[00:00:02]
AND I'LL CALL OUR GOVERNANCE AND PRIORITIES COMMITTEE MEETING FOR MONDAY, JUNE 19TH, 2023 TO ORDER, AND I'D LIKE TO BEGIN BY ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THE CITY OF YELLOWKNIFE IS LOCATED IN CHIEF DRYGEESE TERRITORY.
FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL, IT HAS BEEN THE TRADITIONAL LAND OF THE YELLOWKNIVES DENE FIRST NATION.
WE RESPECT THE HISTORIES, LANGUAGES AND CULTURES OF ALL OTHER INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, INCLUDING THE NORTH SLAVE METIS AND ALL FIRST NATIONS, METIS AND INUIT, WHOSE PRESENCE CONTINUES TO ENRICH OUR VIBRANT COMMUNITY.
[2. Approval of the agenda. ]
MS. BASSI-KELLETT ANYTHING FURTHER TO ADD TO THE AGENDA? THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MADAM CHAIR.THANK YOU. NEXT, WE HAVE DISCLOSURE OF PECUNIARY INTEREST IN THE GENERAL NATURE THEREOF.
[3. Disclosure of pecuniary interest and the general nature thereof. ]
DOES ANY MEMBER HAVE A PECUNIARY INTEREST TODAY? WE SHOULDN'T; THEY'RE PRETTY BROAD.NEXT WE HAVE A PRESENTATION REGARDING TIMING OF THE GPC AND COUNCIL PACKAGES.
[4. A presentation regarding timing of GPC/Council Packages. ]
MS. BASSI-KELLETT, IF YOU'D LIKE TO TAKE IT AWAY.THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MADAM CHAIR.
SO IN APRIL, MEMBERS OF GPC ADMINISTRATION TO CONSIDER OPTIONS FOR THE TIMING OF GPC AND COUNCIL PACKAGES JUST TO ENABLE COUNCIL TO HAVE MORE REVIEW TIME TO CONSIDER THE ISSUES THAT COME FORWARD FOR THESE TWO MEETINGS.
WE ALSO PROVIDE A DESCRIPTION OF THE TOOLS THE COUNCIL CAN USE AT THIS TIME TO ENSURE THAT THERE IS ENOUGH TIME FOR CONSIDERATION OF THOSE ISSUES THAT DO REQUIRE MORE THOUGHT AND CONSIDERATION.
THE CURRENT FLOW OF AGENDAS DOES ENABLE THE CITY TO BE NIMBLE IN MOVING FORWARD WITH DECISION ITEMS AND ADMINISTRATION'S INTEREST DOES REMAIN IN ENSURING THAT COUNCIL HAS ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS.
THAT'S A FUNDAMENTAL BOTTOM LINE FOR US.
SO WE ARE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR DISCUSSION TODAY.
WE KNOW THAT IF YOU NEED TO PROLONG DELIBERATIONS ON ONE ITEM HERE AND THERE, YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN WITH THE CURRENT TOOLS THAT YOU HAVE, WHILE OTHER ITEMS THAT ARE MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD CAN CONTINUE TO ADVANCE.
I'LL NOW TURN THINGS OVER TO COLE [INAUDIBLE], OUR CITY CLERK WHO WILL WALK YOU THROUGH TODAY'S PRESENTATION, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO ANSWERING ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE AS YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR OPTIONS.
GOOD TO SEE YOU ALL FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE.
ALL RIGHT. SO WHY I'M HERE, WHY I'M FACING YOU THIS AFTERNOON IS BECAUSE ON APRIL 24TH, AS MS. BASSI-KELLETT MENTIONED, COUNCIL PASSED A MOTION THAT ADMINISTRATION CONSIDER CHANGING THE TIMING OF DISTRIBUTION OF MEETING MATERIALS TO BE SENT OUT FARTHER IN ADVANCE TO COUNCIL TIME TO REVIEW MATERIAL IN ADVANCE OF A MEETING.
SO GOING BACK TO APRIL 24TH THERE.
THAT MOTION AROSE ESSENTIALLY OUT OF TWO MAIN CONCERNS OF COUNCIL.
ONE, MEMBERS EXPRESSED A DESIRE FOR MORE TIME TO READ, REVIEW, RESEARCH AND ADDRESS QUESTIONS ARISING FROM THE MATERIAL RELEASED THE WEEKEND BEFORE THE MEETING. SECOND MAIN CONCERN WAS TO GIVE THE PUBLIC MORE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO COUNCIL OR REACH OUT TO MEMBERS AND ITEMS RAISED IN THE AGENDA.
SO MY INTENT TODAY IS NOT TO PROVIDE A RECOMMENDATION AS SUCH, BUT TO GIVE YOU SOME BACKGROUND ON THE CURRENT PROCESS AND ON FACTORS FOR COUNCIL'S CONSIDERATION IF THERE'S A CONTINUED INTEREST IN REVISING THE AGENDA DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE.
SO. FIRST, I'D LIKE TO WALK YOU THROUGH THE CURRENT PROCESSES AND THE TIMELINES TO MOVE MATTER FORWARD FROM AGENDA DISTRIBUTION TO COUNCIL TO APPROVAL OF COUNCIL.
THE TIMELINES FOR AGENDAS THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
FOR EACH OF THOSE ISSUES, I'LL COMPARE WHAT THE PROCESS LOOKS LIKE NOW AND THEN, WHAT THE PROCESS WOULD LOOK LIKE WITH PUSHING BACK THE AGENDAS WITH A WEEK A WEEK EARLIER. I'LL ALSO TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT THE TYPES OF ISSUES THAT COME BEFORE GPC AND COUNCIL AND DISCUSS THE TOOLS AVAILABLE AT EACH OF GPC AND COUNCIL IF YOU NEED MORE TIME TO CONSIDER ANY ISSUE, BUT BEFORE LEAVING THIS SLIDE, I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT OUR CURRENT PROCESS. THIS IS A SNIPPET OF THE COUNCIL PROCEDURES BYLAW.
SO OUR CURRENT PROCESS IS GOVERNED BY SECTION 27 AND SECTION 30.
THURSDAY MORNING PRECEDING THE MEETING.
SO FIRST THING TO NOTE, IF THERE'S GOING TO BE A CHANGE TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE MEETING MATERIALS IN THE AGENDAS, IT WILL REQUIRE AN AMENDMENT TO THIS BYLAW.
[00:05:04]
ALL RIGHT. SO CURRENT PROCESS FOR GETTING SOMETHING THROUGH TO COUNCIL APPROVAL.DIRECTORS REQUIRE AT LEAST 2 TO 3 WEEKS LEAD TIME PRIOR TO THAT COUNCIL DATE.
SO LOOKING AT THE CALENDAR IN FRONT OF YOU.
DIRECTORS WOULD NEED TO IN ORDER FOR A DECISION TO BE MADE BY COUNCIL ON FEBRUARY 27TH.
THAT LITTLE GREEN DOT DOWN ON THE BOTTOM, DIRECTORS WOULD HAVE TO SUBMIT A DRAFT MEMO TO CLERKS FEBRUARY 6TH OR FEBRUARY 13TH.
THAT WOULD MEAN DISCUSSION AT DIRECTORS FEBRUARY 8TH OR FEBRUARY 15TH.
AGENDAS GET PUSHED OUT FEBRUARY 10TH TO 17TH, AND THEN GPC CONSIDERED FEBRUARY 13TH OR AND THEN MOVEMENT TO COUNCIL TO FEBRUARY 27TH.
BASICALLY, THE COLOR PATHS MOVE BACK A WEEK, SO DIRECTORS MUST SUBMIT THEIR DRAFT MEMO BY JANUARY 30TH FOR DISCUSSION AT DIRECTORS ON FEBRUARY 1ST FOR THE AGENDA ON THE THIRD OR THE DRAFT MEMO TO CLERKS ON FEBRUARY 6TH.
CONSIDERATION BY DIRECTORS ON THE EIGHTH.
WITH RESPECT TO THE NUMBER OF AGENDAS THAT ARE OUT AT ANY ONE GIVEN TIME FOR ENGAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS RIGHT NOW WITH THE CURRENT PROCESS, YOU'RE LOOKING AT ABOUT TWO AGENDAS OUT FOR PUBLIC CONSIDERATION AT ANY TIME.
SO THE EXAMPLE THAT I'LL GIVE YOU, IF YOU LOOK AT THE BLUE ARROW ON JANUARY 6TH, THAT AGENDA GETS PUSHED OUT FOR CONSIDERATION AT THE GPC ON JANUARY 9TH.
THOSE ISSUES MIGHT STILL BE LIVE UNTIL THEY GET TO COUNCIL'S CONSIDERATION ON JANUARY 23RD, AND THEN ON THE 13TH SORRY, JANUARY 6TH IS TWO AGENDAS GPC AND COUNCIL THE 13TH, JUST THE GPC AGENDA, THE 20TH AGAIN, GPC AND COUNCIL AGENDA.
SO BETWEEN 1 AND 2 AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
IF WE PUSH BACK THE SCHEDULE BY A WEEK, THAT MEANS THAT THERE'LL BE ABOUT 3 OR 4 AGENDAS OUT FOR PUBLIC CONSIDERATION ENGAGEMENT AT ANY GIVEN TIME, WHICH MEANS THAT COUNCIL IS ALSO ENGAGING ON THAT MANY MORE ISSUES WITH THE PUBLIC AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
SO AS AN EXAMPLE, THE RED ARROW ON JANUARY THE 6TH, THAT AGENDA WOULD BE THE JANUARY 16TH GPC AGENDA, BUT THAT ALSO OVERLAPS WITH THE PREVIOUS ONE THAT CAME OUT, AND IT'S GOING TO OVERLAP WITH THE JANUARY 13TH AGENDA THAT COMES OUT.
A FEW TIMES A YEAR, WE GET WHAT ARE CALLED DEAD WEEKS WHERE THERE'S NO MEETINGS.
SO DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF JANUARY, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE ISSUES EXTEND FOR AN EXTRA WEEK.
THAT HAPPENS EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE.
SO WITH RESPECT FOR COUNCIL'S TIME TO REVIEW AND ENGAGE ON THE ISSUES.
CURRENTLY, THE AVERAGE TIME FRAME FOR COUNCIL TO REVIEW AND ENGAGE IS ABOUT 11 TO 25 DAYS, AND THAT'S DEPENDING ON WHAT THE TYPE OF ISSUE IS AND IF IT REQUIRES A DECISION OF COUNCIL. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, AGAIN, THE BLUE PATH ON JANUARY 6TH.
PUSHING THE AGENDAS BACK A WEEK.
GIVES COUNCIL BETWEEN 18 AND 32 DAYS TO REVIEW AND ENGAGE ON ANY MATTER, BUT AGAIN, THAT'S ALSO IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE MANY MORE AGENDA ITEMS THAT ARE OUT FOR ENGAGEMENT.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, DELAYED DECISIONS ON DEVELOPMENT PERMITS OR PROCUREMENT ARE ALSO GOING TO DELAY ACTION FOR THOSE ITEMS. THIS IS IN PARTICULAR CONCERN FOR SOME ITEMS THAT REQUIRE TIMELY DECISIONS, SUCH AS THE CAB RELOCATION FUNDING THAT RECENTLY WENT AHEAD IN MARCH. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO DO IN A TIMELY MANNER IF THE AGENDA WAS REQUIRED TO BE PUT OUT A WEEK SOONER.
[00:10:03]
THE BYLAW PROCESS IS ALSO IMPACTED BY EXTENDING THE AGENDA RELEASE BY A WEEK.SO UNDER THE CURRENT PROCESSES, THE BYLAW APPROVALS CAN TAKE BETWEEN 25 AND 39 DAYS.
SO IF AN AGENDA IS RELEASED ON JANUARY 20TH, WHERE THAT GREEN LINE IS THERE.
IT'S CONSIDERED GPC ON THE 23RD OR FEBRUARY THE 6TH, AND THEN WE'LL GET FIRST AND SECOND READING, FEBRUARY 13TH AND THEN THIRD READING FEBRUARY 27TH.
THAT IS, IF THE BYLAW REQUIRES THE TWO SEPARATE READINGS.
EXTENDING THE AGENDA DISTRIBUTION BY A WEEK.
THE BYLAW PROCESS MOVES TO ABOUT 32 TO 46 DAYS, AND IT'S THE SAME PROCESS.
YOU CAN SEE THAT THE AGENDA GETS RELEASED ON THE 13TH.
NOT ALL BYLAWS FOLLOW THAT PROCESS, THOUGH.
THE EXAMPLE GIVEN ON THIS SLIDE IS THE ZONING BYLAW.
SO AFTER PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND A DRAFT HAVE BEEN PROVIDED.
COUNCIL HAD NO LESS THAN SEVEN MONTHS BETWEEN REVIEWING THE DRAFT BYLAW AND THIRD READING.
SO TOO WITH THE BUDGET COUNCIL RECEIVES HIGH LEVEL UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND THEN HAS ABOUT 5 TO 6 WEEKS AT THE END OF THE YEAR TO REVIEW AND CONSIDER THE BUDGET. NOT ALL ISSUES, THOUGH, REQUIRE PUBLIC HEARING LIKE THE ZONING BYLAW.
SO DISCUSSION ABOUT THE TIMING DEPENDS ON THE KIND OF ISSUE THAT COMES BEFORE COMMITTEE AND COUNCIL, BUT THERE ARE WAYS TO ENSURE THAT COUNCIL HAS TIME TO CONSIDER THE RELEVANT INFORMATION.
PERHAPS THOSE ISSUES REQUIRE A LESS INTENSE REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION BY COUNCIL, BUT THEN THERE ARE LARGER ISSUES LIKE POLICY DIRECTIONS OR LARGE BYLAW ISSUES WHERE COUNCIL MIGHT WANT TO TAKE MORE TIME TO DIGEST THE INFORMATION, CONSIDER SEEK FEEDBACK FROM RESIDENTS.
SO THE NEXT FEW SLIDES DISCUSS OPTIONS FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH A FEW OPTIONS THAT YOU HAVE AT GPC TO EXTEND THE TIME FRAME TO CONSIDER OPTIONS AND ALSO WHAT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR COUNCIL. SO FIRST, A GPC.
ALWAYS THE OPPORTUNITY TO REFER AN ISSUE TO A FUTURE GPC.
THE EXAMPLE THAT YOU'RE GIVEN ON THE SLIDE IS A RECENT ONE.
THIS WAS WHEN COMMITTEE DEFERRED A MEMO ON DISPOSAL OF LAND.
IT WAS DEFERRED TO THE NEXT GPC MEETING AND ALSO OF NOTE COUNCIL COMMITTEE HAD THE ABILITY TO REQUEST THAT THE PROPONENT BE PRESENT FOR COUNCIL WHEN THAT DISCUSSION CAME AHEAD.
ALSO AT GPC, ALWAYS AN OPTION TO REFER BACK TO ADMINISTRATION FOR MORE INFORMATION.
IF IT DOES, IF AN ISSUE DOESN'T HAVE THE SUPPORT OF COMMITTEE.
COMMITTEE CAN ALSO MOVE THAT AHEAD TO COUNCIL AND NOT APPROVE THAT ISSUE, THAT MEETING.
FINALLY, IF A COUNCILLOR BRINGS A MATTER TO GPC ON THEIR OWN, SO NOT ONE THAT ADMINISTRATION HAS BROUGHT AND THAT DOES NOT RECEIVE THE SUPPORT OF COMMITTEE, THEN THAT ISSUE ESSENTIALLY DIES AT GPC.
COUNCIL MEETINGS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
SO THE WAYS OF OF DEALING WITH AGENDA ISSUES THAT YOU MIGHT WANT MORE TIME, MORE CONSIDERATION, MORE OPTIONS ARE DEALT WITH BY WAY OF MOTION.
SO THERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES THERE.
ONE EXAMPLE IS DIVIDING A MOTION WHEN IT HAS A NUMBER OF PARTS.
THIS ADDS CLARITY AND GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS INDIVIDUAL ASPECTS OF THE MOTION.
[00:15:04]
SO THE MOTION, THE EXAMPLE THAT YOU HAVE ON THE SCREEN THERE, ONE ONE GIANT MOTION MADE UP OF FIVE PARTS, AND WHAT COUNCIL DID THERE WAS SPLIT THAT MOTION INTO PARTS SO THAT THEY COULD REVIEW THEM INDIVIDUALLY.I BELIEVE ONE GOT TABLED AND ONE GOT AMENDED, BUT EITHER WAY, IT ALLOWS FOR A MORE FULSOME DISCUSSION OF DISCRETE ISSUES IF YOU DIVIDE THE MOTION INTO PARTS.
TABLING A MOTION ESSENTIALLY JUST PUTS IT ON HOLD UNTIL COUNCIL WANTS TO DEAL WITH IT.
THE EXAMPLE THAT YOU'RE GIVEN ON THE SLIDE IS TABLING A MOTION UNTIL ADMINISTRATION COULD BRING FORWARD THE WORK PLAN FOR 2021, BUT THE MOST RECENT EXAMPLE OF THAT, OBVIOUSLY IS THE ACCESS FOR ALL POLICY THAT WAS RECENTLY TABLED, REMOVED FROM THE TABLE, AND THEN REFERRED BACK TO A GPC, WHICH.
BRINGS YOU TO THE NEXT OPTION.
THAT'S PRETTY SELF EXPLANATORY, BUT NONETHELESS AN OPTION FOR YOU.
WHAT I'M HOPING YOU'VE HEARD FROM ME IS THAT EXTENDING THE CURRENT PROCESSES AND TIMELINES MEANS NOT ONLY EXTENDING TIMELINES FOR DECISIONS BY AT LEAST A WEEK, BUT IT MEANS INCREASING ADMINISTRATION LEAD TIME ON BRINGING ISSUES TO GPC AND TO COUNCIL BY AT LEAST A WEEK, SOMETIMES MORE, DEPENDING ON THE ISSUE. THAT COULD ALSO LEAD TO DELAYS IN DECISION MAKING, WHICH MEANS POTENTIAL DELAYS IN ACTIONABLE ITEMS THAT REQUIRE COUNCIL APPROVAL.
YOU'VE HEARD FROM ME SOME OPTIONS TO EXTEND TIME TO REVIEW ISSUES BOTH AT GPC AND AT COUNCIL.
THOSE ARE OPTIONS THAT ARE AT YOUR DISPOSAL RIGHT NOW.
OPTIONS THAT YOU CAN USE, HOWEVER.
THE CLERK'S OFFICE OVERSEES THAT BYLAW AMENDMENT, SO THERE WILL BE IMPACTS TO OUR WORK PLAN IF COUNCIL WISHES TO PRIORITIZE A BYLAW AMENDMENT , BUT WITH THAT SUBJECT TO ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE, I AWAIT YOUR DIRECTION.
SO OPENING IT UP TO QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, DISCUSSION.
COUNCILLOR PAYNE. THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR.
THANKS, COLE, FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
I'M VERY OKAY WITH KEEPING THINGS AS STATUS QUO.
I WON'T BE SUPPORTING ANY MOTION OF CHANGING THE TIMELINE.
COUNCILLOR HENDRICKSEN. THANKS, MAYOR ALTY.
YEAH. FIRST, THANKS, COLE, FOR DOING THIS.
I MEAN, I'M NERDING OUT FROM TWO DIRECTIONS.
ONE JUST FROM A GOVERNANCE SIDE OF THINGS, BUT TWO FROM HOW WE DO OUR WORK.
SO I GUESS JUST FIRST OFF, CAN YOU ELABORATE A BIT ON THE POTENTIAL BYLAW CHANGE? BECAUSE WHEN I LOOK AT THAT BYLAW, SECTION 30 OF THE BYLAW OR PARAGRAPH 30 SAYS THAT THE MEETING MATERIALS NEED TO GO BY NOON THE FRIDAY BEFORE A MEETING.
SO I WOULD READ THAT AS IT SAYS IT HAS TO GO BY THEN, BUT IT COULD GO BEFORE.
SO I JUST WANT CLARITY ON THAT.
LIKE, DO WE ACTUALLY NEED TO DO A BYLAW CHANGE TO SEND OUT AGENDAS FURTHER IN ADVANCE? JUST THAT'S THE FIRST QUESTION I HAVE.
IF COUNCIL IS DICTATING TO STAFF THAT IT HAS TO BE A WEEK AHEAD, THIS IS IF WE LEAVE IT LIKE THIS, THEN STAFF COULD WAIT TILL THE FRIDAY BEFORE.
SO IF WE'RE BEING FIRM THAT UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE, WE WANT THIS MATERIAL AHEAD OF TIME, BUT MS. BASSI-KELLETT. THANKS, I THINK YOU NAILED IT RIGHT THERE.
I'LL SEE IF OUR CLERK HAS ANYTHING TO ADD.
NO, I THINK THAT'S ON POINT AND JUST FOR ME, A BYLAW AMENDMENT ALSO MEANS THAT I HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF WORK TO DO ON MAKING SURE THAT THOSE CHANGES ARE INTERNALLY CONSISTENT WITH THE WHOLE BYLAW.
RIGHT. SO IT'S NOT JUST A MATTER OF WE'LL JUST REPLACE THAT ONE TERM, BUT IT WILL INVOLVE MORE OF A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT THE BYLAW, AND IT ALSO SAY ON THAT POINT, IT'S NOT THAT ADMINISTRATION IS HOLDING THE BYLAW TILL NOON ON FRIDAY.
[00:20:03]
NO, THANKS FOR THAT CLARITY AND THAT'S I WAS JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THAT A LITTLE BIT SO THAT TO THE SIDE FOR AFTER THAT, LIKE I'M WEIGHING A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT THINGS IN MY HEAD HERE BECAUSE I'M CONSCIOUS OF THE PROCEDURAL STRUCTURES THAT YOU TALK ABOUT FROM THE CITY CLERK PERSPECTIVE AND FROM ADMIN PERSPECTIVE AND ALL OF THE TOOLS THAT ARE AT OUR DISPOSAL AND NOT WANTING TO CREATE EXTRA FRICTION, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I'M SORT OF LIKE IF WE CAN PUT IN PLACE STRUCTURES THAT ALLOW US TO MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE AS OPPOSED TO BRING SOME TO GPC HAVING TO GO TO COUNCIL, KICK IT BACK TO GPC, AND DOING THESE SORTS OF THINGS LIKE IF WE CAN STRUCTURALLY CHANGE HOW WE DO OUR WORK IN THE LONG RUN SO THAT WE DON'T DO THOSE TYPES OF THINGS AS FREQUENTLY, I'M WEIGHING THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.I'M ALSO CONSIDERING LIKE FROM AN ACCESSIBILITY POSITION OF LIKE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT AS COUNCIL OF TRYING TO MAKE THIS WORK MORE ACCESSIBLE TO MORE PEOPLE IN THE FUTURE SO THAT PEOPLE CAN SEE THEMSELVES JOINING COUNCIL AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW THEY DO THIS WORK, AND I KNOW I SPEND A DAY EVERY WEEKEND AT LEAST GOING THROUGH MATERIALS AND DOING EXTRA READING AND RESEARCH ON ISSUES AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF, AND I HAVE THAT LUXURY IN TIME.
SO IT DOESN'T WHILE IT MAY NOT AFFECT ME PERSONALLY I THINK IT IS A BARRIER THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT.
IT'S LIKE, DO WE NEED TO FORMALLY ALTER THE CURRENT SCHEDULE OF THINGS? DO WE NEED TO JUST FLEX OUR MUSCLE, AS COUNCILLOR PAYNE SAID, IN ORDER TO, YOU KNOW, TO DEAL WITH THESE THINGS AND TO USE THOSE TOOLS AT OUR DISPOSAL? AND IS IT PROBABLY LIKE THERE'S A PART OF ME THAT'S LIKE, IS IT REALLY JUST LIKE PART B AND A LITTLE BIT OF PRACTICALITY ON OUR PART WHEN WE'RE CREATING THE AGENDAS THAT WE GO, YOU KNOW WHAT, THIS IS GOING TO BE A STICKY ISSUE.
WE NEED AN EXTRA WEEK MORE THAN JUST AUTOMATICALLY SENDING IT TO THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING.
BECAUSE LIKE WHEN I THINK BACK TO INFILL IN JANUARY OR THE TIN CAN HILL DISCUSSION LAST YEAR, YOU KNOW, I KNOW IT TALKS ABOUT IN THE PRESENTATION LIKE THE AVERAGE IS 11 TO 25 DAYS OR WHATEVER, BUT THOSE WERE BOTH SITUATIONS, REALLY BIG ISSUES THAT WERE ON THAT 11 DAY STRUCTURE AND I THINK IS THERE JUST A BIT OF PRACTICALITY WHEN WE'RE SETTING THE AGENDA OF GOING, OKAY, THIS IS GOING TO BE A DOOZY.
WE KNOW THE PUBLIC'S GOING TO BE ENGAGED ON THIS.
LET'S MAYBE TALK ABOUT IT ON THIS AGENDA AND NOT BRING IT UNTIL A LATER COUNCIL MEETING SO THAT THERE IS THAT TIME AND THINGS DON'T SEEM RUSHED WHEN WE HAVE IT IN THE STRUCTURES NOW.
SO I THINK THERE LIKE AGAIN, I OPEN IT UP TO EVERYBODY ELSE, BUT THAT'S WHERE I'M SORT OF STRUGGLING IS LIKE--STRUGGLING IS THE WRONG WORD; MAYBE A BIT DRAMATIC, BUT LIKE BETWEEN WHAT'S THE STRUCTURES WE HAVE NOW THAT WE CAN USE? AND DO WE ACTUALLY SHOULD WE FORMALLY CHANGE THOSE STRUCTURES SO THAT IT'S BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM AS OPPOSED TO JUST TRYING TO ADAPT THE SYSTEM THE WAY WE WANT IT? THANKS FOR LISTENING TO ALL OF THAT, EVERYBODY.
THANKS. IF I CAN JUST COMMENT ON THE POLITICAL ASPECT, BECAUSE I KNOW FOLKS HAVE SAID IT A BUNCH IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE WEEKENDS END UP BEING DEDICATED ONE DAY TO REVIEWING AGENDAS.
IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU GET YOUR AGENDA THREE WEEKS IN ADVANCE, ONE WEEK IN ADVANCE, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DEDICATE YOUR WEEKEND TO REVIEWING MATERIAL, BECAUSE WHEN A BIG ISSUE COMES, RESIDENTS HIT US WITH AN EMAIL RIGHT THEN.
SO YOU CAN'T BE LIKE, WELL, COME BACK TO ME IN A WEEK AND A HALF.
I NEED A BIT OF TIME TO REVIEW IT.
WE ARE ACTUALLY BY ADDING AN EXTRA WEEK.
WE'RE HAVING MORE AGENDAS, MORE TOPICS TO ENGAGE ON, AND I THINK OF SOME OF THE TIMES WHEN WE'VE BEEN ENGAGING ON A DAY SHELTER, A VACCINE POLICY, A BUDGET.
IT WAS PRETTY HEAVY STUFF ALL IN ONE GO.
ZONING BYLAW WAS IN THERE, TOO.
SO THE MORE WE PUT IN ADVANCE, AND THE OTHER THING I WOULD SAY IS THAT FOR THE TIN CAN AND FOR THE INFILL, YES, IT WAS SHOULD WE DIRECT ADMINISTRATION TO DO WORK? BUT WHEN THEY ACTUALLY DO THE WORK, THE PROCESS IS GOING TO BE LONG, AND SO THERE'S YOU KNOW, IT'S NOW BEEN OVER A YEAR AND STAFF ARE STILL DOING THE WORK ON TIN CAN HILL AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOT TO, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THE GNWT WANTS TO PURCHASE DO A PURCHASE AGREEMENT WHETHER THERE WAS GOING TO BE SO THAT EXAMPLE OF THE ZONING BYLAW OR I'D EVEN SAY STRATEGIC PLAN LIKE COUNCIL RECEIVES THIS AGENDA ON FRIDAY ABOUT WHETHER TO APPROVE THE STRATEGIC
[00:25:01]
PLAN, BUT WE RECEIVED THE DRAFT AT THE BEGINNING OF APRIL PUBLIC AUDIT IN MAY.THE LONGER TIMES ALREADY BUILT IN.
A LOT OF THE TIMES, AND AGAIN, THE ZONING BYLAWS, I THINK PROBABLY A GOOD ONE, WHERE THERE'S A PRESENTATION TO GPC ON SEPTEMBER 7TH.
THERE WASN'T A DISCUSSION UNTIL OCTOBER 25TH.
THERE WASN'T A STATUTORY PUBLIC HEARING TO NOVEMBER 27TH.
SO FOR THESE BIG ITEMS, THERE IS, YOU KNOW, PRE MEETINGS AND OR PRESENTATIONS AT GPC THEN MEMOS COME FORWARD AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
SO A FEW FEW THINGS, AND IT'S KIND OF LIKE AS A COUNCILLOR, EITHER YOU WERE THAT PERSON AT UNIVERSITY WHO HAD YOUR PAPER DONE A WEEK IN ADVANCE OR YOU'RE THE PERSON THAT'S UP TILL MIDNIGHT, AND YEAH, BUT CHANGING THE SYSTEM IS PROBABLY NOT GOING TO CHANGE THE WAY YOU WORK, BUT COUNCILLOR COCHRANE.
I'M ALSO GOING BACK AND FORTH ON THIS OF WHETHER OR NOT WE ALREADY HAVE THE PROCEDURAL TOOLS IN PLACE AND WE JUST HAVE TO STRETCH OUR MUSCLES A LITTLE MORE ON THIS, FOR LACK OF BETTER TERMINOLOGY, BUT I DO HAVE A QUESTION WITH IN REGARDS TO EVEN I GUESS WE COULD PUT THIS BECAUSE MY BIGGEST CONCERN RIGHT NOW IS SOMETHING LIKE THE IMPACT ON EMERGENCY DECISIONS OR DECISIONS OF LIKE FEDERAL FUNDING IN NATURE, SUCH AS THE CAB DECISION THAT HAPPENED IN MARCH HERE.
WOULDN'T IT BE POSSIBLE TO SAY IN SECTION 28 TO IMPLEMENT A DISCRETIONARY MEASURES CLAUSE THAT FOR AN EXTRAORDINARY EXCEPTION OR DECISION THAT HAD TO BE MADE IMMEDIATELY JUST BE PUT IN THERE THAT COULD GO DIRECTLY TOWARDS US WITH OUTSIDE THE TIME FRAME, SIMILAR TO HOW IN SECTION 28, IF SOMETHING GOES PAST THE END OF THE DEADLINE, WE CAN STILL PUT IT IN THERE? IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE, LIKE I ASK AT THE START OF EVERY MEETING, IS THERE ANYTHING FURTHER TO ADD TO THE AGENDA? THE THING I WOULD CAUTION IS ALL OF A SUDDEN, IF WE'RE JUST ADDING ALL THESE EMERGENCY ITEMS, WHAT WAS THE POINT OF CHANGING EVERYTHING A WEEK AHEAD WHEN WE'RE NOT REALLY FOLLOWING OUR BYLAW? AND AGAIN, IF PEOPLE'S POINT IS THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S FULSOME ENGAGEMENT.
THE FACT THAT IT WON'T SHOW ON THE AGENDA, PEOPLE WON'T KNOW IT'S BEING DISCUSSED.
WE'LL KNOW, BUT THE PUBLIC WON'T KNOW THAT THIS ITEM VERSUS LIKE THE CAB FUNDING, IT WAS AN ITEM ON THE AGENDA AND IT WAS ABLE TO GET ON THE AGENDA IN A REGULAR PROCESS SO PEOPLE COULD COME AND SPEAK TO THE ISSUE.
MS. BASSI-KELLETT ANYTHING FURTHER TO ADD? THANKS VERY MUCH, MADAM CHAIR.
NO, I THINK YOU REALLY NAILED IT ON THAT ONE.
I MEAN, IT'S THE TRANSPARENCY SO THAT THERE IS THAT PUBLIC OPTIC OF KNOWING WHAT'S COMING FORWARD.
THEY LOOK AT OUR AGENDAS WHEN THEY'RE ISSUED ON LATE IN THE DAY, THURSDAY OR FRIDAY MORNING.
WE OFTEN SEE REPORTS ON ISSUES BEFORE GPC'S EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO DISCUSS.
SO THAT TRANSPARENCY IS A VERY IMPORTANT PIECE FOR ALL OF THE ITEMS THAT COME BEFORE GPC.
THANK YOU. COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION.
ARE THERE OR DOES IT MEAN NO? ARE THERE BEST PRACTICES LIKE WHAT'S DONE IN OTHER MUNICIPALITIES ABOUT OUR SIZE? IS THIS THE STANDARD TIMELINE OR ARE THERE DIFFERENT WAYS OF DOING IT? MS. BASSI-KELLETT THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I'LL TURN THIS TO MR. [INAUDIBLE], BUT THE INITIAL REVIEW THAT WE'VE DONE, AND CERTAINLY TALKING TO SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THIS IS A PRETTY CONSISTENT APPROACH, DEFINITELY WITH THE TOOLS AT HAND FOR COUNCILS TO BE ABLE TO SELECT ITEMS ON AN AGENDA THAT REQUIRE MORE TIME, THAT NEED MORE DELIBERATION TO BE HELD, TO COME BACK FOR SUBSEQUENT DISCUSSION.
THANK YOU. I'D LOVE TO SPEAK WITH SOME AUTHORITY ON THAT.
I CANNOT, BUT I CAN LOOK INTO THAT AND GET BACK TO YOU IF THAT'S IF THAT'S SOME INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED BEFORE YOU MAKE A DECISION.
YEAH, I THINK THAT'S SORT OF BEST PRACTICES.
WHAT'S DONE ELSEWHERE IS ALWAYS USEFUL INFORMATION FOR US.
I THINK THE CONCERN, AT LEAST FOR ME, IS NOT NECESSARILY THE TIMING BETWEEN GPC AND COUNCIL FOR A VOTE, BUT BETWEEN THE AGENDA RELEASE AND GPC ITSELF IN ORDER TO HAVE AN INFORMED AND EFFECTIVE DISCUSSION.
THERE'S BEEN SEVERAL TIMES, DESPITE SPENDING A BUNCH OF TIME ON A SUNDAY AND TRYING TO TALK TO PEOPLE, END UP HAVING A DISCUSSION AND IT'S A GOOD THING THAT OTHER COUNCILLORS RAISE ISSUES THAT I HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT, BUT SUDDENLY YOU'RE SORT OF SITTING THERE BEING LIKE, AM I COMFORTABLE MOVING THIS FORWARD TO A VOTE?
[00:30:09]
I HAVEN'T REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT THIS OR ASKED ANYONE ABOUT THIS.SO I THINK I GUESS THE QUESTION IS, IS THE TIMING OF FIRST, SECOND, THIRD READING THE FACT THAT CAN DELAY IT BY TWO WEEKS, IS THAT MANDATED BY LAW LIKE THAT FIRST AND SECOND READING AND THIRD READING HAVE TO BE SEPARATED OR THAT WE CAN DO ALL THREE IF EVERYONE'S THERE, BUT IF NOT, IS THAT SEPARATION MANDATED BY LAW? WE NEED TO HAVE ALL 100% OF COUNCIL THERE TO DO ALL THREE READINGS IN ONE GO, AND THEN THERE'S WHEN IT COMES TO STATUTORY PUBLIC HEARINGS, THEN WE CAN ONLY DO FIRST AND THEN WE HAVE TO TAKE A PAUSE AND THEN WE CAN GO TO SECOND, AND AFTER SECOND COUNCIL MIGHT WANT TO PUT IT BACK TO ADMINISTRATION FOR A SUMMATION.
SO THIRD WOULD BE EVEN FARTHER, WHICH IS WHERE YOU GET LIKE THE ZONING BYLAW WOULD BE THE BIGGEST EXAMPLE WHERE YOU HAVE FIRST READING NOVEMBER 8TH, THE STATUTORY PUBLIC HEARING, NOVEMBER 27TH AND SECOND AND THIRD HAPPENED IN MARCH 14TH LATER ON.
SO THAT'S KIND OF THAT EXTREME EXAMPLE.
IF NOBODY SHOWS UP TO THE STATUTORY PUBLIC HEARING FREQUENTLY, COUNCIL WILL BE LIKE, YEAH, WE'RE READY TO GO TO THIRD, BUT MS. BASSI-KELLETT ANYTHING FURTHER TO ADD? I DON'T, BUT I'LL SEE IF OUR CLERK DOES.
NO, THAT ABOUT COVERS IT, BUT THERE ARE.
THEN I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID NO IF I WAS GOING TO SPEAK, BUT YES, THE CTV ACT DOES LIST THE REQUIREMENTS OF BYLAW HEARINGS, WHICH ISN'T CARRIED FORWARD INTO OUR COUNCIL PROCEDURE BYLAW, AND THEN MOTIONS WOULD BE SEPARATE FROM BYLAWS, AND THAT MOTIONS CAN BE APPROVED IN ONE GO.
WHEREAS THE 2 OR 3 DAYS BEFORE GPC FEELS LIKE WHERE I WANT TO DO THE WORK, NOT BEFORE A VERY STRUCTURED COUNCIL VOTE WHERE IT'S MORE DIFFICULT TO HAVE A DISCUSSION AND ASK QUESTIONS.
WOULD THERE BE ANY ABILITY TO SORT OF MAKE IT STANDARD THAT ISSUES? I GUESS THIS IS JUST A DIFFERENT WAY AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS COULD BE ORGANIZED IN THIS WAY, BUT THAT THE AGENDA STILL COMES OUT WHEN IT DOES, BUT IT'S SORT OF STANDARD THAT THERE ARE TWO GPCS WORTH OF DISCUSSION AND DURING THE FIRST GPC, IF IT SEEMS LIKE COUNCIL IS ALL GOOD TO MOVE IT FORWARD TO COUNCIL, WE CAN DO THAT, BUT THE STANDARD IS THAT THERE'S TWO WEEKS OF DISCUSSION.
IS THAT PROCEDURALLY AN OPTION? PROCEDURALLY, YES.
HOWEVER, I WOULD JUST ENCOURAGE COUNCIL TO TAKE A LOOK IN AT THE NUMBER OF MEMOS THAT HAVE COME FORWARD AND HOW MANY OF THOSE YOU WOULD HAVE ACTUALLY WANTED TO HAVE TWO DISCUSSIONS ON.
A LOT OF TIMES IT'S BEEN LIKE, ANY QUESTIONS, ANY COMMENTS, AND EVERYBODY'S LIKE, NO, IT LOOKS GOOD.
THANKS. IF WE HAD, IT REQUIRED THAT IT HAS TO COME BACK TO GPC, I'D BE LIKE, SAME THING ANY.
OTHER JURISDICTIONS DON'T HAVE WEEKLY MEETINGS.
IF WE'RE LOOKING TO HAVE ALL OF OUR MEETINGS JUST ONCE A MONTH, BUT YOU KNOW, OUR WE USED TO HAVE JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST AS OUR SUMMER MONTHS, WHICH MEANT WE REDUCED OUR TIME, BUT WE JUST ACTUALLY FELT WE HAD SO MUCH CONTENT THAT WE MADE JUNE A NORMAL MONTH AND JULY AND AUGUST ARE THE SUMMER MONTHS.
YEAH, AND COUNCIL DOESN'T HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION TODAY.
THIS IS JUST ADMINS PROVIDING CONSIDERATIONS STEW ON IT AND YOU KNOW, IF COUNCIL WANTS TO TAKE A YEAR TO SEE HOW THE CURRENT TOOLS WORK AND WE START NEXT YEAR WITH, HEY, WE NEED TO MAKE AN AMENDMENT TO THE BYLAW, THEN ADMIN COULD ALSO WORK IT INTO THEIR WORK PLAN.
SO THIS IS FYI CONSIDERATIONS AND THEN OVER TO YOU, BUT BACK OVER TO YOU.
I THINK JUST A COMMENT TO END ROUND ONE, LIKE I UNDERSTAND THE CHALLENGE THAT AND THE WORK THAT IT WOULD CAUSE TO CHANGE THE BYLAW AND TO SORT OF CHANGE ADMINISTRATION'S PRACTICES AND THE EFFECTS THAT COULD HAVE, AND I THINK THERE ARE TOOLS THAT EXIST AND THAT WE AS COUNCILLORS COULD BE MORE STRIDENT OR FORCEFUL IN USING THEM.
I UNDERSTAND THAT'S A CHALLENGE.
[00:35:05]
I'M GOING TO NEED MORE TIME BECAUSE I'M AN IDIOT, YOU KNOW? BUT LIKE THAT, IF THAT WAS SOMETHING WE COULD GET IN THE HABIT OF DOING AS A COUNCIL, LIKE WE SEE THE AGENDA ON FRIDAY AND SUNDAY MORNING WHEN YOU'RE REVIEWING THINGS, JUST SEND AN EMAIL TO EVERYONE AND SAY, I NEED MORE TIME WITH THIS, AND I'M THAT'S THE FIRST THING I'M GOING TO SAY.IT'S JUST SORT OF A DIFFERENT PRACTICE.
SO YEAH, THAT'S JUST SORT OF MY THOUGHTS.
YEA, AND I WOULD SAY I THINK TO UNDERSTAND GPC IS IT'S THAT OPPORTUNITY TO ASK QUESTIONS , AND THEN BY THE END, YOU MIGHT BE LIKE, OKAY, I NEED MORE TIME, BUT I COMPLETELY HEAR YOU ON ALL THOSE POINTS, AND IT'S A CASE OF, YEAH, MAKING SURE THAT YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH INFORMATION TO DIGEST AND COUNCILLOR FEQUET.
THANKS, MADAM MAYOR. THANKS FOR THAT PRESENTATION, COLE ET AL.
YOU KNOW, I'D RATHER THAT WEEK TO GET MY PAPER IN ADVANCE, AND SO THE TIMELINES FROM AGENDA TO RELEASE TO GPC WAS REALLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WAS CLEAR WHEN I HAD ASKED THIS QUESTION, AND, YOU KNOW, WE SHOULD OBVIOUSLY SHOULDN'T JUST BE AFRAID OF ASKING QUESTIONS AND WHETHER YOU KNOW IT, WHATEVER THE ANSWER IS, BUT I WAS TO BE CLEAR, NOT ASSUMING THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE BIG ITEMS THAT, YOU KNOW, MAYOR ALTY TALKED ABOUT THAT OBVIOUSLY COME OUT IN ADVANCE, AND ALSO THAT COUNCILLOR COCHRANE MENTIONED LIKE THE CAB, YOU KNOW, FUNDING ALLOCATION, LIKE THERE'S EMERGENCY ITEMS THAT WILL ALWAYS HAVE TO BE WALKED ON BECAUSE THEY NEED OUR ATTENTION REGARDLESS.
SO YEAH, I WASN'T LOOKING AT THOSE TWO.
THE OTHER POINTS THAT WERE MENTIONED IN THE PRESENTATION ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ADDING THE EXTRA WEEK AND CERTAINLY MAY CAUSE CONFUSION, HAVING MULTIPLE AGENDAS OUT, BUT I MEAN, I KNOW THAT I HEARD AND I HEARD OTHER FOLKS TALK ABOUT DURING THE ELECTIONS THAT BETTER ENGAGEMENT WAS SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF RESIDENTS WERE FOCUSED ON, AND SO, I MEAN, TO ME, THAT'S JUST LIKE A CERTAINLY A BONUS OR AN ADVANTAGE OF DOING THIS IS IT GIVES PEOPLE WHO REALLY CARE ABOUT A CERTAIN TOPIC MORE TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT AND DO THEIR HOMEWORK.
SO I RECOGNIZE THAT MORE ITEMS OUT THERE MAY BE CONFUSING FOR SOME OR AGENDAS MAY BE CONFUSING FOR SOME, BUT I'M WILLING TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO JUST SEE IF THAT SATISFIES RESIDENTS AND THEIR ENGAGEMENT DEMANDS.
RIGHT? LIKE 100%, AND SO THAT'S ONE OF MY QUESTIONS THAT I'LL ASK IN A SECOND.
BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK CONSIDERING THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR BYLAWS, THEY ARE OUR RULES.
I DID HAVE THE BENCHMARKING QUESTION THAT COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN JUST ASKED BECAUSE I WAS ALSO CURIOUS.
I TRIED LOOKING UP SOME OTHER COUNCIL PROCEDURE BYLAWS.
SO SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT SLIDE FIVE AND SIX OF THE PRESENTATION, AND I HAVE TO ADMIT, IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO WRAP MY BRAIN AROUND THIS. SO THANK YOU FOR DOING ALL THE THINKING IN ADVANCE TO PUT THESE TOGETHER.
IT APPEARS TO ME, UNLESS I'M MISUNDERSTANDING, THAT THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 6TH IS A PATHWAY UNDER BOTH SCENARIOS THAT ACHIEVES PROVIDING COUNCIL MORE TIME BETWEEN AGENDA RELEASE AND GPC, BUT NOT DELAYING THE POTENTIAL DECISION AT THE COUNCIL MEETING ON THE 27TH.
I GUESS MY FIRST QUESTION IS, AM I UNDERSTANDING THAT CORRECTLY? NO, BECAUSE GPC, THERE'S ALWAYS TWO GPCS WORTH OF CONTENT ON A COUNCIL.
SO THE GPC TO GET SOMETHING APPROVED ON FEBRUARY 27TH IT WOULD BE THE GPC CONTENT OF FEBRUARY 13TH AND 20TH.
SO WITH THE REVISED PROCESS TO GET SOMETHING APPROVED AT THE 27TH, IT WOULD AGAIN FOR GPC ON THE 13TH AND 20TH.
[00:40:11]
, AND JUST TO CLARIFY ON THAT, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY MORE CONFUSING.I THINK COUNCIL JUST HAS TO BE AWARE THAT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DEDICATE MORE TIME TO ENGAGING ON TOPICS BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT 3 OR 4 AGENDAS WORTH OF TOPICS GOING. SO YOU'LL NEED TO IF YOU WANT TO HAVE BETTER ENGAGEMENT, YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT YOU HAVE TO ALLOCATE MORE TIME IF WE'RE RELEASING STUFF A WEEK AHEAD.
SORRY, I MUST BE MISSING SOMETHING.
IT'S ON SLIDE SIX: ARE THE RED DOTS NOT A PATHWAY TO A DECISION ON FEBRUARY 27TH? IS THAT SLIDE SIX.
SO IS THAT AGENDA GOING OUT FOR GPC ON THE 10TH? TO GET TO GPC ON THE 13TH, THE AGENDA GOES OUT ON THE THIRD, SO IT HAS TO BE AT DIRECTORS ON JANUARY 30TH.
I UNDERSTOOD. I'M NOT ASKING, SORRY, ABOUT THAT ONE, THOUGH.
I'M ASKING ABOUT THE COUNCIL DECISION.
IF YOU WANT IT TO BE AT GPC THE 13TH OF THE 20TH.
SO SORRY. SO I'M MISSING SOMETHING.
SO THAT RED, 14, 15, 16, 17 TO GO TO GPC ON THE 20TH FOR A DECISION ON THE 27TH, THAT IS NOT A POSSIBLE WORKFLOW PATHWAY? NOT IF YOU MOVE IT UP A WEEK.
NO. SO SORRY BECAUSE IF YOU WANT.
SO ON FEBRUARY 20TH IS THE RED DOT THAT'S GOING TO GET APPROVED ON THE 27TH.
SO FEBRUARY 20TH, THE GPC AGENDA HAS TO GO OUT THE 10TH.
THE CURRENT PROCESS WOULD BE IT GOES OUT THE 17TH, BUT IF YOU'RE ASKING FOR AGENDAS TO BE A WEEK AHEAD, GPC AGENDAS FOR FEBRUARY 20TH THAT WOULD GET APPROVED ON THE 27TH HAVE TO GO OUT ON THE 10TH.
SO THAT WEEK OF THE 6TH TO 10TH, UNDER THE CURRENT PROCESS OR THE MOVING A WEEK AHEAD PROCESS, THAT SEEMS LIKE THAT WEEK IS AN OPTION FOR WORKFLOW UNDER BOTH SCENARIOS.
SORRY IF I'M NOT UNDERSTANDING SOMETHING.
WHAT ARE THE RED DOTS AND WHAT ARE THE GREEN DOTS REPRESENT? RED DOTS IS SECOND.
GREEN DOTS ARE FIRST GPC SO YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE DOTS IN EVERY SINGLE WEEK, BUT IF YOU'RE MOVING DOTS UP A WEEK, IT'S THAT'S WHERE IF YOU'RE MOVING STUFF AHEAD, FEBRUARY 27TH.
IT'S AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU'RE JUST TAKING A WEEK MOVING EVERYTHING UP.
I WILL LEAVE THAT ONE AND DEFER TO MY COLLEAGUES I'M JUST MISUNDERSTANDING SOMETHING.
SO WHEN DOES ADMINISTRATION EXPECT THE NEXT COUNCIL PROCEDURES BYLAW TO BE UP FOR A FULSOME REVIEW? I DON'T THINK IT'S IN THIS YEAR'S WORK PLAN, BUT WHAT IS THE ANTICIPATED NEED BASED ON JUST ALL THE THINGS FLOATING AROUND? MS. BASSI-KELLETT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE QUESTION.
WE DID A COMPREHENSIVE UPDATE TO THE COUNCIL PROCEDURES BYLAW IN 2019 WHEN WE HAD SOME ADVICE THAT CAME TO US FROM AN EXTERNAL CONSULTANT THAT MR. GEORGE CUFF AND ASSOCIATES THAT PROVIDED ADVICE AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO STREAMLINE THE OVERALL THINGS.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THAT, AND THE LAST QUESTION ON THIS ONE IS NOT DISSIMILAR TO WHAT MAYOR ALTY SAID WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT SOME OTHER COUNCIL PROCEDURE BYLAWS FROM OTHER AREAS OF THE COUNTRY.
YEAH, A LOT OF THEM DON'T HAVE WEEKLY GPC MEETINGS, AND SO WHEN I WAS ALSO THINKING ABOUT THIS CRITICAL PATH TO THIS DECISION, WHICH MAYBE I OBVIOUSLY DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND, IT SEEMED LIKE ONE OF THE OTHER SPINOFFS THAT WE HAD INITIALLY TALKED ABOUT WAS TRYING TO FIND TIME FOR STAFF TO NOT BE DOING ADMINISTRATION ON BEHALF OF COUNCIL AND TO TRY TO FOCUS ON WORK.
[00:45:05]
ON SLIDE SIX, IF YOU REMOVED EVERY OTHER GPC MEETING, I.E.SO IS THAT THE SAME SCENARIO WE'RE IN? WOULD THAT WOULD THAT TIME HELP STAFF HAVE THAT FREE TIME? SO JUST A QUESTION.
COUNCIL, THOUGH, WOULD HAVE TO COMMIT TO DOING NOON TO FIVE MEETINGS.
SO THE WEEKLY MEETINGS ALLOW US TO TRY TO AIM TO HAVE OUR MEETINGS NOON TO 1:30, NOON TO 2:00.
SO AS LONG AS COUNCIL IS WILLING TO DEDICATE EVERY MONDAY AFTERNOON, WHICH I'M SEEING KIND OF NOT A LOT OF SUPPORT, THAT'S WHERE THE LIKE IF YOU LOOK AT THE CITY OF VANCOUVER, IT'S 9 A.M.
TO 9 P.M. IT'S JUST THE IF YOU, WE'VE GOT TO DO ALL THE SAME CONTENT, AND SO WHETHER WE DO IT IN ONE DAY OR TWO DAYS IS A QUESTION TO COUNCIL, BUT MS. BASSI-KELLETT ON ADMINISTRATION'S PERSPECTIVE ON THAT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MADAM CHAIR.
YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. IT WOULD MEAN WE HAVE DISCUSSIONS BECAUSE OF COURSE, AS COUNCIL MEMBERS KNOW, EVERY WEDNESDAY WE SIT DOWN AND AS A SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM, WE RIP APART EVERY MEMO THAT'S COMING FORWARD FOR CONSIDERATION AND PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AGAIN.
SO WE PUT THAT CORPORATE LENS ON EVERYTHING.
IF WE FIND THAT THERE ARE TIMES WE TRY VERY HARD TO LOOK AT HOW MANY THINGS PER GPC AGENDA, RECOGNIZING THAT WE LIKE TO BALLPARK, YOU KNOW, MAXIMUM TWO HOURS FROM NOON TILL TWO ON A MONDAY TO JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU CAN BALANCE OUT THE REST OF THE DEMANDS ON YOUR TIME.
WE HAVE FOUND AS WELL, IF WE LOOK BACK AT SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED OVER THE SUMMER WHEN WE'RE ON SUMMER SCHEDULING OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, WHAT WE'VE FOUND IS WE HAVE HAD TO CALL A REMARKABLE NUMBER OF SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETINGS OVER THE SUMMER JUST BECAUSE THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE COOKING THAT WE NEED TO GET BEFORE COUNCIL, BECAUSE THEY WILL HAVE SOME TIME SENSITIVITY.
SO EVEN IF WE WERE TO GO TO THAT KIND OF PROCESS YEAR ROUND, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE THOUGHT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, DOES THAT TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF THE GAS FOR US CONSTANTLY, EVERY WEEK TO BE CHURNING OUT CONTENT FOR GPC? THAT'S A LOVELY THOUGHT, BUT THE WORK IS GOING TO CONTINUE AND WE KNOW THE THINGS THAT NEED TO COME FORWARD FOR COUNCIL'S ATTENTION.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO BALANCE OUT DEMANDS ON OUR TIME DEMANDS AS WELL ON THE TIME OF COUNCIL.
SO STUFF LIKE APPOINTING AN OFFICER OR PLANNING AND LANDS AND THEN MOVED SOME OF THE WHEN PEOPLE REQUEST TO COME MAKE A PRESENTATION, IT'D BE IN THE EVENINGS VERSUS DURING THE DAYS JUST TO TRY TO BUT AGAIN, IF THERE'S NOTHING ON THE AGENDA MYSELF THE CITY CLERK AND THE CITY MANAGER WILL TAKE A LOOK AND OR IF THERE'S ONE ITEM AND IT'S JUST LIKE APPROVING THIS AUDIT COMMITTEE MEMBER SAY, LET'S BUMP THAT TO A WEEK AND WE CAN CANCEL THAT WEEK.
SO AGENDA REVIEWS ARE THAT BALANCING ACT.
THANK YOU FOR THAT, MADAM CHAIR.
YEAH. SO I GUESS JUST MY FINAL COMMENT.
I MEAN, I'M NOT CONVINCED THAT MOVING IT A WEEK AHEAD IS NECESSARILY BETTER FOR ALL THE REASONS WE TALKED ABOUT.
I APPRECIATE YOU GUYS EXPLORING THIS QUESTION.
SO IN THE ABSENCE OF CERTAINTY THAT THIS IS A BETTER THING; IT MIGHT JUST CAUSE A CLUSTER, I'M DEFINITELY IN SUPPORT OF, YOU KNOW, BEING MORE VOCAL AT ANY LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY TO ENSURE THAT WE USE THE TOOLS AVAILABLE TO US, AND, YOU KNOW, MAYBE FOR SOME OF THOSE AND I MEAN, IT'S KIND OF THE MIDDLE CATEGORY THAT YOU DON'T NECESSARILY KNOW WILL BE STICKY, BUT I THINK THAT'S WHERE, LIKE COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN SAID, IF ANYBODY HAS AN INDICATION OR IF THE MAYOR HERSELF KNOWS BECAUSE SHE OFTEN KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON BEHIND THE BEHIND THE SCENES, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO KNOW THAT WE MIGHT HAVE MORE TIME AND IT WILL JUST BE PUSHED AN EXTRA GPC OFF THE BAT BECAUSE THERE'S DEFINITELY SOME HOMEWORK THAT WE MAY WANT TO DO AS COUNCILLORS.
SO I APPRECIATE THAT AND I APPRECIATE EVERYBODY GIVING TIME TO THINK ABOUT THIS ABOARD.
THANK YOU. IT IS, YEAH, NO INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT TO REVIEW OUR PROCESS AND SEE WHERE WE CAN FIND OPPORTUNITIES AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MEETING THE OBJECTIVES OF WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO.
I FIGURED I MIGHT AS WELL CHIME IN.
I THINK I THINK BECAUSE MAJORITY OF OUR COUNCIL WERE TWO THIRDS NEW, IT TAKES TIME TO KIND OF GET USED TO THE PATTERN HOW GPC WORKS AND A LOT OF THE ISSUES THAT COME FORWARD ARE STUFF THAT'S REPEATED OR IT'S PART OF SOMETHING ELSE THAT WE HAVE ALREADY
[00:50:03]
DISCUSSED. SO IT TAKES TIME TO BE IN THE KNOW.LAST TERM I WAS BRAND NEW AND I THINK IT WAS ONLY UNTIL THE THIRD YEAR THAT I REALLY STARTED FEELING COMFORTABLE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE THINGS THAT I KNEW AND THE THINGS THAT I KNEW WAS COMING TOWARDS US, AND I UNDERSTAND THE WANTING TO BE IN THE KNOW RIGHT AWAY BECAUSE YOU DON'T EVER WANT TO BE UP HERE.
LIKE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, BUT IT'S PART OF, YOU KNOW, DIVING INTO THIS, GETTING TO KNOW YOUR BEARINGS.
THE PROCESS, I THINK HAS WORKED QUITE WELL AND IT'LL GET QUICKER AND FASTER FOR ALL OF US AS WE GET ALONG THROUGH HERE.
SO FOR MYSELF, I I'M APPRECIATIVE FOR ALL THE WORK THE ADMINISTRATION HAS DONE FOR US ON THIS JUST SO THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE WHAT IT DOES AFFECT THE DOMINO EFFECT OF IT AND WHAT IT ALL ENTAILS.
IF WE DO MAKE THESE SLIGHT CHANGES, IT'S NOT JUST ONE SMALL CHANGE.
IT'S A BIG CHANGE NOT ONLY TO ADMINISTRATION, BUT IT WILL ALSO BE A CHANGE FOR US BECAUSE IT WILL ACTUALLY ADD ON A LITTLE BIT MORE TO OUR WORKLOAD BECAUSE WE'LL HAVE TO DO A LOT MORE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
NOT THAT'S A BAD THING, BUT WE'LL HAVE MANY THINGS IN OUR BACK POCKETS THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE WELL PREPARED FOR WHEN JOE OFF THE STREET COMES AND CHATS WITH US ABOUT, YOU KNOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE SUBMARINE LINE, LET'S TALK ABOUT--SO I APPRECIATE THE WORK.
SO VERY APPRECIATIVE TO ADMINISTRATION.
THANK YOU. YEAH, AND I THINK YOU'VE RAISED AN IMPORTANT QUESTION, TOO.
THERE'S A LOT OF THE STUFF THAT WHILE A IS CYCLICAL AND WE'LL SEE ALL THE TIME, BUT B IS LIKE A MULTI YEAR THING, LIKE THE AQUATIC CENTER IS LIKE, HOW OFTEN DO WE TALK ABOUT THAT? AND SO LIKE THE THIRD TIME YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IT, YOU'RE LIKE, OKAY, I HAVE GOT A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF IT.
SO A LOT OF THE PROJECTS WILL BE KIND OF THOSE OVER THE COURSE OF OUR TERM DISCUSSIONS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMENTS, DISCUSSION? COUNCILLOR COCHRANE AND THEN COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN.
I DEFINITELY ON THE SIDE OF COUNCILLOR FEQUET.
PERFECT. THANK YOU. COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN.
ECHO COUNCILLOR COCHRANE, AND THANKS TO COLE, AND THANKS FOR COUNCILLOR FORGET TO BRING IT UP.
THIS WILL DEFINITELY BE IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD AND PERSONALLY DEFINITELY TRY AND BE A BIT MORE VOCAL WHEN I NEED SOME MORE TIME AND SUPPORTIVE OF ANY OTHER COLLEAGUES THAT WOULD DO THE SAME.
YEAH, IT'S DEFINITELY A LEARNING CURVE AND I THINK WE NEED TO BE, YEAH, FORWARD AND VOCAL WHEN WE DO NEED THAT MORE TIME, AND YEAH, AS WE HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE, THAT WILL OBVIOUSLY CHANGE, BUT YEAH, I THINK THIS WILL BE IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD AND TRY TO USE THE TOOLS THAT EXIST RIGHT NOW.
SO THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE DISCUSSION.
THANK YOU. YEAH, AND I THINK AGAIN, GIVE IT A TRY AND IF SOMETHING COMES UP OR IF WE FIND A DIFFERENT WAY OF DOING IT, BY ALL MEANS WE SHOULD INVESTIGATE IT AND PURSUE IT.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE PRESENTATION.
[5. A memorandum regarding whether to approve the 2023-2026 Council Strategic Directions. ]
MS. BASSI-KELLETT IF YOU'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE THE ITEM.THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MADAM CHAIR.
SO AS GPC MEMBERS WILL RECALL, THE COUNCIL APPROVED YOUR DRAFT STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS AT THE END OF MAY FOR RELEASE TO THE PUBLIC SO THAT THE PUBLIC COULD REVIEW AND COMMENT PRIOR TO FINAL REVIEW AND APPROVAL BY COUNCIL.
SO THROUGH PLACESPEAK FIVE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY REACHED OUT AND THEY MADE EIGHT COMMENTS ALTOGETHER AND THE COMMENTS TOUCHED ON RESPONDENTS PARTICULAR AREAS OF INTEREST AND ISSUES THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE ATTENTION FOCUSED ON OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
SO WHILE FIVE ISN'T A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE OF THE COMMUNITY, FIVE PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO SHARE THEIR PERSPECTIVES AND THEIR COMMENTS, AND THAT OF COURSE IS VALUABLE TO COUNCIL TO BE ABLE TO HEAR.
SO NOW WE'D LIKE TO RECOMMEND THAT COUNCIL CAN CONSIDER YOUR DRAFT STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS AND FINAL FORM, AND WE REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO THESE BEING APPROVED BECAUSE AS WE'VE MENTIONED BEFORE, THIS WILL FORM A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT GUIDE FOR THE CITY FOR THE REST OF YOUR TERM.
[00:55:09]
COUNCIL WANTS TO PUT ITS PRIORITIES.THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNCILLOR PAQUETTE.
JUST A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR ADMINISTRATION.
WERE THERE ANY CHANGES TO THE DOCUMENT AS A RESULT OF THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT? MS. BASSI-KELLETT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE QUESTION.
NO, WE DIDN'T MAKE ANY CHANGES.
WE WANTED TO BRING THESE FORWARD TO GPC TO SEE HOW YOU FELT ABOUT THEM AND IF THERE WERE ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD RECOMMEND CHANGING AS A RESULT, BUT ADMINISTRATION DID NOT TAKE THAT LIBERTY. THANK YOU.
CAN YOU JUST SPEAK TO KIND OF WHETHER THAT WORK PLAN IS CURRENTLY FULLY ALIGNED WITH THE STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS OR IF YOU NEED TO BE MAKING ADJUSTMENTS AND IF THE LATTER KIND OF THE TIMING AROUND THAT.
MS. BASSI-KELLETT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
YEAH, THE HORSE IS OUT OF THE GATE FOR 2023.
WE HAVE DEFINITELY WORK IS UNDERWAY.
WE DEFINITELY, AS SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM WILL TAKE THIS AWAY.
NOW, ONCE THE STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS ARE FINALIZED, WE WILL TAKE A LOOK AT THE THINGS THAT ARE ON OUR 2023 WORK PLAN AND 2024 GOING FORWARD AND LOOK AT HOW WE CAN ALIGN AND BUILD THOSE DOCUMENTS TOGETHER.
IN TERMS OF TIMEFRAME, I'D SAY A COUPLE OF MONTHS FOR US TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT WITH OTHER THINGS GOING ON, BUT ONCE THE STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS ARE FINALIZED, WE'LL DEFINITELY BE RAMPING UP HOW WE INTEGRATE THAT INTO THE WORK THAT WE HAVE UNDERWAY TO MAKE SURE THAT YOUR GUIDANCE IS FORMING AND SHAPING THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING OVERALL.
COULD YOU ELABORATE ON THE PROCESS FOR HOW COUNCIL REPORTS OUT ON THE PROGRESS TOWARDS THE STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS? MS. BASSI-KELLETT THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
SO WHAT WE'VE DONE PREVIOUSLY IS ADMINISTRATION HAS COME FORWARD TWO TIMES A YEAR AND PRESENTED TO GPC ON THE STATUS ON PRIORITIES THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS OVERALL ITEMS FOR THE WORK PLAN IN 2000.
SORRY, LET ME THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL HAD LAID OUT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, AND SO WHAT ADMINISTRATION DID, ONCE THOSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES WERE FINALIZED, WE CAME FORWARD WITH A PROPOSED PLAN DURING THE ENTIRE LIFESPAN OF THAT COUNCIL TO PROPOSE WHEN WE WOULD INITIATE CERTAIN ACTIONS THAT WERE MEETING THOSE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES AND WE BROUGHT THAT FORWARD, AND THEN WE REPORTED OUT ON THE PROGRESS THAT WAS MADE OVER THE COURSE OF THE FOUR YEARS OF THE LIFE OF THAT COUNCIL.
SO WE WOULD PROPOSE TO DO SOMETHING SIMILAR.
WE'LL LOOK AT A WORK PLAN OVERALL THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT OVER THE THREE AND A HALF YEARS REMAINING IN YOUR TERM OF OFFICE AROUND THE THINGS THAT WILL LINE UP WITH THE STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS AND COME BACK WITH THAT AS A PROPOSED APPROACH.
THANK YOU. GREAT, AND THE TIMING KNOWING WHAT'S ON THE DOCKET FOR THIS YEAR, LIKE YOU SAID, THE TIMING FOR WHEN YOU WOULD PROPOSE KIND OF HOW TO ACTIVATE THE ENTIRE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE NEXT THREE AND A HALF YEARS.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WOULD COME LATER THIS YEAR, JUST RECOGNIZING WE'RE ALREADY HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR? OF COURSE.
HOW COME YOU'RE NOT? WHEN WE WERE PLANNING ON DOING IT IN 2025, FOR EXAMPLE.
SO YEAH, WE'D WANT TO COME FORWARD WITH AN OVERALL HIGH LEVEL PLAN.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU, AND LAST, LAST THOUGHT, OR I GUESS.
I'M HAPPY TO SUPPORT THE COUNCIL'S STRATEGIC DIRECTION, BUT I DO REMEMBER SEVERAL COMMENTS THAT WERE MADE AT OUR EARLIER JUNCTURE WHEN WE WERE REVIEWING THIS, AND I DEFINITELY STILL HAVE THE SAME PREFERENCE THAT IT WOULD BE NICE FOR THIS TO BE BRANDED BY A NORTHERN ARTIST THAT WOULD, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THE DOCUMENT THAT'S GOING TO GUIDE US FOR THE NEXT THREE AND A HALF YEARS.
SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNCILLOR HENDRICKSEN.
DO YOU WANT ME TO TACKLE THEM BOTH NOW OR DO YOU WANT TO DO ONE DISCUSSION THEN SECOND? YOU CAN DO BOTH. OKAY.
[01:00:02]
SO ON PAGE FIVE OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS DOCUMENT, I'M JUST GOING TO READ SO THAT I DON'T MISS ANYTHING BECAUSE IT'S ABOUT WORDING. SO UNDER THE SUBTITLE LIVABLE COMMUNITY, I AM PROPOSING THAT WE AMEND THE WORDING BY CHANGING THE WORD CITIZENS TO RESIDENTS AND ADDING THE PHRASE PHYSICAL SPACE AFTER THE WORDS SOCIAL FABRIC.ACTUALLY, MAYBE I WILL GET YOU TO PAUSE.
OKAY. AFTER LET'S GO WITH FIRST THE LOGIC OF CHANGING FROM CITIZENS TO RESIDENTS.
SO MY LOGIC THERE IS NOT EVERYBODY IS A CITIZEN, BUT EVERYBODY IS A RESIDENT AND CITIZEN.
THIS IS ONLY USED ONCE IN THE DOCUMENT SO IT WON'T HAVE KNOCK ON EFFECTS.
WHEREAS RESIDENT IS THE COMMON USE THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE DOCUMENT.
YEAH, MAKES SENSE. I'M MORE OF A RESIDENT VERSUS A CITIZEN USE IN TERM KIND OF SEEING NODDING HEADS.
PERFECT, AND THEN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SOCIAL AND SOCIAL FABRIC AND PHYSICAL.
MY REASON FOR PROPOSING THE ADDITION OF THE WORDS AND PHYSICAL SPACE AFTER THE WORD SOCIAL FABRIC REALLY BOILS DOWN TO ENSURING THAT YK IS PHYSICALLY ACCESSIBLE SO THAT PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO ENJOY OUR CITY REGARDLESS OF THEIR DIFFERENT ABILITIES.
SO THIS ALSO ALIGNS RIGHT IN WITH THE KEY INITIATIVES IN THAT ON THAT PAGE UNDER PEOPLE FIRST, WHICH SPEAK TO MULTIMODAL DESIGN STANDARDS AND PROVIDING PUBLIC TRANSIT THAT MEETS USER NEEDS. SO I THINK IT'S JUST ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT, YES, IT'S ABOUT THE SOCIAL FABRIC OF THE COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO THE PHYSICAL SPACE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THAT SOCIAL FABRIC ACTUALLY OCCUPY.
YEAH, AND IT ALSO TOUCHES ON HOUSING, ETCETERA.
ANY EVERYBODY'S KIND OF GOT SHAKING HEADS ON THAT ONE TOO.
YOUR THIRD ONE, DID YOU? OH, NO, IT WAS ONLY THE TWO.
SEE, EVEN SNAPPY. I THOUGHT YOU WANTED THAT LAST LITTLE BIT.
SORRY YOU GUYS REMINDED ME OF THIS.
SO THE THIRD PIECE WAS WO I'VE WORKED ON A LOT OF STRATEGIC PLANS OVER THE YEARS, SO I'M REALLY CONSCIOUS OF THIS COMMENT THAT CAME IN FROM THE PUBLIC. SO BACK TO COUNCILLOR FEQUET'S COMMENT ABOUT ARE WE INCORPORATING PUBLIC FEEDBACK? AND YES, WE ONLY GOT FIVE RESPONSES, BUT I THINK THAT SHOWS FIVE ENGAGED RESIDENTS AND PEOPLE WILL ENGAGE WHEN THEY SEE ACTION TAKEN ON FEEDBACK.
SO I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT THING TOO, BUT, YOU KNOW, THE COMMENT THAT CAME IN AND YOU CAN SEE IT IN THE DOCUMENT IS THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION DOCUMENT IS VERY VAGUE AS A COMMUNITY WOULD BENEFIT FROM SEEING THE GOAL AND TACTICS THAT THE CITY WILL BE TAKING TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR VISION, AND ON IT GOES IN THAT VEIN.
WE WOULD HAVE DEBATED EVERYTHING, SOLVE THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS AND MOVED ON, BUT I THINK WHAT THAT COMMENT TO ME PROVIDES IS THAT WE DO NEED TO ADD SOMETHING INTO THE DOCUMENT FOR CLARITY SO THAT WHEN ADMINISTRATION OR COUNCIL GETS THAT FEEDBACK FROM RESIDENTS, WE CAN SAY, ACTUALLY, THIS IS WHY IT DOESN'T HAVE THAT AND I KNOW IT'S AGAIN A BIT OF JUST A WORDING PIECE, BUT ANYWAY, THE PIECE THAT I WOULD PROPOSE THAT WE ADD AND WHERE WE ADD IT, WE CAN GET WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT BRIEFLY AFTERWARDS, BUT THE WORDING I WOULD PROPOSE WE ADD SOMEWHERE IN THIS DOCUMENT IS THAT THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT MEANT TO PROVIDE SPECIFIC ACTIONS AND OUTCOMES.
THE COUNCIL'S STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS DOCUMENT INSTEAD PROVIDES THE CITY AND RESIDENTS AN OVERVIEW OF COUNCIL'S STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS AND THE PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE ITS WORK OVER THE COURSE OF OUR 2022-2026 COUNCIL TERM.
SO MY THOUGHT WOULD BE TO PUT IT SOMEWHERE NEAR THE START OF DOCUMENT.
IT'S AT THE END AS SORT OF A DISCLAIMER, THAT'S FINE, BUT I JUST THINK IT IT ADDS A LITTLE SOMETHING THAT ADMIN CAN GO WHEN THEY GET A COMPLAINT THAT WHERE'S THE REAL MEAT OF POTATOES OF THIS THEY CAN EXPLAIN WHY, AND SAME THING FOR US.
IT'S A QUICK EXPLANATION OF WHAT'S GOING ON.
ANYWAY. THAT'S THE PROPOSED ADDITION.
ANYBODY OPPOSED TO ADDING THAT? NO.
YEAH. OKAY. WE'LL LEAVE THAT WITH MS. BASSI-KELLETT AND THE TEAM TO YEAH, IT MAKES SENSE EITHER ABOVE THE PHOTO OR ON THE LAST PAGE, BUT I'LL GO TO COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN. YEAH, I'D JUST LIKE TO THANK COUNCILLOR HENDRICKSEN FOR BRINGING THIS FORWARD AND FOR THE RESIDENT WHO MADE THE COMMENT, I AGREE THE DOCUMENT IS VERY VAGUE AND I STRUGGLE WITH THAT IN SOME RESPECTS.
SO THIS IS LIKE THESE ARE OUR CURRENT THINGS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON AND WE CAN REPORT OUT ON.
[01:05:03]
SO YEAH, AND IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE THAT HIGH LEVEL SINCE THE CRYSTAL BALL, WHO KNOWS WHAT'LL HAPPEN OVER THE NEXT THREE AND A HALF YEARS.SO ANYTHING FURTHER FROM COUNCIL? COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN.
THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. YEAH, I JUST HAD A QUESTION.
FOLLOWING UP ON THE FIRST PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING THE TRAILS ENHANCEMENT AND CONNECTIVITY STRATEGY.
JUST BECAUSE IT WAS BROUGHT UP AND SOMEONE TOOK THE TIME TO ASK THE QUESTION AND I'M CURIOUS WHERE WE'RE AT IN TERMS OF THAT STRATEGY AND THE 2023 GOALS.
I WAS ABLE TO FIND USING CENSUS DATA THAT THE ACTIVE TRANSIT MODE SHARE HAS ACTUALLY DROPPED FROM 22.3% TO 19.5%.
THE GOAL WAS A 25% INCREASE AND WE'VE ACTUALLY SEEN A 12.5% DROP IN THAT, WHICH IS UNFORTUNATE, AND SOMETHING WE CAN WORK ON IS, IS ADMIN AWARE OF THE HOW MANY KILOMETERS OF TRAILS ARE CURRENTLY IN THE CITY? MS. BASSI-KELLETT ABSOLUTELY.
I'LL TURN THIS OVER TO MR. WHITE JUST MOMENTARILY, BUT ONE THING I WILL STRESS IS THAT WITH THE GLORIOUS AMOUNT OF CONSTRUCTION THAT'S HAPPENING ALL AROUND TOWN THAT I'M SURE OUR RESIDENTS ARE ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED WITH. THE GREAT THING ABOUT THIS IS THAT WE ARE SEEING THE ADDITION OF MULTI-PURPOSE TRAILS THAT ARE HAPPENING ALONGSIDE CERTAINLY IN AREAS LIKE ALONG CAM LAKE ROAD AND DOWN IN OLD TOWN AS WELL.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THAT WE'RE DOING AT THE SAME TIME THAT WE'RE DOING ROADS AS WE'RE MAKING SURE WE ARE ADDING THOSE MULTI-PURPOSE TRAILS, BUT IN TERMS OF KILOMETERS OF TRAILS THAT ARE AROUND IN THE COMMUNITY, I WILL TURN THIS OVER TO MR. WHITE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
SO CURRENTLY THERE'S JUST SHY OF 16KM WORTH OF TRAILS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY THAT COMMUNITY SERVICES LOOKS AFTER, RANGING FROM THE RANGE LAKE ROTARY PARK TRAIL, THE RANGE LAKE WATERFRONT TRAIL, MCMAHON FRAME, LAKE TRAIL, NIVEN TRAIL.
I'M GOING TO FORGET SOME [INAUDIBLE] OR SORRY TIN CAN HILL AND TWIN PINE HILL.
YEAH, I SAID [INAUDIBLE] YEAH.
JUST LOOKING AT THE REPORT, THE BASELINE WAS 25KM.
SO I'M JUST WONDERING WHERE THOSE NINE KILOMETERS WENT.
MS. BASSI-KELLETT. MR. WHITE THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THERE ARE SEVERAL TRAILS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY THAT WE DON'T MAINTAIN.
SO A LOT OF INFORMAL TRAILS, INCLUDING THE FRAME LAKE TRAIL THAT IS THE WINTER TRAIL.
I DIDN'T INCLUDE THAT IN THE 16, AND THERE'S ALSO THE, AS MS..
MS. BASSI-KELLETT MENTIONED, THE DEH CHO BYPASS ROAD.
THERE'S THAT TRAIL AS WELL THAT'S QUITE LENGTHY.
THAT'S NOT INCLUDED, AND I'D GUESS THOSE INFORMAL TRAILS WERE INCLUDED IN THE BASELINE.
IF IT'S POSSIBLE TO GET A NUMBER AT A FUTURE DATE FROM ADMIN ON THE TOTAL KILOMETERS OF TRAILS USING THE SAME FRAMEWORK AS THE REPORT USED, WHETHER THAT'S INFORMAL AND FORMAL OR NOT, THAT WOULD BE AWESOME AS I'D LIKE TO SEE US STICK TO THESE TARGETS AND REALLY, AS WE JUST TALKED ABOUT THE STRATEGIC DIRECTION, COME CHECK IN AND FOLLOW UP I THINK IS VERY IMPORTANT.
MS. BASSI-KELLETT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THANK YOU. THE OTHER THING THAT MIGHT MAKE SENSE IS, ALTHOUGH THE CONSULTANTS MAKE A LOT OF RECOMMENDATIONS, THEY'RE NOT ALWAYS ACCEPTED.
STAFF OR COUNCIL DON'T ALWAYS ACCEPT ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO IT WOULD PROBABLY BE GOOD TO ALSO HAVE THAT WORK PLAN OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WILL ACTUALLY BE ACTIONING VERSUS RECOMMENDATIONS THAT APPRECIATE THAT THE CONSULTANT MADE THEM. HOWEVER, WE'RE NOT PROCEEDING WITH IT, SO THAT'D BE A GOOD EXERCISE OVER OUR TERM.
COUNCILLOR COCHRANE. THANK YOU, MADAM MAYOR.
I JUST LIKE TO THANK THE ADMINISTRATION'S WORK ON THIS IN THIS ENGAGEMENT PROCESS, AND THANK YOU FOR THE FIVE PEOPLE WHO OR FIVE RESIDENTS WHO SENT IN COMMENTS TO US.
THE ONLY THING I WOULD RESPOND TO IS WITH THE TIN CAN HILL QUESTIONS.
[01:10:03]
THE DEVELOPMENT IS OUT OF OUR JURISDICTIONAL HANDS.THANK YOU, AND YEAH, THERE WAS ONE OTHER MINOR AMENDMENT, BUT JUST THAT HOTEL LEVY SHOULD BE CHANGED TO ACCOMMODATION LEVY SINCE IT'S MORE THAN JUST HOTELS, B&BS, SHORT-TERM RENTALS, ALL THAT STUFF WILL BE.
WITH THAT, THE NEXT IS A DISCUSSION REGARDING THE ACCESS FOR ALL POLICY, AND SO THIS IS BACK TO
[6. A discussion regarding the Access for All Policy. ]
COUNCIL OPENING IT UP TO DISCUSSION BUT COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN, IF YOU'D LIKE TO KICK IT OFF.THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MADAM MAYOR.
UM, SO I WILL SORT OF GO THROUGH WHAT MY PROPOSAL IS AND WHY I THINK IT'S WARRANTED, HOW IT'LL IMPACT STAFF WORKLOAD AND GIVE SOME VAGUE REVENUE IMPACT ESTIMATES.
IN PRACTICAL TERMS, THIS CHANGE TO THE POLICY WOULD ONLY MEAN ALTERING FIVE WORDS IN SECTION 1.1.1(A) FROM THE APPLICANT'S HOUSEHOLD INCOME IS AT OR BELOW THE APPLICABLE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES MARKET BASED OR MARKET BASKET MEASURE THRESHOLD FOR THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE HOUSEHOLD TO THE APPLICANT'S HOUSEHOLD INCOME IS AT OR BELOW THE APPLICABLE LOW INCOME MEASURE THRESHOLD FOR THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE HOUSEHOLD.
JUST SORT OF A BASICALLY IT SORT OF MEANS ABOUT A DOUBLING IN THE PERCENTAGE OF HOUSEHOLDS THAT WOULD QUALIFY AND ABOUT A JUST OVER A DOUBLING IN THE AMOUNT OF RESIDENTS THAT WOULD QUALIFY.
SO WHAT IS THE LOW INCOME MEASURE? IT'S A COMMONLY USED INTERNATIONALLY COMPARABLE MEASURE OF LOW INCOME.
GO FIGURE. STATISTICS CANADA DEFINES IT AS THE LOW INCOME MEASURE AFTER TAX REFERS TO A FIXED PERCENTAGE OF MEDIAN ADJUSTED AFTER TAX INCOME OF PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS. THE HOUSEHOLDS AFTER TAX INCOME IS ADJUSTED BY THE EQUIVALENT SCALE TO TAKE ECONOMICS OF SCALE INTO ACCOUNT.
SO IT TALKS ABOUT AN ADJUSTMENT IN THERE THAT IS A SLIGHTLY COMPLEX CALCULATION USED TO DETERMINE A MEDIAN INCOME FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL WITHIN A POPULATION, AND IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THE LOW INCOME MEASURE IS EASY FOR STAFF TO DETERMINE AND TO APPLY.
I'M PROPOSING USING A SIMPLER METHOD TO CALCULATE THIS THRESHOLD.
THE SIMPLE CALCULATION WOULD ONLY NEED TO BE DONE ONCE EVERY CENSUS OR ONCE EVERY FIVE YEARS, AND JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SIMPLE CALCULATION DELIVERS A SIMILAR RESULT TO THE MORE COMPLEX ONE LAID OUT BY STATISTICS CANADA.
I DETERMINED THE THRESHOLD FOR EACH HOUSEHOLD SIZE USING BOTH METHODS FOR 2020 AND 2015, AND OVERALL, THE SIMPLE CALCULATION RESULTS RETURNS A RESULT WITHIN 1.6% OF THE COMPLEX CALCULATION AND IN 2020 THE AVERAGE DIFFERENCE WAS ONLY 0.3%.
SO I THINK IT IS FAIR TO USE THE SIMPLE CALCULATION.
SO WOULD THIS CHANGE BE JUSTIFIABLE IN FIVE, TEN, 20 YEARS TO THE COUNCIL OF THE DAY? THAT'S UP FOR US TO DECIDE AS A GROUP, BUT MY RATIONALE FOR THE CHANGE IS AS FOLLOWS THE ACCESS FOR ALL PROGRAM STATED PURPOSE, AND THIS IS DIRECTLY FROM THE CITY'S WEBSITE. THE CITY OF YELLOWKNIFE ENVISIONS THAT EVERY CITIZEN LIVING IN YELLOWKNIFE SHOULD HAVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY USING OUR MANY FACILITIES IN YELLOWKNIFE REGARDLESS OF FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS.
SO I BELIEVE THAT IF WE ARE AS A CITY ARE TRULY TO ACHIEVE THIS, IF WE ARE REALLY TO STRIVE TO ENSURE THE PARTICIPATION OF ALL YELLOWKNIFE RESIDENTS IN RECREATION AND TRANSIT SERVICES, REGARDLESS OF THEIR PERSONAL FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS, I BELIEVE WE NEED TO EXPAND ACCESS FOR ALL.
THIS IS BECAUSE THE CURRENT CUTOFF IS TOO LOW AND LEAVES SOME RESIDENTS UNABLE TO PARTICIPATE.
[01:15:05]
A FAMILY OF FOUR MAKING JUST ABOVE THE CURRENT MAXIMUM INCOME CUTOFF IS PAYING 47% OF THEIR HOUSEHOLD INCOME FOR SHELTER AND 23% FOR FOOD.THIS IS USING THE NORTHERN BASKET MEASURE AS WELL AS DATA FOR 2021 AND 2022 INFLATION.
IN THIS CASE, THE FAMILY WOULD BE PAYING 34% OF THEIR INCOME FOR SHELTER AND 17% FOR FOOD.
ULTIMATELY, THIS PROGRAM IS A BALANCE.
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE A PERFECT BALANCE IN THIS REGARD.
HOWEVER, I BELIEVE IT IS OUR JOB AS COUNCILLORS TO LOOK AT THE DATA AND MAKE A JUDGMENT AS TO WHETHER WE ARE IN THE BALLPARK OF THIS BALANCE, AND THEREFORE, IF THE POLICY GOALS ARE BEING MET, THE DATA SHOWS THAT A FAMILY OF FOUR IN YELLOWKNIFE WHO IS CURRENTLY PAYING 70% OF THEIR INCOME JUST TO FEED AND SHELTER THEMSELVES, WOULD MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY TO QUALIFY FOR ACCESS FOR ALL AS IT CURRENTLY EXISTS.
THEREFORE, I'M PROPOSING USING THE LOW INCOME MEASURE.
FIRST, HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE WOULD QUALIFY FOR ACCESS FOR ALL USING THE CHANGE? SO USING THE STATSCAN DATA, I ESTIMATE THAT 1027 PEOPLE CURRENTLY QUALIFY, MEANING THE PROGRAM'S CURRENT UPTAKE RATE IS 52%.
THIS IS ACTUALLY A VERY GOOD RATE AND FOR ME SHOWS THE VALUE RESIDENTS FIND IN IT.
THIS WOULD MEAN MORE THAN DOUBLING THE SIZE OF THE PROGRAM.
GIVEN THE 52% UPTAKE RATE, THIS MEANS ROUGHLY 755 MORE PEOPLE WOULD USE THE PROGRAM, WHEREAS ITS 530 IF MY MEMORY SERVES CORRECTLY, CURRENTLY, BEFORE GIVING MY ESTIMATE AS TO THE REVENUE IMPACTS, I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT I BELIEVE THIS ESTIMATE WOULD BE HIGHER THAN THE ACTUAL NUMBER. THIS IS BECAUSE IN CREATING THE ESTIMATE, I ASSUME THAT EVERYONE IN THE CITY USES TRANSIT AND RECREATION SERVICES AT AN EQUAL RATE.
HOWEVER, IF USED EQUALLY BY EVERYONE IN THE CITY.
MY ESTIMATE FOR THE TRANSIT REVENUE LOSS FOR THIS PROGRAM EXPANSION WOULD BE $12,158, USING 2022 ACTUAL USAGE DATA OR 3.9% OF TRANSIT REVENUE.
IN TERMS OF THE POTENTIAL RECREATION FACILITY REVENUE LOSS, I HAVEN'T RECEIVED DATA FROM THE CITY ON THE ACTUAL USE OF RECREATION FACILITIES, SO I USED A COST RATIO OF ONE TRANSIT FARE TO ONE RECREATION FACILITY ENTRY TO ESTIMATE THIS COST POTENTIAL LOST REVENUE FOR REC FACILITIES.
IT'S $8.50 TO ENTER REC FACILITY ONCE.
SO THAT'S 2.83 ESTIMATES LOST REVENUE FOR REC FACILITIES AT $34,447.
ALL TOLD, WITH MY PROPOSED EXPANSION TO ACCESS FOR ALL, I ESTIMATE THE POTENTIAL REVENUE LOSS.
ASSUMING ALL RESIDENTS USE SERVICES AT AN EQUAL RATE TO BE $46,606.
THAT'S EQUIVALENT TO A 0.13 TAX INCREASE.
ONE WAY WE COULD RECOUP THIS POTENTIAL LOST REVENUE WITHOUT RAISING TAXES IS BY INCREASING PARKING FEES AT METERS AS WELL AS FOR MONTHLY AND YEARLY PASSES. FROM OUR DISCUSSION A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, THE CITY GENERATES ROUGHLY 450,000 TO 500,000 FROM PARKING FEES A YEAR.
THIS 10% CHANGE WOULD BE BELOW INFLATION AND SHOULD, IN MY OPINION, BE HIGHER.
[01:20:07]
YEAR. I DON'T INTEND TO LINK MY ACCESS FOR ALL EXPANSION DIRECTLY TO THE PARKING FEE CHANGES, BUT IT'S ONE IDEA TO RECOVER POTENTIAL LOST REVENUE, AND I'LL BE PROPOSING THE CHANGES TO THE PARKING FEES AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME.SO JUST TO NOTE, ON THE ACCESS FOR ALL PROGRAM, I WOULD SAY THE TWO THINGS JUST TO TRY TO GET SOME CONSENSUS DOESN'T HAVE TO BE UNANIMOUS. IT JUST NEEDS A MAJORITY WOULD BE ONE THE DEFINITIONS SO THE ACCESS FOR ALL PROGRAM IN REGARDS TO THE NUMBER OF YEARS SO ADMINISTRATION'S PROPOSED TWO YEARS BACK IN APRIL, COUNCIL WAS RECOMMENDING THREE YEARS.
SO JUST LOOKING TO VALIDATE TO MAKE SURE IT'S STILL THREE YEARS FOR COUNCIL IF YOU WANT TO DROP IT BACK DOWN TO TWO, AND THEN THIS, THE SECOND PART BEING WHETHER IT'S THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES MARKET BASKET MEASURE THRESHOLD OR WHETHER TO GO WITH COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN'S REVISION OF A NWT LOW INCOME MEASURE THRESHOLD FOR THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE.
SO OPENING IT UP TO QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION.
THANKS, MAYOR ALTY AND THANK YOU, COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN.
WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT THIS THE LAST TIME, MY BIG HESITANCY, AS EVERYBODY KNOWS AT THE TIME, WAS SORT OF WHAT'S THE FINANCIAL IMPACT? I NEEDED TO BE ABLE TO BE COMFORTABLE WITH WHAT THAT REALITY WAS BEFORE POTENTIALLY EXPANDING THE PROGRAM.
I WOULDN'T, AS YOU SAID, TIE IT AT THIS POINT TO PARKING FEE ADJUSTMENTS.
I THINK FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, I WOULD ASK FROM AN ADMINISTRATIVE PERSPECTIVE, I WOULD SAY WE CAN CAPTURE THAT CHANGE IN THE PROGRAM WITHIN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET, I WOULD ASSUME, WITH CONSIDERING THAT AMOUNT, BUT MAYBE IF WE NEED TO LOOK AT IT, BUT OTHERWISE I WOULD SAY JUST AS PART OF BUDGET 2024 BUILDING, HOW DO WE DO THAT? ALTHOUGH I WOULD ALL OF THAT.
MAYOR ALTY FOR ADMIN JUST AND THIS IS FOOLISH ME PARKING FEE ADJUSTMENTS JUST AS YOU BRING IT UP, COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN DOES THAT HAVE TO BE A COUNCIL DECISION OR IS THAT. THAT'S A COUNCIL DECISION? OH, MAYOR ALTY IS ANSWERING.
ADMIN, YOU DON'T NEED TO ANSWER ANYWAY.
SO THAT'S ME. THANKS, MAYOR ALTY.
WE DICTATE HOW MUCH IT IS FOR FIVE 10, 25 ANNUAL ET-CETERA IN REGARDS TO WHAT BUDGET IMPACT IT WOULD HAVE THIS YEAR, I THINK IT'S TOUGH TO SAY HOW MANY PEOPLE THAT WOULD QUALIFY FOR THIS ARE ALREADY USERS OF THE FACILITY, SO IT'S TOUGH TO SAY IF THERE WOULD BE LOST REVENUE.
SO AND COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN JUST SO I DOCUMENTED, RIGHT, YOU'RE GOOD WITH THREE YEARS VERSUS TWO.
OKAY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, DISCUSSION ON THIS? COUNCILLOR COCHRANE. THANK YOU, MADAM MAYOR.
I SUPPORT EXCHANGING THE MBM TOWARD THE LIM.
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN FOR ALL HIS NERDY GOOD WORK.
YOU'VE ANSWERED ANY SORT OF CONCERNS THAT I HAVE, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THE CHANGE OF THE PROGRAM, AND I ALSO SUPPORT THE CHANGE FROM 2 TO 3 YEARS IN LENGTH OF PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY. THANK YOU, COUNCILLOR FEQUET.
THANKS, MADAM CHAIR. YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO THANK COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN FOR ALL HIS WORK.
THAT'S A LOT OF WORK AND A LOT OF THINKING.
YEAH. OKAY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, DISCUSSION? FOR MYSELF, I APPRECIATE COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN'S RESEARCH ON THIS.
I HAD TO TAKE A LOOK INTO IT MORE, AND SO RECOGNIZING FIRST THAT THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA DOESN'T HAVE AN OFFICIAL DEFINITION OF POVERTY, HOWEVER, THERE'S 2 OR 3 DIFFERENT MEASURES THAT TEND TO BE USED IS LOW INCOME CUTOFFS, A MARKET BASKET MEASURE OR LOW INCOME MEASURE, AND SO IF WE USE THE DEFINITION OF A LOW INCOME CUTOFF, THEY'VE BROKEN IT DOWN LIKE 8.8% OF CANADIANS WOULD FALL INTO THIS CATEGORY.
[01:25:08]
, AND SO EACH IS A DIFFERENT DEFINITION.IRONICALLY ENOUGH, GNWT JUST RELEASED AT 1:14 P.M.
THEIR RECIPIENTS FOR THE ANTI-POVERTY FUND, AND I WAS JUST TAKING A QUICK LOOK AT THEIR THEIR ACTION PLAN TO REDUCE POVERTY AND IN THAT THEY THEY GO WITH THE MARKET BASKET MEASURE AND WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT THE THREE DIFFERENT THE ONE THING WITH THE LOW INCOME MEASURE IS IT'S A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD MEDIAN INCOME AND IT MAKES NO ADJUSTMENTS FOR DIFFERENT PROVINCES OR COMMUNITY SIZES.
HOWEVER COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN'S ADJUSTED IT TO BE THE LOW INCOME MEASURE FOR YELLOWKNIFE AND, AND SO THE MARKET BASKET MEASURE IS GENERALLY USED BECAUSE IT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT GEOGRAPHICAL DIFFERENCES WHERE THE LOW INCOME MEASURE JUST IS USED INTERNATIONALLY TO COMPARE CANADA TO FRANCE OR CANADA TO ITALY, SO THAT WE ALL HAVE THE SAME MEASURE THAT WE'RE USING, AND SO IF I LOOK AT ACTUALLY USING ACTUALLY USING THE LOW INCOME MEASURE, THE CANADIAN ONE AND NOT A DIFFERENT ONE, FEWER PEOPLE WOULD BE ELIGIBLE VERSUS USING THE NORTHERN MASS MARKET BASKET MEASURE.
IT IS STILL TWEAKED, AND THEN I ALSO AM A LITTLE UNCLEAR ON HOW STAFF WOULD LOOK AT THE HOUSEHOLD AFTER TAX INCOME, WHETHER THAT'S THE YOUR NET INCOME, AND I DON'T KNOW IF COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN HAS ANY, ANY IDEA THE AFTER TAX INCOME IS THAT NET INCOME AND PEOPLE WOULD BE BRINGING IN THEIR THAT'S HOW WE WOULD DETERMINE THAT THEY'RE ELIGIBLE BECAUSE I DO THINK EVEN MORE PEOPLE WOULD BE ELIGIBLE IF IT'S THEIR NET INCOME VERSUS 73,000 NET INCOME ACTUALLY MEANS THAT THEIR GROSS INCOME IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE AND WE COULD BE CAPTURING.
A LOT OF RESIDENTS IN YELLOWKNIFE, AND THEN I THINK WE HAVE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT.
IF SO MANY PEOPLE IN YELLOWKNIFE CAN'T ACCESS OUR FACILITIES, WE'VE GOT A PRETTY BIG CONCERN AND WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING THAT VERSUS TRYING TO CAPTURE IT JUST THROUGH AN ACCESS FOR ALL.
DO YOU ANY INTEL ON THAT ONE? WHAT IS CURRENTLY USED BECAUSE WITH THE NORTHERN BASKET MEASURE RESIDENTS CAN PROVIDE THEIR NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT AND IS WHAT IS WHAT IS USED ON THAT NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT IS THAT NET OR IS THAT GROSS? MS. BASSI-KELLETT, DO YOU KNOW? I THINK.
YEAH, I'LL PASS IT OVER. MS. BASSI-KELLETT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I'LL ASK OUR MR. [INAUDIBLE] IF HE'D LIKE TO ELABORATE AT ALL.
I WOULD NEED A MINUTE TO CONSIDER, AND DOES IT MEAN NO ON THAT NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT, DOES IT SORT OF SHOW AFTER TAX INCOME? IT IS.
I TOOK A LOOK AT MY TAXES TODAY TO SEE WHAT MY NET INCOME WOULD BE VERSUS MY GROSS.
SO WE JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE BRINGING IN THAT SECTION OF THEIR THEIR TAXES.
HOWEVER, WE CAN GIVE YOU MORE THAN ONE MINUTE.
WE CAN GIVE YOU TEN MINUTES BECAUSE WE REACHED OUR 90 MINUTE MARK.
SO LET'S COME BACK AT 1:45 P.M..
SO. YEAH, FOR MYSELF, I WOULD STILL LIKE TO CONTINUE WITH THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES MARKET, BASKET MEASURE, THRESHOLD AND BEFORE.
[01:30:09]
THE OTHER THING COUNCIL COULD CONSIDER WAS BACK IN 2018, IN THE BUDGET, A GROUP OF RESIDENTS CAME FORWARD AND REQUESTED THAT THE CITY LOOK AT DOING AN ANTI-POVERTY STRATEGY.SO LOOKING AT ALL THE CURRENT PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE AND DETERMINING ACTIONS THAT WE COULD TAKE SO WE COULD HAVE THAT MORE HOLISTIC LOOK OF WHAT DOES AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEFINITION FOR THE CITY LOOK LIKE? HOWEVER, ALSO RECOGNIZING THE GNWT'S HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY RECOMMENDS THAT THEY HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE OR THE SAME DEFINITION.
SO I HOPE WE CAN ALL ALIGN FEDERAL, TERRITORIAL AND MUNICIPAL DEFINITIONS, BUT YEAH, I'M NOT COMFORTABLE RIGHT NOW MOVING FORWARD WITH THE ALTERNATE.
I ALSO THINK THE IF WE DO IT TO THREE YEARS, PEOPLE WHO ARE ON MAT' LEAVE ONE YEAR COULD BE ELIGIBLE AND THEN THEY GET IT FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS BECAUSE IT'S A THREE YEAR PROGRAM.
SO I THINK THERE COULD BE INADVERTENT OR MORE PEOPLE ELIGIBLE FOR THIS PROGRAM THAN WE MAY THINK, AND IF WE REALLY HAVE AS MANY RESIDENTS IN NEED OF THIS, THEN I THINK WE HAVE TO LOOK AT OUR FEES AND CHARGES IN GENERAL.
SO, BETWEEN THE CURRENT THREE WAYS, THE LOW INCOME CUT OFFS, THE MARKET BASKET MEASURE OR THE LOW INCOME MEASURE, MY PREFERENCE IS STILL TO GO WITH THE MARKET BASKET MEASURE OPENING UP TO SECOND ROUND.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO THE MAYOR FOR THE CATCH.
IN TERMS OF HOW WE'RE COMPARING, YEAH, HOW WE'RE CREATING THE THRESHOLD AND HOW WE'RE COMPARING PEOPLE'S INCOMES CRUCIAL, AND I WOULD ADD THAT MY PROPOSAL IN ORDER TO, YEAH, KEEP EVERYTHING EQUAL.
I'M PROPOSING TO CHANGE TO A NET INCOME THRESHOLD.
I THINK WE ALSO NEED TO CHANGE TO THE NET INCOME WAY TO COMPARE TO THAT, AS POINTED OUT BY THE MAYOR, THAT'S A CRITICAL CATCH AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SEEING THAT.
SO I WOULD PROPOSE THE CHANGE TO SECTION 4.1.
2, WHERE IT SAYS IN THIS POLICY, HOUSEHOLD INCOME IS DETERMINED BY ADDING TOGETHER ALL GROSS INCOME AS SET OUT IN NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT CHANGE THAT TO. IN THIS POLICY, HOUSEHOLD INCOME IS DETERMINED BY ADDING TOGETHER ALL NET INCOME AS STATED IN THE GROSS NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT AND THAT'S CLEARLY STATED THERE AND EASILY COMPARABLE FOR STAFF LINE 236 SO I WOULD MAKE THAT ONE CHANGE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE COMPARING WE'RE CREATING A THRESHOLD USING NET INCOME AND THEN WE'RE USING PEOPLE'S NET INCOME TO QUALIFY FOR THAT THRESHOLD.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR POINTING THAT OUT, AND SECOND COMMENT ON THE MAYOR'S COMMENTS.
I VERY MUCH UNDERSTAND THE VALUES OF STRATEGIES, BUT I BELIEVE AS A CITY, WE HAVE PLENTY OF STRATEGIES THAT EXIST ALREADY, AND I'M LOOKING TO MAKE CHANGES THAT CAN HAVE AN IMPACT ON PEOPLE'S LIVES NOW, NOT IN TWO, THREE, FOUR YEARS.
I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS, MAYOR ALTY, BUT I WOULD LEAN I'M LEANING IN COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN'S FAVOR ON THIS ONE JUST BECAUSE I THINK THAT.
THIS IS A CHANCE FOR THAT TANGIBLE CHANGE.
THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN ANYTIME SOON, UNFORTUNATELY, AND ALSO, THIS IS THIS SPECIFIC POLICY.
THESE ARE DEFINITIONS AROUND THIS SPECIFIC POLICY.
I KNOW CONSISTENCY IS IDEAL, BUT SOMETIMES DIFFERENT PROGRAMS REQUIRE DIFFERENT TOOLS WITHIN THEM, AND SO WITH THAT, I'LL STILL BE SUPPORTING COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN'S MOTION. THANKS. OR PUSH FOR THIS TO GO TO COUNCIL.
I MEAN, PART OF WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS THAT I HAVE PRIVILEGE.
[01:35:02]
MANY OF US UP HERE HAVE PRIVILEGE, AND THIS POLICY IS REALLY GEARED TOWARDS HELPING THOSE WHO DON'T OR WHO MAY BE IN FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT REALLY NEED THIS SUPPORT, AND IF THIS IS ONE WAY THAT WE CAN MAKE YELLOWKNIFE MORE LIVABLE FOR FAMILIES WHO MIGHT OTHERWISE NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO STAY HERE AND ALSO ENJOY THEIR TIME, THEN THAT'S A PROBLEM.SO I DO STILL SUPPORT THE CHANGES, THE REVISED CHANGES THAT COUNCIL MCLENNAN JUST MENTIONED.
COUNCILLOR PAYNE. THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR.
I'LL BE SUPPORTING THE MAYOR'S OUTLOOK ON THIS.
I'M JUST WONDERING IF WITH THE CURRENT PROCESS, UNTIL WE GET LIKE AN OVERALL LOOK AT THE ANTI-POVERTY STRATEGY, IF WE COULD DO SOMETHING IN THE MEANTIME, LIKE MAYBE TAKING THE CURRENT NUMBERS AND ADDING THE RATE OF INFLATION.
I KNOW WE'VE HAD A PRETTY HIGH INFLATION IN THE LAST YEAR, BUT IF WE WERE TO LINK IT TO SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN THE MEANTIME, UNTIL WE GOT GOT THE WHOLE THING FIGURED OUT, IF THAT WOULD BE AN EASIER POSSIBILITY RIGHT NOW.
MS. BASSI-KELLETT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS FOUNDATIONAL FOR CITY ADMINISTRATION WHEN THE ACCESS FOR ALL PROGRAM WAS SET UP, THAT WE WERE USING CONSISTENT AND TRANSPARENT INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE AND THAT WAS SO PEOPLE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING INTO THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE FORMULA.
SO THE KIND OF THING WHERE WE KNOW WHAT THE STANDARD IS, DO PEOPLE MEET THE THRESHOLD OR NOT? AND WE CAN FOLLOW THROUGH.
SO IF WE WERE CHANGING WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE MONTH BY MONTH OR CHANGING IT BASED ON A FORMULA THAT IT WASN'T NECESSARILY TRANSPARENT, WE WEREN'T FRANKLY SUPPORTIVE OF DOING THAT, BUT WE WANTED SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY EASY TO ADMINISTER, TRANSPARENT AND WAS BASED ON A POLICY, YOU KNOW, WAS SOMETHING THAT WE WEREN'T MAKING UP OURSELVES. IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS PREDICATED IN AND BASED IN INFORMATION THAT HAD BEEN DEDUCED BY SOMEONE AS REPUTABLE AS STATS CANADA.
SO WE WERE TRYING TO FOLLOW THAT IN OUR IMPLEMENTATION, CHANGING THIS TO REFLECT INFLATION.
WE KNOW THAT IT'S BEEN SO VOLATILE LATELY, IT'S BEEN A PRESSURE POINT THAT EVERYBODY FACES, AND SO WE'RE VERY SYMPATHETIC TO THAT, BUT THAT COULD MEAN A LOT OF LACK OF CLARITY IN TERMS OF WHAT THE NUMBERS ARE AND WHAT THE REQUIREMENTS ARE, AND IT WOULD HAVE AN ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN AS WELL ON CITY STAFF.
I WASN'T MEANING LIKE WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT THESE NUMBERS ONCE A MONTH OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT, BUT IF WE WERE TO IF WE STARTED WITH A BASE AMOUNT LIKE WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW AND THAT WHAT IS THAT AMOUNT CURRENTLY IT'S 57,000? FOR THE CUT OFFS? YEAH. IT RANGES IF YOU'RE A HOUSEHOLD OF IF YOU'RE ONE PERSON, IT'S 30,000 ALL THE WAY UP TO A SIX PERSON HOUSEHOLD IS 74,000.
YEAH, SO, I MEAN, IF WE HAD OUR BASE AND WE STILL COULD DO IT LIKE THAT AND WE BASE IT ON A TWO YEAR AVERAGE OF, OF INFLATION, WE LOOK, I'M JUST THROWING STUFF OUT. I DON'T WANT TO I DON'T THINK THAT WE NEED TO RECREATE THE WHEEL HERE.
WE DON'T NEED A BETTER CEREAL BOWL.
WE JUST NEED DIFFERENT CEREAL AND IT SOMETIMES, BUT YEAH, THAT'S MY TWO CENTS.
I'LL STILL SUPPORT THE MAYOR'S TAKE ON THIS.
THOSE WHAT YOU BROUGHT UP THERE AND THE AMENDMENTS COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN HAS JUST MADE DUE TO NET I THINK ARE GREAT AND I CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE POLICY AND I DO HOPE THAT MAYBE THE EVENTUAL DOLLAR IS ALLOCATED TO THE ANTI-POVERTY STRATEGY WOULD ALLOW US TO OFFSET THE REVENUE LOSS FROM THE CHANGES TO THIS POLICY.
I ALSO ENVISION THIS FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO YEARS OR THREE YEARS ON THIS PROGRAM FOR AS A PILOT, AND AT THAT TIME, IF WE HAVE TO REVIEW THE POLICY AGAIN AND MAKE CHANGES FROM [INAUDIBLE] TO THE BASKET, THEN I'D BE OPEN TOWARDS THIS, BUT WITHIN THE SPIRIT OF THIS PROGRAM, I THINK COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN HAS BROUGHT UP A WAY FOR US TO BE ABLE TO MAKE IT MORE ACCESSIBLE, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT FOR THIS.
[01:40:01]
IT IS INTERESTING BECAUSE IF YOU PLAY AROUND WITH THE FIGURES, YOU KNOW SOMEBODY'S MAKING 80,000 AFTER TAX, THEIR INCOME IS 60,000.SO WITH OUR NEW DEFINITION, THEY WOULD BE ELIGIBLE.
SO I DO THINK WE'RE WE ARE INCREASING WHO'S ELIGIBLE A FAIR AMOUNT.
SO IF IT'S A SINGLE MOM, BUT THE WILL OF COUNCIL IS TO GO FORWARD WITH THIS.
THE ONE THING I WOULD SAY IS HOPEFULLY OR THE ONE THING I WOULD LIKE IS MAYBE JUST TO EVEN LOOK AT A ONE YEAR IF WE ACTUALLY WANT TO DO A PILOT PROJECT, BECAUSE ONCE WE DO THIS ONE YEAR, PEOPLE ARE IN IT FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
ANYBODY WHO RUSHES OUT TO GET THIS MAKING $80,000 IS GOING TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
SO IF FOLKS DO WANT TO CONSIDER THE TIME FRAME, BUT RIGHT NOW, I'M HEARING THE WILL OF COUNCIL IS TO CHANGE THE DEFINITION TO THREE YEARS AND TO CHANGE THE DEFINITION. SO ADMINISTRATION, IF WE CAN GET THE POLICY UPDATED BECAUSE THERE ARE A FEW POINTS THERE THAT HAVE TO GET CHANGED AS COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN AND THE CITY CLERK I THINK NOTED IN THE DEFINITION.
SO JUST MAKING SURE WE'VE GOT A CLEAN COPY FOR TO COME FORWARD TO COUNCIL.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. JUST TO CLARIFY QUICKLY FROM THE MAYOR'S COMMENTS THERE SO THAT THE TWO PERSON HOUSEHOLD CUT OFF AFTER TAX INCOME WOULD BE 64,000.
SO CORRECT THAT A TWO PERSON HOUSEHOLD WHO'S AFTER TAX INCOME WAS 60,000 WOULD QUALIFY.
THAT WOULD MEAN THAT EACH MEMBER OF THAT HOUSEHOLD AVERAGE GROSS INCOME WOULD BE $40,000 A YEAR AND I THINK THAT'S IT'S A CHALLENGE TO LIVE IN THAT IN THIS COMMUNITY MAKING $40,000 A YEAR.
THANK YOU. HOWEVER, THE COMPOSITION DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN IT'S TWO ADULTS.
IT CAN BE AN ADULT AND A KID EQUALS A TWO PERSON HOUSEHOLD.
SO SOMEBODY MAKING 80,000 IS GOING TO BE ELIGIBLE UNDER OUR NEW DEFINITION.
CORRECT, BUT THEY WOULD STILL HAVE A KID TO SUPPORT IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD.
SO MS. BASSI-KELLETT AND WE WON'T BRING THIS FORWARD NEXT MONDAY BECAUSE COUNCILLOR MCLENNAN IS AWAY.
SO WHAT WE WILL DO IS BRING IT FORWARD TO COUNCIL ON MONDAY, JULY 24TH AT 7 P.M.
WITH THAT, THE NEXT ITEM IS AN ITEM IN-CAMERA PERSONNEL MATTER.
[IN CAMERA]
IF I CAN GET A MOTION TO MOVE IN-CAMERA.MOVE BY DEPUTY MAYOR ARDEN-SMITH SECONDED BY COUNCILLOR FEQUET.
SO WE HAVE NO BUSINESS ARISING FROM IN-CAMERA.
IF I CAN GET A MOTION TO ADJOURN, MOVE BY COUNCILLOR COCHRANE SECONDED BY DEPUTY MAYOR ARDEN-SMITH.
WE WILL SEE YOU AT GPC NEXT MONDAY.
HAVE A GOOD. HAPPY NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY ON WEDNESDAY.
WOO WOO!
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.