis, I believe at any time when an item comes up, there is the opportunity for Councillors to request advice from the solicitor’s office if there’s a concern.

But let me return to you as you had raised the question. Yes, thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer. I wanna just thank both Councillor Cassie and Ms.

Livingston for that response. That’s very helpful. Obviously I wasn’t on council when this process started years ago and caring for both of them makes me feel much more comfortable knowing that all of these processes are, and I completely agree with Councillor Cassie. It’s an evolving situation.

And that’s why I wanted to check in on that and I appreciate hearing that everything sounds like all the bases are being covered. So very supportive. I’m Mr. Presiding Officer.

I just wanted to note that Councillor Morgan has his hand up and I know that you can’t see us here in the chamber very well, so. No, I can’t, but I’m happy to recognize Councillor Morgan. Thank you. And no problem, I was going to kind of just appear behind Councillor Cassie with my hand up so that you could see me.

I guess one of the disadvantages of remote sharing. I wanna say I’m supportive of this motion as someone who was on the previous council with Councillor Cassie. These were important discussions at the time and they were referred. Certainly I think we are very well positioned now with the hiring of Ms.

Anton George to move these matters forward. And I have every confidence that they will be done with all the proper consultations both with our neighboring communities as well as internally at the city. So I’m very supportive of this. It’s nice to see them get back on the agenda.

And it’s also nice to hear Ms. Livingston say that she’s really hit the ground running and already started to pick up on some of these things that may have been left a little longer than we all would have liked. Thank you for your comments, Deputy Mayor. Is there, I can see Councillor Hopkins on the screen but I’m not sure if there’s anyone else there who would like to speak.

I’ll go to Councillor Hopkins then. Thank you, Councillor Vanholst for recognizing me. And since I was recognized, I would like to put in my full support for moving this forward and really appreciate the information from staff that there is already work being done on the acknowledgement piece and looking forward to the report coming back after the consultation. So thank you, Councillor Cassidy for bringing this forward.

Thank you. So I’ll perhaps look to you, Chair Cassidy. Is there anyone else who would like to make comment before? Everybody’s good here, Councillor.

Okay, thank you. Then that I’ll call the question. Seeing the vote, the motion’s passed, five to zero. Turn the chair to you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Councillor Vanholst. Thanks very much for that. So the next item is 4.4. It is another Councillor submission and this is from Councillor Hopkins.

So I will go straight to her and welcome her belatedly to our committee today. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, committee for recognizing the motion that I am about to propose to you. And I would like to read it out.

This, I’m not sure if the public is even aware of the motion or if they can see it on their screens. And I am going to be requesting that the City Clerk be directed to bring forward a future to a future meeting of the Corporate Services Committee for consideration, a draft policy with respect to participation in hybrid electronic meetings by Council Member Staff and the public. And I’d like to put that before the committee. Welcome to hear the conversation.

The reason I’m bringing this forward is it’s been a long time and we’ve been doing this hybrid type of a meeting. And I know we’re not gonna go back to the way it used to be. And I understand there’s a number of other organizations that are also looking into what the hybrid model will look like in their policies. And I’m asking just for this to be sent to staff for them to look at a policy.

I think it’s really important that we understand how things work and how can we do it better? It is what I’m hoping will come back, how we can communicate with each other ‘cause there was an example today at committee when chairing from afar is very, very difficult. And how can we understand that a little bit better and be able to do it not only from home but from the Council Chambers? And I think the bottom line for me is the communication that we have with the public, how they understand what the work of committees are being done and at Council and how we engage and how we can do it better.

So with that, I’ll put the motion. I’m hoping there’s gonna be someone on committee that we’ll bring forward the motion. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor.

I’ll go to Councillor Pelosa and then Deputy Mayor Morgan. Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m happy to move this item that’s before us today. When COVID began, there was quite a transition as everyone adapted to things and civic administration did bring forward a suggestion of best practices to have for counseling standing meetings and some of us follow those to different and varying degrees.

And same with our boards and agency boards and commissions, there’s been lots of differences as we go through and we do our work. And I would like to see this policy brought back before us that it isn’t simply a suggestion, realizing that we’re still in COVID and a lot of us still aren’t back physically at City Hall in regards to where we do our meetings from. It is quite different of how we conduct ourselves. And same with staff, sometimes we’re on the screen, sometimes they aren’t, same with our colleagues.

Sometimes people are joining us by phone and recognizing the work that we do at our agency boards and commissions. We know that a lot of the times, the city has wonderful policies that we’ve adopted and that they have a farther impact in the community and help serve as leadership and guidance to those organizations as well. So thank you to Councillor Hopkins for bringing this forward. Thank you, Councillor Palosa, Deputy Mayor Morgan.

Yes, I’m comfortable seconding the motion. I do, I’m glad that Councillor Palosa brought up the best practices document that I know the clerks circulated to us earlier on in the virtual meeting environment. I was very comfortable with the parameters and those. And I think certainly given the time that has passed, not only those, but there’s probably other learnings that could be added into such a document and to all work from the same set of rules and set of playing fields and all understand kind of what the terms of navigating these virtual meetings are, I think is appropriate.

The other thing I think we will have to consider too is not only setting forward the set of parameters for hybrid meetings now, but my understanding is that hybrid meetings will be restricted to a certain degree by legislation and things like state of emergencies. When the province brought forward the ability for us to participate remotely, it was for everything except for voting. When the emergency legislation came forward, they said as long as there’s a provincial or local state of emergency, you could also vote remotely. And so if those things end at some point, I think we’re gonna need to figure out, is that something we’d like to lobby to allow to continue?

Is that something that we need parameters for if a Councillor wants to participate remotely but not vote? I can certainly see as someone who’s traveled to places like the FCM and Councillor Hopkins with AMO, the ability to participate even if you can’t vote in a meeting from afar on a really important topic, I think is certainly something to entertain. So I think I agree and I’ll second the motion that we need some short-term parameters, but I think we also have to have some thinking beyond the end of the state of emergency and what it will look like then and how we would like to navigate allowing all colleagues to participate as fully as possible in the future as well. So thanks Councillor Hopkins for bringing this forward.

Thank you for those comments, Deputy Mayor. That also begs the question of what will happen and have the clerks thought about that if and when the state of emergency ends. Thank you through the chair. Until the municipal act is amended again, the remote participation will be allowed.

We’ll examine what will happen at the, if that act is changed again, then we will be notifying Councillors as to what the next steps will be. Did you put your hand up? Go ahead Councillor Van Halst, I just saw it briefly. Go ahead.

Thank you. So of course this all makes sense to have the ability to vote remotely. You can imagine just somebody being forced to come in who’s got a cold or the flu because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to vote. So, you know, we do see there that COVID is, has created a bit of an evolution in how we deal with things and we can expect some of those things to persist.

And that to me seems like a sensible one. So, in that regard, it’s probably good for us to come up with a policy or at the very least, look again at the best practices or what other options there are to optimize the process. So, for instance, for someone who would be in a position of trying to chair remotely. So, how do we see whose hands are up?

Do we need to put that in the chat? Is there another platform that might be superior to the one that we’re using now, for instance? So, I think this is a good discussion to have and probably a good time to have the discussion. So, thank you, Councillor Hopkins.

Thank you, Councillor Vanholst. So, I’m glad to hear that it will require a modification again to the Municipal Act because I don’t want to get caught too off guard because I share those thoughts with Councillor Vanholst that he shared about cold and flu season. I think everybody on the council has at one time or another caught the stuff that goes around City Hall when it’s cold and flu season. It feels like there’s always, they talk about the super cold going around right now.

It feels like there’s a super cold every year that goes through City Hall ‘cause I’ve been struck down really hard at least twice, I recall. And that very Canadian urge to come to work and get the job done and work through your sickness. I think that we don’t necessarily still think that way. And so, remote meetings will be, I hopefully, a part of our future for some time.

So, I also, I want to thank the Councillor for bringing this forward. And if there are no other comments or questions, oh, Councillor Vanholst, go ahead. Oh, no, I had no other comment. Sorry, I saw Councillor Hopkins hand and I said your name, Councillor Vanholst, my apologies, Councillor.

Thank you, Madam Chair for allowing me just to thank the committee. I really appreciated all the comments coming from the committee. And I agree, you know, there are, it’s almost a policy that has to be open to the provincial government and with changes. And sometimes we don’t know what that looks for you.

But I think it is the beginning of formalizing some kind of a policy and best practices. And thanks again for the committee for your support. Thank you, so the motion’s on the floor. It’s been moved and seconded.

And I’ll call the question. Closing the vote, the motion is passed, five to zero. So the final items on our public agenda is some correspondence first from Mr. Kogelheide.

And then also Ms. Borthwick and an A Harnish. So I’ll look to the committee and how you want to handle these pieces of correspondence. Deputy Mayor Morgan.

Yes, I wanted to add some context for the committee because I was council’s designated participant in consultations that the province is having on the whole discussion around being able to hold council members to account over code of conduct violations and how far you should be willing to go or able to go as a council and where should other bodies step in. Councilor Hopkins will be very familiar with this because AMO made a very thoughtful submission which paralleled the support that the city of London gave to in that consultation period. Within that, AMO outlined a series of parameters and supported generally the increasing of sanctions for councilors who may break the code of conduct. In the section on removal from office, the submission reads as follows.

In the most significant situations, the board believes that there should be the ability to remove members of council when the most significant breaches of code of conduct are found. This would need to be separate from any criminal proceedings that may otherwise arise. In such cases, it would be appropriate for council to seek an intervention by a member of the judiciary to remove a council member where a report of a municipal integrity commissioner recommend such actions for serious, willful, and/or repeated significant violations of the code of conduct adopted by the municipality and agreed to by the members of council. Removal of a council, removal of a councilor by a member of the bench would of course require a legal appeal mechanism and should not necessarily disqualify a person from running in a subsequent election.

So the position of AMO on this is a submission has been made for them to say, if you’re going to go as far as being able to remove a member of council for office, it should go through a due diligence process of the integrity commissioner and then a member of the judiciary and have an adequate appeal mechanism. Given the correspondence here is asking for the ability of potentially municipal councils to vote to remove a member of council, I can tell you I do not agree with that at all. I think AMO’s submission is the fair, thoughtful, and responsible way to go. And so I don’t see the need to take an action on the letters here given we have already through AMO supported what I think is a responsible submission on these matters.

The current legislation stands, this is not something that is possible, the letters recognize that, but it will only be changed through due process of a decision by the provincial government and I think AMO has already made a thoughtful submission on this on a whole range of matters, which anybody who’s interested can read on AMO’s website. So I’m happy to receive the communications, but I don’t feel the need to take significant action on them at this time given the context of what has occurred. I hope that’s helpful, Madam Chair. Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Motion to receive is put forth by the Deputy Mayor. Any committee members wish to weigh in on this? Then I will go to Councillor Hopkins. Thank you, Madam Chair.

And thank you, Deputy Mayor Morgan as well through the comments around AMO’s recommendations because it was a hot topic. We as a board had delved right into the concerns around our code of conduct and the provincial government undertook a public process throughout the summer and there was quite a lot of public input to the municipal code of conduct as well. But AMO’s recommendations, before I go into the recommendations, I think it’s really important that we all understand that AMO does not deal with local matters. We did have that conversation and brought forward the recommendations to the provincial government and there were four of them and Deputy Mayor Morgan has spoken to, to the one which was a very well debated recommendation and it was unanimously supported at the board.

But the other recommendations that were brought forward were to maybe increase the monetary penalties as well as better training and standards for the integrity commissioner. And then the other one being the suspension of council member for a certain period of time defined circumstances that could negatively impact public health and safety. And then of course, Deputy Mayor’s comments around the removal of the member through a judiciary, judiciary process. So really council has removed the integrity commissioner for only outrageous grievances.

So I think that’s something that has just been recommended to the provincial government by AMO. And thank you, Madam Chair and the committee for hearing me. Thank you, Councillor Hopkins. Any other comments?

I would just add as well, I’m not sure if the committee remembers, but I believe this council publicly, as part of one of our, in dealing with this subject, we publicly endorsed the AMO position. And we took that as our position. So we are already through AMO actively lobbying for perhaps some adjustments or tightening up of the codes of conduct for municipal councils. So in many ways, we are doing what these letters are asking us to do, but I do share the Deputy Mayor’s comments that I am not in favor of a municipal council arbitrarily, having the power to do arbitrarily remove a fellow councillor.

The risks of politicization of that move are too great. So having said that, it has moved and I’m happy to second it, the motion from the Deputy Mayor. And if there’s no further discussion, I will call the question. Closing the vote, the motion’s passed, five to zero.

That’s it for our public agenda to the people watching. There are a number of items on our confidential agenda. And they are listed, our reasons for going in camera are listed on the public agenda. There are four land acquisition items and a labor relations item.

Is there an added one on here? That’s it. So with that, I’ll hold on one. And there are no deferred matters or additional business because I’m not seeing anybody put their hands up.

So now I will look for a motion to go in camera. Moved by Councillor Fife Miller and seconded by Councillor Palosa. We can do a hand vote, all those in favor by show of hands. That motion is carried.

And give us a quick minute and we will do some adjustments. Okay, we are back in public session. Welcome back everyone. I’m gonna go quickly to the Deputy Mayor before we adjourn.

Yes, and this comes up time to time and I always like to call myself out. I said something earlier in the meeting that was not actually 100% true. And in fact, the clerk was right, which should come as no surprise to anyone. I had mentioned it was true that the provincial government did pass changes to the Municipal Act that were linked to states of provincial or municipal emergency for electronic participation counting as quorum.

A subsequent to that, they passed a second bill that made those changes in amendments to the Municipal Act permanent because of the success of implementation of those temporary measures. And so indeed it is fully in the act and there would be no changes that would need to be made unless the province changes them, remote participation and voting is here to stay. So my apologies to the clerk for saying something that wasn’t correct on that and indeed she was right. Excellent, Mayor Coppa, and excellent that it is permanent unless something else changes.

I do need to go to the Vice Chair to report out. Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m happy to report progress on items 6.1 through 6.5. Thank you so much.

With that, I will look for a motion to adjourn moved by. Councilor Vanholz, seconded by Councilor Fife Miller. All those in favor by show of hands, see everyone. And that motion’s carried, thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone. Have a great one, see you later. Thank you, Chair.