Minutes: Tuesday, November 28, 2023

1. That Ann Balaban be appointed to the Committee of Adjustment for a term ending in November 2026 or until such time as a successor is appointed.
2. That Alex Zantout be appointed to The Elliott Community Board of Trustees for a three-year term, effective December 1, 2023 and ending in November, 2026 or until such time as a successor is appointed.
3. That Peter Barrow be reappointed to The Elliott Community Board of Trustees for a three-year term ending in November 2026 or until such time as a successor is appointed.
4. That Lisa Woolley be reappointed to The Elliott Community Board of Trustees for a one-year term ending in November 2024 or until such time as a successor is appointed.

1. That Council approve the updated Mayor and Council Expense and Education Policy, attached as Attachment-2 to the report entitled “Mayor and Council Expense and Education Policy Update” dated November 6, 2023, and repeal the Policy on Councillor Attendance at Municipal Events.

1. That the Advisory Committees of Council Governance Framework, included as Attachment-1 to report 2023-413, dated November 6, 2023, be approved.
2. That City staff, in partnership with the Guelph Lab and University of Guelph, be directed to apply the Advisory Committees of Council Governance Framework to existing Advisory Committees of Council and report back to City Council in Q4 2024.
3. That the City Clerk be directed to prepare annual information reports, beginning in 2025, detailing the status of the implementation of the Advisory Committees of Council Governance Framework, included as Attachment-1 to report number 2023-413, dated November 6, 2023.
4. That the City Clerk be directed to research random representative sampling models for appointments to Advisory Committees of Council, as described in report number 2023-413, dated November 6, 2023, and report back to City Council prior to the 2028-2031 multi-year budget.
5. That the budget implications associated with the Advisory Committees of Council Governance Framework, included as Attachment-1 to report number 2023-413, dated November 6, 2023, be referred to future multi-year budgets.
6. That Advisory Committee of Council member recruitments and appointments be paused until Q4 2024, excluding recruitments required to ensure quorum can be maintained.

1. That the Advisory Committees of Council Governance Framework, included as Attachment-1 to report 2023-413, dated November 6, 2023, be approved as amended.

1. That the Advisory Committees of Council Governance Framework, included as Attachment-1 to report 2023-413, dated November 6, 2023, be approved as amended.
2. That City staff, in partnership with the Guelph Lab and University of Guelph, be directed to apply the Advisory Committees of Council Governance Framework to existing Advisory Committees of Council and report back to City Council in Q4 2024.
3. That the City Clerk be directed to prepare annual information reports, beginning in 2025, detailing the status of the implementation of the Advisory Committees of Council Governance Framework, included as Attachment-1 to report number 2023-413, dated November 6, 2023.
4. That the City Clerk be directed to research random representative sampling models for appointments to Advisory Committees of Council, as described in report number 2023-413, dated November 6, 2023, and report back to City Council prior to the 2028-2031 multi-year budget.
5. That the budget implications associated with the Advisory Committees of Council Governance Framework, included as Attachment-1 to report number 2023-413, dated November 6, 2023, as amended, be referred to future multi-year budgets.
6. That Advisory Committee of Council member recruitments and appointments be paused until Q4 2024, excluding recruitments required to ensure quorum can be maintained.

1. That the Council of the City of Guelph now hold a meeting that is closed to the public, pursuant to the Municipal Act, Section 239(2) (b) and (k) of the Municipal Act relating to personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees and a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board to consider Daytime Drop-In Services Update

1. That Daytime Drop-In Services Update on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, report be received for information.

1. That staff be directed to offer an extension of the current pilot program with Royal City Mission to offer drop-in service hours 6 days a week, at a maximum cost to the City of $21,322 per month. The pilot extension will be from January 1, 2024 to March 31, 2024, and the total cost of $63,966 be taken from the Tax Rate Operating Continency Reserve.

WHEREAS more than 70 municipalities and regions across Ontario including Hamilton, London, Ottawa, Toronto, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Windsor, along with Peel, Durham, Halton and Waterloo Regions have declared a gender-based violence and/or intimate partner violence epidemic, and;

WHEREAS on August 16, 2023 Justice Minister Arif Virani described gender-based violence as “an epidemic” in the federal government’s formal response to the Culleton, Kuzyk & Warmerdam (CKW) Inquest JURY RECOMMENDATIONS, also stating that his government is committed to ending the gender-based violence epidemic “in all its forms, and is working to address any gaps in the Criminal Code to ensure a robust justice system response,” and; 

WHEREAS by declaring gender-based violence and intimate partner violence an epidemic, Guelph can join the growing number of municipalities, regions and organizations like Ontario Big City Mayors and AMO in demanding action from all levels of government to address this growing epidemic and; 

WHEREAS the incidences of gender-based violence and intimate partner violence increased exponentially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and have not decreased, while funding to provide the growing demand of services and support for victims and survivors of intimate partner and gender-based violence has not kept pace, and; 

WHEREAS in 2022, the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability estimated that one woman or girl is killed every 48 hours in Canada,

WHEREAS Guelph Wellington Women in Crisis served 998 women and 54 children across all its program areas in 2022 and fielded 2,452 crisis calls and;

WHEREAS Guelph Police Services attended 1,659 calls for service related to various domestic incidents in 2022, up slightly from 1639 calls for service in 2021.

Recommendation:

1. That the City of Guelph Recognizes the issue of gender-based violence in Guelph as serious to the health and wellness of our residents and their families.
2. That Guelph City Council declares that intimate partner violence and violence against women is an epidemic, in accordance with Recommendation #1 of the CKW Inquest.
3. That the Province of Ontario be requested to declare that intimate partner violence is an epidemic, in accordance with Recommendation #1 of the CKW Inquest.
4. That the provincial and federal governments be urged to enact the additional 85 recommendations from the CKW Inquest into the 2015 murders of Carol Culleton, Anastasia Kuzyk and Nathalie Warmerdam in Renfrew County, Ontario, which provide a roadmap to preventing intimate partner violence from escalating to femicide.
5. That the provincial and federal governments provide the necessary support to municipalities, regions and their emergency and social services to meaningfully address the gender-based violence and intimate partner violence epidemic.
6. That the recommendations from the CKW Inquest be referred to staff for consideration and, where appropriate, in accordance with the spirit of Recommendation #10, and set out gender-based violence/intimate partner violence as a named priority within the Community Plan.
7. That staff, leveraging the Community Plan as a forum for convening interested partners and collaborating where appropriate, empower the community to raise awareness about and take action to support those impacted by intimate partner violence.
8. That staff provide an update to Council to outline the changes proposed to the Community Plan.
9. That intimate partner violence be included in any future updates to Guelph’s Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan.
10. That Guelph City Council respectfully request Guelph Police Services Board share a report that outlines how the police service meets or intends to address the recommendations contained in the Inquest.
11. That this resolution will be circulated to The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, The Honourable Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, The Honourable Charmaine A. Williams, Associate Minister of Women’s Social and Economic Opportunity, The Honourable Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, The Honourable Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General of Ontario, The Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, MP Lloyd Longfield, MPP Mike Schreiner, the Guelph Police Services Board, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the Ontario Big City Mayors.