Present:

Chair: Councillor M. Luloff
Vice-Chair: Councillor K. Egli
Councillors: D. Deans, L. Dudas, E. El-Chantiry, M. Fleury, T. Kavanagh, C. Kitts, C. McKenney, C. A. Meehan, T. Tierney

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

No declarations of interest were filed

CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

Minutes 21 September 26, 2021

CONFIRMED

RECREATION, CULTURAL AND FACILITY SERVICES

COMMUNITY RECREATION AND CULTURAL PROGRAMS

1.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP CAPITAL PROGRAMS ANNUAL REPORT

ACS-RCF-GEN-0008

CITY WIDE

REPORT RECOMMENDATION(S)

That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend Council:

1.    Receive the listing of projects funded under delegated authority through the Community Partnership Minor Capital program in 2020 as detailed in Document 1;

2.     Approve in principle the list of 2021 Community Partnership Major Capital projects as detailed in Document 2 and within the Council approved program budget envelope;

3.       Receive the status update of prior year Community Partnership Major Capital projects previously approved in principle as detailed in Document 3; and

4.      Delegate authority to the General Manager, Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services to work with Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) – Community Culture and Recreation (CCR) Funding Stream Transfer Payment Agreements (TPA), to set up the detailed financial planning, creation of accounts, and project management for the ICIP approved projects for Centennial Park and Trend Arlington Park.

CARRIED

EMERGENCY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES

SECURITY & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

2.

9-1-1 ANNUAL REPORT 2019 AND 2020

ACS-2021-EPS-SEM-0002

CITY WIDE

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend Council receive this report for information.

Kim Ayotte, Acting General Manager, Emergency and Protective Services, gave opening remarks stating that there is a good system in place.  Beth Gooding, Director, Public Safety Service assisted in answering any questions from Committee members.

Committee members discussed, but not limited to, the following questions:

911 calls go through police call centre, do other municipalities look at 911 differently especially for mental health calls? The City does not have stats but Ottawa model is the most common across Canada.  With regards to mental health calls this is being investigated more on appropriate action.

Steve Kanellakos, City Manager stated that they are mandated with looking at mental health by a motion from Councillor Deans. The guiding council looking at mental health and how police is involved and how these calls are dealt with. Adjustments will be made going forward. Don’t want to change 911 triage at this point but will look at on how we off-load calls and report back to CPSC and Council.

When calling from cellphone, close to the Ottawa River, it may connect with a Quebec tower and Quebec 911. Why does this happen and how do we mitigate? This also happens in Ottawa with Quebec calls. Within seconds simply transferred to correct jurisdiction. Function of geography and how cell systems work.

The report recommendation was then put to Committee and CARRIED as presented.

3.

SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT 2019 AND 2020 ANNUAL REPORT

ACS-2021-EPS-SEM-0001

CITY WIDE

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend Council receive this report for information.

Kim Ayotte, Acting General Manager, Emergency and Protective Services, gave opening remarks stating that there is a good system in place.  Beth Gooding, Director, Public Safety Service assisted in answering any questions from Committee members.

Committee members discussed, but not limited to, the following questions:

There is a concern with 3^rd party security companies at various City facilities. Staff are looking at this in a broader aspect and was also part of their audit.  As well looking at CCTV cameras in parks and the City has a CCTV policy that speaks to privacy so can only be used if specific way.

There has been an extreme heat situation in last couple of years and need for a proper policy. Need deeper engagement with community. This is directly related to COVID and malls being closed. Cooling centres opened in response to pandemic but with climate change, seasons are hotter. Staff would like to develop strategy for this. Will work with Ottawa Public Health and other stakeholders to look and revise our current approach.

With regards to the floods, it has been valuable to have staff on the ground. Response time has been very good.  Good lessons learned on how to handle volunteers, etc.

The report recommendation was then put to Committee and CARRIED as presented

4.

COMMUNITY SAFETY AND WELL-BEING PLAN

ACS2021-EPS-PPD-0003

CITY WIDE

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that Council:

1.         Approve the draft Community Safety and Well-Being Plan as outlined in this report and attached as Document 1; and

2.         Direct the General Manager of Community and Social Services to develop a governance structure, an evaluation and performance measurement framework, and a financial strategy for the administration, implementation, evaluation, and funding of the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan as set out further in this report, and to report back to the appropriate Standing Committee of Council as soon as feasible.

Anthony Di Monte, General Manager of Emergency and Protective Services, gave some opening remarks before introducing Kim Ayotte, Acting General Manager, Emergency and Protective Services and Lisa Petch, Program Manager, Operational Projects, who gave a PowerPoint presentation.  The presentation is held on file with the City Clerk’s office.

The Committee then heard from the following delegations: 

1. * Sean Meagher – Rethinking Community Safety - Changes are needed to capitalize on services. High cost to calls requiring police services but can be used better elsewhere. He said that you can’t policy your way out of homelessness, addition, etc. there are services that can do this work. Police have far too many other requests so can’t get police in realistic response time. More boots on the ground will not fix the city. Report sets that out clearly.

2. * Francis Nolan Poupart – Somerset West Community Health Centre – This report is a small part of making change. Grass root services are more effective. Not here to talk about a new spend, just to say that the City can use the money in a better way.

3. * Michelle Hurtubise – Centretown Community Health Centre - Commended city in response to mental health crisis. Need to invest in mental health, in counselling, housing, social services, etc. and he examples of dollars amounts and how they could benefit services.

4. * Luc Ouellette – Orleans Cumberland Community Resource Centre - From our perspective, More areas are dealing with mental health issues with community-based services and are being removed from policing issues. Gave examples of how money can do for certain services.

5. * Jeffrey Bradley - Ph.D. student Legal Studies - Carleton University – He spoke to a PowerPoint presentation held on file in the City Clerk’s office.   Alternatives to policing, addressing violence, trauma, and victimization with community-based interventions in addition to current proposal for social well-being. Empowering women by improving child-care, job opportunities, income, and restorative responses to harm.   Additional annual funding of at least $30 million a year for the actions to implement the plan. Funding from city matched by other orders of government

[ *         Individuals marked with an asterisk either provided their comments in writing or by email; all such comments are held on file with the City Clerk. ]

Committee members had a variety of questions dealing with but not limited to the following:

-       Anthony Di Monte stated that this is the first step in journey of where we go. Already identified six priorities. Heard last delegate in setting goals/targets and governance. Very reassuring to hear. A lot of work by different areas. We all want to move this forward as quickly as possible. Gaps need to be invested in and actioned – evidence-based approach. Clear that we can’t do it financially unless other levels of government participate.

-       Donna Gray, General Manager, Community and Social Services commented that the City needs to look at this holistically as we move into the next term of Council. Pleased to be taking on this work.

-       Councillors noted that this plan has been in the works for a number of years. Thanks to staff and Lisa for this. The City of Ottawa is ahead of the game with this.

-       There is still no money from the province on this provincially mandated project.

-       The work being done by guiding council is looking at priorities and pillars. They expanded their mandate. Ensuring membership is fulsome. Need to integrate with this plan. The council is currently defining to terms of reference. It is at arms-length group.

-       This plan needs to be adequately resourced but agree that the timing is not quite right.  Need to look at City’s options and better understand before writing to AMO.

-       Some wording needs to be clarified on Mental Health and staff will review for any changes. Guiding council is overseeing body of the pillar of the community health plan. They are setting up that work. City manager will report back on that structure. The Chair agreed and stated to make that change in the report.

-       Ottawa Public Health does a lot of work on equity – is staff leveraging OPH expertise and consulting with them. OPH been a key partner throughout.

-       There is a need to work on priority actions to help us measure the progress, which is complex. Staff in Community and Social Services have started on what province is expecting. This will be an addition to that work. Will come back with an approach and framework.

-       The question about funding will be best asked in the 2nd step.

The report recommendations were put to Committee and CARRIED as presented.

OTTAWA FIRE SERVICES

5.

OTTAWA FIRE SERVICES 2020 ANNUAL REPORT

ACS2021-EPS-OFS-0001

CITY WIDE

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that Council receive this report for information.

Kim Ayotte, Acting General Manager, Emergency and Protective Services, gave opening remarks and was joined by Fire Chief, Paul Hutt in answering any questions from Committee members.

The Committee heard from the following delegation:

Doug McLennan – President Ottawa Professional Firefighters Association – He noted that 2020 was unprecedented time. Members have overcome many issues including ice rescue calls. He said there needs to be a strategy for staffing levels. He said there is an overtime model at the moment. Members are getting fatigued. There is a need to work on response time but staff issues could rectify that. Members are diagnosed with PTSD and mental health issues.

Committee members had a variety of questions of the speakers dealing with but not limited to the following:

It was noted that that there are over 900 members but also have over 500 volunteer firefighters. Volunteers receive same training but may take longer as they have full time jobs.

The Chief cited accreditations and how in 2019, changed call types to align with accreditations. Since then there is a decrease in response time.

With regards to PTSD they have several programs to assist with these members. Participating in a study with Ottawa U. continue to work on educating program.

With regards to recruiting, is there a problem in getting diversity and gender equity – how can we reduce those barriers?  The Chief outlined the recruitment program. Developed outreach working group and working with community. Still a lots to do. They have entered into a program with Scouts Canada and other organizations.

The report recommendation was put to Committee and CARRIED as presented.

COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL SERVICES

EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SERVICES

6.

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE MODERNIZATION, TRANSFORMATION, AND INTEGRATION UPDATE

ACS2021-CSS-GEN-014

CITY WIDE

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that council receive this report for information.

Clara Freire, Director, Employment and Social Services gave a brief summary of the report.

Committee members had a variety of questions of the speakers dealing with but not limited to the following:

There are so many services that need to be delivered. As well, there are service standards from the Province (ODSP). With all these changes from the Province does the City advocate on behalf of residents to the province.  Staff are pleased with the province’s approach in engaging municipalities. At those tables, the City has been advocating for its clients for social assistance rates. Province has engaged clients in this exercise. There are many positive changes that they are doing and allowing municipalities times to work with clients. It doesn’t meet all the needs, but we will use the tools we have on this.

The province isn’t proposing any reductions or increases at this time.  The City will not realize any savings through this exercise. Any savings at the province level will go back into social services. This is a long-term strategy – many won’t be implemented until 2024. Staff will continue to update council accordingly.

The report recommendation was put to Committee and CARRIED as presented.

LONG TERM CARE SERVICES

7.

LONG-TERM CARE SERVICES STRATEGIC PLAN

ACS2021-CSS-GEN-015

CITY WIDE

REPORT RECOMMENDATION(S)

That the Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that Council:

1.          Approve Long-Term Care’s five-year strategic direction, which includes renewed mission, vision, values and strategic priorities, as described in this report; and

2.         Direct the Director of Long-Term Care to include $100,000 in the 2022 Long-Term Care budget for the development of a customized person-centred care model as described in this report; and

3.         Direct the Director of Long-Term Care to report back to Committee and Council on the implementation plan and approach once confirmation of the LTC provincial budget revenues have been confirmed for 2022-2023.

INFORMATION PREVIOUSLY DISTRIBUTED

A

ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE – MEMBER APPOINTMENT

ACS2021-OCC-GEN-0023

CITY WIDE

B

USE OF DELEGATED AUTHORITY DURING 2020 BY THE RECREATION, CULTURAL AND FACILITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT, AS SET OUT IN SCHEDULE “E” OF BY-LAW 2020-360, AS AMENDED BY BYLAW 2021-8

ACS2021-RCF-GEN-0019

CITY WIDE

ADJOURNMENT