Grey County Committee of the Whole Meeting Transcript — January 22, 2026

00:00:06 Speaker 01: Okay, well, we are back and

00:00:08 Speaker 01: ready to go with Committee of

00:00:10 Speaker 01: the Whole. I am going to

00:00:11 Speaker 01: call to order this Committee of

00:00:12 Speaker 01: the Whole meeting of January twenty

00:00:14 Speaker 01: second, twenty twenty six. At this

00:00:16 Speaker 01: point in time, I will put

00:00:17 Speaker 01: out a call for any declarations

00:00:19 Speaker 01: of interest. See no hands raised.

00:00:23 Speaker 01: Then we'll move on to business

00:00:25 Speaker 01: arising from minutes, and looks like.

00:00:30 Speaker 01: we can move on. So we

00:00:31 Speaker 01: will move on to our delegation,

00:00:32 Speaker 01: and we have virtually attending with

00:00:34 Speaker 01: us today. We have Dan and

00:00:35 Speaker 01: Cara Bowles. Thank you very much.

00:00:37 Speaker 01: I'll just give you a moment

00:00:38 Speaker 01: to turn on your your video

00:00:45 Speaker 01: there. Okay, there you go. I

00:00:46 Speaker 01: can see you. Welcome. I'm glad

00:00:48 Speaker 01: you're able to join us virtually.

00:00:50 Speaker 01: And what we'll do is we're

00:00:51 Speaker 01: going to. I'll hand the floor

00:00:53 Speaker 01: over to you to provide your

00:00:55 Speaker 01: delegation. Then I'll look to Director.

00:00:58 Speaker 01: Hoy in terms of just providing

00:01:01 Speaker 01: the context in which you've been

00:01:03 Speaker 01: presented, and then I'm going to

00:01:04 Speaker 01: open it up to the committee

00:01:05 Speaker 01: of whole members. So if they

00:01:06 Speaker 01: have any questions for you, so

00:01:08 Speaker 01: with that, thank you, and the

00:01:09 Speaker 01: floor is yours. Okay, I believe

00:01:13 Speaker 01: that we are to share our

00:01:17 Speaker 01: screen, so we're going to do

00:01:20 Speaker 01: that. Yep, that's perfect. We can

00:01:21 Speaker 01: see it. Oh, can you? Okay,

00:01:25 Speaker 01: great. Okay, ready to go. Thanks

00:01:27 Speaker 01: so much for allowing us time

00:01:29 Speaker 01: to speak on behalf of the

00:01:30 Speaker 01: Clarksburg Village Association today. Clarksburg

00:01:33 Speaker 01: Village Association is a group that

00:01:35 Speaker 01: advocates for local businesses and for

00:01:36 Speaker 01: the community. And I also very

00:01:37 Speaker 01: much appreciate the opportunity to do

00:01:39 Speaker 01: it remotely. The weather is not

00:01:42 Speaker 01: great here. I also wanted to

00:01:46 Speaker 01: say, just as we begin, thanks

00:01:47 Speaker 01: so much to county staff for

00:01:49 Speaker 02: their time and for their efforts

00:01:51 Speaker 02: that they've already given in coordinating

00:01:54 Speaker 02: with Town of the Blue Mountains.

00:01:56 Speaker 02: staff to support parking measures in

00:01:58 Speaker 02: Clarksville. That's been very helpful and

00:01:59 Speaker 03: very much appreciated. Our presentation today

00:02:12 Speaker 02: aims to highlight two further connected

00:02:14 Speaker 02: needs in Clarksville that the Clarksville

00:02:16 Speaker 02: Village Association has presented to the

00:02:18 Speaker 02: Town of the Blue Mountains Council

00:02:21 Speaker 02: and Deputations over the last few

00:02:22 Speaker 02: years. The first. one is a

00:02:25 Speaker 02: request for reduction of speed limits

00:02:27 Speaker 02: in the busy retail area of

00:02:30 Speaker 02: Clarksville on County Road 13, also

00:02:31 Speaker 02: known as Marsh Street, and/or traffic

00:02:36 Speaker 02: calming measures that would assist pedestrian

00:02:39 Speaker 02: safety in order to help out

00:02:42 Speaker 02: and make sure that it's a

00:02:44 Speaker 02: safe, comfortable area for visitors and

00:02:47 Speaker 02: for community members. The next slide

00:02:54 Speaker 02: is the background. As you can

00:02:56 Speaker 02: see in the slide, the Clarksville

00:02:58 Speaker 02: Village Association has presented to the

00:02:59 Speaker 02: Town of Blue Mountains a few

00:03:01 Speaker 02: times since 2022, as I mentioned,

00:03:03 Speaker 02: in order to address needs for

00:03:04 Speaker 02: the community, including concerns regarding speed

00:03:07 Speaker 02: of vehicles on Marsh Street or

00:03:10 Speaker 02: County Road 13. Given that Marsh

00:03:13 Speaker 02: Street, as part of County Road

00:03:16 Speaker 02: 13, is under the jurisdiction of

00:03:18 Speaker 02: Gray County, the Town of Blue

00:03:20 Speaker 02: Mountains advised that. The Town of

00:03:21 Speaker 02: the Blue Mountains advised us that

00:03:24 Speaker 02: we should present this request to

00:03:25 Speaker 02: the county council. So, thank you

00:03:29 Speaker 02: for the opportunity to do that

00:03:30 Speaker 02: today. Further to that, it's also

00:03:31 Speaker 02: my understanding that the Town of

00:03:33 Speaker 02: the Blue Mountains has forwarded a

00:03:36 Speaker 02: correspondence of support, and I hope

00:03:48 Speaker 02: that Great County has received that.

00:03:51 Speaker 02: Um. So the first request about.

00:03:53 Speaker 02: reduction of speed limits on Merce

00:03:56 Speaker 02: Street. More and more Clark Street

00:03:58 Speaker 02: is becoming a retail area. It's

00:04:00 Speaker 02: a popular spot to visit. There's

00:04:02 Speaker 02: lots of traffic, but there's also

00:04:05 Speaker 02: lots of pedestrian traffic as well.

00:04:08 Speaker 02: Now, Town of the Blue Mountains

00:04:10 Speaker 02: Council and staff they understand that

00:04:11 Speaker 02: there appears to be a gap

00:04:16 Speaker 02: in the safety zone areas from

00:04:18 Speaker 02: Clark Street to just past the

00:04:26 Speaker 02: bridge. leading into Thornbury, and we'd

00:04:30 Speaker 02: like to just verify and confirm

00:04:32 Speaker 02: that that area, that busy retail

00:04:34 Speaker 02: area of Merth Street, is in

00:04:36 Speaker 02: fact a community safety zone. And

00:04:37 Speaker 02: as such, can the speed limit

00:04:40 Speaker 02: be reduced to forty kilometers per

00:04:43 Speaker 02: hour from Clark Street to Hillcrest

00:04:46 Speaker 02: Drive, where the school zone begins?

00:04:49 Speaker 02: I'd also like to mention that

00:04:53 Speaker 02: there have been other examples on

00:04:56 Speaker 02: Grey County roads. For example, in

00:05:04 Speaker 02: Kimberley, with perhaps slightly fewer complications,

00:05:08 Speaker 02: such as school areas and seniors'

00:05:10 Speaker 02: residence, that the speed limit has

00:05:13 Speaker 02: been reduced in Kimberley. So that's

00:05:15 Speaker 02: a good example. of an area

00:05:18 Speaker 02: much like Clarksville that has perhaps

00:05:21 Speaker 02: a slightly more busy pedestrian area

00:05:23 Speaker 02: and busy traffic. So I think

00:05:27 Speaker 02: there's certainly grounds to look at

00:05:29 Speaker 02: Clarksville as a spot where we

00:05:32 Speaker 02: could reduce the speed limit. The

00:05:35 Speaker 02: other possibility could be traffic calming

00:05:38 Speaker 02: measures. Now the retail area of

00:05:40 Speaker 02: Clarksville is located between two areas

00:05:42 Speaker 02: of higher elevation, where there's a

00:05:45 Speaker 02: wide paved. road and parking area

00:05:48 Speaker 02: without a crosswalk, as such, drivers

00:05:50 Speaker 02: tend to travel at perhaps a

00:05:53 Speaker 02: slightly higher rate of speed. And

00:05:54 Speaker 02: while that might save travelers a

00:05:56 Speaker 02: few seconds, it does create some

00:05:58 Speaker 02: safety concerns for pedestrians crossing the

00:06:01 Speaker 02: street and drivers even just attempting

00:06:03 Speaker 02: to park or to exit a

00:06:05 Speaker 02: parking space. I think there's some

00:06:08 Speaker 02: good some good ideas that have

00:06:11 Speaker 02: been put forward for possibility. For

00:06:16 Speaker 02: possibilities, possible ways to limit that

00:06:19 Speaker 02: that wide open area where it

00:06:20 Speaker 02: seems you can just sort of

00:06:23 Speaker 02: zoom through in Clarksburg, I think

00:06:24 Speaker 02: a good example would be a

00:06:26 Speaker 02: pedestrian crosswalk that would certainly help

00:06:28 Speaker 02: out for pedestrian safety crossing the

00:06:31 Speaker 02: street. But I think it also

00:06:32 Speaker 02: acts as a bit of a

00:06:36 Speaker 02: marker to help convince drivers to

00:06:39 Speaker 02: slow down just a little bit.

00:06:42 Speaker 02: It makes sense to. implement possible

00:06:44 Speaker 02: traffic calming measures to ensure the

00:06:47 Speaker 02: safety of, as I've mentioned before,

00:06:50 Speaker 02: both local community members and visitors

00:06:51 Speaker 02: to the area. We want to

00:06:54 Speaker 02: keep everybody safe. Once again, just

00:06:56 Speaker 02: an example of an area with

00:06:59 Speaker 02: some traffic calming measures that is,

00:07:02 Speaker 02: in fact, a county road. The

00:07:04 Speaker 02: village of Ravenna. Some of the

00:07:06 Speaker 02: work that was done recently in

00:07:08 Speaker 02: Ravenna with traffic calming measures. to

00:07:12 Speaker 02: narrow the lanes, and just help

00:07:14 Speaker 02: drivers to understand that it's an

00:07:15 Speaker 02: area where they need to slow

00:07:23 Speaker 02: down. Now, we do understand there's

00:07:27 Speaker 02: a balance to consider, keeping in

00:07:28 Speaker 02: mind the need to ensure ease

00:07:30 Speaker 02: of access for county snow removal

00:07:33 Speaker 02: equipment and local agricultural vehicles. But

00:07:35 Speaker 02: we would ask council to please

00:07:37 Speaker 02: address the issue to ensure safety

00:07:39 Speaker 02: of residents. and visitors. I want

00:07:41 Speaker 02: to thank you once again for

00:07:42 Speaker 02: hearing this request by the Clarksville

00:07:46 Speaker 02: Village Association, and confirm once again

00:07:47 Speaker 02: that the Town of Blue Mountains

00:07:49 Speaker 02: is aware, supports the request, and

00:07:52 Speaker 02: is offered a letters of of

00:07:56 Speaker 02: support. So, thank you very much

00:07:58 Speaker 02: for hearing our presentation today, and

00:08:00 Speaker 02: we look forward to cooperating with

00:08:02 Speaker 02: Great County Council and Great County

00:08:04 Speaker 02: Staff in order to implement some

00:08:08 Speaker 01: of those changes. Okay, thank you

00:08:10 Speaker 01: very much. So, what we'll do

00:08:11 Speaker 01: then is let me go to

00:08:13 Speaker 01: Director Hoy first, and then I'll

00:08:14 Speaker 01: open it up to the floor.

00:08:15 Speaker 01: I'll take in the questions for

00:08:18 Speaker 01: you, and and so hang on

00:08:20 Speaker 01: there. So, Director Hoy, if you

00:08:22 Speaker 01: wouldn't mind, just because this is

00:08:23 Speaker 01: shifting from a lower tier ask

00:08:24 Speaker 01: to an upper tier ask, things

00:08:26 Speaker 01: are a little different when it

00:08:27 Speaker 01: comes to the context of the

00:08:30 Speaker 01: entire county. Our policy with regards

00:08:31 Speaker 01: to the speed limit. I know

00:08:34 Speaker 01: there's some some clarification you can

00:08:36 Speaker 01: provide there, and all. Provide there,

00:08:37 Speaker 01: and also the context of that.

00:08:38 Speaker 01: This is one of the one

00:08:40 Speaker 01: of the roads that is part

00:08:42 Speaker 01: of the the road exchange that

00:08:44 Speaker 01: we have been talking about, and

00:08:50 Speaker 01: perhaps what the kinds of timelines

00:08:52 Speaker 01: will be from there. So, Director

00:08:53 Speaker 04: Hoy. Yes, thank you, Warden. I

00:08:56 Speaker 04: want to just thank the Clarksville

00:08:57 Speaker 04: Village Association because they have been

00:08:58 Speaker 04: so good to work with, like

00:09:00 Speaker 04: with the previous parking work and

00:09:01 Speaker 04: the staff from the town as

00:09:05 Speaker 04: well. Nice to work with people

00:09:07 Speaker 04: that are kind of organized. respectful,

00:09:09 Speaker 04: and very polite and professional. So

00:09:11 Speaker 04: it's been really nice working with

00:09:13 Speaker 04: them through these concerns. And I

00:09:16 Speaker 04: just want to express that this

00:09:18 Speaker 04: is kind of a county-wide issue

00:09:20 Speaker 04: in hamlets. You know, people are

00:09:23 Speaker 04: coming off an 80; they're going

00:09:25 Speaker 04: into a lower area. Dan mentioned

00:09:27 Speaker 04: in particular in Clarksburg, the width

00:09:28 Speaker 04: of the of the lanes make

00:09:30 Speaker 04: you feel like maybe you can

00:09:33 Speaker 04: go faster than you really should,

00:09:35 Speaker 04: or than the posted. You really

00:09:37 Speaker 04: shoulder than the posted speed says,

00:09:38 Speaker 04: so you know they they really

00:09:40 Speaker 04: have a good understanding of driver

00:09:42 Speaker 04: behavior more than just signs and

00:09:44 Speaker 04: highlighted some of our work in

00:09:45 Speaker 04: Irvine. But the most the kind

00:09:47 Speaker 04: of key thing I wanted to

00:09:50 Speaker 04: just initiate or mention was that

00:09:52 Speaker 04: the road exchange task force, which

00:09:55 Speaker 04: should be coming early February, and

00:09:56 Speaker 04: hopefully it's one of our you

00:10:00 Speaker 04: know final meetings, we'll be putting

00:10:02 Speaker 04: this section back to the town

00:10:05 Speaker 04: of Blue Mountains. So this again

00:10:07 Speaker 04: highlights. that these town concerns, which

00:10:09 Speaker 04: you know deal with enforcement and

00:10:11 Speaker 04: traffic calming and and the configurations

00:10:13 Speaker 04: of the urban areas, it just

00:10:15 Speaker 04: makes it that the town will

00:10:18 Speaker 04: can address this issue itself without

00:10:19 Speaker 04: going through us. So, rather than

00:10:22 Speaker 04: you know go back through our

00:10:24 Speaker 04: parking and speed bylaw and make

00:10:26 Speaker 04: a bunch of changes, imminently if

00:10:28 Speaker 04: the road is going back in

00:10:29 Speaker 04: July, maybe July sixth or seventh,

00:10:32 Speaker 04: we're hoping we would probably wait

00:10:33 Speaker 04: for those changes to. be enacted

00:10:34 Speaker 04: by the town. So, although we

00:10:35 Speaker 04: appreciate the concern and we and

00:10:38 Speaker 04: they have a good point, and

00:10:40 Speaker 04: we see what they're saying, and

00:10:41 Speaker 04: we know there's issues, it's just

00:10:45 Speaker 01: probably easier to have the the

00:10:47 Speaker 01: town deal with it when the

00:10:49 Speaker 01: properties go back or the road

00:10:52 Speaker 01: sections go back. Okay, thank you,

00:10:54 Speaker 01: Director Hoy. So, so there's just

00:10:56 Speaker 01: a question of which step first,

00:10:57 Speaker 01: and also in order for us

00:10:58 Speaker 01: to even entertain lowering down to

00:11:00 Speaker 01: 40 kilometers per hour on a

00:11:02 Speaker 04: county road. there has to be

00:11:06 Speaker 04: a connection to 40-kilometer-an-hour roads in

00:11:07 Speaker 04: the town as well. Can you

00:11:10 Speaker 04: just speak to that point? Sorry,

00:11:11 Speaker 04: Warden. Yes, I did miss that.

00:11:12 Speaker 04: Yeah. As per our speed policy,

00:11:14 Speaker 04: because what happened was we were

00:11:15 Speaker 04: getting a lot of requests on

00:11:17 Speaker 04: the county road to be a

00:11:18 Speaker 04: 40 roads, and the rest of

00:11:20 Speaker 04: the hamlets or towns were staying

00:11:21 Speaker 04: at 50, which is probably sort

00:11:22 Speaker 04: of the reverse of the way

00:11:25 Speaker 04: it should be. So our policy

00:11:27 Speaker 04: that we enacted quite a few

00:11:28 Speaker 04: years ago was that if if

00:11:29 Speaker 04: an entire town or hamlet wanted

00:11:30 Speaker 04: all the roads to be forty.

00:11:32 Speaker 04: We would be willing to move

00:11:34 Speaker 04: ours to forty as well. We

00:11:35 Speaker 04: didn't want the county to be

00:11:37 Speaker 04: an outlier with a lower speed

00:11:38 Speaker 04: than all the other urban roads

00:11:40 Speaker 04: in the area. So that it

00:11:41 Speaker 01: would be something that we would

00:11:44 Speaker 01: want the request directly from the

00:11:46 Speaker 01: town to make every road a

00:11:47 Speaker 01: forty, as per our policy. Okay,

00:11:51 Speaker 01: thank you for that context. So

00:11:52 Speaker 01: let me put it out to

00:11:55 Speaker 01: county council members if they have

00:11:57 Speaker 01: questions for the deputation. And I'm

00:11:59 Speaker 01: looking around the chamber here. I'm

00:12:00 Speaker 01: not seeing. any. Director Hoy has

00:12:03 Speaker 01: mentioned that our next touch point

00:12:05 Speaker 01: for that road exchange is coming

00:12:07 Speaker 01: up in February, which is very

00:12:10 Speaker 01: close. And I don't see any

00:12:12 Speaker 01: hands up further online as well.

00:12:13 Speaker 01: So, thank you very much, Mr.

00:12:14 Speaker 01: Ms. Bowles, for sharing that information.

00:12:16 Speaker 01: And as you heard from Director

00:12:18 Speaker 01: Hoy, thank you very much for

00:12:20 Speaker 01: all the engagement that the Clarksville

00:12:22 Speaker 01: Village Association has had thus far

00:12:23 Speaker 01: on the other items. We do,

00:12:25 Speaker 01: as you've heard, the the context

00:12:26 Speaker 01: is both what we. can and

00:12:28 Speaker 01: cannot do on the county roads

00:12:30 Speaker 01: without the town doing something, but

00:12:32 Speaker 01: at the same time, that this

00:12:34 Speaker 01: one here is one that is

00:12:38 Speaker 01: slated for an exchange. And our

00:12:40 Speaker 01: next step is that we'll be

00:12:42 Speaker 01: convening further on that topic in

00:12:44 Speaker 01: February. So, with that, unless you

00:12:45 Speaker 02: have any further items that you

00:12:49 Speaker 02: wanted to underscore, we appreciate all

00:12:52 Speaker 02: of the details that you put

00:12:55 Speaker 02: in your presentation material as well.

00:13:00 Speaker 02: Thank you very much, and thank

00:13:01 Speaker 02: you, Director Hoy, for. that background

00:13:04 Speaker 02: information. Town of Blue Mountains had

00:13:07 Speaker 02: mentioned to us, had expressed a

00:13:10 Speaker 02: desire for us to come to

00:13:15 Speaker 02: Gray County Council and make those

00:13:18 Speaker 02: concerns known, which is why we've

00:13:21 Speaker 02: done the presentation. And I just

00:13:26 Speaker 02: wanted to express a hope that

00:13:30 Speaker 02: that transition will happen fairly quickly.

00:13:34 Speaker 02: We've done a lot of deputations,

00:13:36 Speaker 02: so at some point. But more

00:13:40 Speaker 02: than that, every time we

00:13:43 Speaker 02: delay in, for example, implementing some

00:13:47 Speaker 02: traffic calming measures within a town,

00:13:52 Speaker 02: the costs go up, and I'm

00:13:53 Speaker 02: sure that there's concerns around downloading

00:13:54 Speaker 02: and uploading costs from counts from

00:13:56 Speaker 02: Gray County. to smaller municipalities, and

00:13:58 Speaker 02: that might actually be an advantage

00:14:00 Speaker 02: if some of that work was

00:14:01 Speaker 02: already done. Just a thought. I

00:14:02 Speaker 02: throw it out there. And can

00:14:05 Speaker 02: I just ask? I just want

00:14:08 Speaker 02: clarification because I've written it down.

00:14:10 Speaker 02: Because I'm going to go back

00:14:13 Speaker 05: to the Clarksburg Village Association and

00:14:16 Speaker 05: explain what what what was the

00:14:18 Speaker 05: outcome. So the outcome is in

00:14:19 Speaker 05: February. There's a touch point that

00:14:21 Speaker 05: you're talking about, and at that

00:14:23 Speaker 05: meeting, I assume things. will. Somebody's

00:14:26 Speaker 05: going to vote on the fact

00:14:27 Speaker 05: that there's going to be a

00:14:28 Speaker 05: an exchange, and it's going to

00:14:29 Speaker 05: be that that portion of Marsh

00:14:31 Speaker 05: Street will be owned by the

00:14:33 Speaker 05: town of Blue Mountain, or owned

00:14:33 Speaker 05: will be governed, whatever you want

00:14:36 Speaker 05: to call it, by the town

00:14:39 Speaker 01: of the Blue Mountains. And at

00:14:41 Speaker 01: that point, it will be the

00:14:42 Speaker 01: town of the Blue Mountains that

00:14:44 Speaker 01: will be addressing again. Correct? Yes,

00:14:46 Speaker 01: you've you've got it almost there,

00:14:48 Speaker 01: and that it is. We're looking

00:14:49 Speaker 01: at July in terms of exchange.

00:14:51 Speaker 01: It's not a question of if.

00:14:53 Speaker 01: it's a question of when and

00:14:55 Speaker 01: how. There is there is a

00:14:57 Speaker 01: financial exchange as well that does

00:14:58 Speaker 01: that does consider the fact that

00:15:04 Speaker 01: we don't we don't download something

00:15:05 Speaker 06: without sharing the implication that comes

00:15:07 Speaker 06: financially. And with that, I have

00:15:08 Speaker 06: some further information for you from

00:15:11 Speaker 06: our CAO Scherzer. Thank you, and

00:15:12 Speaker 06: through you, Warden, and thank

00:15:14 Speaker 06: you again for for your delegation

00:15:15 Speaker 06: for bringing these matters forward. As

00:15:17 Speaker 06: as Director Hoy indicated, it's uh

00:15:19 Speaker 06: it's been a pleasure working with

00:15:21 Speaker 06: the Craighead Village Association. With the

00:15:22 Speaker 06: Craigies Village Association, the Talbot Mountains

00:15:26 Speaker 06: on on moving forward, but those

00:15:27 Speaker 06: interim measures that we're able to

00:15:29 Speaker 06: to advance based on some of

00:15:31 Speaker 06: the concerns that were raised, as

00:15:34 Speaker 06: noted, we're in a period of

00:15:36 Speaker 06: potential transition here, and so with

00:15:38 Speaker 06: that, we'll be meeting on February

00:15:39 Speaker 06: fifth with the roads task force.

00:15:42 Speaker 06: Those minutes will come back to

00:15:44 Speaker 06: County Council on February twelfth. From

00:15:47 Speaker 06: there, that's basically formalizing the direction

00:15:49 Speaker 06: that's been provided by County Council

00:15:51 Speaker 06: to date, which is to proceed

00:15:53 Speaker 06: with these transfers. we, as part

00:15:56 Speaker 06: of County Council's approval of the

00:15:58 Speaker 06: budget, there are budget financial considerations,

00:16:00 Speaker 06: as noted by the warden, that's

00:16:02 Speaker 06: been included as part of of

00:16:04 Speaker 06: the 2026 budget. So the next

00:16:06 Speaker 06: step is to formalize the timelines

00:16:08 Speaker 06: of when these transfers actually occur.

00:16:10 Speaker 06: And as indicated by Director Hoy,

00:16:11 Speaker 06: based on some of our proposed

00:16:13 Speaker 06: timelines as staff at the moment,

00:16:15 Speaker 06: subject to County Council approval, would

00:16:17 Speaker 06: be in around early July would

00:16:19 Speaker 06: be when these transfers would potentially

00:16:22 Speaker 06: occur. and again, we'd be happy

00:16:25 Speaker 06: to continue to work with the

00:16:28 Speaker 06: town to look for any quick

00:16:29 Speaker 06: or interim measures in between now

00:16:30 Speaker 06: and that transition period. But based

00:16:34 Speaker 06: on our current where we're at

00:16:36 Speaker 06: with with the potential transfers of

00:16:37 Speaker 06: these this road section, it's we're

00:16:39 Speaker 06: kind of in a state of

00:16:40 Speaker 01: limbo, so to speak, for

00:16:42 Speaker 01: the next few months. Thank you

00:16:44 Speaker 01: very much, CEO Schertz. Sir, so

00:16:45 Speaker 01: indeed, it has been very helpful

00:16:46 Speaker 01: for you to come. You really.

00:16:47 Speaker 01: To come, you really—it is good

00:16:48 Speaker 01: to have that extra information for

00:16:50 Speaker 01: everybody here. Councillor Bordenjon and I

00:16:51 Speaker 01: are more familiar with that area

00:16:52 Speaker 01: than others will be, and this

00:16:54 Speaker 01: is what we do at the

00:16:55 Speaker 07: county. Here is we—we get to

00:16:58 Speaker 07: know the other communities and the

00:17:00 Speaker 07: other concerns. So it has been

00:17:00 Speaker 07: very valuable for you to be

00:17:01 Speaker 07: able to present this morning. I

00:17:03 Speaker 07: do want to go over to

00:17:05 Speaker 07: Councillor Bordenjon, who has raised his

00:17:07 Speaker 07: hand. Thank you, Madam Warden, and

00:17:08 Speaker 07: for that. And a lot of

00:17:09 Speaker 07: it was just touched on by

00:17:11 Speaker 07: you and the CAO. But thank

00:17:13 Speaker 07: you, of course, for coming. This

00:17:14 Speaker 07: even predates the deputation 2022 back.

00:17:16 Speaker 07: You know, I've been doing. Twenty

00:17:18 Speaker 07: twenty two back, you know, I've

00:17:18 Speaker 07: been doing this for about eight

00:17:20 Speaker 07: years now. So we we have

00:17:22 Speaker 07: in the past for the Parks

00:17:23 Speaker 07: and Real Association, you know, have

00:17:27 Speaker 07: asked the OVP to put in

00:17:28 Speaker 07: speed measurements, things like that. So

00:17:29 Speaker 07: there, it hasn't. I don't want

00:17:30 Speaker 07: you to think it's just been

00:17:32 Speaker 07: in limbo, especially now with the.

00:17:34 Speaker 07: I'm very encouraged by the roads

00:17:35 Speaker 07: transfer happening this year, where we'll

00:17:37 Speaker 07: have more autonomy. That's that's that's

00:17:39 Speaker 07: that's very relevant in in all

00:17:42 Speaker 07: things we do for road closures

00:17:43 Speaker 07: as well as being able to,

00:17:46 Speaker 07: as you said, govern our own

00:17:48 Speaker 07: roads. So that that will be

00:17:50 Speaker 07: coming this this summer, which I'm

00:17:52 Speaker 07: looking forward to. But we haven't.

00:17:53 Speaker 07: Looking forward to, but we have

00:17:54 Speaker 07: in the past, you know, asked

00:17:56 Speaker 07: the OPP to look at speed

00:17:57 Speaker 07: measurements, things like that over the

00:17:58 Speaker 07: over the years. So things have

00:17:59 Speaker 07: been done, you know, that we've

00:18:01 Speaker 07: asked, and then Director Hoy as

00:18:02 Speaker 07: well has looked at things over

00:18:04 Speaker 07: the past few years. So we

00:18:06 Speaker 07: are getting to the end of

00:18:07 Speaker 07: the tunnel where we will have

00:18:08 Speaker 07: autonomy over that road coming this

00:18:09 Speaker 07: summer. So I just wanted to

00:18:11 Speaker 01: let you guys know that you

00:18:16 Speaker 01: know that's something. Then at the

00:18:17 Speaker 01: local level, we'll be able to

00:18:18 Speaker 01: take a you know a more

00:18:20 Speaker 01: defined lens onto so. Find lens

00:18:22 Speaker 01: onto. So again, thank you for

00:18:24 Speaker 01: the deputation today. But this is

00:18:27 Speaker 01: something that that we've been working

00:18:28 Speaker 01: on for for quite a bit

00:18:31 Speaker 01: of time, and the roads exchange

00:18:32 Speaker 01: is probably the final piece of

00:18:33 Speaker 01: the puzzle. Okay, thank you very

00:18:36 Speaker 01: much. And I still don't see

00:18:37 Speaker 01: any further hands for any questions.

00:18:37 Speaker 01: So thank you again, Mr. and

00:18:39 Speaker 01: Ms. Bowles, for presenting the material

00:18:41 Speaker 01: and for bringing the information back

00:18:43 Speaker 01: to the Clarksville Village Association. So

00:18:45 Speaker 01: enjoy the rest of your day

00:18:46 Speaker 01: safely where you are, and we

00:18:47 Speaker 01: will move on with our agenda.

00:18:49 Speaker 01: at this point in time. Thank

00:18:50 Speaker 01: you. So we will have a

00:18:54 Speaker 01: break in just a moment, but

00:18:57 Speaker 01: I think it would be helpful

00:18:59 Speaker 01: if I could just put the

00:19:00 Speaker 01: call out. Item five: determination of

00:19:02 Speaker 01: any items requiring separate discussion, just

00:19:06 Speaker 01: so that the staff have a

00:19:06 Speaker 01: heads up before we go on

00:19:12 Speaker 01: to a break. I'll ask, and

00:19:16 Speaker 01: we do have quite a list

00:19:18 Speaker 01: as we are coming back from

00:19:23 Speaker 01: the scheduling after the holidays. So

00:19:25 Speaker 01: we have down to K. So

00:19:26 Speaker 01: we've got eleven different items that

00:19:28 Speaker 01: are in the consent agenda. is

00:19:29 Speaker 01: there anything that you would like

00:19:31 Speaker 01: to pull? Looking around the room

00:19:32 Speaker 01: here, I'll go to Councillor Eccles.

00:19:32 Speaker 01: Six C, please. Correspondence from Safe

00:19:35 Speaker 01: and Sound. Okay, so item six

00:19:37 Speaker 01: C, correspondence from Safe and Sound,

00:19:39 Speaker 01: and we will. Looks like, Madam

00:19:41 Speaker 01: Clerk, that looks like all of

00:19:42 Speaker 01: the items that we're going to

00:19:44 Speaker 01: pull. So, so in which case

00:19:47 Speaker 01: then, what we will do then?

00:19:49 Speaker 01: is, do you want me to

00:19:52 Speaker 01: do number six, and then we'll

00:19:53 Speaker 01: do the break? Okay, so let's

00:19:55 Speaker 01: just then wrap up number six.

00:19:56 Speaker 01: So the consent agenda is: it's

00:19:57 Speaker 01: recommended that the consent agenda items

00:19:59 Speaker 01: be received, and that staff

00:20:01 Speaker 01: be authorized to take actions necessary

00:20:04 Speaker 01: to give effect the recommendations in

00:20:07 Speaker 01: the staff reports, and that the

00:20:10 Speaker 01: correspondence be supported or received for

00:20:11 Speaker 01: information as recommended in the consent

00:20:12 Speaker 01: agenda. And it is all items

00:20:14 Speaker 01: less item C, which we will

00:20:15 Speaker 01: have a separate discussion on. May

00:20:17 Speaker 01: ask for a mover and a

00:20:18 Speaker 01: second. May ask for a mover

00:20:20 Speaker 01: and a seconder. Move by Councillor

00:20:22 Speaker 01: Dicker, seconded by Councillor Hutchinson. Online,

00:32:03 Speaker 01: any discussion on those consent items?

00:32:04 Speaker 01: And all those in favor? And

00:32:06 Speaker 01: that motion is carried. So let's

00:32:07 Speaker 01: take a break now. Why don't

00:32:08 Speaker 01: we come back at 11:20, and

00:32:10 Speaker 01: we will carry on with our

00:32:12 Speaker 01: agenda, keeping in mind that we

00:32:14 Speaker 01: will be breaking at 12:10 for

00:32:15 Speaker 01: our lunch in order to coordinate

00:32:16 Speaker 01: it well with the timing of

00:32:18 Speaker 01: the SOS vehicle tour. Thank you.

00:32:21 Speaker 01: Okay, so welcome everybody back virtually

00:32:22 Speaker 01: and here in the chamber. We

00:32:23 Speaker 01: are going to continue now with

00:32:25 Speaker 01: our agenda. So what we'll do

00:32:27 Speaker 01: is we'll move to the items

00:32:29 Speaker 01: that are up for discussion. That

00:32:30 Speaker 01: is starting at section seven, and

00:32:32 Speaker 01: then when we get to the

00:32:34 Speaker 01: end of that, that's when we'll

00:32:37 Speaker 01: circle back to item six C.

00:32:39 Speaker 01: I looks like we will continue

00:32:42 Speaker 01: as. I mentioned. In about 50

00:32:43 Speaker 01: minutes, we will be making sure

00:32:46 Speaker 01: that we take an intentional pause

00:32:48 Speaker 01: for the tour and to schedule

00:32:50 Speaker 01: lunch, and we'll conclude the agenda

00:32:51 Speaker 01: items after that. So the first

00:32:53 Speaker 01: one that we have is Item

00:32:55 Speaker 01: 7A. It's recommended that the Joint

00:32:56 Speaker 01: Municipal Services Committee meeting minutes dated

00:32:59 Speaker 01: December 16, 2025, be adopted as

00:33:03 Speaker 01: presented, and the following resolutions contained

00:33:05 Speaker 01: therein be endorsed. And there are

00:33:07 Speaker 01: four that are listed here in

00:33:08 Speaker 01: the published agenda. And just before

00:33:11 Speaker 01: I look to. the Deputy CAO

00:33:13 Speaker 08: to speak to that, I will

00:33:15 Speaker 08: ask for a mover and a

00:33:18 Speaker 08: seconder. I've got it moved by

00:33:20 Speaker 08: Councillor McKay, seconded by Councillor Kevany.

00:33:22 Speaker 08: It's now on the floor for

00:33:24 Speaker 08: discussion. So, welcome Deputy CAO to

00:33:26 Speaker 08: the lectern. Good morning, and to

00:33:27 Speaker 08: you, Madam Warden. I'm going to

00:33:29 Speaker 08: flip the minutes around in terms

00:33:32 Speaker 08: of my my summary of the

00:33:35 Speaker 08: conversations of Joint Municipal Services Committee.

00:33:38 Speaker 08: We had a conversation around waste

00:33:41 Speaker 08: management. I'll do this one because

00:33:43 Speaker 08: it's the quick one. around waste

00:33:44 Speaker 08: management transition and what that might

00:33:47 Speaker 08: look like in as as as

00:33:49 Speaker 08: an example of of how Simco

00:33:52 Speaker 08: has gone through this. So Simco

00:33:54 Speaker 08: uploaded waste management from its lower

00:33:57 Speaker 08: tier to its upper tier municipality

00:33:59 Speaker 08: in the 1990s pre amalgamation, working

00:34:00 Speaker 08: with the then I think 32

00:34:01 Speaker 08: municipalities member municipalities that had the

00:34:03 Speaker 08: transition was a complete transition. So

00:34:04 Speaker 08: now all waste management services exist

00:34:07 Speaker 08: at the upper tier level at

00:34:10 Speaker 08: the Simco level the county. Level

00:34:12 Speaker 08: at the Simcoe level, the county

00:34:14 Speaker 08: level, that transition continues. So, despite

00:34:15 Speaker 08: being started in the 1990s, it

00:34:18 Speaker 08: continues to date. Simcoe now operates

00:34:20 Speaker 08: all the waste management facilities, waste

00:34:22 Speaker 08: management sites, and all the contracts.

00:34:23 Speaker 08: There are still a couple of

00:34:26 Speaker 08: financial commitments that are being met,

00:34:27 Speaker 08: which I believe will be wrapped

00:34:30 Speaker 08: up now. One of the takeaways

00:34:32 Speaker 08: that we took from that is,

00:34:34 Speaker 08: regardless of how the the strategy,

00:34:37 Speaker 08: the service review that we're undertaking

00:34:39 Speaker 08: this year goes forward, the outcomes

00:34:40 Speaker 08: from that, if it was to

00:34:42 Speaker 08: look at a full county assumption,

00:34:43 Speaker 08: are fairly extensive and wide ranging,

00:34:44 Speaker 08: and not something that happens in

00:34:47 Speaker 08: twelve months. And so, we looked

00:34:49 Speaker 08: at the Simcoe example just to

00:34:52 Speaker 08: help put some context around the

00:34:55 Speaker 08: work, which is just starting. In

00:34:58 Speaker 08: terms of that context, the waste

00:34:59 Speaker 08: management RFP for the service review

00:35:02 Speaker 08: is nearing completion, and we anticipate

00:35:05 Speaker 08: that being released in early to

00:35:09 Speaker 08: mid February, and then the work

00:35:10 Speaker 08: starting after that. We think that

00:35:11 Speaker 08: the work is probably. in the

00:35:13 Speaker 08: order of ten, nine or ten

00:35:16 Speaker 08: months, and so we anticipate the

00:35:18 Speaker 08: early findings, the draft reports coming

00:35:20 Speaker 08: forward probably early in the next

00:35:23 Speaker 08: term of council. The work will

00:35:25 Speaker 08: be guided by the support of

00:35:28 Speaker 08: the area municipality CAOs and the

00:35:29 Speaker 08: waste management community of practice, which

00:35:32 Speaker 08: has been meeting with membership across

00:35:33 Speaker 08: across grey to help help the

00:35:34 Speaker 08: consultants consulting team do that work.

00:35:37 Speaker 08: The other topic of the agenda.

00:35:38 Speaker 08: and we were delighted to be

00:35:39 Speaker 08: joined by with Lindsay Johnston from

00:35:41 Speaker 08: the Ontario Health Team. Gray Bruce,

00:35:42 Speaker 08: OHT Gray Bruce, was around primary

00:35:44 Speaker 08: healthcare, and it was a fairly

00:35:47 Speaker 08: extensive report. The Services Committee had

00:35:49 Speaker 08: asked requested a comprehensive report on

00:35:51 Speaker 08: primary healthcare be brought back, and

00:35:52 Speaker 08: for for members that are interested,

00:35:55 Speaker 08: there is a fairly extensive report

00:35:58 Speaker 08: embedded within the with the agenda

00:36:01 Speaker 08: for the meeting and the minutes

00:36:03 Speaker 08: of the meeting, which I'd be

00:36:05 Speaker 08: delighted to take questions on if

00:36:06 Speaker 08: there are any. I'll try and

00:36:09 Speaker 08: provide some quick highlights of that.

00:36:11 Speaker 08: I will also touch briefly on

00:36:12 Speaker 08: our conversations at Roma on this

00:36:14 Speaker 08: one again, because those two pieces

00:36:15 Speaker 08: are quite closely linked. So, across

00:36:17 Speaker 08: the province of Ontario, there's around

00:36:19 Speaker 08: about 13% of the population which

00:36:21 Speaker 08: is currently considered unattached to a

00:36:23 Speaker 08: primary healthcare team. That 13% varies

00:36:24 Speaker 08: quite significantly from some areas, which

00:36:26 Speaker 08: experience numbers as high as 40%,

00:36:28 Speaker 08: to some areas that are well

00:36:29 Speaker 08: beneath 10%. So, there is some

00:36:31 Speaker 08: significant variation. in that. In Gray

00:36:33 Speaker 08: Bruce, the number is closer to

00:36:35 Speaker 08: twelve, and in Gray County, the

00:36:37 Speaker 08: number is just a shade above

00:36:39 Speaker 08: eleven percent. The population is considered

00:36:41 Speaker 08: to be unattached at this point

00:36:44 Speaker 08: in time. That equates to

00:36:45 Speaker 08: about twelve thousand residents on the

00:36:51 Speaker 08: basis of the data that's gathered.

00:36:52 Speaker 08: We're going to circle back to

00:36:54 Speaker 08: the data because I think we

00:36:56 Speaker 08: and you have probably heard many

00:36:58 Speaker 08: stories which don't sound like they

00:36:59 Speaker 08: resonate with eleven percent and twelve

00:37:00 Speaker 08: thousand people. And so there are

00:37:01 Speaker 08: certainly some some gaps within the

00:37:03 Speaker 08: data, and we did have a

00:37:05 Speaker 08: conversation. around data during the meeting

00:37:07 Speaker 08: and and suggested some potential solutions

00:37:09 Speaker 08: about how we might be able

00:37:12 Speaker 08: to help OHTs gain more valuable

00:37:16 Speaker 08: insights into community connectedness with primary

00:37:17 Speaker 08: healthcare. I'm just trying to think.

00:37:18 Speaker 08: So healthcare in Grey Bruce primary

00:37:20 Speaker 08: healthcare is is a complex beast.

00:37:22 Speaker 08: It's delivered at the minute through

00:37:23 Speaker 08: 17 different organisations and we had

00:37:25 Speaker 08: a little bit of a talk

00:37:28 Speaker 08: around the structure of how that

00:37:29 Speaker 08: system works and it's made up

00:37:32 Speaker 08: of two pieces. So the FHN.

00:37:34 Speaker 08: So the FHNs and the FHOs,

00:37:37 Speaker 08: Fins and VOS, are groups

00:37:40 Speaker 08: of doctors, primary care physicians, that

00:37:43 Speaker 08: come together to operate joint shared

00:37:44 Speaker 08: services, and they they receive their

00:37:46 Speaker 08: funding directly from the province on

00:37:48 Speaker 08: the basis of billing and on

00:37:50 Speaker 08: the basis of rostered patients. So

00:37:52 Speaker 08: these are the physicians that make

00:37:55 Speaker 08: up make up the doctors that

00:37:57 Speaker 08: we have locally. The second piece

00:37:59 Speaker 08: of the team is the FHTs,

00:38:00 Speaker 08: the family health teams, and indeed

00:38:02 Speaker 08: to some extent the community health

00:38:05 Speaker 08: centre in the south of the

00:38:07 Speaker 08: county. and these are groups of

00:38:10 Speaker 08: primary healthcare givers, allied professionals, allied

00:38:11 Speaker 08: health professionals, and all the wraparound

00:38:13 Speaker 08: supports that you'd normally expect to

00:38:14 Speaker 08: find within a doctor's surgery. That

00:38:15 Speaker 08: that work with the doctors. And

00:38:16 Speaker 08: so, family health teams don't employ

00:38:18 Speaker 08: doctors themselves; they work with one

00:38:20 Speaker 08: or more FHOs or FHNs who

00:38:21 Speaker 08: come into those family health teams

00:38:26 Speaker 08: to provide the physician coverage. The

00:38:28 Speaker 08: family health teams are made up

00:38:29 Speaker 08: of administrative. supports. They're made up

00:38:31 Speaker 08: of dieticians, nurse practitioners, and various

00:38:34 Speaker 08: other different professionals that can help

00:38:36 Speaker 08: a community's primary healthcare needs. So,

00:38:39 Speaker 08: when you go and see a

00:38:41 Speaker 08: primary healthcare team, you might be

00:38:44 Speaker 08: rostered to a doctor. You may

00:38:45 Speaker 08: never see your doctor. You may

00:38:46 Speaker 08: only see a nurse practitioner that

00:38:48 Speaker 08: works alongside of them, either within

00:38:50 Speaker 08: a family health team context or

00:38:52 Speaker 08: within one of the FHOs or

00:38:53 Speaker 08: the FHNs. It's important to understand

00:38:54 Speaker 08: the context of the and the

00:38:56 Speaker 08: complexities. We spend a large amount

00:38:58 Speaker 08: of the meeting. We spent a

00:39:00 Speaker 08: large amount of the meeting talking

00:39:02 Speaker 08: about the complexities of the primary

00:39:05 Speaker 08: healthcare network because the billing is

00:39:07 Speaker 08: is important to understand. So, family

00:39:08 Speaker 08: health organisations (FHOs) and the family

00:39:10 Speaker 08: health networks (FHNs), the groups of

00:39:12 Speaker 08: physicians, they receive funding through a

00:39:17 Speaker 08: direct billing model. So, they build

00:39:18 Speaker 08: a province for their time, they

00:39:19 Speaker 08: build a province for the number

00:39:20 Speaker 08: of patients they have rostered, and

00:39:23 Speaker 08: they receive a payment direct from

00:39:25 Speaker 08: the province, and that's to pay

00:39:26 Speaker 08: for their insurance, it's to pay

00:39:28 Speaker 08: for their administrative support, it's to

00:39:30 Speaker 08: pay for any other services. they

00:39:32 Speaker 08: might provide within their FHO or

00:39:34 Speaker 08: FHM, family health teams, community health

00:39:35 Speaker 08: centres receive a direct payment from

00:39:37 Speaker 08: the province. There's no billing that's

00:39:41 Speaker 08: involved, so the staff that work

00:39:43 Speaker 08: for them are salaried staff that

00:39:44 Speaker 08: are paid on provincially set established

00:39:46 Speaker 08: rates. The system is managed through

00:39:48 Speaker 08: the Ministry of Health, and the

00:39:50 Speaker 08: Ministry of Health manages it itself,

00:39:52 Speaker 08: so it sets the corporate directions,

00:39:56 Speaker 08: the policy directions, and the policy

00:39:58 Speaker 08: setting for healthcare, primary healthcare across

00:39:59 Speaker 08: the province of Ontario. The way

00:40:01 Speaker 08: in which that is then implemented

00:40:03 Speaker 08: is through Ontario Health. Ontario Health

00:40:05 Speaker 08: is broken down into a number

00:40:07 Speaker 08: of different regions, of which we

00:40:09 Speaker 08: are part of Ontario Health West.

00:40:12 Speaker 08: We also noted that the

00:40:15 Speaker 08: border at the eastern side of

00:40:17 Speaker 08: the county is, in fact, the

00:40:19 Speaker 08: border between Ontario Health West and

00:40:20 Speaker 08: Ontario Health Central. And so, for

00:40:22 Speaker 08: residents that cross over that western

00:40:23 Speaker 08: border, they will be crossing over

00:40:25 Speaker 08: different Ontario Health West Ontario Health

00:40:27 Speaker 08: networks. The Ontario Health Regions are

00:40:29 Speaker 08: themselves very large. They're the bodies

00:40:32 Speaker 08: that give the money to do

00:40:35 Speaker 08: the work, but because they are

00:40:37 Speaker 08: so large and and healthcare is

00:40:39 Speaker 08: such a such a localized issue,

00:40:41 Speaker 08: they operate through a network of

00:40:43 Speaker 08: some fifty six OHTs or Ontario

00:40:45 Speaker 08: Health Teams. Ontario Health Teams are

00:40:48 Speaker 08: collaborative organisations that represent and work

00:40:50 Speaker 08: with all the primary healthcare providers

00:40:52 Speaker 08: in an area to understand what

00:40:54 Speaker 08: the needs are, what the shortages

00:40:57 Speaker 08: are, where the gaps are, and

00:41:02 Speaker 08: they work with those. teams to

00:41:04 Speaker 08: establish the priorities for how to

00:41:06 Speaker 08: fix them. So for us, we're

00:41:08 Speaker 08: represented by Ontario Health Team Gray

00:41:10 Speaker 08: Bruce, OHT Gray Bruce, and again,

00:41:12 Speaker 08: the builder on the eastern side

00:41:14 Speaker 08: of the county sees us trip

00:41:15 Speaker 08: over into Ontario Health South Georgian

00:41:18 Speaker 08: Bay, which is a separate Ontario

00:41:18 Speaker 08: Health team. So Lindsay Johnston is

00:41:20 Speaker 08: the executive director with Ontario Health

00:41:22 Speaker 08: Trust, OHT Gray Bruce, and she

00:41:24 Speaker 08: works with those 17 different organisations

00:41:26 Speaker 08: to try and. come up with

00:41:28 Speaker 08: the solutions for healthcare, primary healthcare

00:41:29 Speaker 08: needs across that region. Okay, just

00:41:32 Speaker 08: going through my notes here. So

00:41:33 Speaker 08: as we went through the conversation,

00:41:34 Speaker 08: it became increasingly clear that OHT

00:41:36 Speaker 08: is a critical part of the

00:41:41 Speaker 08: pie, and and Gray County and

00:41:43 Speaker 08: municipalities working with the OHTs to

00:41:44 Speaker 08: try and advance the needs of

00:41:46 Speaker 08: primary healthcare in this area is

00:41:49 Speaker 08: is the key to success. And

00:41:52 Speaker 08: so we talked a lot about

00:41:56 Speaker 08: what that would look like. OHT.

00:41:57 Speaker 08: Would look like, OHTs at the

00:42:01 Speaker 08: minute are the principal organisation that's

00:42:04 Speaker 08: able to access the funding streams

00:42:05 Speaker 08: that back up the provincial direction

00:42:07 Speaker 08: to make sure that all residents

00:42:09 Speaker 08: are connected to a primary healthcare

00:42:11 Speaker 08: team by 2029. And so, the

00:42:13 Speaker 08: way in which that is being

00:42:16 Speaker 08: done at the minute is through

00:42:18 Speaker 08: something called the IPCT interprofessional care

00:42:21 Speaker 08: team model, and funding for that

00:42:23 Speaker 08: goes through a number of windows.

00:42:26 Speaker 08: There were two last year, and

00:42:28 Speaker 08: one last year, one early this

00:42:30 Speaker 08: year, and those IP. And those

00:42:32 Speaker 08: IPCT funding models are applications are

00:42:33 Speaker 08: put in through OHTs to support,

00:42:35 Speaker 08: in our case, the seventeen different

00:42:38 Speaker 08: organisations' needs to connect more residents

00:42:40 Speaker 08: with primary healthcare teams. So the

00:42:42 Speaker 08: second round, the first round of

00:42:44 Speaker 08: IPCT funding last year delivered around

00:42:47 Speaker 08: about a million dollars of funding

00:42:50 Speaker 08: to Grey Bruce OHT and the

00:42:52 Speaker 08: various teams within. And this second

00:42:53 Speaker 08: funding round, the applications were submitted

00:42:55 Speaker 08: earlier this month. and those sorry

00:42:58 Speaker 08: in December, those the application for

00:43:00 Speaker 08: Grey Bruce was based by the

00:43:04 Speaker 08: new master plan for connectivity in

00:43:05 Speaker 08: Grey Bruce, and was for just

00:43:08 Speaker 08: over six million six million dollars,

00:43:09 Speaker 08: and we're waiting the decision from

00:43:11 Speaker 08: that. As I say, there's a

00:43:13 Speaker 08: healthcare plan, a master plan that

00:43:15 Speaker 08: the Ontario Health Team has developed

00:43:17 Speaker 08: for Grey Bruce, and the OHT

00:43:19 Speaker 08: plan for Grey Bruce indicates that

00:43:22 Speaker 08: we need about eighty new full

00:43:23 Speaker 08: time professionals to support. connecting and

00:43:24 Speaker 08: attaching everybody to primary healthcare in

00:43:26 Speaker 08: this area, and that the grand

00:43:29 Speaker 08: cost of that is around about

00:43:31 Speaker 08: eleven million dollars. The master plan

00:43:33 Speaker 08: articulates a three-year timeline to implement

00:43:35 Speaker 08: that, which is made made up

00:43:37 Speaker 08: in phases, starting with attaching and

00:43:38 Speaker 08: ending with making sure that we

00:43:40 Speaker 08: have sustainable funding. One of the

00:43:42 Speaker 08: things that we reflected on was

00:43:46 Speaker 08: that twenty twenty nine target that

00:43:47 Speaker 08: the province has set, which feels

00:43:50 Speaker 08: very ambitious when we know that

00:43:52 Speaker 08: the We know that it takes

00:43:53 Speaker 08: seven years to train a family

00:43:54 Speaker 08: health physician, and so how does

00:43:55 Speaker 08: the province want to achieve that?

00:43:58 Speaker 08: And the reality is that what

00:44:00 Speaker 08: they're trying to do at this

00:44:03 Speaker 08: point in time through the IPCT

00:44:05 Speaker 08: funding is attach more patients to

00:44:07 Speaker 08: the existing doctors, as well as

00:44:08 Speaker 08: looking to add where they can

00:44:09 Speaker 08: doctors to take on where there

00:44:12 Speaker 08: are retirements, where there's natural transition,

00:44:14 Speaker 08: and where there are shortages and

00:44:15 Speaker 08: capacity for doctors to move into

00:44:17 Speaker 08: the area. So the driving force

00:44:19 Speaker 08: between ICPT funding, the IPCT funding,

00:44:20 Speaker 08: and the work of the Ontario

00:44:22 Speaker 08: Health Team and those 17 organisations

00:44:24 Speaker 08: they work with, is to set

00:44:26 Speaker 08: the stage for the doctors that

00:44:29 Speaker 08: are already in this area, as

00:44:30 Speaker 08: well as new doctors coming to

00:44:31 Speaker 08: this area, to increase the number

00:44:33 Speaker 08: of residents and patients they can

00:44:35 Speaker 08: sign up. That is going to

00:44:37 Speaker 08: rely quite heavily on nurse practitioners.

00:44:39 Speaker 08: The province has established a metric

00:44:40 Speaker 08: that suggests for every nurse practitioner

00:44:42 Speaker 08: that's added to a family health

00:44:43 Speaker 08: team, approximately 800. Approximately eight hundred

00:44:45 Speaker 08: to a thousand new patients can

00:44:47 Speaker 08: be rostered to the doctors that

00:44:51 Speaker 08: participate in that family health team.

00:44:54 Speaker 08: So, the drive behind those eighty

00:44:57 Speaker 08: staff over that first three years

00:44:59 Speaker 08: of the master plan is really

00:45:01 Speaker 08: to build the wraparound supports that

00:45:03 Speaker 08: we have within Grey Bruce around

00:45:05 Speaker 08: the existing seventeen healthcare teams to

00:45:07 Speaker 08: make sure that more residents are

00:45:08 Speaker 08: able to sign up within

00:45:10 Speaker 08: the teams that we have at

00:45:12 Speaker 08: this point in time. So, there's

00:45:14 Speaker 08: a drive towards making sure all

00:45:16 Speaker 08: the FHNs and all the FHOs,

00:45:18 Speaker 08: all the physicians that are currently

00:45:19 Speaker 08: in the area. are working with

00:45:21 Speaker 08: a family health team, or indeed

00:45:22 Speaker 08: a community health centre, so they

00:45:24 Speaker 08: can access that funding and access

00:45:27 Speaker 08: the supports through OHT, and and

00:45:29 Speaker 08: can and can sign up more

00:45:30 Speaker 08: residents onto their onto their their

00:45:32 Speaker 08: lists. Circling back to the data

00:45:33 Speaker 08: piece, we did talk a little

00:45:34 Speaker 08: bit about Healthcare Connect. Healthcare Connect

00:45:36 Speaker 08: is the provincial system onto which

00:45:37 Speaker 08: residents can sign up if they

00:45:40 Speaker 08: are unattached at this point in

00:45:42 Speaker 08: time, and that will help Alec.

00:45:43 Speaker 08: And that will help allocate unattached

00:45:44 Speaker 08: residents to primary healthcare teams. There's

00:45:46 Speaker 08: been quite a lot in the

00:45:48 Speaker 08: media around the effectiveness of Healthcare

00:45:51 Speaker 08: Connect. However, the province has confirmed

00:45:52 Speaker 08: that is the system that they

00:45:54 Speaker 08: are going to use. It is

00:45:55 Speaker 08: the one clearinghouse for the way

00:45:58 Speaker 08: in which they're going to connect

00:46:00 Speaker 08: residents with primary healthcare teams. They

00:46:03 Speaker 08: made some significant changes to Healthcare

00:46:04 Speaker 08: Connect last year, and so you

00:46:05 Speaker 08: don't actually need to be disconnected

00:46:07 Speaker 08: from a primary healthcare team to

00:46:08 Speaker 08: sign up for Healthcare Connect at

00:46:10 Speaker 08: this point in time. So if

00:46:12 Speaker 08: you've moved to the area and

00:46:13 Speaker 08: you've retained. a family physician two,

00:46:15 Speaker 08: three, four hundred kilometres away in

00:46:17 Speaker 08: your previous community because you didn't

00:46:19 Speaker 08: want to lose the contact with

00:46:21 Speaker 08: a primary healthcare physician. You can

00:46:23 Speaker 08: still sign up to Healthcare Connect

00:46:26 Speaker 08: so that you can sign up

00:46:28 Speaker 08: and and be considered unattached at

00:46:29 Speaker 08: that point, and that will help

00:46:32 Speaker 08: the data. So one of the

00:46:33 Speaker 08: actions that Joint Sub Municipal Services

00:46:35 Speaker 08: Committee endorsed was Grey County working

00:46:38 Speaker 08: with member municipalities and OHT to

00:46:41 Speaker 08: increase awareness around how to make

00:46:44 Speaker 08: sure that you're connected with Healthcare

00:46:46 Speaker 08: Connect so that you're on. the

00:46:49 Speaker 08: right list, and that we can

00:46:50 Speaker 08: help clarify some of those data,

00:46:52 Speaker 08: so that we're more reliable on

00:46:55 Speaker 08: the twelve thousand or thereabouts residents

00:46:56 Speaker 08: that are unattached at this point

00:46:59 Speaker 08: in time, and the and the

00:47:01 Speaker 08: number of people. We also talked

00:47:02 Speaker 08: about some of the challenges that

00:47:04 Speaker 08: OHT experiences. So OHT is funded

00:47:06 Speaker 08: on year-to-year funding windows by Ontario

00:47:07 Speaker 08: Health, and so when you have

00:47:08 Speaker 08: an executive director comes in, they

00:47:09 Speaker 08: have to form relationships, as I

00:47:12 Speaker 08: say, with seventeen different organisations within

00:47:13 Speaker 08: Grey Bruce, and they have to

00:47:15 Speaker 08: understand the new. And they have

00:47:17 Speaker 08: to understand the nuances of healthcare

00:47:19 Speaker 08: provision in Owen Sound, within Indigenous

00:47:19 Speaker 08: communities, and and in communities on

00:47:23 Speaker 08: the North Bruce and in Hanover.

00:47:25 Speaker 08: So they have a significant breadth

00:47:26 Speaker 08: of a scope of role and

00:47:27 Speaker 08: a significant number of people they

00:47:29 Speaker 08: need to make contact with. And

00:47:32 Speaker 08: so the the short term fixed

00:47:34 Speaker 08: appointments that are currently being run

00:47:35 Speaker 08: to support the OHTs is a

00:47:37 Speaker 08: challenge. It's a challenge for finding,

00:47:39 Speaker 08: retaining, and recruiting staff, and it's

00:47:41 Speaker 08: a challenge. for making sure there's

00:47:42 Speaker 08: some consistency. And so, one of

00:47:44 Speaker 08: the things we talked about there

00:47:47 Speaker 08: was some ways in which municipalities

00:47:49 Speaker 08: might be able to support the

00:47:50 Speaker 08: work of OHT by providing access

00:47:54 Speaker 08: to perhaps some of the things

00:47:55 Speaker 08: that we do. So, things like

00:47:57 Speaker 08: communication support. How can we help

00:47:59 Speaker 08: deliver their work effectively across the

00:48:02 Speaker 08: area? And there was some good

00:48:04 Speaker 08: conversation around that. These really informed

00:48:05 Speaker 08: our Roma delegation quite heavily. And

00:48:06 Speaker 08: so, we did actually we were

00:48:08 Speaker 08: able to be joined by Lindsay

00:48:11 Speaker 08: at our delegation with the assistant,

00:48:13 Speaker 08: the associate minister. for health. When

00:48:15 Speaker 08: we were down in Toronto earlier

00:48:16 Speaker 08: this week, we had good conversations

00:48:18 Speaker 08: around that. We also talked a

00:48:20 Speaker 08: little bit about wage standardisation. As

00:48:22 Speaker 08: I say, nurse practitioners, as an

00:48:25 Speaker 08: example, though they're not the only

00:48:27 Speaker 08: one, a nurse practitioner employed within

00:48:29 Speaker 08: a family health team setting is

00:48:31 Speaker 08: paid on an established provincial wage

00:48:33 Speaker 08: grid. And as we know, the

00:48:35 Speaker 08: province has capped inflationary increases on

00:48:36 Speaker 08: provincial staff over recent years after

00:48:38 Speaker 08: a pay freeze. And what that's

00:48:40 Speaker 08: led to is two levels of

00:48:41 Speaker 08: pay. associated with nurse practitioners, as

00:48:43 Speaker 08: an example, not the only one,

00:48:44 Speaker 08: where they're paid differently within a

00:48:46 Speaker 08: hospital setting than they are within

00:48:47 Speaker 08: a family health team setting, which

00:48:48 Speaker 08: again exacerbates a problem associated with

00:48:50 Speaker 08: staff retention and engagement. So we

00:48:54 Speaker 08: had a conversation with the minister

00:48:56 Speaker 08: around that. We had a conversation

00:48:57 Speaker 01: at joint municipal services on that,

00:48:58 Speaker 01: and we talked about the desire

00:49:00 Speaker 01: to work in innovative partnerships with

00:49:01 Speaker 01: OHTs to advance the aspirations of

00:49:03 Speaker 01: primary healthcare across communities in Grey

00:49:04 Speaker 01: County. In Gray County, the minister,

00:49:05 Speaker 01: the associate minister, seemed very supportive

00:49:06 Speaker 01: of the ideas that we shared,

00:49:08 Speaker 01: and indeed has asked us to

00:49:12 Speaker 09: follow up with the minister in

00:49:14 Speaker 09: coming weeks, and we will be

00:49:18 Speaker 09: doing so. So, I think I've

00:49:21 Speaker 09: covered off broadly the contents of

00:49:24 Speaker 09: that. I apologise; I went onto

00:49:26 Speaker 09: a little bit more detail. I'm

00:49:28 Speaker 09: trying to summarise what was quite

00:49:30 Speaker 09: a complex report and a really

00:49:32 Speaker 09: good conversation that we had at

00:49:36 Speaker 09: the joint municipal services question table.

00:49:42 Speaker 09: I'll be happy to take questions.

00:49:45 Speaker 09: Okay, thank you, Deputy Cao. Please

00:49:47 Speaker 08: don't apologise because this is such.

00:49:49 Speaker 08: Please don't apologize because this is

00:49:51 Speaker 08: such a relevant topic, and the

00:49:53 Speaker 08: fact that there are so many

00:49:56 Speaker 08: moving pieces of the puzzle and

00:50:00 Speaker 08: so many different partnerships involved in

00:50:01 Speaker 08: this, I think it's worthy of

00:50:02 Speaker 08: taking that extra time to share

00:50:04 Speaker 08: the details. So, thank you. We'll

00:50:07 Speaker 08: go to the Deputy Warden for

00:50:10 Speaker 08: a question or comment. Thank you,

00:50:12 Speaker 08: Madam Warden. Yes, indeed, it is

00:50:13 Speaker 08: very complex. Now, I forgot you

00:50:15 Speaker 08: said for the unattached patients in

00:50:17 Speaker 08: Greene County, we needed approximately 80

00:50:19 Speaker 08: additional allied health professionals. Was there

00:50:21 Speaker 08: any discussion, or has there been

00:50:22 Speaker 08: any discussion as to physically where

00:50:24 Speaker 08: are those people going to work

00:50:25 Speaker 08: if they did exist? Because, yeah,

00:50:27 Speaker 08: where are they going to practice?

00:50:29 Speaker 08: So, through you, Madam Ward, a

00:50:30 Speaker 08: great question. Yes, there is. So,

00:50:33 Speaker 08: part of the work that the

00:50:34 Speaker 08: OHT has done is looking at

00:50:35 Speaker 08: where there is space for those

00:50:37 Speaker 08: those new professionals to come into.

00:50:39 Speaker 08: There are within within that eighty.

00:50:41 Speaker 08: There's no new practices at this

00:50:42 Speaker 08: point in time. There is some

00:50:44 Speaker 08: capital funding, and there's a slightly

00:50:45 Speaker 08: different stream for capital funding to

00:50:47 Speaker 08: enhance spaces and to expand spaces

00:50:49 Speaker 08: where that's needed. And certainly, it's

00:50:52 Speaker 08: not a problem in the next

00:50:53 Speaker 08: couple of years. But by year

00:50:54 Speaker 08: three, having the space for all

00:50:57 Speaker 08: of those additional people to work

00:50:58 Speaker 08: from is going to become a

00:51:00 Speaker 08: pressure. The OHT is also aware

00:51:03 Speaker 08: that there are. pressures within, and

00:51:05 Speaker 08: so one of the things that

00:51:07 Speaker 08: we did have a conversation about,

00:51:08 Speaker 08: both at joint municipal services and

00:51:16 Speaker 08: highlighted again in front of the

00:51:20 Speaker 08: associate minister, was there's a number

00:51:21 Speaker 10: of already good collaborative relationships. I'm

00:51:22 Speaker 10: going to pick on your colleagues

00:51:24 Speaker 10: in Chatsworth at this point in

00:51:25 Speaker 10: time who host a surgery actually

00:51:27 Speaker 10: out of the municipal offices, and

00:51:28 Speaker 10: so one of the things that

00:51:30 Speaker 10: we suggested might be a possibility

00:51:32 Speaker 10: is to work with municipalities to

00:51:34 Speaker 10: understand where we have existing facilities

00:51:36 Speaker 10: that might be able to be

00:51:38 Speaker 10: opened up to support local healthcare.

00:51:40 Speaker 10: in local communities as the staff

00:51:42 Speaker 10: start to build up, and so

00:51:45 Speaker 10: that was that was a good

00:51:46 Speaker 10: conversation. But certainly, as as we

00:51:51 Speaker 10: get to that full capacity, there

00:51:54 Speaker 10: there is a recognition that there's

00:51:55 Speaker 10: a space pressure, and OHT is

00:51:56 Speaker 10: working with those 17 different groups

00:51:59 Speaker 10: to identify where there's where there's

00:52:02 Speaker 08: capacity and where there may not

00:52:05 Speaker 08: be capacity. Okay, thank you. Other

00:52:07 Speaker 08: questions? We'll go to Councillor Kevney.

00:52:09 Speaker 08: Thank you, Ward and Matrasovs, and

00:52:11 Speaker 08: thank you very much. Now for

00:52:14 Speaker 08: going into all that detail today,

00:52:17 Speaker 08: we had great conversation at the

00:52:20 Speaker 08: Shared Services Committee. I just wanted

00:52:23 Speaker 08: to touch on a comment that

00:52:24 Speaker 08: Minister Sylvia Jones made at Roma,

00:52:26 Speaker 08: where she talked about incentives and

00:52:27 Speaker 08: suggested that we all need to

00:52:29 Speaker 08: stop that. And I think that's

00:52:31 Speaker 08: next to impossible. But I just

00:52:32 Speaker 08: wanted to suggest that perhaps that

00:52:34 Speaker 08: be a topic of conversation at

00:52:36 Speaker 08: our next Shared Services Committee, and

00:52:37 Speaker 08: ask for your thoughts on that

00:52:40 Speaker 08: today. So, thank you for the

00:52:42 Speaker 08: question. And through you, Madam Warden,

00:52:45 Speaker 08: that was in my notes, and

00:52:47 Speaker 08: I skipped over it. Thank you,

00:52:49 Speaker 08: Councillor Keeney, for the the reminder.

00:52:51 Speaker 08: So, yes, Minister Jones did articulate

00:52:53 Speaker 08: the fact that the and she

00:52:54 Speaker 08: used some some strong terms. But

00:52:57 Speaker 08: the competition that exists between municipalities

00:52:58 Speaker 08: for a finite resource is actually

00:52:59 Speaker 08: not helping. Often, the the the

00:53:02 Speaker 08: connection and attachment of residents to

00:53:04 Speaker 08: primary healthcare. She did put down

00:53:05 Speaker 08: a baton that that that stop.

00:53:07 Speaker 08: There's there's no mechanism for forcing

00:53:09 Speaker 08: people to do that. It was

00:53:12 Speaker 08: a request rather than anything else

00:53:13 Speaker 08: like that. It was a

00:53:17 Speaker 08: conversation we had at joint municipal

00:53:19 Speaker 08: services as well. And indeed,

00:53:23 Speaker 08: for anyone that wants to follow

00:53:24 Speaker 08: the links embedded within that report

00:53:26 Speaker 08: to the Auditor General report, the

00:53:28 Speaker 08: Auditor General has highlighted this as

00:53:31 Speaker 08: one of the significant barriers to

00:53:33 Speaker 08: to reaching levels of attachment. And

00:53:35 Speaker 08: really, this comes stems to the

00:53:37 Speaker 08: fact that that. Primary healthcare can't

00:53:38 Speaker 08: be sold at a municipal landscape.

00:53:43 Speaker 08: It can't really be sold at

00:53:47 Speaker 08: a county landscape. It's a regional

00:53:50 Speaker 08: landscape, and so the the important

00:53:52 Speaker 08: thing that the takeaway we took

00:53:56 Speaker 11: from our conversations with OHT are

00:53:58 Speaker 11: that we really do need to

00:54:01 Speaker 11: elevate this to that Bruce County,

00:54:04 Speaker 11: that Bruce Gray regional approach. The

00:54:07 Speaker 11: OHT units are set up so

00:54:10 Speaker 11: they can apply that regional approach,

00:54:11 Speaker 11: and there might be better ways

00:54:13 Speaker 11: and different ways of us leveraging

00:54:15 Speaker 11: that funding in terms of Gray

00:54:16 Speaker 11: County's ability to ask. member municipalities

00:54:21 Speaker 11: to to to alter that—that's something

00:54:22 Speaker 11: which will take some significant additional

00:54:26 Speaker 11: conversation because member municipalities are able

00:54:28 Speaker 11: to allocate their budget as they

00:54:30 Speaker 11: see appropriate. But yes, we would

00:54:33 Speaker 11: we would we're looking for opportunities

00:54:36 Speaker 11: where we can provide frameworks which

00:54:39 Speaker 11: allow for collaboration across Gray County,

00:54:45 Speaker 11: and we'll be increasingly looking to

00:54:46 Speaker 11: work with our colleagues in Bruce

00:54:50 Speaker 11: County as well to make sure

00:54:52 Speaker 11: that we're aligned on. Councillor Dobrin,

00:54:53 Speaker 11: thank you, Warden, and through thank

00:54:59 Speaker 11: you for the very detailed explanation.

00:55:00 Speaker 11: And I appreciate that you touched

00:55:02 Speaker 11: on the healthcare connect because that

00:55:04 Speaker 11: that eleven to twelve percent, I

00:55:05 Speaker 11: suspected, and and you did mention

00:55:07 Speaker 08: this in your your speech there

00:55:09 Speaker 08: that it's potentially that people are

00:55:10 Speaker 08: attached to a physician or primary

00:55:13 Speaker 08: healthcare, but they're. traveling two to

00:55:15 Speaker 08: three hours to get. I can

00:55:16 Speaker 08: speak for myself. That took eight

00:55:18 Speaker 08: years to get a nurse practitioner

00:55:20 Speaker 08: in a nearby county, because. But

00:55:21 Speaker 08: I wouldn't let go of my

00:55:22 Speaker 08: doctor in Toronto. the The question

00:55:25 Speaker 08: I have is, how do we

00:55:27 Speaker 08: get the message out to those

00:55:28 Speaker 08: who are attached to a physician

00:55:30 Speaker 08: or primary health team in another

00:55:32 Speaker 08: community, a distance away, to register

00:55:33 Speaker 08: for? Healthcare Connect as that category,

00:55:35 Speaker 08: and assure them that they're not

00:55:36 Speaker 08: going to lose their practitioner until

00:55:38 Speaker 08: such time as they're attached to

00:55:39 Speaker 08: someone, you know, within 30 minutes

00:55:41 Speaker 08: or an hour. So through you,

00:55:43 Speaker 08: Madam Warden, and thank you for

00:55:45 Speaker 08: the question again. So first off,

00:55:47 Speaker 08: I think conversations like this, the

00:55:48 Speaker 08: tens of thousands of people that

00:55:49 Speaker 08: will tune into this meeting afterwards.

00:55:50 Speaker 08: Tune in to this meeting afterwards.

00:55:52 Speaker 08: Will go away much richer for

00:55:53 Speaker 08: knowing that they can sign up

00:55:55 Speaker 08: to Healthcare Connects regardless of their

00:55:56 Speaker 08: current attachment standard. We'll probably need

00:55:58 Speaker 08: to do a bit of a

00:56:00 Speaker 08: better job. The fact that, as

00:56:01 Speaker 08: a as a newcomer to Grey

00:56:02 Speaker 08: County who's been on a waiting

00:56:04 Speaker 08: list for some period of time,

00:56:05 Speaker 08: having abandoned my primary healthcare team,

00:56:08 Speaker 08: I found out about this when

00:56:11 Speaker 08: I happened to have lunch with

00:56:12 Speaker 08: the executive director of OHT. And

00:56:13 Speaker 08: if that's the communication method by

00:56:17 Speaker 08: which you're finding out things, we

00:56:19 Speaker 08: can do better. And so one

00:56:21 Speaker 08: of the things we discussed. at

00:56:24 Speaker 08: Municipal Service Committee, and that I

00:56:25 Speaker 11: think we can do, is we

00:56:27 Speaker 11: will be working with a bit

00:56:32 Speaker 11: of a media campaign in partnership

00:56:33 Speaker 11: with OHT, in partnership with member

00:56:35 Speaker 11: municipalities, and with Bruce County, to

00:56:37 Speaker 11: really start trying to get the

00:56:41 Speaker 11: word out, get some radio adverts

00:56:42 Speaker 11: out there, get some stuff in

00:56:47 Speaker 11: the papers. And I see a

00:56:49 Speaker 11: couple of members of the press

00:56:50 Speaker 11: behind me who may wish to

00:56:53 Speaker 11: to articulate this in in their

00:56:55 Speaker 11: stories and following up from today.

00:56:56 Speaker 12: But if there are opportunities for

00:56:58 Speaker 12: us to share that, we will

00:56:59 Speaker 12: be looking for those opportunities. And

00:57:03 Speaker 12: I think that's something we can

00:57:04 Speaker 12: pick up the bat. We can

00:57:06 Speaker 12: pick up the baton fairly quickly

00:57:08 Speaker 12: on this year without any any

00:57:10 Speaker 12: expense beyond what's in our existing

00:57:12 Speaker 12: budget. So I look forward to

00:57:14 Speaker 12: us continuing those conversations quite early

00:57:16 Speaker 12: on this year. Thank you for

00:57:18 Speaker 12: that, and I think that will

00:57:21 Speaker 12: give us, as you said, better

00:57:22 Speaker 12: data as to those who are

00:57:23 Speaker 12: truly they may be attached to

00:57:25 Speaker 12: a to primary health care somewhere

00:57:28 Speaker 12: else, but not locally. And I'm

00:57:30 Speaker 12: happy to you know when we

00:57:31 Speaker 12: get that. social media piece or

00:57:34 Speaker 12: press release out, then each of

00:57:35 Speaker 12: us can then share it out

00:57:38 Speaker 12: into our communities. Okay, next we'll

00:57:39 Speaker 12: go to Councillor Body. Thanks. I've

00:57:42 Speaker 12: said this before, but this is

00:57:43 Speaker 12: the coolest committee for anybody to

00:57:44 Speaker 12: sit on because we're we're discussing

00:57:45 Speaker 12: stuff like this. Big thank you

00:57:47 Speaker 12: to Shirley who put up more

00:57:50 Speaker 12: dots than any of us in

00:57:51 Speaker 12: doctor recruitment for for this committee

00:57:52 Speaker 12: and all the rest of us.

00:57:54 Speaker 12: After that meeting, it became so

00:57:57 Speaker 12: clear that it has to be