Open Council

2nd Meeting of City Council

Open Council

2nd Meeting of City Council

November 22, 2022, at 1:00 PM

Original link

The meeting was called to order at 1:19 PM.

1.   Disclosures of Pecuniary Interest

Councillor S. Trosow discloses a pecuniary interest in Item 22, clause 4.21 of the 1st Report of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, having to do with appointments to the Western University Board of Governors, by indicating that Western University is his employer.

Mayor Morgan discloses a pecuniary interest in Item 22, clause 4.21 of the 1st Report of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, having to do with appointments to the Western University Board of Governors, by indicating that Western University is his employer until November 30, 2022.

2.   Recognitions

None.

3.   Review of Confidential Matters to be Considered in Public

None.

4.   Council, in Closed Session

4.1   Solicitor-Client Privileged Advice

Motion made by E. Peloza

Seconded by S. Lewis

That Council rise and go into Council, In Closed Session, for the purpose of considering the following:

4.1     Solicitor-Client Privilege Advice

A matter pertaining to Solicitor-Client Privileged Advice. (6.1/1/SPPC)

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

The Council convenes In Closed Session, from 1:28 PM to 1:32 PM.

5.   Confirmation and Signing of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting(s)

Motion made by S. Lehman

Seconded by S. Hillier

That the Minutes of the 15th Meeting and 1st Meeting of the Municipal Council, held on November 8, 2022 and November 15, 2022, respectively, BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (14 to 0)

6.   Communications and Petitions

Motion made by S. Hillier

Seconded by P. Cuddy

That the following communications BE RECEIVED, and BE REFERRED as noted on the Added Agenda:

6.1    Diversity and Inclusion with Regard to London Board Appointments

  1.    R. O’Hagan

6.2    Consideration of Appointment to the London Public Library

  1.    W. H. Brock

6.3    Consideration of Appointment to Eldon House

  1.    Application for Appointment to the Eldon House - B. Duncan

Motion Passed (14 to 0)

At 1:40 PM, Councillor P. Van Meerbergen enters the meeting.

7.   Motions of Which Notice is Given

None.

8.   Reports

8.1   1st Report of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee

2022-11-16 SPPC Report 1

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the 1st Report of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee BE APPROVED, excluding Items 22 (4.21), 32 (4.31), 37 (4.36), 40 (4.39), 41 (4.40) and 42 (4.41).

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

8.1.1   Disclosures of Pecuniary Interest

Motion made by S. Lewis

Mayor J. Morgan discloses a pecuniary interest in Item 4.21, having to do with appointments to the University of Western Ontario (UWO) Board of Governors, by indicating that he is currently employed by UWO, but also noting that he has submitted his resignation from UWO effective December 1, 2022.

Councillor S. Trosow discloses a pecuniary interest in Item 4.21, having to do with appointments to the University of Western Ontario (UWO) Board of Governors, by indicating that he is currently employed by UWO.

Motion Passed

8.1.2   (4.1) Consideration of Appointment to the Civic Works Committee

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Civic Works Committee for the term ending November 14, 2023:

Councillor C. Rahman (Chair)

Councillor H. McAlister

Councillor P. Van Meerbergen

Councillor S. Trosow

Councillor P. Cuddy

Motion Passed

8.1.3   (4.2) Consideration of Appointment to the Community and Protective Services Committee

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Community and Protective Services Committee for the term ending November 14, 2023:

Councillor E. Peloza (Chair)

Councillor D. Ferreira

Councillor J. Pribil

Councillor S. Stevenson

Councillor C. Rahman

Motion Passed

8.1.4   (4.3) Consideration of Appointment to the Corporate Services Committee

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Corporate Services Committee for the term ending November 14, 2023:

Councillor S. Lewis (Chair)

Councillor D. Ferreira

Councillor S. Trosow

Councillor S. Stevenson

Councillor H. McAlister

Motion Passed

8.1.5   (4.4) Consideration of Appointment to the Planning and Environment Committee

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Planning and Environment Committee for the term ending November 14, 2023:

Councillor S. Lehman (Chair)

Councillor S. Lewis

Councillor S. Hillier

Councillor A. Hopkins

Councillor S. Franke

Motion Passed

8.1.6   (4.5) Consideration of Appointment to the Audit Committee

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Audit Committee for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor S. Lewis (Chair)

Councillor S. Stevenson

Councillor J. Pribil

Councillor P. Cuddy

Motion Passed

8.1.7   (4.6) Consideration of Appointment to the Covent Garden Market

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Covent Garden Market Board for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor S. Hillier

Councillor D. Ferreira

Motion Passed

8.1.8   (4.7) Consideration of Appointment to the County/City Liaison Committee

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the County/City Liaison Committee for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Mayor J. Morgan

Councillor J. Pribil

Councillor H. McAlister

Councillor D. Ferreira (Alternate)

Motion Passed

8.1.9   (4.8) Consideration of Appointment to the Dearness Home Committee of Management

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Dearness Home Committee of Management for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor S. Hillier

Councillor E. Peloza

Councillor D. Ferreira

Councillor S. Lehman

Councillor H. McAlister

it being noted that the Fixing Long-term Care Act (FLTCA) states that no person who has been convicted of certain offences or found guilty of an act of professional misconduct as set out in the FLTCA may be a member of the Committee of Management. Therefore, before any person is permitted to be a member of the Committee of Management, they must satisfy screening measures as required by section 256 of the FLTCA, and must provide the City Clerk, or written designate, with a criminal record check in accordance with the FLTCA, as well as a signed declaration disclosing the prescribed offences or professional misconduct set out in the FLTCA or Regulation.

Motion Passed

8.1.10   (4.9) Consideration of Appointment to the Governance Working Group

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Governance Working Group for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor S. Lewis

Councillor S. Trosow

Councillor A. Hopkins

Councillor D. Ferreira

Councillor S. Stevenson

Councillor C. Rahman

Councillor H. McAlister

Councillor S. Hillier

Councillor P. Cuddy

Motion Passed

8.1.11   (4.10) Consideration of Appointment to the London & Middlesex Community Housing

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the London & Middlesex Community Housing for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor S. Lewis

Councillor H. McAlister

Motion Passed

8.1.12   (4.11) Consideration of Appointment to the London Hydro Inc.

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Councillor C. Rahman BE APPOINTED to London Hydro Inc. for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.13   (4.12) Consideration of Appointment to the London Police Services Board

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the London Police Services Board for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Mayor J. Morgan

Councillor S. Lehman

Councillor S. Stevenson

Motion Passed

8.1.14   (4.13) Consideration of Appointment to the London Public Library Board

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the London Public Library Board for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor S. Trosow

Councillor P. Cuddy

Motion Passed

8.1.15   (4.14) Consideration of Appointment to the London Transit Commission

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the London Transit Commission for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor J. Pribil

Councillor D. Ferreira

Motion Passed

8.1.16   (4.15) Consideration of Appointment to the Middlesex-London Emergency Medical Services Authority Board

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Councillor S. Stevenson BE APPOINTED to the Middlesex-London Emergency Medical Services Authority Board for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.17   (4.16) Consideration of Appointment to the Middlesex-London Food Policy Council (2 year term)

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Councillor H. McAlister BE APPOINTED to the Middlesex-London Food Policy Council for the term ending November 14, 2024.

Motion Passed

8.1.18   (4.17) Consideration of Appointment to the Middlesex-London Health Unit

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Middlesex-London Health Unit Board for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor P. Cuddy 

Councillor S. Franke

Motion Passed

8.1.19   (4.18) Consideration of Appointment to the Museum London

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the appointment to the Museum London Board BE REFERRED to a future meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee.

Motion Passed

8.1.20   (4.19) Consideration of Appointment to the RBC Place London

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to RBC Place London Board for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Mayor J. Morgan

Councillor D. Ferreira

Councillor S. Stevenson

Motion Passed

8.1.21   (4.20) Consideration of Appointment to the Tourism London

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to Tourism London Board for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor S. Lewis 

Councillor E. Peloza

Motion Passed

8.1.23   (4.22) Consideration of Appointment to the Western Fair Board of Governors

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Councillor S. Stevenson BE APPOINTED to the Western Fair Board of Governors for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.24   (4.23) Consideration of Appointment to the Western Fair Programming Council

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Western Fair Programming Council for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor E. Peloza

Councillor S. Franke

Motion Passed

8.1.25   (4.24) Consideration of Appointment to the Argyle Business Improvement Area

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Councillor S. Lewis BE APPOINTED to the Argyle Business Improvement Area for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.26   (4.25) Consideration of Appointment to the Hamilton Road Business Improvement Area

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Councillor H. McAlister BE APPOINTED to the Hamilton Road Business Improvement Area for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.27   (4.26) Consideration of Appointment to the Hyde Park BIA

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Councillor C. Rahman BE APPOINTED to the Hyde Park BIA for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.28   (4.27) Consideration of Appointment to the London Downtown Business Association Board of Management

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Councillor D. Ferreira BE APPOINTED to the London Downtown Business Association Board of Management for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.29   (4.28) Consideration of Appointment to the Old East Village Business Improvement Area Board of Management

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Councillor S. Stevenson BE APPOINTED to the Old East Village Business Improvement Area Board of Management for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.30   (4.29) Consideration of Appointment to the Elgin Area Primary Water Supply System Joint Board of Management

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Elgin Area Primary Water Supply System Joint Board of Management for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor E. Peloza

Councillor S. Stevenson

Councillor S. Hillier

Councillor P. Van Meerbergen (Alternate)

Councillor H. McAlister (Alternate)

Motion Passed

8.1.31   (4.30) Consideration of Appointment to the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System Joint Board of Management

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System Joint Board of Management for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Councillor S. Hillier

Councillor P. Van Meerbergen

Councillor S. Lehman

Councillor S. Franke

Councillor A. Hopkins (Alternate)

Councillor H. McAlister (Alternate)

it being noted that two additional Alternate appointments remain vacant.

Motion Passed

8.1.33   (4.32) Consideration of Appointment to the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority

Motion made by S. Lewis

See recommendation with item 4.31.

Motion Passed

8.1.34   (4.33) Consideration of Appointment to the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following actions be taken with respect to appointments to the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority:

a)   the following members of Municipal Council BE APPOINTED to the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority for the term ending November 14, 2026:

i)    Councillor A. Hopkins

ii)   Councillor S. Franke

iii)  Councillor P. Cuddy; and,

b)   the Civic Administration BE DIRECTED to take the following actions with respect to appointments to the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority (UTRCA):

i)        advertise in the usual manner, including the City’s social media channels, for applications from members of the public for one appointment to the UTRCA;

ii)        the above-noted applications be brought forward to a future meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, on or before February 7, 2023, for consideration and recommendation to the Municipal Council for appointment;

it being noted that recent changes to the Conservation Authorities Act requires that a minimum of seventy percent of municipal appointees to an Authority are selected from among members of its Council.

Motion Passed

8.1.35   (4.34) 1st Report of the Striking Committee

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following actions be taken with respect to the Striking Committee:

a)  the 1st Report of the Striking Committee from its meeting held on October 26 and 27, 2022 BE RECEIVED; and,

b)  the memo dated November 4, 2022 from Z. Hashmi, M. Hernandez and P. Seale, Striking Committee Members, BE RECEIVED, with thanks for the Committee’s work.

Motion Passed

8.1.36   (4.35) Consideration of Appointment to the Audit Committee

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Ibad Cheema BE APPOINTED to the Audit Committee, for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.38   (4.37) Consideration of Appointment to the Committee of Revision/Court of Revision

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Committee of Revision/Court of Revision for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Tariq Khan

Avdija Ramic

Donald Millar

Motion Passed

8.1.39   (4.38) Consideration of Appointment to the Covent Garden Market Corporation Board of Directors

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Covent Garden Market Corporation Board of Directors for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Tyrrell de Langley       

Claudio De Vincenzo

Justin Dias      

Zeba Hashmi       

Mike Marsman        

Donna Szpakowski

John Fyfe-Millar

Motion Passed

8.1.43   (4.42) Consideration of Appointment to the London Transit Commission

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the London Transit Commission for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Sheryl Rooth

Scott Andrew Collyer

Stephanie Marentette

Motion Passed

8.1.44   (4.43) Consideration of Appointment to the Middlesex-London Health Unit

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Matthew Reid BE APPOINTED to the Middlesex-London Health Unit Board for the term ending November 14, 2026; it being noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received a communication dated November 14, 2022 from K. Elliot, Vice Chair and E. Williams, Secretary, Middlesex-London Board of Health with respect to this matter.

Motion Passed

8.1.45   (4.44) Consideration of Appointment to the Plumbers’ and Drain Layers’ Examining Board

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Scott Atchison BE APPOINTED to the Plumbers’ and Drain Layers’ Examining Board for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed

8.1.46   (4.45) RBC Place London Board Appointment Recommendations

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following actions be taken with respect to the appointments to the RBC Place London Board of Directors:

a)  Jenny Diplock and David Smith - Class 1 - term ending November 14, 2023;

b)  Jeffrey Floyd - Class 2 - term ending November 14, 2024; and,

c) Susan Judd, Garrett Vanderwyst, Eunju Yi, Ross De Gannes and Linda Nicholls - Class 3 - term ending November 14, 2025.

Motion Passed

8.1.47   (4.46) London & Middlesex Community Housing Tenant Resignation

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the City Clerk BE DIRECTED to bring forward applications to be considered to fill the tenant vacancy at a future meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee; it being noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received a communication dated October 20, 2022 from P. Chisholm, Chief Executive Officer, London & Middlesex Community Housing with respect to this matter, outlining the resignation of a tenant member.

Motion Passed

8.1.22   (4.21) Consideration of Appointment to the University of Western Ontario Board of Governors

At 1:44 PM, His Worship the Mayor places Councillor E. Peloza in the Chair.

At 1:45 PM, His Worship the Mayor resumes the Chair.

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Mayor Morgan BE APPOINTED to the University of Western Ontario Board of Governors for the term commencing December 1, 2022 to November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed (13 to 0)

8.1.32   (4.31) Consideration of Appointment to the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following actions be taken with respect to appointments to the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority and the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority:

a)    pursuant to subsection 14 (1.2) of the Conservation Authorities Act, the Civic Administration BE DIRECTED to make application to the Minister of environment Conservation and Parks (MECP) for a Minister’s Exception in order to appoint individuals other than Members of Municipal Council to the Kettle Creek and Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authorities for the following reasons;

i.    current members of the Municipal Council are unable to fulfill the positions;

     ii.   Council of the City of London supports and recognizes the importance of citizen involvement in these important committees; etc.

b)    subject to the approval of the Minister, requested in part a), above, the Civic Administration BE DIRECTED to advertise in the usual manner, including the City’s social media channels, for applications from members of the public for appointment; and,

c)    the applications BE INCLUDED on a future agenda of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, for consideration and recommendation of appointment.

Motion made by E. Peloza

Seconded by S. Hillier

That the motion BE AMENDED by adding the following to the clause:

d)   that Councillor S. Trosow BE APPOINTED to the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

Motion made by P. Cuddy

Seconded by A. Hopkins

That item 32 (4.31), as amended, BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

Clause 4.31, as amended, reads as follows:

That the following actions be taken with respect to appointments to the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority and the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority:

a) pursuant to subsection 14 (1.2) of the Conservation Authorities Act, the Civic Administration BE DIRECTED to make application to the Minister of Environment Conservation and Parks (MECP) for a Minister’s Exception in order to appoint individuals other than Members of Municipal Council to the Kettle Creek and Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authorities for the following reasons;

i.  current members of the Municipal Council are unable to fulfill the positions;

    ii. Council of the City of London supports and recognizes the importance of citizen involvement in these important committees; etc.

b) subject to the approval of the Minister, requested in part a), above, the Civic Administration BE DIRECTED to advertise in the usual manner, including the City’s social media channels, for applications from members of the public for appointment; and,

c) the applications BE INCLUDED on a future agenda of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, for consideration and recommendation of appointment; and

d) that Councillor S. Trosow BE APPOINTED to the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority for the term ending November 14, 2026.

8.1.37   (4.36) Consideration of Appointment to the Committee of Adjustment

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Committee of Adjustment for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Mohamed Mohamed El Hadary

Steve Polhill    

Daniela Schmidt       

John Fyfe-Millar

Motion Passed (14 to 1)

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the Committee of Adjustment for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Cheryl Miller

Motion Passed (10 to 5)

8.1.40   (4.39) Consideration of Appointment to Eldon House

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following actions be taken with respect to appointments to the Eldon House Board of Directors:

a)    the following BE APPOINTED to Eldon House for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Mike Donachie       

Doug Fleming        

Rebecca Griesmayer       

Megan Halliday       

Louanne Henderson        

Joseph O’Neil

Donald Millar

Devinder Luthra

b)    the City Clerk BE DIRECTED to contact Bruce Duncan and invite Mr. Duncan to submit an application for consideration of appointment to the Eldon House Board of Directors; it being noted that Mr. Duncan had contacted the City Clerk’s Office after the submission deadline for the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee agenda;

it being noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received a communication dated November 14, 2022 from M. Donachie, Board Chair, Eldon House with respect to this matter.

Motion made by P. Van Meerbergen

Seconded by S. Hillier

That Item 40 (4.39) BE AMENDED to add the following individual for appointment to the Eldon House Board – Bruce Duncan;

it being noted that part b) of the original recommendation be deleted.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

Motion made by S. Lehman

Seconded by S. Hillier

That Item 40 (4.39), as amended, BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

Clause 4.39, as amended reads as follows:

That the following BE APPOINTED to Eldon House for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Mike Donachie       

Doug Fleming        

Rebecca Griesmayer       

Megan Halliday       

Louanne Henderson        

Joseph O’Neil

Donald Millar

Devinder Luthra

Bruce Duncan

it being noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received a communication dated November 14, 2022 from M. Donachie, Board Chair, Eldon House with respect to this matter.

8.1.41   (4.40) Consideration of Appointment to the London Police Services Board

Motion made by S. Lewis

That Susan Toth BE APPOINTED to the London Police Services Board for the term ending November 14, 2026.

Motion Passed (11 to 4)

8.1.42   (4.41) Consideration of Appointment to the London Public Library

At 2:20 PM, His Worship the Mayor places Councillor E. Peloza in the Chair.

At 2:23 PM, His Worship the Mayor resumes the Chair.

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the following BE APPOINTED to the London Public Library Board for the term ending November 14, 2026:

Brian Gibson     

Zeba Hashmi        

Heather Jack

Beth Allison   

Scott Andrew Collyer      

Jeremy McCall

Sharon Desserud

it being noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received a communication dated October 26, 2022 from M. Ciccone, CEO and Chief Librarian with respect to this matter.

Motion Passed (9 to 6)

9.   Added Reports

9.1   2nd Report of the Special Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee

2022-11-22 Special SPPC Report 2

Motion made by S. Lewis

That the 2nd Report of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

9.1.1   Disclosures of Pecuniary Interest

Motion made by S. Lewis

That it BE NOTED that no pecuniary interests were disclosed.

Motion Passed

9.1.2   (4.1) Bill 23, More Homes Build Faster Act, 2022, Information Report

Motion made by S. Lewis

That, on the recommendation of the Deputy City Manager, Finance Supports, Deputy City Manager, Legal Services and Deputy City Manager, Planning and Economic Development, the following actions be taken with respect to Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022:

a)    the report dated November 22, 2022, entitled “Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 information report” BE RECEIVED for information;

b)    the position of calling on the Province to refer the proposed legislation to the Ontario Housing Supply Action Plan Implementation Team (HSAPIT) to allow the necessary time for a fulsome review to mitigate the potential of unintended consequences and to find solutions to improving housing affordability across the province that meet local needs, BE ENDORSED by Council;

c)    the staff report BE FORWARDED, with a cover letter, to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Minister of Finance, Premier of Ontario and local MPs and MPPs; and,

d)    that the Province BE FURTHER ADVISED that the Municipal Council supports the submissions on Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022, from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Ontario Big City Mayors;

it being noted that as of November 18, 2022, Bill 23 had passed Second Reading and was being considered by the applicable Standing Committee and it being further noted that the Civic Administration will report back to Council with any further information on legislative changes arising from this Bill; 

it being pointed out that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee heard a delegation from M. Wallace, Executive Director, London Development Institute with respect to this matter.

Motion Passed

9.2   1st Report of the Council in Closed Session

Motion made by S. Lewis

Seconded by S. Hillier

1.   That progress was made with respect to Item 4.1 as noted on the public agenda (6.1/11/SPPC).

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

10.   Deferred Matters

None.

11.   Enquiries

None.

12.   Emergent Motions

None.

13.   By-laws

Motion made by S. Lewis

Seconded by P. Van Meerbergen

That Introduction and First Reading of Bill No. 3, BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

Motion made by E. Peloza

Seconded by D. Ferreira

That Second Reading of Bill No. 3, BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

Motion made by S. Trosow

Seconded by H. McAlister

That Third Reading and Enactment of Bill No. 3, BE APPROVED.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

The following Bill is enacted as a By-law of the Corporation of the City of London:

Bill No. 3

By-law No. A.-8304-3 - A by-law to confirm the proceedings of the Council Meeting held on the 22nd day of November, 2022. (City Clerk)

14.   Adjournment

Motion made by P. Van Meerbergen

Seconded by S. Hillier

That the meeting BE ADJOURNED.

Motion Passed

The meeting adjourned at 2:34 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.

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[4:51] Thank you, colleagues, and welcome to the second meeting of Municipal Council. One week ago, we had our first, I know you were all there. I will start off by doing a land acknowledgement. We acknowledge that we are gathered today on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabak, Haudenosaunee, Lene Peiwak, and Adawandran peoples. We honor and respect the history, languages, and cultures of the diverse indigenous peoples who call this territory home. We acknowledge all of the treaties that are specific to this area, the two row Wampum Belt Treaty of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Silver Covenant Chain, the Beaver Hunting Grounds of the Haudenosaunee Nanfant Treaty of 1701, the McKay Treaty of 1790, the London Township Treaty of 1796, the Huron Track Treaty of 1827 with the Anishinaabak, and the Dish With One Spoon Covenant Wampum of the Anishinaabak and Haudenosaunee.

[5:44] The three indigenous nations that are neighbors to London are the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, Oneida Nation of the Thames, and the Muncie Delaware Nation who all continue to live as sovereign nations with individual and unique languages, cultures, and customs. With that, and I have bad news and good news, the bad news is, unfortunately, the O Canada singer could not make it today, so we’ve taken away the podium. The good news is, is we’re still singing O Canada, and we’ll do that together. So I don’t know if anybody would like to volunteer to lead us in singing of the National Anthem.

[6:21] See there’s no volunteers, I will do it. So we’ll all rise, I need you all to sing along because my children will make fun of me if I do it by myself. ♪ O Canada, our home and native land ♪ ♪ Through its common with glowing hearts ♪ ♪ We see the rise, the true north strong and free ♪ ♪ From far and wide, O Canada ♪ ♪ We stand on guard for thee ♪ ♪ God keep our lands and free ♪ ♪ O Canada, we stand on guard for thee ♪ ♪ O Canada, we stand on guard for thee ♪ Thank you for your help with that.

[7:35] Now we understand the value of having a singer. I will start off with the disclosures of, oh, actually there’s one more acknowledgement I wanna make. The city of London is committed to making every effort to providing alternate formats and communication supports for meetings upon request. Make a specific request for this meeting. Please contact Health Agenda at London.ca or 519-661-2489, extension 2425. I’ll look to colleagues for disclosures of pecuniary interest today. Councilor Trossal.

[8:10] I will declare a pecuniary interest in item 4.21 as I’m an employee of the university. Thank you, other disclosures? I have one. So I will disclose on the same matter item 4.21 on the SPPC agenda related to a matter of appointments at the University of Western Ontario as Board of Governors. The University of Western Ontario is currently still my employer and will be until the end of the month. So I’ll continue to declare a pecuniary interest on this matter until that time.

[8:46] Other disclosures? And I’ll just remind colleagues at council, we will stand when we speak with the exception of myself. And so when you’re using your microphone, you can do that little reminder by pointing it up. We’re gonna start next with the recognitions and the first recognition will be made by Councilor Raman. Thank you, your worship. I rise today. Namaste everyone for Hindu Heritage Month. Celebrated every November is the means of recognizing the important contributions that Hindu Canadians have made to Ontario’s social, economic, political and cultural fabric.

[9:28] Hindu Heritage Month is an opportunity to remember, celebrate and educate future generations about Hindu Canadians and the important role they played and continue to play in communities across Ontario. The Hindu Legacy Group is an advocacy source organization established in London, Ontario in 2022. The group focuses on raising public awareness about Hindus and Hinduism and advocating for policies and practices that ensure the well-being of people and the planet. Thereby fostering the core Hindu traditions of nurturing dignity, mutual respect and pluralism.

[10:04] Hindu Heritage Month being recognized by the city furthers our goals in creating accurate representation of Hindus and aligning with the city of London’s goals to promote equity, diversity and inclusion. Thank you so much. Thank you, Councilor. I have Deputy Mayor Lewis next. Thank you, your worship. Colleagues, last week, Londoner Damien Warner, also known as the greatest athlete in the world, added another title to his resume, Canada Walk of Fame inductee. From humble beginnings as a shy student at Montcom secondary school to setting a new Olympic record while winning gold in the men’s decathlon last year Tokyo Games, Damien has never forgotten his roots.

[10:47] As incredible as his achievements are on the track and continue to be, it’s his dedication to this community and those less fortunate that has rightfully endeared him to so many Londoners. Damien has been a longtime champion of countless charities and worthwhile causes both publicly and privately. And as an example, at last week’s Walk of Fame induction ceremony, he allocated $10,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of London and Kidsport Canada. His perseverance personified and one of London’s all-time greatest ambassadors on behalf of the city of London Council.

[11:23] I’d like to offer Damien and his family our congratulations and our gratitude for his ongoing commitment to this community. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. We have no review of matters, confidential matters to be considered in public. We do have one item for Council in closed session. The reason is listed on the public agenda. So at this time, I would look for a motion to move into closed session. I need a mover. Councillor Ploes is seconded by Councillor Hillier. Any discussion?

[11:55] Okay, we’ll move that motion to go into closed session in the system. Councillor Cudi and Stevenson.

[12:58] Motion to vote, motion carries 15 to zero. Okay, we’ll just need a few moments to transition into seconded by Councillor Cudi. Any discussion on that? Okay, that’ll open on the screen for voting. Motion to vote, motion carries 14 to zero.

[14:02] Okay, there are no motions to which notice was given. We’re on to reports, item 8.1 is the first report of SPPC. I believe it’s a 47th item agenda. I’ll ask Deputy Mayor Lewis to present that report on my behalf, please. Thank you, Your Worship. First through you, I will advise colleagues and the clerk that item 22, that’s 4.21 from the agenda. We’ll need to be pulled separately. That’s regarding the appointment to the Western Board of Governors, where our two members have a conflict.

[14:35] So that needs to be voted on separately. Item 32, that’s 4.31 on the SPPC agenda. Appointments to the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority. I’ve been asked to pull that one as well. Item 37, 4.36 on the SPPC agenda. I’ve been asked to pull that one for a separate vote. And item 40, 4.39 on the agenda. That’s the appointment to Elden House. Needs to be pulled separately as we have just approved receiving a communication on that for an additional consideration.

[15:11] And I just want to advise colleagues, I did have a discussion with the clerk just on process before the meeting began. So on the items where we are approving our own appointments to our standing committees and our boards and agencies and commissions, you would have to defeat the committee recommendation to pose an alternate motion. If it comes to the boards and agencies and commissions for members of the public, if there is a particular instance where you wish to have a vote separated for an independent vote, you can do that on a applicant by applicant basis.

[15:46] Or it could be a vote against the entire slate, in which case, if we were to revisit that and approve the same slate, we would then need a motion for reconsideration. So just a couple of process things for folks to keep in mind. So with that, with the exception of the four items that I mentioned, 22, 32, 37, and 40, I’m prepared to put the floor report on the floor unless other members wish something else pulled separately. Sure, let me see if there’s anyone else who would like to deal with other matters separately. Councillor Hillier. Yes, could we pull 42 as well, please? That would be 4.41, which is the appointment to the London Public Library, okay?

[16:29] Anyone else want anything dealt with separately other than what’s already been pulled out to deal with separately? Councillor van Mirbergen. Thank you, Mayor. Oh, I forgot. No, if number 40’s been pulled yet, but if I could pull 40. It has been. Yeah, we’ll deal with that separately. And if I could also pull 41, please board. Well, that separately as well. Okay, to summarize, Councillor Deputy Mayor Lewis is willing to put a motion on the floor that includes everything on the agenda with the exception of 22, 32, 37, 40, 41, and 42.

[17:20] When anybody else like anything other than that dealt with separately, okay? Then we’ll have a motion on the floor to approve everything with the exceptions that I just listed. Is there any discussion on those matters with that motion? If not, then we’ll just take a moment to get that up on the screen and then we will open that for voting. Okay, that’ll open for voting now.

[19:37] Opposed in the vote. Motion carries 15 to zero. Deputy Mayor Lewis. Thank you, worship. I’ll put item 22 on the floor. This is the appointment to the University of Western Board of Governors. And the committee recommendation was that the mayor be appointed commencing December for delayed appointment. And we have conflicts from the mayor and from Councillor Trussow on this item. And as you’re not able to chair this, perhaps we could give the chair to Councillor Palosa for this item. - As the chair to Councillor Palosa, I just told the clerk that.

[20:21] Go ahead. Excellent, we’re all on the same page. So this item’s down on the floor, looking to see if there’s any speakers for it. Seeing none, calling the question. Councillor Frank, closing the vote.

[20:59] Motion carries 13 to zero with two recues. Turn the chair to Mayor Morgan. Go back to the Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Your Worship. I’ll put item number 32. That’s 4.31 from the SPPC report on the floor. This is the item with regard to the appointment to the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority. And Councillor Trussow asked that we deal with this one separately. I believe he’d like to speak to putting his name forward. Councillor Trussow.

[21:31] Yes, I would be willing to add my name for consideration to the appointment to the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority. Mr. Someone willing to move that amendment. Councillor Palosa, seconded by Councillor Hillier. Any discussion on adding Councillor Trussow to the Kettle Creek, Councillor Palosa? Thank you to my fellow Councillor as I’m current, I’m outgoing Councillor from this board. This is also an important board that had reached back out. Sorry, that this board had also reached back out, realizing that the city of London holds a 50% voting share on this board and without a Councillor in place in the interim as we wait for a provincial ruling that might not come down to mid next year, that it would hold up their and inhibit their budget process.

[22:20] So thank you for the Councillor for serving on this excellent run board that does wonderful working community. Any other discussion on the amendment to add Councillor Trussow as the appointee? Okay, if not, we’re gonna open that for vote. Would you like to say anything, Councillor Trussow? No. Great speech, I’m sure you’ll win the election. We’ll open that for voting then in just a moment. Opposed in the vote, motion carries 15 to zero.

[23:41] Need a mover and a seconder for that as amended now. Councillor Cuddy, seconded by Councillor Hopkins. Any discussion on the motion as amended? The amended motion, I should say. Then this is the final decision on this item. So we’ll open that for voting. Opposed in the vote, motion carries 15 to zero.

[24:19] Deputy Mayor, do you worship? I will now put item 37 on the floor. This is 4.36 from the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee agenda. This is with regard to the appointments of the Committee of Adjustment. Councillor Ferrera asked to pull this one separately. And I believe that he wishes to vote against one appointee. The clerk has indicated to me that that can be separated out if that’s the Councillor’s intent. So we will turn to Councillor Ferrera and the clerk for that. Councillor Ferrera.

[24:53] Thank you, Your Worship. And through the chair. So as I provided some advance notice to all of you, or I had through the clerk to provide advance notice, thank you to the clerk. I’ll be requesting a separate vote on item 37, clause 4.36. On the first report of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee. It’s related to the appointments of Committee of Adjustment. Further, I will be requesting a separate vote specifically on the appointment of Cheryl Miller, which I intend to vote against. So as you will be aware from communications for members of the public referencing concerns related to the above noted appointment, I share these concerns as this committee faces the public, it represents the city of London and is facilitated by neighbors for neighbors.

[25:38] And we must recognize that this committee, as is the case for all committees, boards and council, should be conducted with the utmost respect for everybody involved. So in addition, and perhaps more importantly, I feel that this would present an opportunity for new members to be appointed to the committee without a loss of knowledge and its continuity. As four or five proposed members are current, or very recent members, this would present an opportunity to allow new members to gain experience with this very important committee. So thank you. Okay, so that’s a request to pull one name out.

[26:14] Perhaps the best approach is to deal with the other names first. And that way, if the single name fails, there would be a vacancy on that committee and we could deal with that at the time. So perhaps the deputy-american put together a motion that reflects that approach. So we will start on item 37, then by putting the four names that were approved with the exception of Ms. Miller on the floor for a vote. Okay, any discussion on the four names?

[26:49] Yes, Councillor Hopkins. Yes, thank you, Your Worship. And I’m just trying to think this motion through the process. I didn’t support this at the committee, and I’d like to explain why I didn’t support it at the committee. I did think that we needed new blood, overall new blood coming onto this committee. That’s why I didn’t support it. I feel a little uncomfortable when it comes to names. Sometimes I understand the concern coming from my colleague. We’ve heard the concerns from the community, but I do want to clarify the reasons why I am not supporting the appointments to the committee of adjustments is because there needs to be an overall turnover and not specific to any individual.

[27:46] So I think I will just continue to support my vote at committee, but I wanted to clarify that. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor. Any other discussion on this? Councillor Trofsept. I too am not going to be supporting this particular applicant. I stated my reasons. Just so you know, we’re on everybody but one applicant. So it’s the four names that we’re discussing now, and then we will deal with the other one. I’ll be supporting the four names. Okay, okay.

[28:18] So the motion we have is for the four names, minus Ms. Miller. That’s been moved and on the floor for discussion, any other discussion? Okay, we’ll open the vote on those four names. Those in the vote, motion carries 14 to one.

[28:54] Deputy Mayor. Thank you, worship. I will put Ms. Miller’s name on the floor now. And if you’ll allow, I’ll speak briefly to that. Sure, go ahead. Thank you. So I will be supporting Ms. Miller. I did read the comments from the public, two of them, that have come in four years of service on this committee. And frankly, I saw that the members of the public who were objecting at the Committee of Adjustment were asking for a deferral, not based on the application of the minor variance before the committee, but in fact, because they felt that it would impact their appeal on a council approved decision to the OLT on another property, which actually would be outside the scope of the Committee of Adjustment to grant a deferral on.

[29:47] So I understand why members of the Committee might feel somewhat heated in the moment, when they’re being asked to do something that’s outside of their purview. The Committee of Adjustments mandate is to make decisions on minor variance applications and not to provide a judgment or a precedent on a council ruling on another application. So I will support Ms. Miller and I would encourage colleagues to do the same. Other speakers to this motion, Councillor Troisau. I didn’t read the comments as going to another matter.

[30:26] I read the comments as specifically going to the procedures and processes and behaviors and conduct at this particular meeting. Regardless of how this motion is determined today, I think it’s something we need to think about. I gave a longer discussion at the Committee about the role of quasi-judicial independent hearing officers and I’m not gonna repeat the whole thing. Other than to say, I think there needs to be a mechanism by which members of the public can address these concerns.

[31:03] And I think that the complainants here have attempted to do that and they’ve been frustrated. And I think we need to step back from this before we just reproduce the entire slate of five, again, and think about how we can change this. Based on what’s on the floor right now, we have the opportunity to at least get some turnover. And I fully concur with Councillor Hopkins through the chair, I concur with Councillor Hopkins on that. Having said that, I think that we need to think about what the relationship between the Council and this Committee is and how we deal with complaints from the public.

[31:47] This is a public facing Committee and this is a very busy public facing Committee. And it’s essential that people that come before this Committee have confidence in the process. So I am going to be voting no on this applicant and I would urge others to do so. Okay, thank you. Other speakers, Councillor Van Mirbergen. Thank you, Mayor. I will be supporting former Councillor Cheryl Miller. She has given literally years of devoted service to the city of London, not only as a Councillor, also on the Committee of Adjustment and a host of other committees.

[32:28] We all know that when you serve the public, you can’t please everyone. Cheryl has years of distinguished decision making with the Committee of Adjustment. And I see no reason why she should not continue in this role. So I will be supportive. Other speakers, Councillor Pribble. Your worship, even though I don’t know the work she has done on this Committee, my fellow colleagues, there’s one thing that I have an issue with this.

[33:02] And it is, I don’t like to make decisions about you without you. And we are basing it on public letters, public opinion. And we never gave this individual an opportunity to defend herself and decide the side of her story. And that’s my issue with this particular point. The other thing is to add to my Councillor, fellow Councillor Troso. I don’t know if there is a certain procedure of policy in place in terms of public addressing any complaints to this adjustment board. But I do think that if we don’t, then we should introduce certain specific policy towards that.

[33:39] Thank you. Thank you, other speakers? Councillor Ferrero. Thank you, Your Worship. So just going off of Councillor Pribble, I’m unsure of any type of process as well for any type of, like for Ms. Miller to actually defend herself or actually speak to so we can bring some type of accountability. And I think that would be good to weigh in both if we were to bring some type of process in that regardless of how this vote carries forward. Councillor Hopkins.

[34:19] Yes, thank you, Your Worship. And thank you for everyone’s comments. I will not be supporting this again, going back to the fact that I do believe turnover on this committee is important. A couple of my colleagues here have raised a really good question about process and where the complaints go. And I know I brought up the question around the code of conduct that we are governed by, I’m not sure if this committee is, that is still outstanding in terms of if they are or not. Can I, Your Worship, go through you to staff to see if we can just get a general idea of what the complaint and processes for this committee.

[35:08] So that wouldn’t go to either Mr. Carter or I think Mr. May, there’s one of those two. Your Worship, I can take that question. The city does have a code of conduct that is applicable to its local boards. However, the process, assuming for the sake of argument that the committee of adjustment is a local board and I’m not sure of that, but if it were, the process goes under the same, basically the same code of conduct as the, that applies to municipal counselors.

[35:50] But at the end of that process, there would be a report by an independent investigator and the integrity commissioner would make a determination on the application of the code of conduct to a member of the committee of adjustment and the merits of the investigation respecting the conduct of the member subject to the complaint. The findings of the integrity commissioner shall be reported to the local board as per the normal procedure respecting such matters. So you would get a report from the integrity commissioner going to the local board, which is the committee of adjustment.

[36:28] We have a bylaw which assigns powers to the committee of adjustment and that’s where we run into some complications. So there is a process presently. I’m not sure that the process is applicable in this situation. If there is a miscarriage of justice at the committee of adjustment, there are provisions that are available to assist those who have been affected. For example, appeals can be submitted presently as of right to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

[37:04] There’s also the possibility of judicial review, although that is not something that I’m not providing legal if I seriously have something I advise. But I think the comments regarding process are correct that the existing processes would not address this particular situation and that any such process as Councillor Ferris said, should allow a person to make a response to the accusations that are raised.

[37:38] And that is what the code of conduct was set up to do. So it will do that, but the outcome is uncertain. And for that reason, it is a matter that could be subject of review. And I understand that other municipalities are also grappling with this problem. And we’re not alone in this. Councillor Hawkins. Yes, thank you, Mr. Card, for your answer. So there is no process given that it is a committee of adjustments.

[38:11] We are the board, but we do have a code of conduct. So to have a change in our by-line, I’m just trying to understand the process that we could tell the public who to go to. I’m still a little unclear. Do we need to take this to governance, to deal with this? Process, who do we, who does the public go to with their concerns with the committee of adjustments? Mr. Card.

[38:47] Your worship, at present, a complaint can be submitted under the code of conduct for local boards. That’s by-line number CPOL 38491. And the integrity commissioner is permitted to make a decision as to whether or not the code applies. So the process does exist. As I’ve said, I have some reservations about its application to the situation. And of course, the grievance against the committee of adjustment member can be addressed in other ways.

[39:27] For example, if the outcome was affected by this conduct, then there is a right of appeal. There isn’t any threshold for that appeal. You can, if you don’t like the decision of the committee of adjustment, you can appeal to the OLT. Now, Bill 23 does propose some changes to that situation, but it isn’t, there isn’t a clear answer to that other than saying that the present code of conduct for local boards can be used. I just, I don’t guarantee the outcome. Thank you for that.

[40:01] And again, I will now be supporting this sort of just, overall, I think we need to look at our process. And maybe that’s something we as a council can do going through governance and just to have a better understanding where the public can go with our concerns. So thank you, Mr. Carr. Thank you. Councilor Ferra, you’ve already spoken. And at council, you can only spoken a matter one time. There are other speakers.

[40:37] We have a motion that is moved. There’s on the floor before us. There’s no other speakers. I’m going to open that for voting. The motion reads as follows, but following the appointed to the committee of adjustment for the term ending November 14th, 2026.

[41:12] Cheryl Miller, closing the vote. Motion carries 10 to five. Thank you, Your Worship. The next item I will put on the floor is item 40. This is 4.39 from your SPPC agenda. This is with regard to the appointment to the board for Elden House, colleagues will recall that at committee, Councilor Van Mirbergen indicated that there was an additional applicant, but we did not have confirmation.

[41:52] And the direction was to the clerks to reach out and obtain that confirmation. Yes, and there’s information on the agenda from that individual. And if someone wants to add that individual, it would be an amendment to what it was proposed at SPPC. Councilor Van Mirbergen. Sorry, just so I’m clear. Councilor Lewis is putting the SPPC recommendation on. That’s what we would be amending. You can speak now. So I would move the amendment.

[42:24] You can move an amendment. So I will move the amendment that Bruce Duncan be added to the board of Elden House. Councilor Hillier is willing to second that. So we will have discussion on the amendment now. Is there any discussion on that amendment to add that name to the Elden House slate? Seeing none, then we will open a motion in the system on the amendment to add the name. Motion to vote.

[43:31] Motion carries 15 to zero. On the amended vote, we’re in a seconder as amended. Moved by Councilor Layman, seconded by Councilor Hillier. So this is now the full Elden House board with the additional name for consideration. Any discussion on that? No, okay, we will open that for voting. Motion carries 15 to zero.

[44:21] Thank you, Irishman, through you. I will put item 41 on the floor now. This is with regard to the public appointment to the London Police Services Board. And this was pulled by Councilor Van Mirbergen. You’re willing to put the committee recommendation on the floor? Yes, I will put the committee recommendation on the floor. Councilor Van Mirbergen, did you wanna speak to it or just vote? No, just wanted an opportunity to vote separately. Thank you. Any discussion on this? We’ll open this for voting. And it’s the committee’s recommendation that is on the floor.

[45:10] Motion carries 11 to four. Thank you, Your Worship. I’m gonna put item 42 on the floor now. This is the appointment to the London Public Library Board. I do want to take an opportunity right now to share with colleagues, because there’s been some discussion about how this process rolled out and about how we can improve it. And I think that the discussion around how we can improve the process moving forward is very, very important for us to have. I do want to, particularly for new colleagues, provide a little bit of background on our preferential voting system.

[45:47] And we did get to the system that we are using through several iterations at the governance working group with a lot of work. And thank you to the clerks for all that work of trying different preferential voting systems to get to one that would assist us in selection processes like this. So while I hear colleagues very legitimate desire to see some improvements, I want to open the door now to anyone to certainly come and have a conversation with me about the background on governance working group.

[46:21] Happy to have that discussion with you and how we can make some changes, perhaps through governance working group moving forward. That will require some direction through a future SPPC to the governance working group. But when we’re considering this, the application process certainly could collect some more demographic data and provide us more insight into the applicants who are putting their names forward for these boards and commissions. That may include a voluntary box on a gender identity identification. We may wish to collect some other demographic data as well.

[46:56] We may want to see a diversity of ages. We may want to see whether or not a person identifies with a visible minority group as indigenous in other ways that may impact our voting. So I think that’s an important discussion to have, but I do want to remind colleagues that at council, we wouldn’t be amending or changing the voting process today. That’s a conversation that we have to have moving forward. So I just wanted to extend everybody the invitation if you’d like some background, the clerks have lots, certainly the mayor and myself sat on that governance working group for the past four years and a lot of time was spent on this.

[47:33] So we’re always open to ways to improve it. It’s just that improving the process moving forward may seem a little slow and cumbersome, but I think that that’s the best way to move forward is to make some improvements through the process moving forward. So I will put the entire slate as recommended by SPPC on the floor and we’ll see if colleagues have any further comments or desires to do anything with that. Okay, so the SPPC recommendation is on the floor. Councillor Hillier, you have a question. Thank you colleagues.

[48:06] At this meeting, I’ll be honest, I got a little upset and I have to thank the mayor and the deputy mayor for talking to me the next day. As you know, I was quite offended honestly. We have a process in place for bringing people to office and not a week beforehand, that same process was used to elect us and we tossed the candidate out because he didn’t meet some demographics. And then we actually manipulated the numbers to change the result. Now for me, that offended me. Councillor, sorry. I’m gonna caution you on saying we manipulated numbers. Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

[48:40] We did not do that. Change the variables slightly. We ran a process twice. Yes. A very fair and transparent process. I’m very sorry. I would use different language, please. Thank you. But we do have a process and like Councillor Lewis did explain, sorry, Deputy Mayor Lewis did explain, we have the governance working group to work on these processes. And I don’t think we should be doing it on the fly. Personally, I’m hoping we will turn down this slate of candidates and go with the previously democratically elected slate. So I’d like, if this is defeated, I would like to move motion for the original slate of candidates.

[49:18] Thank you. Okay, thank you. And that is the correct process. If you would like to do that, you would need to vote against the committee’s recommendation if you wanted to put an alternate slate on the floor. Other discussion on the committee’s recommendation? Councillor Cady. Thank you, Your Worship. And I’d like to thank my colleague for a very well said comment that we have a democratic process in place and that we need to respect it. And that I felt last week, and I’m sorry I didn’t speak up at the time, but I think we need to respect all of our processes.

[49:55] We need to respect our colleagues. And more importantly, we have to respect those who put their names forward as citizens to serve us. And I felt last week, just as my colleague said, that we paid it a service to many of the citizens and stakeholders that want to share in what we do. And thank you, and thank you, Councillor Hillier. Other speakers, Councillor Van Mirbergen. Thank you, Mayor.

[50:30] I too appreciate the words of Councillor Hillier. As a council, we ourselves are duly elected. And so when we appoint what we consider to be the best individuals to our various boards and commissions, we have to follow a fundamentally democratic process. And that initial process that we followed gave each and every one of us a kick at the can, an opportunity to, in our minds, find the best people, put it into the mix and see what comes out of it.

[51:08] And sure enough, we got a slate from that first round that we had. And it made sense. I mean, it was a democratically chosen. I mean, sure, any one of us can pick it apart and say, “Oh, it should be this, should be that.” That’s not democracy, that’s not how democracy works. The fact of the matter is we need to stay clear of engaging in identity politics. Let’s choose people who are the best. And it doesn’t matter what their race is, their sexual orientation, that doesn’t matter.

[51:42] But who is the best? Let’s stay away from quotas and all the rest of it. Because in the end, that’s really not fair. And it’s not fair to the people of London because they’re expecting us to choose the best on all these boards and commissions. Councilor Trossan. I would be hesitant to engage in a statement that suggests that the slate that’s going forward is not the best.

[52:15] There were a lot of really qualified people on this who submitted applications who were very well qualified. I spoke to some of the ones who were chosen by the striking committee who were not on either of these lists. And I’m not going to do that again today. But I want to get clear from the clerk. My understanding is that our first vote on the committee was not a decided matter. And it doesn’t become a binding decided matter of council until the council ratifies it.

[52:50] And that the council ratifies it and then there’s sort of second, second, second questions about it, it would take quite a procedure to revisit that. But until this council today proves this slate, it was a committee discussion. And the committee had the prerogative to do what they did. And there were no procedural rules followed. And if I’m wrong about that, I would really like the clerk or the solicitor to correct me through the chair, of course.

[53:27] Clerk. Your worship, the council is quite correct. It’s a committee recommendation until the slate is voted on by council. It’s not a decided matter of council. I have a speaker’s list. So I know everybody’s waving, but you’re on it. I have Councilor Frank next. Yes, I just want to address again, following up on Councilor Trossa as comments. My understanding is we put forward a slate, it failed.

[54:00] We put forward another slate, it passed. And considering just moments ago, we had some people put up the London Police Services Board, which is technically a slate, a slate of one, and try to see if it was able to be turned over and have a new vote. That is literally the exact same process. So I don’t understand why there are councilors who are offended by this process. And we literally, somebody just tried to do it two seconds ago. So I would just like to say, it didn’t go ideally because we are trying to move forward with an equity lens.

[54:34] And I have asked for a motion in the future SPPC meeting to use a different process, ‘cause I agree it was not the most ideal, but I do not think that there’s been any procedural violations. And to suggest otherwise, I think is unfair, considering somebody literally just tried to do it two seconds ago. So thank you. Councilor Pribble, just to address my colleague, Councilor Frank, I do see a difference in terms of the police board was passed right away last week while the library board, we did vote for certain people to be members of this board.

[55:15] And then the discussion started and we reversed our decision. As some of you already know, and I addressed it as well, my big issue is this, again, comes to our policy. And if we have, if we honest to believe in the bottom of our hearts that we want to move our community forward, we have some great ideas. And we want to introduce certain guidelines before the vote. I’m totally for it if it’s really for the good cause. But we haven’t done that last week. We haven’t done that and we did vote. And again, my issue with this is the democratic process that we did vote for certain people.

[55:51] And then afterwards, we started to say, okay, this might not be to the vision of for London, but we change our minds. We change our minds. And that’s an issue with me. I do think if we do it in advance, I think that it’s a thing to consider, absolutely. Against through the government’s government’s committee. But based on what we did that, I really, I don’t think that was the fair decision to do once we have selected. Put yourself into the shoes of those people if you saw your name up. And then we decided that’s not to our picture and let’s reverse it.

[56:25] Thank you. I have myself next on the speaker’s list. Then I’ll add you, Councillor Hopkins. I’m going to turn the chair over to Councillor Palosa. Thank you, recognizing Mayor Morgan. I’m colleagues. I should just rise and add some context to this debate, having been on the governance working group for I think eight years. I’ve gone through multiple iterations of a desire of municipal council to try to streamline the process to find common preferences, to choose candidates for committees. And there were multiple iterations of that process that I would say were I’m consuming, not smooth, perhaps did not choose a preference.

[57:06] And if you were called through the voting structure and I tried to emphasize again and again, it is a selection tool. It is a process for us to quickly and efficiently find some common preferences on candidates and then use that information to craft forward a slate. Now, often the results of the preference tool become the slate, but that’s not necessary. That’s not the process. And if you want to talk about the democratic process, it is each and every one of us who are elected here today who makes a final and binding decision on who is going to be appointed to our boards and commissions.

[57:44] And we have designed as a council, a process that aids us in that endeavor. And we also have the ability as a council to override that process, which we did a committee and we said not withstanding the process, we’d like to take another go at this with some slightly different parameters of choosing those who received a certain threshold to move on. And that’s also democratically legitimate. Council has that authority to go through that process to try to find a slate that has the widest possible support of council. And there are people who we selected who are not my first choice or my second choice.

[58:17] There are many people who I think who will say, there’s members who are not on this library board that I’d like to see there. But I hope that after we decide tonight, regardless of which way we go, we give whoever is successful our full support to govern a very important organization in our city. But everything that is occurring up to this point and everything that is occurring today is fully democratically legitimate. It is the process and it is our desire to find a common consensus for as many members of council as possible to put forward a slate for our boards and commissions today. As was the vote with the police services board and I would endeavor all of you to give your full support now that we’ve made a decision to Susan taught the successful candidate.

[58:58] But these debates and these discussions are exactly what our job is. Is to share those differences of opinion, share those differences of perspectives, come to a decision and then support that decision as a council. So I fully support the debate that is going on right now, but I would caution colleagues in saying that an election was won or lost. That is a selection tool that informs us to make a decision on the best possible, widely supported slate of candidates for these important boards and commissions. Thank you. Thank you, return the chair to you with Councillor Hopkins next on the list. Councillor Hopkins.

[59:31] Yeah, thank you, Your Worship. And I very much appreciate the words that you used as well. At committee, we are, at committee, we do the work. We make changes. We are able to debate. We’re not perfect. The library board had many, many good applicants. It was difficult. I found it very challenging. The committee is where we do our work. We can make adjustments. We can make changes. We can listen to one another. There is time before it comes to council to maybe discuss.

[1:00:05] I know there’s a number of things. I’m glad I’m going to be on the governance working group. It’s all I can say. ‘Cause this process has showed that some of the flaws that we’ve had in other committees as well. But it is the process. We are here at council. We do make the final decision. We are elected by residents. That is something you can hear in each and every one of our comments. We take it very seriously. But committee is the work that we do. So I would encourage you to support this.

[1:00:41] And sure, we can look at the process through governance. I think it’s going to be a very busy working group. So thank you. Councillor Layman. Thank you. The two things here that I see. One is a process that we use. And I think, as the mayor said, in the past four years, we had worked with this process.

[1:01:14] And I think the process worked exactly as it was intended. It provided us a tool to come up with a lot of fucking 30 names or so to select down the seven. Very complex way to do it. It provides a tool to present to the committee a slate of candidates. That slate, when presented, showed a picture that some on council didn’t feel comfortable with. Me included, quite frankly, when I saw how the slate came out.

[1:01:50] It wasn’t all my choices weren’t on that slate. But however, as it shook out, I can see the challenges there. And I understand the concerns and why we voted on it. The other thing that we do is we have a committee, SPPC, where all of us serve on. So people wonder, well, why do we have a vote there? And then we go to council where we have a vote, again, what we already decided by everybody. And the purpose is this.

[1:02:24] It gives us a chance to review our decisions that we made in the context of getting away from it. To do further research, further thought, further information that might come to light. That allow us to have a chance to change our minds, quite frankly. And that’s what I did. I tried to put the best folks forward that, in my opinion, would serve us well. And then I understand the importance of looking through with an EDI lens, the makeup of a hole.

[1:03:01] And so that’s why I supported the motion made by Deputy Mayor Lewis, which made some changes. I also then supported further changes. But on reflection, I felt uncomfortable with it. I felt uncomfortable when I was driving home. Because of the folks that were then left off the list, that also represented minorities. That could be seen by some, through that same lens. So that’s a challenge you have. When you use EDI as a lens, how far down do you go to make sure everything is represented?

[1:03:37] So on that basis, I will be voting against this because of that second thoughts and concerns and the uncomfortableness. I feel with that decision. Any further speakers? OK, what we have before us is the slate that was recommended by SBPC that Deputy Mayor Lewis has put on the floor. We will vote on that. If it’s successful, that will be the library board. If it’s not, we can entertain other options.

[1:04:11] So we’ll open this for voting. Sir Stevenson, close in the vote. Motion carries.

[1:05:01] Nine, six. OK, I’m going to go back to Deputy Mayor Lewis. Thank you, Your Worship. That actually completes the first report of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee. Good news. We’re on added reports now, which means you get to do another SBPC meeting. And if colleagues remember this, it was from just a couple of hours ago.

[1:05:37] And the report is— this is how good our clerk staff is. The added report is under added reports now, under Section 9 in your e-scribe, and has the recommendations there for you. Thank you, Your Worship. And actually, before I present the second report of SBPC, thanks to our sharp e-light clerks, I do have to first report out on the first report of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee on the matter for which we went in camera.

[1:06:13] And I am reporting out that progress was made on the item for which we went in camera, which was with regard to client solicitor privilege. Thank you for that. I’ll let you proceed with the SBPC meetings report from earlier today. Thank you. So I will now put the second report of SBPC on the floor. This is a much shorter report with only two items on the agenda, disclosures of pecanary interest, and build 23 more homes, build faster act information report, which we received past a motion on. So this is the ratification of the motions that we amended and passed earlier today.

[1:06:49] So you put the whole report on the floor. Is there any discussion on that colleagues? Then we’ll open this for voting. Opposed in the vote, motion carries 15 to zero.

[1:07:26] Deputy Mayor, and that Your Worship concludes the second report of SBPC. Okay, we have no deferred matters. We have no inquiries that I’m aware of, seeing none. We have no emergency motions that have been submitted. So we’re on to bylaws. We have one bylaw to approve today, bylaw number three, which is the confirming bylaw for proceedings at this particular council meeting today. I’ll look for a mover for first reading. Deputy Mayor Lewis, seconded by Councillor Van Merberg, and there is no debate on first reading.

[1:07:58] So we will open first reading for voting. Opposed in the vote, motion carries 15 to zero. I need a mover and a seconder for second reading of this LOSA and seconded by Councillor Ferrera. Second reading does have the ability to make comments.

[1:08:34] Is there any comments or discussion on the confirmation bylaw? Okay, seeing none, we’ll open second reading for voting. Councillor Frank, is there a vote, motion carries 15 to zero.

[1:09:13] Final reading of bill number three, like confirming bylaw, I have Councillor Trostall and Councillor McAllister moving and seconding. There’s no debate on third reading, so we’ll open that for voting. Carries 15 to zero. Before I entertain a motion to adjourn, thank you again to all of our staff who helped pull together a significant and important volume of information related to our earlier discussion at that special meeting of on bill 23.

[1:09:56] I know that a number of people had to drop what they had and shift what they were doing to ensure that we had the information before us to establish a council position that we can now move forward with submitting to the government by the deadline. So thank you to our staff for that important work and thank you again for everybody who helped make today’s council meeting possible as well. With that, I’ll entertain a motion to adjourn. Moved by Councillor Ben Mirbergen, seconded by Councillor Hillier. This is a hand vote. All those in favor of adjournment? My motion carries. We’re adjourned.