Open Council

14th Meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee

Open Council

14th Meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee

November 18, 2025, at 1:00 PM

Original link

The meeting is called to order at 1:02 PM; it being noted that Councillors S. Stevenson, E. Peloza and S. Hillier were in remote attendance.

1.   Disclosures of Pecuniary Interest

That it BE NOTED that no pecuniary interests were disclosed.

2.   Consent

2.1   Strategic Plan Implementation Update: November 2025

2025-11-18 Staff Report - Strategic Plan Implementation Update

Moved by P. Cuddy

Seconded by A. Hopkins

That, on the recommendation of the City Manager, the report regarding the Strategic Plan Implementation Update BE RECEIVED for information.

Motion Passed (14 to 1)

2.2   2025 Resident Satisfaction Survey

2025-11-18 Staff Report - 2025 Resident Satisfaction Survey

Moved by S. Trosow

Seconded by D. Ferreira

That on the recommendation of the City Manager, report including the 2025 Resident Satisfaction Survey, BE RECEIVED for information.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

3.   Scheduled Items

None.

4.   Items for Direction

4.1   Downtown Plan - Phase l Background Study

2025-11-18 Staff Report - Downtown Plan Phase 1 Background Study

Moved by D. Ferreira

Seconded by S. Trosow

That, on the recommendation of the Deputy City Manager, Housing and Community Growth, the following actions be taken with respect to the development of the Downtown Plan:

a)    the Downtown Plan: Phase 1 Background Study, including Appendix: B related to the Downtown Plan: Background Study BE RECEIVED for information; and

b)    the Civic Administration BE APPROVED to further explore the feasibility and implementation of additional quick start actions as identified in Appendix 8 of the Downtown Plan Background Study (Appendix B), and other actions included in section 2.4 of the report, within approved budgets and resources;

it being noted that the Civic Administration continues to review and implement actions within approved budgets associated with supporting the downtown area and development of the downtown plan;

it being further noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received communications from the following individuals with respect to this matter:

  • a communication dated November 13, 2025 from  G, Henderson, CEO, London Chamber of Commerce;

  • a communication dated November 14, 2025 from V. Smith, Interim Executive Director, London Downtown Business Association (LDBA);

  • a communication dated November 14, 2025 from B. Wludyka, Senior Property Manager, Citi Plaza London Inc.;

  • a communication dated November 14, 2025 from H. D. Chapman, Member of the Advisory Committee, London Downtown Strategic Master Plan, Scty, London Downtown Condominium Advocacy Group; and

  • a communication dated November 18, 2025 from D. Brown and W. Thomas, Coordinators, Midtown Community Organization;

it being pointed out that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee heard a presentation from J. Barrett, Project Manager, Canadian Urban Institute and delegations from G. Henderson, CEO, London Chamber of Commerce and  V. Smith, Interim Executive Director, London Downtown Business Association (LDBA).

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

ADDITIONAL VOTES:

Moved by D. Ferreira

Seconded by P. Cuddy

That the delegation requests from G. Henderson, CEO, London Chamber of Commerce and V. Smith, Interim Executive Director, London Downtown Business Association, BE APPROVED to be heard at this time.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

4.2   Consideration of Appointments to Western University Board of Governors

2025-11-18 Submission - Western Appointments-Council Resolution

Moved by C. Rahman

Seconded by J. Morgan

That Lori Higgs and Marlene McGrath BE APPOINTED to Western University’s Board of Governors for the term July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2030; it being noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received a communication dated November 7, 2025 from A. Bryson, University Secretary, Western with respect to this matter.

Motion Passed (14 to 1)

ADDITIONAL VOTES:

Moved by S. Trosow

Seconded by A. Hopkins

That the communication dated November 7, 2025 from A. Bryson, University Secretary, Western with respect to appointment to the Western University Board of Governors BE RECEIVED and that Civic Administration BE DIRECTED to proceed with a recruitment for community members and to bring forward the applications of Lori McGrath and Marlene McGrath to be considered at a future meeting of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee.

Motion Failed (5 to 10)

4.3   London Convention Centre Corporation (RBC Place London) Appointments

2025-11-18 Staff Report - London Convention Centre Corporation RBC Place Appointments

Moved by P. Cuddy

Seconded by J. Pribil

That on the recommendation of London Convention Centre Corporation (RBC Place London) Board of Directors, the following actions be taken:

a)    the memo dated October 27, 2025, from Darrin Pollard, CEO, RBC Place London, appended to the report as Appendix ‘A’ with respect to the RBC Place London Board Appointment Recommendations and Appointments BE RECEIVED;

b)    the resignation of Linda Nicholls from RBC Place London BE ACCEPTED; it being noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received a communication dated October 2, 2025, appended to the report as Appendix ‘B’, from Linda Nicholls with respect to this matter; and

c)    the following appointments to the Board of Directors BE CONFIRMED:

i)    Ryan Bennett (Finance) as a Class 3 Board member for the term ending November 30, 2028;

ii)    Eunju Yi (Arts & Culture) as a Class 2 Board member for the term ending November 30, 2027;

iii)    Kara Heddle (Communications) as a Class 2 Board member for the term ending November 30, 2027;

iv)    Ross de Gannes (Business/Finance) to Board Chair for the term ending November 30, 2027;

v)    Mary Lynn Stuckey (Health Care) to Board Vice-Chair for the term ending November 30, 2027;

vi)    Melissa Maloney (Business/Entrepreneur) as a Class 1 Board member for the term ending November 30, 2026; and

vii)    Candace Miller (Education) as a Class 1 Board member for the term ending November 30, 2026.

Motion Passed (15 to 0)

4.4   Request for Support for Elect Respect Campaign and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s Healthy Democracy Project - Councillor A. Hopkins and Mayor J. Morgan

2025-11-18 Submission - AMO-Hopkins, Morgan

Moved by A. Hopkins

Seconded by J. Morgan

That the following actions BE ADOPTED with respect to the communication dated November 4, 2025 from Councillor A. Hopkins and Mayor J. Morgan regarding support for the Elected Respect Campaign and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s Healthy Democracy Project:

WHEREAS democracy is healthy when everyone is able to participate fully and safely and contribute to the well-being of their community;

AND WHEREAS we are witnessing the dissolution of democratic discourse and respectful debate across all levels of government and in neighbouring jurisdictions;

AND WHEREAS Ontario’s municipally elected officials are dealing with increasingly hostile, unsafe work environments facing threats and harassment;

AND WHEREAS social media platforms have exacerbated disrespectful dialogue, negative commentary, and toxic engagement which disincentivizes individuals, especially women and candidates from diverse backgrounds from running for office;

AND WHEREAS better decisions are made when democracy is respectful and constructive and the voices of diverse genders, identities, ethnicities, races, sexual orientation, ages and abilities are heard and represented around municipal council tables;

AND WHEREAS the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s Healthy Democracy Project has identified concerning trends with fewer people voting in local elections and running for municipal office;

AND WHEREAS in 2024, female elected representatives from across Halton formed a group called H.E.R. (Halton Elected Representatives) which pledged to speak out against harassment and negativity in politics and call on elected officials to uphold the highest standards of conduct.

AND WHEREAS H.E.R. Halton has launched a campaign called Elect Respect to promote the importance of healthy democracy and safe, inclusive, respectful work environments for all elected officials that encourages individuals to participate in the political process.

AND WHEREAS on June 5, 2025, the Canadian Association of Feminist Parliamentarians launched a non-partisan “Parliamentary Civility Pledge” to encourage all parliamentarians to commit to end workplace harassment and increase civility on Parliament Hill, modelled after the pledge developed in Halton by representatives of H.E.R.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

THAT Council supports the Elect Respect pledge and commits to: 

  •    Treat others with respect in all spaces—public, private, and online,

  •    Reject and call out harassment, abuse, and personal attacks,

  •    Focus debate on ideas and policies, not personal attacks,

  •    Help build a supportive culture where people of all backgrounds feel safe to run for and hold office,

  •    Call on relevant authorities to ensure the protection of elected officials who face abuse or threats, and

  •    Model integrity and respect by holding one another to the highest standards of conduct.

AND THAT Council calls on elected officials, organizations and community members to support the Elect Respect campaign and sign the online pledge at www.electrespect.ca.

AND THAT a copy of this resolution be sent to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Ontario’s Big City Mayors, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Office of the Mayor of Burlington, relevant MPs and MPPs, Regional Police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Motion Passed (13 to 1)

4.5   Request for Support for Membership in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative - Mayor J. Morgan

2025-11-18 Submission - Support for Membership-Great Lakes and St. Lawrence-J. Morgan

Moved by J. Morgan

Seconded by S. Lehman

That Mayor J. Morgan BE ENDORSED to seek membership on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (GLSCLCI); it being noted that the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee received a communication dated November 3, 2025 from Mayor J. Morgan with respect to this matter.

Motion Passed (13 to 1)

5.   Deferred Matters/Additional Business

None.

6.   Confidential 

None.

7.   Adjournment

Moved by P. Van Meerbergen

Seconded by D. Ferreira

That the meeting BE ADJOURNED.

Motion Passed

The meeting adjourned at 3:24 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 (2 hours, 36 minutes)

[14:12] Okay, colleagues, it’s 102. I’m going to call the meeting to order, uh, and I’m going to write off the top, uh, remind everyone. Reporting in progress, we have a public participation budget at 4 p.m. We are on a time sensitive, uh, recording in progress and, uh, the clerks will need about half an hour to turn over the room for the budget. Uh, so we need to deal with items before 3 30 if necessary items from this agenda can be referred to the next cycle of SPPC. Um, so I want to begin by acknowledging the city of London is situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek Haudenosaunee and Lene Peiwock peoples.

[14:56] And we honor and respect the history, languages and culture of the diverse indigenous people who call this territory home. The city of London is currently home to many Métis, Inuit and First Nations people and as representatives of the people of the city of London, we are grateful to have the opportunity to work and live in this territory. The city of London is also committed to making every effort to provide alternate formats and communication supports for meetings upon request and to make a request specific to this meeting. Please email SPPC@london.ca or phone 519-661-2489 extension 2425. Uh, colleagues, I’m going to begin by looking for any disclosures of pecuniary interest, seeing none and I see none online.

[15:46] I will advise colleagues, Councilor Hillier, Councilor Plaza and Councilor Stevenson are joining us remotely. Uh, all others are in chambers, uh, Councilor Van Mirbergen has not yet joined us. So seeing no disclosures of pecuniary interest, we will move on to consent. I’ve been asked to deal with 2.1 and 2.2 separately. Uh, so we will start with 2.1 in the strategic plan implementation update. Uh, you have the report and I’m going to look for a mover and a seconder to get that on the floor. Councilor Cuddy and Councilor Hopkins, thank you.

[16:20] And now I will open the floor to any discussion. Councilor Stevenson, thank you. I did ask for this to be pulled, uh, to be pulled consistent with the last time we had an update. I am not going to be, I’m going to be voting against receiving this report. Um, in the audit committee agenda for tomorrow, you will see that there was, um, an audit of the strategic plan. It, uh, confirms some of the things I had said previously.

[16:55] Um, it identifies a lack of consistent citywide performance measurement. Uh, it says it’s overly complex with unclear links between actions, metrics and success criteria. That there’s a high volume of metrics and actions that might limit meaningful insight. Some metrics emphasize activities over outcomes, creating misalignment with strategic intent. Uh, metrics are often developed without considering data availability or departmental input. The strategic plan targets are not integrated into budgets, which is a big thing for me.

[17:31] Uh, metrics often. Hold on Councilor Stevenson, we have a point of order from Councilor Trussow. Without, without discounting the, um, potential value in many of the things that are being said, I think this mo goes more to where we would be at the time we’re drafting a new strategic plan. Uh, right now we’ve received a report, um, and we’re just being asked to receive it. And I think that, uh, these are points that I think the audit committee could pursue in terms of giving some suggestions to our next strategic plan iteration. But in terms of what’s on the, uh, what’s on the floor right now, which is simply receiving a report about what happened in the past.

[18:09] I think a lot of this is getting ahead of itself. So Councilor Trussow, I’m actually going to rule that, uh, Councilor Stevenson is outlining these items as the reason she’s not supporting. She has to be, have, have this pulled and she started out by saying I’m going to, uh, not be supporting this, uh, and started to align her reasons. So I think she’s highlighting her reasons for not supporting, which would be in order. I will say though, certainly if we get into, if we start to wander into how the strap plan should be formatted in the future, I think that would be out of order because we’re here to receive the report today.

[18:48] Um, so Councilor Stevenson, um, I’m going to allow you to continue, um, with your time, you’ve used about a minute and 20 seconds. So if you’d like to go ahead. Thank you. I would like to go ahead and I won’t start over from the beginning and repeat myself, but I continually get interrupted particularly by Councilor Trussow. I would appreciate an interesting time to speak. Oh, hold on. I, I’m going to stop both of you there because even as the chair, before I even go to you, Councilor Trussow, Councilor Stevenson, it is Councilor Trussow’s right to raise a point of order if he feels that there is one.

[19:26] I recognize that you may feel that there is an interruption. Um, I would encourage both of you to keep the language respectful of each other, but it is within our council policies and procedures by law. So I cannot, we cannot say he’s interrupting. He’s raising what he felt was a point of order. I’ve ruled on it. It was not a valid point of order and I’m allowing you to continue. So if we can focus on the item that’s on the floor, please. I appreciate that. And given that we’re going to be talking about the elect respect motion, um, there are ongoing points of order, which are not valid points of order, because there’s an objection to my opinion or my thoughts or how I view things.

[20:09] So it’s something worth considering as we’re going to be addressing that later in the meeting. And I may start over from the beginning again, um, if this continues. But for now, um, the strategic plan targets are not integrated into budgets. Metrics often lack clear ownership. Reports include excessive data, difficult to navigate, reducing their usefulness for stakeholders and residents. There is limited visibility into how reporting informs operational and governance decisions. And there’s misalignment between service line metrics and strategic plan metrics, reducing their usefulness for guiding actions.

[20:49] So for the reasons that I stated, the last time that the update came to us, and as like I said, if people want to read more, it’s on the agenda for audit tomorrow, I’m going to be voting no to receiving this. And I would be open to working on an amendment for council. If any of my colleagues would be supportive of, um, requesting that civic administration stop the reporting on this, it is really time consuming. I imagine there’s 162 pages on the agenda. And I’m just wondering if at this point, given that we are likely going to be making big changes, um, it might be a way to free up some civic administration time.

[21:27] So if there’s a willingness, I’m willing to work on that. Otherwise, I’ll be voting no. And thank you for my time. Thank you, Councillor Stevenson, looking for any other speakers. Councillor Pribble. Thank you, chair. And first of all, I want to say to, uh, thank you to Mr. my colleague, Mr. Fowler, because they were all over the weekend answering many of my questions. And I even received some many answers from the service arrows during yesterday. So thank you for that. I’m going to go first with three, kind of the bigger future, bigger picture questions. And the first one is coordination synchronization between the two plans that are coming back to us.

[22:05] Downtown one, which is, um, so my final version is coming in January. Sorry, economic one, so my final version in January. And then Q2, uh, the downtown one. Can you please let me know the synchronization? How these two plans will come together be synchronized? Because of course, the economic one has to include the downtown as well. Well, Mr. Fowler, if you want to call Mr. Macaulay in off the, out of the bullpen, uh, to provide some answers there, uh, sees, he’s going to start warming up. Mr. Mathers had his hand up as well.

[22:39] So I’m going to go to Mr. Mathers and then, uh, you’ve got your starting picture and your, uh, bullpen reliever behind you there, Mr. Mathers. If we need to go to them for anything further through the chair. So the teams are working very closely together to make sure that there’s, there’s a, there’s a course, some very reasonable overlap between those two projects. And, uh, at the end of the day, we’re looking at having a very prosperous downtown. And that has many aspects, including the economic piece, which we have identified as a critical piece for the downtown as well. So those two teams are working very closely, even in attending each other’s meetings, just to make sure that we have the coordination and, uh, of course, we will speak more today about the downtown master plan, but, uh, we, you can be assured that we are working very closely together to be sure that we have the best interest of, of the downtown and the rest of the city as well.

[23:29] Okay. Uh, I’m seeing Mr. Fowler and Mr. Macaulay nodding their heads in agreement. So I’m going to go back to councilor for both. Thank you for that. I’m very happy that it’s coordinating in synchronized. So we have, uh, two, two plans that will be parallel. And we can maximize our opportunities. Second one, UNESCO city of music action plan 21 to 25. We moved it to six year 21 to 27. And I just want to know what’s going to happen between 25 and 27. If there’s going to be intermediate plan, if there’s going to be quick actions, or what is the plan for the two years, Mr. Mathers or Mr. Fowler.

[24:11] Thank you. And through the, through the chair, uh, so the, the, uh, the plan is to extend the current four year plan to the six year, uh, six year plan. So the existing focus areas will stay intact consisting of music incubation, inclusive community, music and film, music exchanges, music conferences and media arts. Councilor Perbal. Thank you for that. And, uh, currently in those four year plans, there were special, specific actions at specific events. So am I understanding correct that they will be developed in the two, two years, 25, 26 as well?

[24:48] Mr. Fowler. Uh, thank you, Chair. And, and through you, yes, that is correct. Councilor Perbal. Thank you for that. And through the chair, uh, it was on page 85. Strike point, uh, a point two and three citywide economic framework, cultural prosperity plan reasoning for Q for 2027. And I do understand that there are certain things that will have to go through the, uh, multi-year budget. So there is funding, but key to, uh, sorry, Q for 2027 is a long time. Are there any plans to fund and introduce the quick actions during this time as well? Mr. Fowler. Thank you, Chair. And, uh, through you, uh, speaking specifically to the economic development strategy, uh, so this, this timeline is a result of a fusion of the action, which includes both development and implementation. I can say that the framework itself and the economic development strategy will be, uh, complete in Q1 2026, uh, in terms of any funding that might be associated with that, we, we would likely be looking to the next multi-year budget process at, uh, at that point, answer.

[26:01] So thank you for, uh, thank you for all those answers. I just want to say now, uh, consider this plan. And if you were an organization or a corporation that’s depending 100% on our revenues and also looking for investors to invest after the financials, I consider it to be the second most important plan that any investor would be looking at. Uh, but I just want to mention one thing is, there are some really good positive things. The updates and there are, they are, uh, coordinated with our goals, targets, deliverables, they are great. Some of them, there’s certainly room for improvement. Some, I have to say the answers I received during the last two, three days, they’ll be fantastic additions to the updates. One thing that, that I’m missing in this are the matrix. We do receive them in May. I believe we should be receiving them in November as well.

[26:52] I know we had a conversation back and forth that, uh, I do believe it will be implemented. And I do believe that also what was said after tomorrow’s audit, there will be certain changes made to make this better as well. Just again, to remind that this is a strategic plan that, especially with the implementation plan, that this was the first time introduced by us three years ago. And I do believe we are on a right, better track. Is there a room for improvement absolutely as we heard earlier today and tomorrow, but I will certainly be, uh, voting yes in terms of receiving it, doing you need to work on more progressive one attached to the budget, to the numbers. Yes, absolutely. We do, but I truly believe we are on a better track than we were.

[27:36] And, uh, thank you for this work. And, uh, some of the areas, service areas, they have done a fantastic job. And there are some great things that should be celebrated. And there are some service areas that certainly if we go back, they can do better. And in May, there were some great initiatives, updates that were done. I was hoping to have more concrete numbers now, and even more into the general. But as I said, thank you very much for all the work. And, uh, looking forward to even improved one next time. Thank you, Council approval. Any other speakers? Mayor Morgan. Yes, I just want to compliment our staff on the work that they’ve done on the strategic plan. It’s a considerable amount of work. Um, I look forward to these updates. I think it’s important for transparency to the public, uh, on how we’re progressing along, uh, Council’s approved strategic plan. Um, I, and I’ll, I’ll mention this now, although it’s on the audit committee, uh, tomorrow because, um, it was mentioned in previous comments. Um, yes, there are summary of observations that were mentioned, uh, by one of the counselors. They’re all low risk. There’s a number of strengths that are outlined in that report too. I think management’s responses to the, uh, the inquiries are responsible and reflective of improvements to a strategic plan, which we’ve done over multiple iterations of my time on Council each and every year. We’re trying to improve our processes and the way that we do things. Uh, having an audit in the first place, the whole point of that is to improve processes and strengthen it. I think that the strategic plan report is great. I think it provides a lot of information for us and how we’re tracking towards it. I look forward to making improvements on that in the future. Um, as we always do, so, uh, thanks to all the departments who have to feed in, uh, a considerable amount of work to this. Um, it’s great to have this information available. I know it’s a lot of work, but I greatly value the, the access to this information. It helps guide current council decision-making as well. Mayor Morgan looking for other speakers. Seeing none, I’m going to ask clerk to open the vote. Councillor Stevenson votes no. Closing the vote. Motion carries 14 to 1. Two colleagues moving on item 2.2 is the 2025 resident satisfaction survey. So I’m going to to look for a motion to put receipt of this on the floor. Moved by Councillor Truss out. Seconded by Councillor Ferrera. And we’ll look now for any speakers to this. Councillor Hopkins.

[30:21] Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. And I just would like to, um, give my thanks to, uh, through you to staff, I do look forward to these annual, uh, surveys. And I found it quite interesting what was, uh, an issue last year interest rates, high interest rates is no longer a high, uh, concern in, uh, with Londoners. But what has remained consistent is the homelessness, um, um, continues to be the most frequently mentioned concern with Londoners. I, um, think, uh, when I read the report, it basically confirms what I hear as a councillor, the issues that are in the community. And I was, uh, I would like to just mention that, uh, one of the highest percentage, um, results out of this survey, uh, was directed at city staff where, um, they, uh, people that were in direct contact with city staff, 89% found staff courteous, and again, 78% found staff knowledgeable and 84% felt that they were treated fairly. I really, really appreciate the work that city staff have done and, and I chose, within the public as well. So, um, very supportive of, uh, getting these surveys. Thank you, paying for other speakers. Councillor Truss. Oh, thank you. And through the chair, I just want to, um, state that I find this report very useful. And what I find when I read through this report, it’s, yes, this really corresponds to what I’m hearing in terms of the important issues.

[32:05] And in addition to homelessness, um, certainly traffic and congestion is up there. And I’d, I’d be remiss if I didn’t congratulate, uh, the water quality, the staff that’s responsible for that. Uh, but also, um, once again, the public library is at the top of the list. And, um, I think, uh, I really want to call that out. I’m very proud of the work that the public library does. I sit on the board and, uh, I know the care that the staff takes with members of the public each and every time they visit or call, um, the library. So I think this is a useful survey.

[32:43] And, um, it really, it really helps a lot. I’m going to, uh, not make comments on other agencies that are towards the bottom and how they can improve. I think those, those are further discussions. But I think this is a, this is a useful exercise. Thank you. Any other speakers? Seeing none, but I’m going to ask the clerk to open the vote. Closing the vote. Motion carries 15 to 0. Thank you, colleagues. Moving on. That brings us to our items for direction. Uh, 4.1 is the downtown plan phase one background study. We do have a presentation, uh, from our consultant. Uh, we also have a request to request for delegation status, which we will deal with after the presentation.

[33:46] Um, and we have three communications that will need to be, uh, received as well. So sorry for three communications that need to be received. So we will start by, uh, welcoming our consultants, uh, the Canadian Urban Institute, Ms. Barrett. Welcome. Uh, you have a five minute, uh, presentation window for us. I know you have lots to go over. Uh, when you’re ready, go ahead. The floor is yours. Great. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon. It’s my pleasure to be here to prevent, uh, to provide a high level summary of the background study, which is being done in preparation of the London downtown plan. The downtown plan will establish a strategic vision to guide downtown over the next decade, setting priorities and actions for a number of themes, including land use, mobility, economic development, public realm, cultural vitality, and environmental resilience.

[34:41] The culmination of phase one is the background study, which is before you today with a detailed review of existing conditions, planning frameworks, common practices combined with extensive community engagement and a summary of findings. The slide here provides a high level summary of the background study. The areas highlighted on the slide will be the areas that I will focus on today, including a summary of some of our data analysis, engagement, and preliminary strategic decisions. The first slide gives an overview of the demographics of downtown, showing that the residential population has increased significantly, almost 30% between 2021 and 2024. Residents are mostly young and diverse, with smaller than average household size and a large population of new immigrants and visible minorities. Downtown also includes older adults and couples. Employment of downtown residents is split between white color and service industry jobs with higher levels of unemployment compared to the rest of the city, signaling precarious employment, part-time, or piecemeal work, also reflected in lower household incomes. The following slide provides market conditions.

[35:52] Office vacancy, as many of you will know, remains high at just over 30% for the second quarter of this year, similar to the vacancy rates in 2024, but significantly higher than 2019. However, there are two positive themes trends we’re seeing in 2025 in the office market that is a drop of vacancies for the Class A office space and a net absorption of office space. So that means more space is being leased than is becoming vacant. On the right-hand side of the slide provides information about the retail vacancy rate, which has remained relatively stable between 2023 and 2025 at just over 17%. This means that at street level, approximately one in five retail spaces are vacant. Retail businesses are concentrated on Dundas, Richmond Row, and the surrounding areas, but they also suffer from some of the highest rates of retail vacancy and the oldest building stock. There is a high proportion of service-oriented businesses making up 70% of all retail spaces, and these include things such as health and services, professional services, food, beverage, and entertainment, compared to just 12% made up of retail, durable goods, such as clothing, houseware, etc. Downtown benefits from a high number of assets and recent investments, including more than 150 million in investment over the past 10 years. This includes underground infrastructure enabling the new residential development you see in downtown, as well as roadways, transportation, and public space. There’s been a significant investment in active transportation in the downtown loop, and as a result of these investments, we see up to 40% of downtown residents using another form of transportation besides personal vehicles. Assets include both physical assets and people, including a large daytime population of 43,000 people, mostly workers, and significant downtown amenities that have become part of downtown over the past several decades. We also see up to 800 events and more than 1.8 million attendees at these events in downtown. And finally, downtown is an economic and cultural hub, including over $2 billion in assessed value. Over the past four months, our project team has done a variety of public engagement through surveys, one-on-one engagement, focus groups, summits, attendance at in-person events, and online engagement. And through this, we have reached more than 4,200 individuals, including 2,400 that filled out a public survey, and more than 350 that were engaged through one-on-one focus groups or other in-person events.

[38:26] To the right on the slide is a summary of this engagement, which is also included in more detail throughout the background study in Section 6 and the appendices, which summarizes the engagement across five recurring themes. The culmination of our work results in what we call conditions for success or findings. These include enhancing the existing assets, using the momentum from the recent absorption of office space and the stable retail market to encourage more uses for vacant space. And there are many examples of this already in downtown, including the reuse of buildings and partnerships, as well as a growing residential population, which will need new amenities, everyday activities, and also clients. I’m going to ask you to pause for just a moment.

[39:10] Sure. I’d pause the timer as well, but just because we’re already very close to five minutes. Okay. You’ve got a few more things to go to. Did you need a couple of extra minutes to present? That would be great. I have just two more slides. Okay. We’re not going to put it to a vote. I’m just going to use a little discretion of the chair. Unless there’s any objections, I’m going to extend the speaker’s time to allow it to finish your presentation. Seeing no objections, go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Creating vibrancy includes drawing on the success of large events with more opportunities for small events and ongoing programming and leveraging the significant arts, cultural, and institutional anchors in downtown. And finally, the strength of the plan will only be as good as this implementation, requiring a collaborative approach to identify and clarify roles, responsibilities, priorities, and resources, both public and private, and to focus on the solutions to support vulnerable populations and restore a sense of public safety. The findings of the background study culminate in three strategic directions that will form the framework for the actions of the downtown plan in the next phase. These include capital assets, which means maximizing the access that exists through maintenance and operational funding, investing in programming and vibrancy, and committing to urban governance management and municipal policy. And the final slide includes next steps. Throughout the next two quarters, we will be workshopping and refining the action and implementation steps, providing opportunities for more public engagement in the first quarter of next year with the culmination of the plan in Q2 of 2026. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Barrett. So colleagues, before we get into questions and answers from Ms. Barrett, and I am going to ask you to stay nearby, but if you’d like to take a seat for a few moments until we get through our delegations, I’d invite you to do that. Make yourself comfortable. We will look now. We have delegation requests from Mr. Henderson from the London Chamber of Commerce, and Ms. Smith from the downtown business association. So I’m going to look for a mover and a seconder to approve the delegations, Councillor Ferrera, Councillor Cuddy, and we’ll open the vote on that.

[41:25] Closing the vote. Motion carries 15 to 0. Thank you, colleagues. So we will have two five-minute delegations from community stakeholders. We have Mr. Henderson first from the Chamber of Commerce, and I see you moving to the mic up there. Welcome, Mr. Henderson. When you are ready, we will let you start. I’ll give you a wave when you’ve got about 30 seconds left on your time.

[42:19] Past year, the Chamber has been engaged with the downtown master plan process. We have penned a white paper, delivered 17 specific recommendations in a 60-page document. We met regularly with staff with Canadian Urban Institute and community partners. For myself, I’ve spent almost 15 years studying the impact of culture on downtown revitalization, and I’m a subject matter expert. Today, I want to do two things. I want to recognize what the CUIs got right, which is a lot, and I want to offer a few ideas that will help the plans succeed.

[42:56] First, praise. The background study gives London a solid foundation. It is thorough, grounded in extensive consultation and enriched by exemplars from around the world. It correctly identifies the key three key levers for success, capital investment, year-round programming, and clear governance. It recognizes the culture is already a major economic asset and proposes sensible quick starts to build on that strength. Our concern is not with the diagnosis, which is strong, but with the level of ambition and the tools that will turn this vision into a reality.

[43:33] So here are a few of the many ways that we think the plan can be improved. First, London is a city of music, a UNESCO city of music. UNESCO is mentioned 12 times in the entire document, and they do not seem to treat it as the driver it can be. Our view is simple. UNESCO should show up in this plan’s implementation matrix in our multi-year budget and in KPIs. We should commit to specific city music targets, annual reporting, active participation in the global creative cities network. Second, the study gestures toward governance, but it stops short of placing culture where it belongs, which is inside economic development. We recommend that Council created Department of Economic Development and Culture as other cities have done and create a Cultural Advisory Council. This draws on best practices from around the world and the downtown needs its own economic development strategy. Third, creator economics. The background report talks about programming, gaps, but not the underlying realities for creators in small venues.

[44:49] You cannot have a more, cannot have more and better events if artists are not fairly paid, if rehearsal and production space is not, is unaffordable, and if small venues are constantly at risk. We’re asking you to adopt practical tools such as a cultural property, tax subclass for live music and creative businesses, targeted grants, fair play standards for city funded events and expanded and affordable creative space. Fourth, incentives in vacancy. The study notes vacant storefronts and office conversions does not yet propose a comprehensive vacant to vibrant program.

[45:26] We believe that the plan should include standardized pop-up permits, fee relief, microgrants, mobile stages so the culture can occupy the empty space quickly and visibly. Fifth, with respect to community well-being and safety. The background study frames the tools as hardware software and civic infrastructure, but it does not yet recognize culture as a critical part of that safety system. Our work shows that regular inclusive cultural activation increases eyes on the street, strengthen social ties and improves perceptions of safety. Sixth, Indigenous cultural leadership.

[46:07] The study offers acknowledgments, but it does not yet reflect Indigenous cultural or business leadership in the way our recommendations proposed. We outlined specific roles for Indigenous led governance, commissioning, procurement and program partnerships that would encourage council, staff, the CUI to work directly with Indigenous creators and business leaders to embed these elements more fully in the final plan. Finally, in our view, the report underestimates the impact of culture on downtown revitalization. The Common Practices Review section includes only three culture-related examples, whereas the chamber provided staff and the CUI with a full-length white paper, 60-page set of recommendations that offered dozens of concrete case studies that would concrete state studies, many drawn from fellow UNESCO creative cities.

[47:06] We would strongly encourage staff and CUI to draw more fully on this material as they move forward. Our chamber is ready to work with council, staff and community partners to build a great plan, let’s be ambitious and let’s be bold. The business community stands with you. Thank you, Mr. Henderson, and four minutes and 59 seconds. Great job on the timing. And now we will hear from Ms. Smith from the downtown London Downtown Business Association. And welcome, Ms. Smith. Same as Mr. Henderson, you’ve got five minutes for your presentation to us.

[47:45] I will as well give you a wave when you’ve got about 30 seconds left to go so that you can start to wrap up. And when you’re ready, the floor is yours. On behalf of our 1,400 members of the BIA, thank you for your leadership and your continued dedication to the downtown. Throughout this term, three quick start actions, health and homelessness, response, and the office conversion grant, just to name a few, you’re taking meaningful steps that are producing real, noticeable improvements. Together with the work of community organizations, these actions are shifting momentum in the core. As highlighted in our downtown momentum report, the downtown still faces challenges, but it is moving forward, it is improving, and it is becoming more welcoming. Your support for creating a new downtown plan signals a shared understanding when downtown thrives, the entire city thrives.

[48:35] Strategic investments in infrastructure, economic activity, and cultural growth do not simply maintain downtown experience. They position it for long-term success. Today, I will focus on four themes from the background study, safety and well-being, parking, commercial vacancy, and the downtown operations team. Safety remains top concern for our members, particularly perceptions of safety. The recent six-month LPS business survey reflects what we hear every day. Better lighting, expanded evening, police presence, and piloting late night transit would meaningfully improve comfort and support nighttime economy, especially London’s UNESCO City of Music designation. Crime incidents have been trending downward over several years.

[49:18] Important progress reflects the work of LPS, CIR teams, and city staff. For perception continues to lag, especially at night. Visibility and predictability matter. For context, the downtown accounts for roughly 7% of person crime calls and 13% of drug-related calls city-wide. It is home to only 2.7% of London’s population, with a daytime population that swells to 10%. A coordinated response and reliable late night transit become even more essential for these reasons. Parking continues to be one of our most consistent member concerns. We thank you for extending free one-hour parking through 2025, and we strongly urge extending it into 2026 and increasing the window to two hours, better aligning with how people actually use the downtown. The high cost of privately operated lots is a daily barrier for customers. Downtown has over 10,000 lot spaces. Supply is not the issue. Affordability and predictability are. We encourage the city to explore alternative models with private lot owners and to consider how service lots, as identified in the background study, can be activated to improve the streetscape. Vacancy, both office and ground floor, remains a major challenge. Thanks to your office conversion grant, we are now seeing progress in right sizing the office market, and we no longer leading the country in vacancy, but vacancy remains high. Office rates have already above 30% since 2024, and retail vacancy is 17.6%, both well above the healthy range. We strongly support continuing the conversion program, and we see a need for a more coordinated and proactive recruitment and retention strategy.

[51:02] This includes creating a formal working channel with landlords and commercial brokers, proactive marketing of available space, identifying modernization or repositioning opportunities in older buildings, together with targeted attraction of institutional healthcare, education, and administrative offices, and creative reuses such as co-working, cultural production, and community-serving spaces. These actions would accelerate leasing and help stabilize the market. We also strongly support Action One, establishing a downtown operations team. Downtown London is on the street every day through our clean team and business engagement. The real-time data we collect positions us to support coordinated response, issue identification, and follow-through.

[51:50] Thanks in part to the city’s investment in the first three quarters of this year, our clean team has power washed storefronts, collected garbage, room of sharps, and clean graffiti off of public-facing surfaces. We resolve many issues before they become formal complaints. The downtown operations team will help ensure information moves quickly and resources are used efficiently. In closing, thank you for your continued commitment to the downtown. The progress we see today reflects the decisions that you have made. With the downtown plan underway, we have a genuine opportunity to deepen this momentum and ensure the core remains a place where businesses succeed, residents feel safe, and visitors want to be, and we look forward to continuing this work with you. Thank you, Ms. Smith. Colleagues, we have both of our delegations received. We have some key communications. I’m going to go now to Councillor Ferrera. Thank you, Chair. I’ll move the staff recommendation, and I’ll include the receipt of the delegations and communications as well on that. Okay, so the staff recommendation is moved, and Councillor Truss, I was willing to second, and that includes the delegation and communications receipt. Thank you. Looking for speakers, Councillor Ferrera, did you want to start, or did you want to let others go ahead?

[53:11] I would like to hear, Councillor, before I say anything. Okay, we’re looking for speakers. Councillor Preble, and then Councillor Hopkins. Thank you, Mr. Ferrera. Thank you very much again for answering all my questions prior, but I do want to ask for a state, a couple of things. The first one is, what Mr. Henderson was saying, in the midst of the culture and tying together to the strategic plans and actions, absolutely very, very important. But on the other hand, which I’m quite sure you will not, the commerce is the thing that’s going to lead us to the even more, combination with commerce is going to take us to the glory. So we have also do Mondays through Saturday, Sunday, during the days as well. So I want to, I agree with him, but please do keep working on the commerce side as well. One of the things that in your report, actually, the collaboration in other cities, this multi-organizational partnership, city group, marketing organization, private ownership, I think that’s really key, and it will be key for us as well. So we don’t work in the silos. We come together and we truly maximize our opportunities. So I think that’s one of the big keys that’s coming out of the report.

[54:30] And I wanted to ask one specific question, actually. Some other Canadian cities, they launched acquisition funds to purchase land and property downtown. Can you tell me who operates those buildings, those properties after the purchase? Ms. Barrett. Thank you through the chair. We’re looking at a variety of models. So there are cases in which the city would acquire property and continue to hold that property, either providing office space or other forms of public amenities, or working closely with another organization, such as a nonprofit housing provider to provide affordable housing. So I would say there’s a range of options of the city being a sort of head lease holder and then leasing it to other organizations, as well as being the prime tenant. Council approval.

[55:20] Thank you for that. And I have last question, which actually you heard it before I did ask our staff in terms of the two plans that we have coming up. Yours is going to be Q226, downtown is coming in January. Staff already told me kind of the high level. Can you please tell me, explain to me how you will work on the semi-final version in January, final and March. So those plans really come together. And once again, we maximize our opportunities for the entire city. Yeah, thank thank you through the chair. We have been working closely with the city staff who are involved in the economic development plan, as well as the consultant on that project. So our project team has been meeting with them regularly to get a sense of the direction that they’re going in and what they’ve heard through the engagement alongside of the work that we’re doing. And we will continue to do so as the recommendations unfold. We’ve had a similar situation in another city where we did do a downtown plan where we had the city initiating an economic development plan citywide while we were doing a downtown plan and we were able to ensure that those plans aligned so that we are reinforcing the work in the downtown plan along with citywide economic development initiatives.

[56:30] Councillor Pribble. Thank you for that. And the appendix shows some really quick actions, which I think we will need to implement some because again, a lot of your things initiatives will go to the next multi-year budget. Having said that, we cannot wait that long. And last comment, the proposals you will come and I’m quite sure they’re not going to be high investment. What I’m trying to say is please don’t just come back with us that we will need provincial and federal funding to accomplish these because we cannot wait for that as well. So please take a look at our current budget, current amounts that we have spent potential, but something that we will be able to carry on almost immediately through municipal coffers and just wait from the grants from higher levels of government. Do we need those big ones? Absolutely, we do. But again, that will not happen overnight. Thank you very much. And if you want to comment on any of this that I just said at the end, please go ahead, Ms. Barrett. Through you, the chair, I’ve noted those down. Thank you very much for that direction. Seeing further speakers, Councillor Hopkins. Yeah, thank you. Sorry, I was just going to say if anyone else wants to put up their hand to get on the list and Councillor Hopkins, go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And my thanks to Mr. Henderson for being here. And I could tell the consultant was writing furiously, so I would definitely encourage you to take what you heard here from our delegates. And as we go forward with the downtown master plan that it would be taken into consideration. My question was very similar to Councillor Pribbles about how the downtown plan and the economic development plan align together. So as we undertake the downtown plan ending in the second quarter of the next year, through you, Mr. Chair, maybe this is a staff question, how will that align with the economic development plan? Or are we in sync? And is there a criss cross? Or how does that all work? Mr.

[58:50] McCauley. Thank you. And through the chair, the economic development strategy is, of course, a citywide high level strategy as to how the city approaches economic development. As we look to the downtown, it’s very specific in actions and initiatives. So certainly, if the economic development strategy has strategies to attract or retain large office tenants or something like that in the downtown, then we would look to find the ways and the tools and the policies to implement that. So that would be through incentives, possibly zoning changes, that sort of thing. Looking at policy framework, working with our economic development partners in order to attract those tenants to the downtown. So you’re kind of looking at the strategy and then the operator operationalization of it as the downtown plan. And as a follow up to that, do we know the timelines? Are they together? Or where I know we’re still working on the strategy? Not to put staff in a corner there, but I do think the downtown master plan, given the investments of economic development, the culture part of things, should be speaking to one another somehow and just wanting to have a better understanding of the timelines. Thank you. Through the chair. So the economic development strategy, my understanding is being delivered in January of next year, Q1 of 2026. So the strategy will be in front of council for their approval prior to us delivering the downtown plan. And certainly, you’ll have an opportunity to see the strategy. And then we’ll come forward with the plan afterwards. I believe that is the timeline that they’re operating on. Absolutely. You’re good.

[1:00:31] Okay. Just so everyone’s aware, I’ve got Trosal, Ferreira, McAllister, Stevenson on my speakers list. So, Councilor Trosal, you are up next. Thank you very much. Could I request about 20 minutes instead of five? Anyway, I’m going to rule that out of order. Thank you. Thank you. In the interest of time. I’ve got four, well, I’ve got a lot of questions and a lot of ideas. Would I do not want to see happen today? I think we’ve got some momentum going on here. We’ve heard some really good presentations. And I think that we’re all very excited about this. I do not want to receive the report and leave the room today without some further action items or requests for further targeted information. So, I’m going to just start by saying what my four initial prongs are here. And I’ll get them all out on the table and then I’ll come back and talk about them as time permits and perhaps make some amendments. First of all, with respect to transit, many of us sit on the LTC board. It would be a simple enough matter for us to go to the next LTC meeting and ask for some very, very specific information about improving transit downtown in order to take into account show times and people’s way of dealing with getting downtown by transit.

[1:01:56] Because the parking, quite frankly, is not sufficient. And for all we talk about changing our parking rules in terms of having fewer private lots, we got to improve transit. Improving transit is an integral part of this. That might include creating some offsite, not right in the core of downtown, but a few blocks out. Parking structures that are free where people would not have to come into the into the core and where we would be running shuttles, preferably free or if not that low-cost shuttles that would just circle around downtown. I’d also like to point out that other cities like Calgary do have a certain zone downtown where the transit is complementary.

[1:02:47] That would take some doing, but I would like to maybe make, I’ll come back to motions, but we need to go to LTC and talk about the possibility of a shuttle. The music planning, I would like to have, and I say this with all respect to the good work the tourism London and the music office do, but I would like to have a review of the practices of these municipally funded agencies to better understand how we can concretely assist small venues, local talent. I’m not talking about groups that are going to go into the John LeBatt Center, but I’m talking about smaller venues and what can we do to actively promote smaller venues and utilization of the great base of a talent that we have in this town. The easy one is I want to follow up on the chamber suggestion for having an advisory panel. I think that’s something that we could set up right, right away. We might actually want to have them discuss some of these items. And the fourth prong, which is a little bit more complicated, and I know it’s going to be a little bit more controversial, but while I appreciate the incentives that we’re creating for property owners to be able to fill their buildings, I think we need to also look at very, we need to look carefully at what regulatory and police powers the city has under the municipal act and under the planning act to facilitate this. I hate to use the term vacancy tax, because I don’t like the term tax. I think it’s more akin to a licensing, which we have powers to do, but I think we need to take a hard look at going in the direction of at least asking legal staff at some point to come back, and I’m not going to ask for it today, but at least to come back and report to us on what the ability is of the city to go to property owners who persistently keep office and storefront property vacant and say, okay, we are going to, we’re going to have some further requirements here. We have to do that. And again, I want to, this is not a derogation of the incentives that we’re doing right now, but we need to do more.

[1:05:20] So, Councillor, I’m just going to pause you there, and I’ve paused your time as well, because I want to make you aware of two things. First, on the vacancy tax, a report has already come through corporate services through Ms. Barbone’s department on the feasibility of that. I will recognize absolutely that it, I believe it was a few months before this Council took office, but I am sure that her office would be happy to provide you with that report if you ask directly for it. I also wanted to advise you that you’ve got 30 seconds, so if you wanted to put a motion on the floor, you may want to consider doing that now.

[1:06:00] Okay, I would like to make a motion to amend the report to have four additional components. Number one, refer the question of transit, including a shuttle to the LTC for their consideration and report. Two, to ask the music office and tourism London to come to an upcoming meeting of this committee or whatever committee the clerk thinks is appropriate to address some of these matters early in the process. Number three, take steps necessary to set up the Chamber’s suggestion about an advisory panel and accelerate this. And number four, request legal staff to give us a 2025 version given the current situation with vacancies of our ability to address this through further regulation. The clerks are just noting this, so just give us a second please. Just while the clerks are getting this worded, I’m going to look to see if there’s a seconder for this, not seeing a seconder. May I inquire if breaking this down might get a second for one or four of the pieces? I will actually use a little bit of leeway to ask if anyone wants to second any individual component. So looking for a seconder on that. Mr. Chair, I realize I’m online.

[1:07:59] Councillor Palosa, sorry. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would be interested in the fourth port. I don’t think it would be a lot of work for staff to make sure that no regulations have changed as Ms. Berbon’s team already did the work for last term of council to see if anything’s changed for vacancy tax. I think it would be a quick report to come back of what we could do for those buildings. Unless Ms. Berbon wants to answer the question now, in which case the report would not be required. Okay, I am hearing you sort of use a second as a sneaky way to ask a question. Sorry, yeah, like I’m fine to second it again on the floor. Like I know shorting the report for us last term of council. I don’t think it would be a lot to bring it back. And it is a popular topic for the public. So yeah, so I was going to say considering that you’re seconding it to get it on the floor, I’m going to take your second as a speaking to it and asking that question of staff. So we’re going to go right to Ms. Berbon for the answer. Thank you through the chair.

[1:08:58] There we go. The through the chair, the report that we brought forward focused specifically on the residential vacant tax. So that is an entirely different part of the regulation. The regulation does not actually allow the taxing of vacant commercial buildings. That is something that realistically is not part of the municipal act, not something that is able to be put forward. Certainly if you wish us to go back and double check the regulations or certainly to our knowledge that has not changed and is something that has been a topic of discussion, but that is not actually allowable at this current time. Councilor Palosa. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know you and I had did some work on the residential portion last term of council and some good work on that. I don’t believe Ms. Berbon to be usually out of the loop on anything. So I was happy to second it to have that conversation and get that question back. This might be more of an advocacy issue to the province of its outside of municipal jurisdiction. So I think we have our answer back, but just wanted to make sure that we had that discussion. Thank you. Okay. So I’m hearing what you’re saying, there’s a motion on the floor. Are you still seconding the motion then? Am I able to withdraw my second procedurally? I don’t know procedurally. I’m going to seek consent. If you wish to withdraw, I’ll seek consent of the committee to accept that. Okay. I would withdraw it, realize Ms. Berbon’s already said it’s not allowable. Okay. So I’m going to look to see if there’s objections to withdrawing of the second. I see none. So we do not have a motion on the floor with a report back on vacancy. And I was still, when we were looking for a seconder, Councilor Trussow still had the floor. So I’m going to go back to Councilor Trussow. You have about 15 seconds left, Councilor.

[1:10:57] So the city’s limited ability to tax under the municipal act. We have very broad licensing powers. My request here is from the from the solicitor regarding how this would fit in with our licensing authority. Thank you. Ms. Pollack. Through the chair, I apologize. I didn’t know this question was coming up. So I haven’t had a chance to review the the legislation. I would have to get back to you on that. Perhaps you can get back to Councilor Trussow prior to Council and then if he still wants to consider something at Council, would that be amenable to both of you? I’m seeing nods of heads. So I will leave it at that. So we had no seconder on the amendment. This brings us to Councilor Ferreira. You’re next on the list. If you want to go ahead. Thank you, Chair.

[1:12:02] I guess I’ll start with, I guess, some of the discussion we’ve had here already. Well, I do hear what Councilor Trussow’s saying. A lot of some of those items are being considered. There’s a lot of tools that are being considered in the background study. So I guess I would go maybe to the consultant or to staff to maybe if you can highlight some of the areas that was reported in the report, some of the areas that some of the tools that are kind of up for consideration right now. The reason I wouldn’t second something like that at this time is because there’s still a lot of work to do. We’re on a really tight time frame and I want CUI to be able to move with the momentum that they already have. So that’s why I wouldn’t be. I don’t want to make any changes to be honest with the staff recommendation right now. I want to let CUI continue on with the route that they’re on and they are going to be coming back with some good policy tools that fit within the city. But if I can just go up to you and if you just give me some of the tools that have been referenced in the report, go ahead. Thank you and through the Chair. As we embark on this next phase, there is a lot of information within the downtown plan and certainly there are opportunities and strategies, but they are that. There are ideas at this point. There is still a lot of refinement that we need to do. We have to have a lot of further conversations with staff and the ultimate people responsible for implementing these. We need to test them and make sure that they work, make sure that they realize whether or not we’ll need a budget for that. So that’s all part of the work that’s coming in Phase 2. That’s all stuff that we’ve already started a little bit on. Again, we’re on a very fast timeline. So we’ve started having some of those conversations and building those ideas and ultimately what you’ll see in the plan. As to some specific things, I’ll turn it over to the consultant to answer further. Go ahead, Ms. Barrett. Yeah, thank you through the Chair and thank you for both the comments. What I would do is take away the Councillors for recommendations and really consider those as questions for us to ask, you know, identifying that there are barriers that he’s identified that are well within the background study, that being, you know, late light transit and providing better access to movement around downtown.

[1:14:11] The role of music tourism, the music office and other cultural anchors is part of our downtown. Steps to identifying advisory panel or some other kind of leadership group around the cultural sector. And then the fourth being the challenges of what we do with fake and office and retail space. And those are all things that are within the purview of the plan and things that we have started to investigate. Thank you, Ms. Barrett, Councillor Ferrer. Thank you. Appreciate that. So like, I just wanted to flag that those items are there and I know you’re working on it. So I don’t want to kind of throw any wrenches in your gears right now. I guess to tick off the first box here for committee remarks is thank you to the delegates that came here and spoke. Thank you to the communications that came in as well. Thanks to staff for your work. Thank you to CUI. Thanks for Council for supporting this all the way through. We started this on this term. We’re going to have a plan out Q2 at this term and then we’re going to be talking about things at the multi-year budget in the next term. So some of the areas that I thought maybe I would just kind of highlight that I read through the plan. And it’s a long document but I would really encourage a thorough read. It’s very, very well laid out. But one of the things that kind of pointed out to me was I guess the first thing and I’m not going to go on with what Councils have already said with respect to office vacancy and things like that. But I do want to talk about I guess what we kind of identified below Dufferin and what we’ve identified with I guess with tree space and with that connectivity to the river and kind of what we’ve highlighted there, what we’ve kind of identified and what actions have been kind of discussed in the plan to rectify that. Ms. Barrett.

[1:15:51] Thank you through the Chair. Thank you Council for the question. Yet you will see both throughout the engagement summary as well as our work and our understanding of both the berries and the opportunities that there has been sort of targeted focus on what happens below Dufferin for a number of reasons. You alluded to the lack of tree cover, you know, some of the underutilized assets and the high rate of vacancy in those areas. And so I think the takeaway, you know, as Mr. McCauley has referred to, we’re still in the midst of really formulating the actions, but there is certainly already a theme emerging that the area south of Dufferin will perhaps need specific targeted treatment and targeted incentives and policies. Councilor. Thank you for that. And also I guess along with that would be some of the areas that I kind of was looking at with the integrated downtown mobility hub and just kind of utilizing the existing assets that we have right now and how we’re going to be able to integrate that altogether. I was wondering if we just highlight that for Council, Ms. Barrett. Through you, the Chair, I might start, but staff may have more to add.

[1:17:03] You know, we have identified that there are a number of things, the recent investment in the downtown loop, a number of regional bus companies that have come to the downtown and the absence of Greyhound and then the strategic location of Via Rail. And so the extent to which the downtown can serve as a transportation hub, but help to facilitate that through a concentration of those uses and to ensure that it’s not creating more congestion through things like drop-offs at various locations. So we are talking to staff about how we might be able to consolidate those uses to really leverage them without creating other impacts to the downtown in terms of movement. And Mr. McCauley, nothing to, I’m seeing a shake of the head. So nothing to add for that right now.

[1:17:47] Councillor Ferrer, I’ll come back to you. Thank you. Another thing I wanted to highlight that I saw would be, I guess, that point of contact. And I think we were talking about possible locations at the Field House or at Covent Garden Market, where that would be an individual who would be able to, I guess, direct people or give people information on the various agencies or not agencies, but like, you know, with tourism London, with the downtown VIA, Covent Garden Market, just kind of connecting all that to have that single point of contact for that information. I did think that that was a very good point. Maybe you could touch on that. And also with the programming that we’re talking about, especially with respect at the river as well, if you could touch on those two. Mr. McCauley. Thank you. And through the chair, so identified in Appendix 8 of the background study are several quick start actions that the Canadian Urban Institute has looked upon as low hanging fruit or things that we can start moving on right now.

[1:18:48] What the next steps for staff would be is there’s still a feasibility check that we need to do. We need to still connect with the people and the service level managers who would be implementing these ideas. Certainly, there are financial considerations. There’s operational considerations that we have to have those discussions on. I believe the Councillors are referring to strategy six, which is, you know, coordinated information between Dundas, plays tourism London, downtown London VIA. There’s a conversation that we still need to have on how and if we can even coordinate this to make this something feasible. As I said, CUI has identified an opportunity. This is a chance for us as administration to kind of fast track some of these conversations before we deliver the final plan and get some traction and get some moving on some items that we believe have some value to offering and revitalizing downtown. So that’s why we embedded them in the report, and that’s why the recommendation is in front of you so that we can kind of start on some of those initial conversations, start on some of that now ahead of delivering the final plan in April.

[1:19:44] But certainly, there are some of these ideas cross over different service areas, and there are some considerations that we need to take into account before we actually finalize or implement any of them. Councillor. Thank you, Chair. Just let me know on the next one how much time I have left. Okay, I guess the last question I will focus on here and then I want to do some remarks would be the governance models and how we’ve identified there’s overlap with different responsibilities for different areas of the city within City Halls without City Hall of the governance model. I just wanted to, I know that there’s some discussion there. I was hoping maybe we could get a little bit of information on that on possibilities and where we’re at. What’s the status on that?

[1:20:26] And Councillor, I might be a little lenient with you because I did why was slow starting your time around the one round of questions, but you’ve got about 40 seconds left, just so you know, so I’ll go to Ms. Barrett and then to Mr. McCauley if he’s got anything to add, Ms. Barrett. Yeah, thank you. Through you, the Chair. So you’ll notice in the background study, sorry, in the staff report in section 2.4 there is a recommendation around an operations team. This is a team that was in place prior and the idea of that is to really be strategic around how City staff is working collaboratively in the downtown. So that’s kind of an interim step. What CUI and our project team is looking at is more of the long-term governance and to give you some sense of what we’ve seen in other cities is a dedicated branch that pulls resources and subject experts from various branches that are focused on downtown. We see it in Kitchener, in Calgary, and in for downtown Regina.

[1:21:22] All the way to an arms length or a public-private partnership that we able to do more strategic investment. So that would be an organization that is making strategic land decisions and that is using their strategic and financial abilities to identify assets in the downtown that they could strategically leverage. And so some of those examples in Calgary are center venture in Winnipeg, which not only provides that role, it also provides a concierge service for developers wanting to do things in downtown to really streamline the processes. The Calgary Land Development Corp is another example and create TO in Toronto. So all of these are models. Not any of them are perfect for one city. You know, it’s not a cut in pace, but we are looking at the kind of partnerships that could be created that help to create the sort of private public investment in the downtown and helps show strategically how these initiatives can be leveraged to create a more vibrant downtown.

[1:22:17] Thank you, Ms. Barrett, Councillor Ferrer. Thank you, Chair. Okay. I guess I’ll close it off. The one section that I really, there was a lot of really good sections. You know, we are an integrated mobility hub. We have, you know, our smart parking and wayfinding ideas that I saw come out. We’re a business, the business incubation part is something that I’m really excited about. I would kind of steer colleagues to look at the downtown diagnostic, which is section 5.0, I call that the WOW section. And I really think that that section is really kind of summarizing everything up on kind of what CUI has found and kind of the direction that maybe we should go, especially to help us. The one thing that I would say would be, you know, like, we need to invest in our downtown because that return on investment will help citywide. Regardless of people are visiting or not, downtown is supporting everyone in the city. It could be supporting us helping with our parks. It could be supporting us helping with our playgrounds, sidewalks, all of that stuff.

[1:23:20] And the more that we reinvest into downtown, the more downtown is able to subsidize the rest of the city, which means lower property taxes for people in the city of London. And that aside from the cultural component of it, the UNESCO City of Music designation that we have, there is a lot of pieces that are already very close in place. And it’s just, it’s just us to figure out how to get them to fit together because we haven’t stopped you there, Councillor Ferris, because you’re over your time now. Well, I hope that we support this and it’s hard to speak to everything with such a big report, but we’ll be speaking about it again. So thank you.

[1:23:56] Councillor McAllister, I have you next. And I have just so folks know, after Councillor McAllister, I have Councillor Stevenson. Councillor Hopkins has asked to come back a second time, looking for any other first time speakers. Just put your hand up and I’ll catch you. Councillor Pribble, I see you’re asking for a second turn. I’ll put you down for that as well. Councillor McAllister, go ahead. Thank you and to the chair. Yeah, appreciate the report. I think there’s a lot of good information in here. One of the things that stood out for me in terms of the downtown challenges and barriers, in terms of the overlapping boundaries and responsibilities. So one of the things whenever I look at the downtown reports is I’m a firm believer that, you know, if you want a healthy heart, you need healthy arteries. And I view a lot of the surrounding areas to downtown as key to that. And so I’m just wondering, maybe if staff could speak in terms of the implementation plan, that these things will be coordinated. Because one of the things that I’ve constant here with my area, we’re a feeder to the downtown. And I just want to ensure that we’re not in a competitive space, that we’re trying to be collaborative and work with the surrounding areas. Because for downtown to succeed, I think the feeder areas also need to succeed. And I think oftentimes these kinds of plans are viewed in a vacuum. We’ve got all these village, Hampton Road, what I’m speaking about. And they feed directly into the downtown. But when we view these things as kind of separate entities, I think it does a disservice to the other parts that are vital to downtown thriving. So I just wonder if they could speak a bit to that, Mr. Mathers.

[1:25:30] Through the chair, and I’m sure everybody understands that I forgot from everyone I’ve spoken to, that the downtown is very important. And it is an economic driver and engine for a city and a healthy downtown and a great downtown is a great London as well. And we have to also make sure that every all of the surrounding communities also complement that and are also supported in every way that we can do so. So I very much believe that the work that we’re doing here on the downtown plan isn’t like at either or for you give it to the downtown and other people don’t get it.

[1:26:08] It’s not it’s a both and situation or really trying to ensure that we have a healthy downtown and that is only going to be and that downtown is only going to be be able to flourish if those surrounding neighborhoods are also flourishing as well. So you can’t just have a great downtown without having a great surrounding community as well. So I think everything that we’re doing in the downtown here and supporting those surrounding areas are going to ensure that we are successful here. And it’s again, it’s not an either or Councilor McAllister. Thank you through the chair. And I appreciate that answer in terms of I know it’s on staff’s radar but I think when things come forward what I have noticed as a trend is I don’t want to be in a competitive space with my colleagues where we’re facing a lot of the same issues. So I think when some of these even the action plans when they come forward I think there has to be a recognition that you know I’ll give an example say free parking right like just just throwing it out there. But instead of us as Council having to amend these things that the conversations happen beforehand to be like okay what are the other areas facing and what can we do. And that can be proportional in terms of the different plans we’re looking at.

[1:27:19] But I just think we keep doing the same thing over and over in terms of just notice this as a trend that we look at these plans separately and then we have to on the fly typically try to amend to address the same concerns. And so that’s kind of where I’m seeing a bit of a pitfall which I think there can I hate this word it’s such a corporate buzzword but synergy between the different groups that are facing a lot of the same issues especially when it comes to incentive programs. I think that’s a big one that I hear all the time. There are incentives and I’m not in any way disputing downtown has a very unique commercial vacancy rate but when incentives come forward the conversations that then happen in other parts of the city are well downtown’s getting this.

[1:27:59] What you know we have similar issues on that front how can we address those so I still think downtown needs to have its own plan I agree with it but I just don’t like seeing these things in a vacuum and I hope moving forward that we can have swim coordination and as another point to city staff I just would like maybe some commentary in terms of the language that’s used in some of these things I still think the word core confuses a lot of the public we say downtown I think there’s a better understanding what we say downtown but core and we saw this I mean there was correspondence from midtown I hear you know Soho Hamilton really got we hear from different parts but core has such a vague understanding in the public’s mind and so that’s why you get different competing groups saying well we’re part of the core too because as the city expands I think we have to again look at the the spatial boundaries and whether those need to be adjusted so I just want to know in terms of those discussions when these plans are implemented that that will be taken into consideration Mr. McCauley. Thank you and through the chair apologies if there was maybe some misunderstanding of language certainly terminology is something that we’ll want to focus on and when we do bring the final plan forward we’ll make sure that it is clear in identifying the areas where the actions and initiatives will take place. Councilor. Thank you and through the chair yeah I mean I’m just trying to in terms of holding on we just have a lot of overlapping plans and I just think in terms of the you know the challenge that was identified for downtown that those overlapping boundaries and terminology it’s not exclusive to downtown I think that impacts a lot of surrounding areas so just again I just want to flag that that I think what’s good for downtown can be good for other areas and so as we move forward in this process I just want to make sure that the other areas are considered and consulted and ensure that we’re not disadvantaging one area over another.

[1:29:53] Thank you. Thank you Councilor McAllister. Councilor Stevenson I have you next. Thank you very much just a couple of questions through the chair on appendix 8 the quick start actions. I didn’t see anything there that really addressed the drug crisis in the downtown area and the safety issues. I wondered if there was a reason maybe that’s not part of this or is there alignment with our whole of community system response with that? Mr. McCauley. Thank you and to the chair certainly it’s not lost on anyone in this room that there’s a dire situation that London and many municipalities face when supporting the on-house population.

[1:30:36] The reality is that homelessness is not bound to a place it is not bound to downtown it is a citywide initiative and we currently have the planning place for the whole of community response to homelessness to work on finding solutions to homelessness in London. Certainly if there’s any actions or initiatives that come forward within the plan there will be opportunity for us to do things that will augment or will assist with supporting the whole of community response when we look at strategies that revitalize fake and storefronts for example when we look at strategies that include programming and things like that. So certainly there’s a lot of things that we are looking at in terms and it’s not lost on anyone that safety and security is certainly a priority.

[1:31:17] I also want to highlight that within the downtown plan is action 3 is the London Police Service phase 2 open air strategy substance strategy and certainly the investments that this council has made in the London Police Service and the objectives that the London Police Service have set for improving those metrics in our in our community. They are also working away on those ideas within their scope. Councillor Stevenson. Thank you as a follow-up is there any discussion or consideration about the placement of services or the over saturation of services when it comes to our downtown?

[1:31:54] Mr. Mathers. Through the chair that’s absolutely something that will be brought forward as far as the work that comes out from the consultant very much is critical to understand it from a land use perspective what is supported and want support within these areas especially when we’re looking at those BIA Main Street type of areas as well so that will be something that is brought forward as part of those final recommendations. Also we have the upcoming rethink zoning process that will also allow council to have some opportunities to consider what the appropriate zoning is allowed in some of these areas. Councillor Stevenson. Thank you and through you that’s really appreciated because although it is a citywide issue it really is of increased severity in the downtown and the core areas I can speak for the oldest village area where it’s starting to impact the ability to get commercial financing and insurance. Is that something that’s being explored here? Mr. Macaulay.

[1:33:12] Thank you and through the chair currently our focus is on the downtown area we are not looking at extending any actions or initiatives at this time to the oldies village certainly as a surrounding neighborhood you know any actions or initiatives that we bring forward in the downtown areas part of the downtown plan they can also serve as a testing ground and if we see you know measured success with some of these ideas or things that we’re doing in the downtown area certainly we are always open to exploring the opportunity of implementing those strategies in other areas of the city and I’ll just turn over to Mr. Mathers here. Through the chair absolutely if there’s some very positive learnings from the downtown master plan then those are things that we especially from a land use perspective or zoning perspective those are things that we can bring into and incorporate as part of the our rethink zoning process and absolutely may especially those when I’m thinking about the BIA main streets I think what’s happening in the BIA main streets within the downtown very much could be applied to other areas of the city as well. Councillor Stevenson. Thank you and through you chair I think I wasn’t clear actually what my question was was have we explored whether you know there’s a reluctance to finance or provide insurance in the downtown core could be part of the commercial vacancy issue. I don’t know if if our consultant maybe having some knowledge of other municipal downtowns might have some thoughts on that or Mr. McCauley well I saw Mr. McCauley’s indicating he’ll start so so we’ll start with Mr. McCauley and then we’ll see if Miss Barrett has anything she’d like to add. Thank you and through the chair I’ll turn it over to the consultant to make a comment on the current work that they’ve done so far but certainly you know we are always open to exploring these opportunities we have gathered this you know this forum where we are here today has been nothing but great feedback for us and we were certainly take any comments that council has made today and we’ll look to how we can implement or explore those initiatives further and absolutely Councillor Stevenson thank you for the feedback like we’ll look at exploring that further but I’ll turn it over to Miss Barrett for any further comment. Miss Barrett. Yeah thank you through the chair yeah thank you for this for identifying this issue we have heard more around the challenges of leasing space and less about insurance requirements but we can certainly ask more of the landowners when we get into this next phase of work and that’s a really good line of inquiry that we can explore some more thank you Councillor. Okay yes thank you very much because as I said I’ve been hearing that lenders are driving through and are refusing to finance purchases or renovations and I am also hearing some real difficulty with existing property owners getting insurance again because of maybe the number of claims or what they’re seeing on our streets and I’m assuming that’s also happening in the downtown area but definitely worth checking out if that’s one of the things that’s preventing the commercial vacancy from improving maybe more than it could and then my last thing is around the commercial vacancy there’s a lot of talk about you know a particular you know the Farhi Holdings Corporation and their commercial vacancy in the downtown area but two years ago at the downtown London AGM the owners said that 80% of Richmond Row was in default and you know but for them propping them up we could see a shutdown of most of Richmond Row so I just wondered through you to whoever wants to answer that are we also exploring the stability of the occupancy that we have right now like when we say it hasn’t changed much and I don’t know if things have changed even on Richmond Row in the last couple of years but is that something that we’re looking at? Mr. Mathers do you want to start and then you can pass it off to whoever if you have someone to pass to? Through the chair what we’ve really learned and I think that this is what the counselor is also speaking to is that there’s there is this relationship between the owners and the folks that are occupying areas and it may look like there’s not a lot of change over but we really need to ensure that the people are prosperous and can actually support the the cost of those of those spaces and our can move forward and we are very much working very closely with those those large land owners as well and had had numerous meetings as well just to ensure that we’re we have that understanding but absolutely our goal is to ensure that we have prosperous businesses and a prosperous business is going to be able to make those payments and be able to have a self-supporting business structure right so we are very very much still working with those large land owners and just to ensure that we very much understand the things that won’t be the help one need to be prosperous and the downtown to be prosperous and I’m going to go to Ms.

[1:38:29] Barrett as well just if she’s got anything to add from the background study with respect to the stability of of leaseholders yeah thank you the chair through the chair as I mentioned the retail has remained fairly stable and I know we’ve also referred to the work that the BIA has done in terms of openings and closing and I would say the two indicators of the stability are the fact that we have a net absorption in downtown so even if spaces are becoming vacant there’s more space being leased the second would be the net positive of businesses being created and we can take this away and work more closely with our land economists on the team to really understand the level of sort of vulnerability as it relates to specific areas of the city.

[1:39:11] Councilor Stevenson yeah thank you very much I appreciate that and much of it is private and personal and it’s hard to know exactly what’s going on behind the scenes but I know we have a lot of really dedicated businesses and a lot of really dedicated property owners that have put their skin in the game on this in our downtown and I know I’m grateful to them and it’s also happening in other areas of our city and however we can support them and get to really understand what’s happening behind the scenes as to how we can support and what is real and what may not be as it appears will be really important I think in making meaningful outcomes as we move forward and have that thriving downtown that we all want thank you. Thank you Councillor Stevenson so that exhausts my current first round list so I’m going to start with the second round speakers and Councillor Hopkins. Yeah thank you Mr. Chair and just as a follow-up to my previous comments I want to thank Ms. Barrett for her response to the four issues that Councillor Trussall mentioned I really do appreciate more information coming back to us I think especially around the advisory group and as it relates to you London B and UNESCO Music City how just more information on on how that can work so thank you. Thank you Councillor Hopkins my I’m going to go to Councillor ramen because she has not spoken yet I do have Councillor Pribble on my second round list so I will go to him after we’ve exhausted first round. Councillor ramen go ahead. Thank you and through you so I just wanted to start with this is a tremendous amount of work for the four months that you’ve undertaken this in so thank you for the work that’s in front of us and I understand that there are a lot of people involved including an advisory group that’s been involved with this work so I’m thankful for that and those people as well as the 10,000 plus people that visited the website for the downtown plan and those that have started to engage because I do think it’s a broader city conversation that you’re engaging in and and that there has been good attempts to reach out to many demographics across the city however I will say that I remain hopeful that we’ll we’ll get to a lot of the good work that we need to to prove things in the downtown but a lot of what I see is very similar to other plans across many downtowns across Canada the US and elsewhere because these are these are big issues that that we’re working on right now and I appreciate that each section had some some level of engagement strategies and next steps appreciate the feedback from downtown London from the chamber as well I think we are definitely on to something we talk about culture and economic development together and strengthening those ties and I agree that we need to lean in harder into our UNESCO music city music designation and how we really realize that that effort but I also wanted to say and I know this ties back to the economic development strategy when we look at economic zones I think that we’re losing we’re losing momentum and opportunity where we had it on making our downtown also a focus for things like the medical community we talk a little bit about the university in and Fanshawe in here but you know medical office space is something that I’m seeing trickling out more to the suburbs and less so in the downtown core and I think it’s important to look at that and incentivize or look for opportunities to incentivize that as we’re trying to attract more family doctors why aren’t we working on a strategy to attract family doctors to the core area downtown I got to stop saying core area but but definitely something that we need to lean into a little bit more as well I think there are also other hubs that we need to consider as we we work through this even our own building our municipal hub although a little bit outside of that scope I do think how we interact with the downtown where we are focused where we have space all of those things contribute to this discussion further and then we talk about the activations of our third spaces incorporating the river more looking at opportunities to be more interconnected I’m very happy to see those quick start initiatives to align more of those movements because I think that’s that’s is the next step as we continue to look at implementation the bicentennial provides a lot of opportunity for how we are going to showcase our downtown next year so I really am looking forward to that I have to say I saw a little bit about kids and families but not as much as I thought should be in here because when we talk about changing the opinions of Londoners about the safety of downtown we also have to do that for children and so I do think there’s some work to be done and and being looking for activities that are more inclusive to children to come downtown I think will be important in their families I’ll give you the example of something that I say very often to schools when I meet with them I ask them to consider taking a trip to the downtown is one of their school field trips to ride LTC to the downtown from their school because it’s free for elementary students and then to come visit us at London City Hall watch a council meeting which is now during the day and go to museum London and there’s just a great way to have a free trip downtown that could be walkable could be transit oriented could be a celebration of what we have downtown so that’s just an example but I do think there’s a lot more we can do on that front thank you Councillor ramen and looking for other speakers I’ve got Councillor Pribble on my second round anyone who hasn’t gone on the first round besides myself and yes I’ll go to Ms. Barrett for a comment back of Councillor ramen before I go to Councillor Pribble Ms. Barrett go ahead thank you I just wanted to provide some from response to to Councillor ramen thank you those are all great pieces of feedback I would say certainly the the identification of medical officers that part of what we’re identifying through the addition of residents in the downtown that will certainly be a part of the essential services and we talk about institutional use but I think at one point we mentioned hospitals but we’ll certainly impact that a bit more in terms of the activation of the riverfront you know we couldn’t agree more we certainly want to reinforce that and as part of our engagement we went to storybook gardens for exactly the point that you mentioned which is that we’re not seeing as many families downtown and so we went to where families were and we got a lot of great feedback there about not only programming for families on occasion but also amenities in the downtown that would make a trip downtown you know last longer because you have multiple things to do so that’s that’s all excellent feedback yeah thank you thank you Ms. Barrett Mayor Morgan thanks I’ll say a couple of things first thank you for the work that you’ve done on the report and thanks to all those who contributed through the engagement to to get at this point I’ll make a few comments first I’m happy to see a number of the the quick start actions because I think it is appropriate as we develop the plan and work towards bringing forward something comprehensive that thinks on a longer time horizon we certainly have to do what we can to continue to support the the revitalization of downtown I want to comment on two things one in the report it talks about the increase in in population and I think we’ve seen that we’ve seen tremendous interest in in multi-residential development at the downtown I mean this recently that the new tallest building in the city was built here and so there’s there’s an interest in investing in tremendous amount of capital in the area but also some challenges businesses are facing and I and I think that the comment that was made by the downtown BIA is is astute they mentioned all the things that are improving right not where we would like to be but all the things that are improving but the perception on downtown from perhaps people who aren’t here regularly to see the improvements is obviously lagging and and I wonder what the plan can do aside from the activations the other things to try to align those better certainly this council has made a significant investment in public safety that obviously the downtown is the beneficiary of that there’s a foot patrol office there’s more foot patrols there’s an open drug strategy there’s a phase two coming there’s a different level of response with CIR we’re trying to do those sorts of things but it’s really hard to manage perception and so I wonder how you’re going to approach that or or where that fits into it because I think we can make things really great we can make all these investments but if people don’t actually perceive that it’s safe and welcoming then they’re not going to come right so so I don’t know if that works into your plan at all because I really appreciate and I’ve engaged with the downtown BIA a number of times and I’ve engaged with businesses and and they mentioned to me things feel safer things feel better there are improvements again they would still like us to get a lot further than we are now but they still see negative perceptions that that don’t necessarily align with the changing conditions and and that’s really hard to overcome so I appreciate your comments on that because I appreciate the work that’s being done but I think this is a critical point about it as well miss Barrett yes through the chair it’s a great question and something we’re certainly considering I think there are many answers to your questions and it will be multiple what we call multi-solving right I mean we can put all the activations and beautification in place but it really is about continuing to reinforce what downtown offers and I think we can do that through a varieties of way working through the BIA tourism you know Dundas place the people who are doing the programming and communicating that but I would say our greater greatest advocates are not only our advisors but the residents of downtown themselves and the people who come and one of the questions we asked very early on our engagement was what was the thing that made you hopeful of downtown and we heard the examples of you know the Christmas market and the merry-go-round and downtown and so I think continuing to bring people and work alongside of them to understand what works and what doesn’t work and to help relay that message across the city will be the way in which we continue to attract more and more people downtown you know the ideas that you make it you know a place that’s that’s irresistible or a place of people want to know what’s going on because there are things that are exciting and they hear about and they become your best communicators of why the downtown matters and why it’s important to be there and and how the plan could be successful Mayor Morgan yeah just a short follow-up so I agree with you it’s it’s multiple things you know one of the things that strikes me is that there there is some momentum in a couple of spaces you know I talked to the Grand Theatre and they’ve never had more subscriptions sold and so there’s people who are actually coming and engaging in that space we obviously have very successful sports teams here people come to the downtown for concerts and sports and other things they come down for festivals and events and so I just wonder and you don’t have to answer this now but as you develop the plan are we leveraging that opportunity well people are here to encourage a return trip maybe not for an event but for dinner or shopping or something else because I always think if you want to convince someone of something and you can get them in a space you know do you want them just to go into Canada light place and back to their car or is there a way that we can actually encourage some level of a further engagement as subsequent time through promotions activities you know cross promotion of events again you don’t have to answer that now but I think part of this is also leveraging what we know we have is the opportunity to engage with people the people who are coming downtown and encouraging their return trips more often and I know the mayor said you didn’t have to answer right now but Miss Barreta your body language suggested that you had a couple comments you wanted to offer in response right now so I will let you go ahead and provide some comment in response thank you through the chair I appreciate you gave me an hour I think what you’ve absolutely hit on is you know what our project team would call stickiness you know it’s one thing to have a destination a downtown that’s a destination and I think London has done incredibly well at that you look at 1.8 million people you know come for events what we’re trying to do now is create that stickiness so you come for an event but you come early so that you can go to dinner or you stay late or you bring your family down time whether or not you know there’s something going on that’s scheduled because there’s just enough to do and that is where the small scale things will matter the most that there are places to sit there are places to have a picnic there’s places to take your children to play because there’s you know play equipment there are stores you want to check out and so we’re really trying to solve at that level those kind of small incremental changes that make it what we call a complete community you know that there are more than just events to attend but that there’s it’s really a holistic experience when you go downtown thank you Miss Barrett I’m going to go back to the second list now Councilor Pribble you have used about two you’ve used 250 so you’ve got about two minutes 10 seconds left thank you chair and thank you Miss Barrett and thank you to our staff I’m really I feel really confident in the stage that we are in the I did see some of the completed work you’ve done for our the cities and I actually believe and I sent it to you I believe that this could be actually your best one and I hope it will be the best one because we needed badly so thank you for that work I do want to mention a couple of things that were stated here I want to say that no building owner wants to have a vacant building and it’s not it’s first of all it’s a loss of revenue which you will never recover point one point two is very difficult to get the insurance and if you did get it it is much more expensive if you have a vacant building so I truly don’t believe that there is any owner downtown if they have one or 50 buildings that they they are happy that they have an empty building one of the things that was mentioned and because we didn’t pass the motion in terms of let’s say what Mr. Henderson proposed it doesn’t mean that it has to stop you please do explore it I did have a meeting with him there were some great really honestly things that he was using that work in other cities worldwide be I thank you for your comments and I truly believe as a small business owner and resident downtown things are better do we have many challenges ahead of us yes we do are we going to get there yes we will thanks to the staff thanks to help with you and all of us working together the structure will be tremendously important let’s just vote downtown but even for the entire economic picture and downtown has to be a big big part of it and I think that that is all I said so thank you once again I do know that even though I’m very happy where we are now the second part is going to be even more challenging because that’s really truly the meat that we will need to deliver and again have the best possible results for half a million of Londoners thank you thank you Councillor Pribble I have Councillor Stevenson now for a second round and Councillor Stevenson you’ve got about a minute 25 left thank you I just have one quick in terms of that stickiness which I like that term and that definitely is something that would be a value for me it really is a big piece of that is people feeling safe enough to walk around and do a picnic and and be able to take their family without getting back into their car and leaving to do their follow-up activities and this might sound I don’t mean this in any other way other than to just be curious around are you looking at the council endorse policy around harm reduction and destigmatizing drug use which we endorse prior to the province going in the recovery route as to whether that’s impacting the downtown London like I said not wanting to throw you into the politics there but just wondering if you if that might be a recommendation to either affirm or make a recommendation in the vibrancy of our downtown is Barrett or Mr. McCauley thank you and and to the chair I don’t have a specific response for you right now however as as previously noted that’s great feedback we’ll be happy to take that back and and in our talks with the consultant team look at that a little further certainly you know everything’s on the table at this point when it comes to what the actions and initiatives will be in the downtown plan. Councilor Stevenson yeah thank you that’s really great I love that everything is on the table because council really is looking or I’ll speak for me as a counselor I’m looking for feedback you know are we on the right in the right direction are we not how can we come alongside these small business owners and property owners in making the London downtown as great as it can be thank you. Councilor Stevenson. Councilor Frank thank you and appreciate the presentation and discussion I was curious so I was just in Toronto this weekend with my family and we had a really great time and one of the things we really enjoyed was access to a lot of playgrounds both they have a new indoor playground and a community center that was exceptional especially on a really cold and wet day and then also a lot of available playground so I’m just wondering if that’s something following on Councillor ramen’s point I know for example Victoria Park is much beloved for festivals but I feel like as a member of a family with toddler or toddler it would be nice if there’s some play equipment in some more central locations and unfortunately downtown it’s mostly you have to go up to Gibbons which is a bit of a hike with toddler or down to Ivy Park which has been unfortunately under construction and somewhat of a small play structure so I’m just wondering if that is also still within the purview to make some recommendations to park enhancements both indoor and outdoor opportunities for families.

[1:58:20] Ms. Barrett yeah through you the chair thank you Councillor Frank yes that is a consideration we’re looking at opportunities for more play structures for for families you’re good Councillor Frank seeing the thumbs up there okay I’ve Councillor Pribble this would be your third turn you have 15 seconds I would need any more there was a talk about the safety security and in our plan which was actually implementation plan there are different initiatives MLEO’s CPT at the audit store internal table and I don’t know if you already aware of it but if you can please talk to our staff about it get more information due to comparative analysis with other cities and again to select the best ones that we can and there was an additional information the staff sent which is some really good work as well thank you Councillor I was gonna say Councillor Pribble sorry that’s your time I have Councillor Palosa and then I have myself Councillor Palosa thank you Mr. Chair just thank you to the residents who took the time I would say that’s really impressive feedback and surveying engagement to our presenter really looking forward to see where this goes realizing we have Parks and Rec Master plan on the go behind the scenes and how this could help inform some things especially for the downtown area we got the economic development plan also being developed simultaneously so happy to know that there could be some synergies there and this is normal in some of our cities who really take the opportunity to advance these two together wanted to do a special thank you to Mr. Henderson for coming out I see met many arts and culture events and now that’s where part of his passion lies and really looking to see where those opportunities are to advance those opportunities especially in the downtown as there already is so much going on and just to comment I can follow up offline with him but just making sure as well that the tourism London can maybe receive his communication directly as they gently speaking are an independent board and realizing the film office and music office resides there and is part of the review of economic development plan of where it sits but just making sure that everyone’s aware of these conversations and different spaces as we have them as I appreciate arts and culture to you and that economic driver is to the city and especially the impact it has downtown thank you thank you Councillor Palosa vice chair ramen europe to take the chair so I can speak briefly hopefully briefly thank you I have the chair go ahead thank you madam presiding officer so I’m just going to share a few comments I really like the application of the term stickiness this is not a paid promotion but there’s nothing like a dinner at the church key before I’ll play at the grand theater that’s what we need to see more people doing and you know whether that’s a pint after the night’s game whether that’s grabbing a bite to eat after you’ve been on one of the pre-sunfest dance parties on on Dundas place more of that longer time in the downtown rather than come and go I will say to Councillor McAllister’s point about making sure that while we’re talking about and recognizing the value of the downtown that the other neighborhoods considerations are there too and this is a conversation I’ve had with the arts council as well I think it when it comes in terms of activations and if you want to get people downtown sometimes you have to do the activation in their neighborhood first show them what they’re missing and then tell them the next time they want to come they’ll find it downtown because that is something that if you can’t get them down in the first place no amount of activations will matter you will have largely empty streets but if you can show them in their neighborhood hey this is a small sample of the live music that we have downtown on Friday nights or Saturday afternoons or whatever then you’re more likely to encourage someone who perhaps hasn’t been here for five or 10 years to come downtown and experience it I love and I know that the BIA does some of this I think that we need to do more cross promotion where we do have you know restaurants who are providing maybe 10% off if they’re having dinner before a grand theater production or something like that to build that cross pollination and that stickiness moving forward those kind of things I think are really vital I do want to share I think that the work we’ve seen so far is really good I support the quick start ideas with respect to the transit situation I think that you know there’s a conversation to be had around the fact that we are not quite finished our BRT construction and that there will be a new transit service that comes online as those services get ramped up and so I think we have to also pace ourselves in recognizing that there’s another component of this around transportation but I do think it’s it’s a conversation that commissioners can have at a future transit meeting I want to come to the UNESCO city of music piece I hear Mr Henderson’s comments about it I’m on the tourism London board hearing the the the synergies that we want to see between the downtown and the economic development plans I think we actually have to have a serious question about whether or not the music office belongs with tourism London or whether it belongs more appropriately in neck dev alongside the film office I think that there is benefits to both but what are those weights pro and con because I think we need to see the UNESCO designation more as an economic driver than a tourism driver because I think that there are values to the things you do behind the scenes you know skilled labor development in that those sectors those kind of things post-production work it’s not just about the performance there is other pieces to that ecosystem that that I think are more economic drivers than tourism drivers and so I just think that that’s a conversation we need to think about for the future I think the film office has been a great success I think that there’s an opportunity to consider whether the music office is a better fit alongside that than as a tourism draw so those are just some sort of high-level comments I’m going to support this like I said I like the quick start so I like the background work that’s been done I just wanted to share those thoughts both from his Barrett and and for our staff to hear moving forward we do have to do something here I too have heard from business owners who say it’s getting better I am downtown pretty regularly I walk around I grab lunch I have dinner I shop those who don’t know I’m a comic book nerd I’ve got a subscription at hero so every week I’m over there picking up some new reads it is a great place to be but I think that we’ve had so many people who have stayed away for so long that we need to retell the story we need to reframe the narrative and so as we move forward it’s to me the night’s fans are already coming the major’s fans are already coming the grand theater patrons are coming how do we get those people who aren’t regular attendees of those things back downtown on a periodic basis so wanted to share those thoughts I know I’ve only got 15 seconds left so I’m going to wrap up by saying certainly Mr Henderson happy to have another conversation with you offline about the Nesco City music because I think there is more opportunity to leverage that further as well turning the chair to you with no one the speakers list okay well with no one else on the speakers list then going once going twice and I’m going to ask the clerk to open the vote housing the vote motion carries 15 to 0 thank you colleagues thank you Miss Barrett for your patience as we lobbied a number of questions and comments your way and to our delegations both from the chamber and from the downtown business association thank you for sitting through hearing our thoughts as well as sharing yours with us and colleagues that will move us now to item 4.2 this is the consideration of the appointments to the western university board of governors and I will advise colleagues that we did have the communication from Miss Bryson the university secretary as well so that will be on the agenda to be received as well Councillor Trussa I’d like to move that the communication from the university secretary including the request and the supplementary materials be received and that further civic administration be directed to conduct a public recruitment for the two positions to be appointed by city council including a referral of the applications to the SPPs to a subsequent meaning of the SPPC for decision thank you okay so that’s been moved is there a seconder for that Councillor Hopkins I’ll second and if I can make a comment you can make a comment yeah the reason I’m seconding it I appreciate the Councillors giving us an opportunity to get more community applications from the community this is an opportunity when we have some spaces I do appreciate the information that we got on these two candidates I think it’s really important that when we make appointments based on the board’s recommendations that we have information we have another one coming up on the next item on the agenda I’ll just make comments on that it’s good to have more information but I am supportive of having further community individuals sitting on this board we’re looking for other speakers Councillor Trussa did you want to speak do it yes I’ll speak to the merits of this this is very important to people in my ward it’s very important to me given my background I should say that I serve four years as a member of the board of governors and I was on the Senate for a couple of terms before that so I’m very familiar with the dynamic at this board I want to start by referring to outcome three reconciliation equity accessibility and inclusion in our strategic plan and I believe that when we are given by provincial statute the ability to appoint people to a board for us to say no thank you we’re good we’re not even going to ask the public for feedback that we are running contrary to some of our strategic plan goals barriers to civic engagement inequity tools public engagement plan and enhanced community engagement and I think that we certainly could be doing the we certainly should be doing a request for the public to send us applications these vacancies do not arise until July 1st 2026 so there’s plenty of time to do that furthermore I think it’s important to know that the University of Western Ontario Act says that the London City Council shall make two appointments but further the the act gives the board of governors an additional four seats that they can do with at their discretion and the practice has been for those to be staggered over the years and I’ll note from looking at the the online materials that they have not made their 2025 appointment yet and if the university board of governors wants to appoint one one of these outstanding applicants they could do that at their next meeting and it would not be necessary to ask the city to do it and then again at their first meeting in 2026 they would have the opportunity to make to make a second so I do think that the university has other options to have there of the people that they would like to see on the board now I want to speak to the fact that the reason why we have to city council appointees is to get people on the board who have somewhat of a London city community perspective and I think that we lose that if we don’t take advantage of at least giving the public the opportunity to to apply for these positions in the past we’ve had in this in this role people that have a very strong civic lenses including a former city counselor including very active lawyers in the community and I think that we cut ourselves short if we don’t at least ask the community to ask the community to see who’s interested in doing this so I’m going to be I’m putting forward this this motion there is no rush again these do not have to be filled until June until you know 2026 and while I appreciate the university’s desire to have persons with financial and auditing expertise on the board they if you look if you look at the background of the people who are on the board they’ve got lots of people who already feel that capacity not to mention their own staff and hired orders what I think is missing from the board and this is from my direct experience sitting on the board are people that have the lens of people who live near the university and are members of the London public so for those reasons I think we should accept these these applications as part of the pool they can be deemed filed but I don’t think we should be making the decision without getting that further input from the public as we do for every other board in commission thank you very much mayor morgan so I will not support the motion on the floor we we asked for some more information that the university has provided that there as was just mentioned there are two excellent applicants here and we have the ability to point two excellent applicants back to the board one of who will become the chair of the board the other and and I’ll comment about miss higgs a little bit because you know here’s someone who does have a broad base perspective this is someone who actually does understand the community has served in multiple volunteer positions I actually served with miss higgs on our own audit committee she was the external member of the audit committee here for a number of years and she’s an excellent candidate she’s got lots of experience to bring you know yes for sure we could go out and get a whole bunch more applications but I just don’t understand the point of that if we have two excellent applicants that are before us today that we could prove today that we can continue on with the many other things that we have to do as a council you know if if we thought that the applications were a little light on content or we thought that maybe these aren’t great candidates for the board then sure let’s let’s open it up and circulate some more but I think the due diligence was done we asked for more information we got the information we got the bios we got the background we’ve all read it and I’m willing to proceed today and if if the referral fails I’ll put the appointment of these two individuals on the floor chair looking for other speakers seeing none then I’ll say the vote motion fails five to ten. Councillor ramen thank you I will look to put forward the original letter from the western board of governors the submission that they provided and resubmitted which is to put the names of Lori Higgs and Marlene McGrath for consideration. Okay that motion is on the floor and Mayor Morgan’s indicated it’ll second that looking for discussion on that. Councillor Trussoff. Yes I’d like to with all due respect to the exceptional qualifications of these two candidates and I should say I served on the board with both of them. I don’t have an objection to either of them and I suspect one way or another they’re both going to end up on the board my objection here and the reason why I’m going to be voting on these two exceptionally qualified candidates is I think we need a more diverse mix of people’s background on this board and by not allowing the public to come forward and say I want to be on this board and here’s my resume I think we’re cutting the public short we may well open this up we have plenty of time to do it get a number of applications and say you know what we’re going to still appoint the two but I don’t see any reason why in November of 2025 we have to make this decision that doesn’t kick in until the end of June 2025 so I’m going to be urging my colleagues to vote no on this and I want it very clear that this is not a reflection of my opinion about the qualifications of these of these two candidates but I think that they would do better if they had to compete in a public pool which we typically do for board and commission appointees thank you. Any other speakers? Dean Nana I’m going to ask the clerk to open the vote. It’s like the vote motion carries 14 to 1. Okay colleagues that moves us to item 4.3 this is the London Convention Center Corporation appointments to the Board of Directors and the receipt of the resignation and looking for to see if there’s a mover for recommendation moved by Councillor Cuddy seconded by Councillor Pribble looking for speakers on this seeing none I will ask the clerk to open the vote. Playing the vote motion carries 15 to 0.

[2:18:42] Thank you colleagues moving on item 4.4 is a request for support for elect respect campaign this was a submission from Mayor Morgan and Councillor Hopkins. Councillor Hopkins I will go to you. Thank you Mr. Chair and I first want to thank Mayor Morgan for supporting this motion going forward hopefully throughout the past few years. Amal has been working to improve the tone of political discourse in our communities. Amal’s healthy democracy project has identified concerning trends with fewer people voting in local elections and running for municipal office. In 2024 H.E.R.

[2:19:26] Her Holton elected representative launched a campaign called elect respect to promote the importance of healthy democracy. In keeping with the principles of healthy democracy and in alignment with the efforts of Amal and OBCM we would like to bring forward the attached motion calling on London City Council to endorse the elect respect campaign and to sign the online pledge at www.electrespect.ca and if you will allow me Mr. Chair the pledge is very short I will read it the council supports the elect respect pledge and commits to treat others with respect in all spaces public private and online reject the call of harassment abuse and personal tax focus debate on ideas and policies not personal attacks help build a supportive culture where people of all backgrounds feel safe to run and hold office call on relevant authorities to ensure the protection of elected officials who face abuse or or threats and model integrity and respect by holding one another to the higher standards of conduct. I’ve shared this pledge with candidates that are running in the next election and I and organizations as well as well as community members and I would encourage you to also share the pledge but also to sign it as well looking for your support.

[2:21:01] Councillor Hopkins looking for other speakers. Councillor Ferreira thank you chair where do I sign definitely sign up for that yeah I’m definitely going to support this I would I guess make note that something like this coming forward I would just expect that this just to be known and acted upon just as elected officials just as members of society just kind of having that respect and just kind of moving through the motions with integrity but in these times motions like this have to come forward so you’re going to see my full support with that I will sign this and I would call on other colleagues who haven’t signed it yet to sign as well thank you.

[2:21:50] Councillor Stevenson thank you and thanks to the mayor and Councillor Hopkins for bringing this forward I’m happy to sign this I hope that we’re willing to do more than just sign it though it is a pledge and a pledge is a commitment to action and I have been attending meetings remotely because of the ongoing disrespect and harassment that I’ve been experiencing in committees that has been you know unable to be unresolved or it remains unresolved I have attempted to speak with the people in directly I have gone to leadership I’ve been advised to file an integrity commissioner complaint which quite frankly the billings are at $40,000 for 2025 and I’m unwilling to ask taxpayers to pay for an investigation that really we should be able to manage within ourselves and this does say that we will be holding each other to higher standards of conduct and so I’m looking for my colleagues support quite frankly to ensure that I do have a safe space to come to represent the residents that I represent to speak freely to bring different um and diverse opinions to this council um on social media over the last three years I’ve had repeated an ongoing disrespectful comments and harassment from employees of the city of London fellow Councillors and contracted agencies my colleagues are likely aware of it some maybe not if you’re not aware of it I’ve taken screenshot of most of them I’m happy to share so they understand what’s happening here in our city and with this current council and how big of an issue it is it is a real issue and there are a lot of people who won’t run because they watch what is happening to me and so I think having an open discussion about it I’m happy to speak with any of my colleagues I’m happy to speak with members of the public around this it is an important issue it is impacting women I’m I’m an elected female city councillor that attends meetings remotely and I think that says that we have a lot of work to do on this so I appreciate it being brought forward I’m going to sign it I’m willing to do my part on this and I look forward to having a lot more support from my colleagues um and I’m willing to support them if I’m unaware of what they’re dealing with thank you thank you Councillor Stevenson looking for other speakers seeing none uh Councillor ramen can you take the chair please thank you I have the chair go ahead thank you so again I’m going to try and be really brief here and and it comes down to this I’m not going to support this and that’s my personal choice because I think that this is a lot of and I say this respectfully I don’t mean it in any way personally to anyone but I think it’s it’s a virtue signaling motion that doesn’t have any sort of um real meaning behind it in terms of we know we all have different opinions we’ve heard it today we’ve had points of order called where we all have different opinions on what what is respectful and what is not and I think particularly when we get into the treat others with respect in all spaces well that is so open to interpretation for me um that you know it just starts us down a road more of that’s not respectful um mine was more respectful uh we are going to have differences of opinion and that’s okay and some of that is going to be um very much an opinion of what’s respectful what’s not how we talk to each other I think that the the point about focusing on debate and ideas and policy rather than personal tax it’s an excellent point I think that one’s a very easy one to delineate it’s very clear to to I think know when we’re talking about a policy and I think we need more of that not just actually in this chamber I think we need more of that in the public space because I think in the the public space including from the public a lot of it is personal tax but to me you know while it’s well intentioned to me this this pledge doesn’t really accomplish anything I think that the tools we have and I know Councillor Stevenson and I may disagree on this one I think the tools we have around this are the integrity commissioner process are the code of conduct are those tools that are in place and that we are expecting an update on from the province in the days ahead so for me I’ve been hesitant to sign any online pledges from any organizations and this is another one where I’m just not going to to be supportive of it so I appreciate others may feel differently respect that I just wanted to share why I won’t be supporting this one thank you returning the chair to you with Councillor Ferrera and the list thank you Councillor Ferrera oh sorry thank you thank you chair thanks for your comments as well like um you know respectfully I disagree and we can respectfully do that I don’t see it as virtuous signaling I see it as a matter of principle showing what our principles are I take extreme I just go really long when I try to ensure that we have a respectful workplace when we have a respectful committee I even may not call points of order just because I do want to give any Councillors who I may not disagree or I might disagree with some of the comments at least the ability to speak their space and speak their ideas on the floor I go as far as I can with that and I’m always promoting that I definitely would say that my threshold of what I see is disrespect when it comes to myself is much higher than a lot of others and I do that as an elected official because I know that we’re supposed to be doing this job with a little bit of a thicker skin but with that I would still support this because it’s in principle for me it’s the principles that matter here it’s the it’s the what we sign up for and what we endorse and what we support is really kind of what I see is in this in this motion so that’s why I would see that so for me it’s a matter of principle I will still be signing this online pledge and I’ll leave my comments there thank you Councillor Ferrera and to see if anyone else wants to speak before we call the question seeing none I’m gonna ask the clerk to open the vote. Councillor Palosa can Councillor Palosa absent closing the vote motion carries 13-1. Thank you colleagues and moving on our final item on the agenda is 4.5 that’s the request for support for membership in the Great Lakes and St. Horn City’s initiative a submission on the agenda for Mayor Morgan I will go to Mayor Morgan. Yes I’ll be brief because I contained most of my comments in the letter this is something that I’ve been encouraged to join by the different members were a municipality that draws water from two different Great Lakes we’re seen as a vital partner within the group our voice has been absent for a number of years and I’ll say that the first time I had a good discussion with this group was actually after going to Washington because this group was actually at one of the rare opportunities where there’s mayors on both sides of the border working together on a project and this group has actually worked together a little bit on some of the tariff and other international trade issues together as well so there’s a number of groups that are associated with that this is one that I’ve looked into talked with our staff about and wanted to bring it before council for endorsement so if I’m happy to put a motion on the floor related to this it’s been put in e-scribe but just looking to seek your support for membership within the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence City’s initiative thank you Mayor Morgan this is one of those where the actual full name might be just as short as the acronym but we’ll see if there’s a seconder for that Councilor Layman any discussion Councilor Layman I want to thank the mayor for bringing this forward I sit on the here on Waterboard I think we do have as much as we have economic ties throughout the country between countries we have definitely strong regional economic centers and the economic center around the Great Lakes is a big one the concern we’re fortunate as London quite frankly to be able to access to the larger water supplies in the world and as we go down the road with pressures on our climate I think that source of water will become a more more important and more desirable by other areas in the world to be excluded from this initiative I think would have caused us great harm we have to be at the table to protect the interests of London both from a water supply and also from an economic perspective so fully support the mayor seeking as a part of this initiative Councilor Stevenson thank you and through you just a question is there a cost for this membership Mayor Morgan it’s your motion so can you answer that yes the cost is about $10,000 a year it’s half price for the first year it would be paid for out of the GR budget. Councillor Stevenson that’s all thank you. Councillor Vamea Birken thank you chair yeah any opportunity or time that we can take part in something like this this type of initiative we should take it given our geography given our economics the simple fact is despite what’s currently happening with the trade situation with our largest trading partner this too shall pass and we have to take the opportunity to keep these connections not only strong but stronger because the time will come where this negative influence that’s being pushed on us from the executive branch of the United States will pass and in the meantime we have to keep these types of linkages very robust and if this is a perfect example of how we can do that so I’m highly supportive of this and thank you. Councilor Trussa well I wasn’t going to say anything through the chair but thank you so much for that pull I agree with everything you said you really put it well and I hope you’re right that things will pass I think they will but this is this is good policy and I thank the mayor for bringing it forward thank you. Okay for any other speakers seeing none I will ask the clerk to open the vote vote in the vote motion carries 13 to 1. Thank you colleagues we have no deferred matters we have no confidential items on this agenda so I just need a motion to adjourn moved by Councillor Birken and seconded by Councillor Ferreira by hand all those in favor. Motion carries. We are adjourned 37 minutes before the budget committee meeting starts so everyone has a few minutes of found time Councillor ramen.

[2:35:26] I sort of hear but I just wanted to say there’s a couple significant birthdays in the room and I just wanted to request maybe a happy birthday for Mr. Parity and a belated birthday from this standard date over there. They both asked they both asked for a short budget meeting tonight.