Community Services Committee

Minutes

Meeting #:

07

Date:

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Time:

9:30 A.m. - 5:30 P.m.

Location:

Champlain Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West, and by electronic participation

Present:

• Chair Laura Dudas, 
• Vice-Chair Jessica Bradley, 
• Councillor David Brown, 
• Councillor Marty Carr, 
• Councillor Steve Desroches, 
• Councillor David Hill, 
• Councillor Theresa Kavanagh, 
• Councillor Rawlson King, 
• Councillor Wilson Lo, 
• Councillor Stéphanie Plante, 
• and Councillor Ariel Troster 

---

1.

Notices and meeting information for meeting participants and the public

Notices and meeting information are attached to the agenda and minutes, including: availability of simultaneous interpretation and accessibility accommodations; in camera meeting procedures; information items not subject to discussion; personal information disclaimer for correspondents and public speakers; notices regarding minutes; and hybrid participation details.

Accessible formats and communication supports are available, upon request.

Except where otherwise indicated, reports requiring Council consideration will be presented to Council on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, in Community Services Committee Report 7.

The deadline to register by phone to speak, or submit written comments or visual presentations is 4 pm on Monday, November 27, 2023, and the deadline to register to speak by email is 8:30 am on Tuesday, November 28, 2023.

2.

Declarations of Interest

2.1

D. Hill - 2024 Draft Operating and Capital Budget – Community Services Committee

In accordance with Sections 5 and 6 of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, R.S.O. 1990, I, Councillor David Hill, declare a potential, deemed indirect pecuniary interest on the following portions of the Community Services Committee (CSC) 2024 Draft Operating Budget: Community Services Department, Children’s Services Operating Resource Requirement, “Wage Enhancement” and “Canada Wide Early Learning” line items (Page 11 of the CSC Budget Book), as my wife is employed by an organization that will receive funding from, or would be eligible to receive funding from, these budget line items; and Recreation, Cultural and Facilities Services, Community Recreation, Culture and Sports Programs, Complexes, Aquatics and Specialized Services Operating Budget (Page 33-36 of the CSC Budget Book), as my daughter is employed as a lifeguard in the service that receives funding from this area of the budget.

3.

Confirmation of Minutes

3.1

CSC Minutes 6 – Tuesday, October 24, 2023

• Carried

4.

Responses to Inquiries

4.1

CSC-2023-07 – Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (SPDAT)

5.

Finance and Corporate Services Department

5.1

2024 Draft Operating and Capital Budget – Community Services Committee

ACS2023-FCS-FSP-0016 – City Wide 

The draft budget was tabled at the Council meeting of November 8, 2023. The Community Services Committee’s report on the draft budget will be considered by Council at its meeting of December 6, 2023.

• D. Hill declared a conflict on this item. (In accordance with Sections 5 and 6 of the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, R.S.O. 1990, I, Councillor David Hill, declare a potential, deemed indirect pecuniary interest on the following portions of the Community Services Committee (CSC) 2024 Draft Operating Budget: Community Services Department, Children’s Services Operating Resource Requirement, “Wage Enhancement” and “Canada Wide Early Learning” line items (Page 11 of the CSC Budget Book), as my wife is employed by an organization that will receive funding from, or would be eligible to receive funding from, these budget line items; and Recreation, Cultural and Facilities Services, Community Recreation, Culture and Sports Programs, Complexes, Aquatics and Specialized Services Operating Budget (Page 33-36 of the CSC Budget Book), as my daughter is employed as a lifeguard in the service that receives funding from this area of the budget.)

Dan Chenier, General Manager, Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Department, Cyril Rogers, General Manager, Finance and Corporate Services Department, Clara Freire, General Manager, Community and Social Services Department, and Allyson Downs, Director, Parks Maintenance and Forestry Services, presented an overview of the draft 2024 operating and capital budgets, and answered questions from the Committee.  A copy of the slide presentation is filed with the Office of the City Clerk.

The following staff also answered questions:

• Community and Social Services Department: Sawsan Al-Refaei, Director, Gender and Race Equity, Inclusion, Indigenous Relations and Social Development, Paul Lavigne, Director, Housing, Sarah Taylor, Director, Community Safety, Well-Being, Policy & Analytics Stephanie Bordage, Director, Employment & Social Services
• Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Department: Kevin Wherry, Manager, Parks and Facilities Planning
• Public Works: Kendra Labrosse, Area Manager, Parks and Grounds Maintenance

Committee received the following written submissions, and a copy of each is filed with the Office of the City Clerk:

• Bronwen Hennigar email dated November 21
• Robyn Osgood (Boys and Girls Club Ottawa) email dated November 24
• Robert Rheaume (Boys and Girls Club Ottawa) email dated November 24
• Farhana Alarakhiya (Boys and Girls Club Ottawa) email dated November 25
• Blaine Fitzgerald (Boys and Girls Club Ottawa) email dated November 26
• Meredithe Rechan (Boys and Girls Club Ottawa) email dated November 27
• Kathleen Fortin written comments received November 27
• Jean-François Born (Mouvement d'implication francophone d'Orléans, MIFO) written comments received November 27
• Denise Lepage (Ottawa Regional Society of Architects) written comments received November 27
• Mari Flores written submission received November 28 (at the request of Committee)

The following members of the public spoke before the Committee and provided comments on the draft budgets:

• Shakir Ishak
• Mari Flores
• Helen Molema
• Joanne Kilby-Coulas
• Alta Boursiquot
• Chris Becker (Ottawa Baseball Infrastructure Improvement Group, slides on file)
• Kaite Burkholder Harris (Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa)
• Calla Barnett (Sandy Hill Community Liaison Committee)
• Peter Tilley (Ottawa Mission, speaking notes on file)
• Jean-François Born and Arash Mohtashami-Maali (MIFO, slides and speaking notes on file)
• Ana M. Cruz-Valderrama – speaking notes on file
• Stephanie Maghnam
• Henry McCambridge
• Christine Trauttmansdorff (Volunteer Ottawa)
• Amanda Bonacci (Coalition of Community Health and Resource Centres)
• Cassandra Olsthoorn, Nicole Milne, and Meghan Walsh (Ottawa Cultural Alliance)
• Anya Fraser
• Adam Joiner, Medin Admasu, and Kian Nejad (Boys and Girls Club Ottawa)
• Linda Howie

Staff accepted the following direction (Councillor M. Carr):

Due to funding shortfalls, BGC Ottawa (formerly Boys and Girls Club Ottawa) has closed one of their clubhouses and is facing the potential need to eliminate programming and reduce services to children and youth in Ottawa’s most vulnerable communities.

That staff be directed, prior to Council's consideration of the Budget on December 6, 2023, to meet with BGC Ottawa to discuss their situation and explore options for how the City of Ottawa could potentially assist in addressing their current challenges.

After discussion, the Committee considered the following motions.

• Recommendation 

  That the Community Services Committee consider the relevant portions of the 2024 Operating and Capital Budgets and make recommendations to Council, sitting as Committee of the Whole, to be held December 6, 2023. 
• Motion No. CSC 2023-07-01
  Moved by R. King

  WHEREAS Council approved the Anti-Racism Strategy, a five-year plan to proactively identify and remove systemic barriers in City policies, programs and services;
  WHEREAS this strategy proposes an action plan with seven areas of focus, 28 recommendations and 132 actions to be implemented over the next five years;
  WHEREAS the priorities of the strategy is to engage with community partners, residents and City staff played a major role in shaping the priorities of the strategy. It includes seven priority areas of focus:  

  • Governance   
  • Housing     
  • Economic development   
  • Health outcomes    
  • Children and youth development  
  • Achieving racial equity in the workplace
  • Institutional practices 

  WHEREAS the strategy will be implemented in two phases, with phase one currently underway with a focus on building internal support and awareness in the workplace and collecting race-related data. Continuing to engage and build relationships is important to this phase, with the goal of applying recommendations and actions from the strategy. 
  WHEREAS Anti-Indigenous racism, Anti-Black racism, Anti-Asian racism, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia, among others, are real forms of racism that affects Ottawa’s residents in many ways both in acts of hate, as well as, through systemic barriers;
  WHEREAS there has been a 23.5 per cent increase in hate and bias motivated incidents in 2023 based upon reporting from the Ottawa Police Service, with a notable rise in both antisemitism and Islamophobia across the City since the start of the conflict in the Middle East
  WHEREAS the Community Services Committee portion of the 2024 Operating and Capital Budgets includes an increase in funding for the Gender and Race Equity, Inclusion, Indigenous Relations and Social Development office, including funding to add three full-time equivalent resources to the office;
  WHEREAS there are currently no specific dedicated resources for the anti-hate initiatives outlined in the 2024 budget;
  THEREFORE BE IT RESOVLED that staff be directed to explore the opportunities within its additional resources to enhance and develop specific initiatives with an anti-hate focus;
  AND THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that staff focus on including:

  1. Engage and bringing together important community organizations, stakeholders and partners, including the United For All Coalition
  2. Implement training initiatives to address common hate-motivated concerns
  3. Help identify specific opportunities to reduce hate and promote awareness about the negative impact of racism
• Motion No. CSC 2023-07-02
  Moved by J. Bradley

  BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Community Services Committee recommend that Council, sitting as Committee of the Whole on December 6, 2023, approve the Community Services Committee portion of the 2024 Draft Operating and Capital Budgets, as follows:

  1.    Community and Social Services Operating Budget, as follows: 

  A.    General Manager’s Office and Business Support Services Operating Resource Requirement (page 2) 

  B.    Community Safety, Well-Being, Policy and Analytics Operating Resource Requirement (page 5);

  C.    Employment and Social Services Operating Resource Requirement (page 8);

  D.    Children’s Services:

  i)    User fees (page 13); 

  iii)    Remaining Operating Resource Requirement (pages 11-12)

  E.    Housing Services Operating Resource Requirement (page 15)

  F.    Long Term Care Services Operating Resource Requirement (page 17);

  G.    Gender and Race Equity, Inclusion, Indigenous Relations and Social Development Services Operating Resource Requirement (page 21)

  2.    Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Operating Budget, as follows:

  A.    General Manager’s Office and Business Support Services:

  i)    User fees (page 24);

  ii)    Operating Resource Requirement (page 23);

  B.    Community Recreation, Culture and Sports Programs:

  i)    User Fees (pages 28-30);

  ii)    Operating Resource Requirement (page 27);

  D.    Parks and Facilities Planning:

  i)    User Fees (page 40);

  ii)     Operating Resource Requirement (page 39);

  E.    Facility Operations Service

  i)    User Fees (page 44);

  ii)    Operating Resource Requirement (page 43).

  3.    Public Works Department Operating Budget, Parks Maintenance Services Operating Resource Requirement (page 46); and

  4.    Community Services Committee’s portion of the Capital Budget (pages 47-48, individual projects listed on pages 85-136). 

  Carried
• 1. D. ii)    “Wage Enhancement” and “Canada Wide Early Learning” line items of the Operating Resource Requirement (Page 11)

  2. C.    Complexes, Aquatics and Specialized Services:

  i)    User Fees (pages 34-36);

  ii)    Operating Resource Requirement (page 33);

  Carried

  Councillor D. Hill did not participate in discussion, nor vote, on recommendations 1.D.ii) and 2C. of motion no. CSC 2023-07-02.

  
  

6.

Office of the City Clerk

6.1

Status Update – Community Services Committee Inquiries and Motions for the period ending November 10, 2023

File No. ACS2023-OCC-CCS-0155 – City-wide

• Report Recommendation(s)

  That the Community Services Committee receive this report for information.

  Received

7.

In Camera Items

There were no in camera items.

8.

Information Previously Distributed

8.1

Use of Delegated Authority during 2022 by the Community and Social Services Department under Schedule “D” City of Ottawa By-law 2022-29 

File No. ACS2023-CSS-GEN-018

8.2

Use of Delegated Authority during 2022 by the Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Department, as set out in schedule “E” of By-Law 2022-253, as amended by Bylaw 2022-77

File No. ACS2023-RCF-GEN-0004

9.

Notices of Motions (For Consideration at Subsequent Meeting)

9.1

Poverty reduction initiatives for artists and culture workers

Submitted by Councillor A. Troster:

WHEREAS staff have indicated work on a new municipal Culture Plan will begin in 2024; and

WHEREAS the median income of artists and culture workers in Canada is 44% lower than the average Canadians income; and

WHEREAS in 2022, the Unison Benevolent Fund dispersed more emergency funding and provided more mental health support to artists and culture workers than all their previous years combined; and

WHEREAS a majority of artists and culture workers are members of a marginalized group; and

WHEREAS due to a lower median income and other contributing factors, artists and culture workers are more likely to deal with mental health and addiction issues, precarious housing, food insecurity and other impacts of poverty; and

WHEREAS other cities, including Toronto and Nashville have made significant efforts to assist artists and culture workers to ensure they can remain in city and reduce poverty among artists and culture worker

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that staff explore including poverty reduction initiatives for artists and culture workers as part of the municipal Culture Plan and that these initiatives support the representation of artists and cultural workers alongside others in precarious employment in the Corporate anti-poverty strategy currently underway.

10.

Inquiries

There were no Inquiries.

11.

Other Business

There was no other business.

12.

Adjournment

Next Meeting: to be determined.

The meeting adjourned at 4:21 pm.