Grey County County Council Meeting Transcript — September 11, 2025

00:04:38 Speaker 01: now like to call to order

00:04:39 Speaker 01: this County Council meeting of September

00:04:41 Speaker 02: 11, 2025. And at this point

00:04:44 Speaker 02: in time, as we are able,

00:04:45 Speaker 02: please join us. in the singing

00:04:47 Speaker 02: and the standing for "O Canada."

00:05:03 Speaker 02: O Canada, our home and native

00:05:09 Speaker 03: land, true patriot love. in all

00:05:16 Speaker 03: of us. Command with glowing hearts.

00:05:21 Speaker 04: We see thee rise, the true

00:05:25 Speaker 04: North, strong and free. From far

00:05:30 Speaker 04: and wide, O Canada, we stand

00:05:34 Speaker 04: on guard for thee. God keep

00:05:40 Speaker 04: our land, glory. Glorious and free,

00:05:47 Speaker 04: O Canada, we stand on guard

00:05:52 Speaker 04: for thee. O Canada, we stand

00:06:00 Speaker 04: on guard for thee. Thank. you,

00:06:12 Speaker 04: Madam Clerk. Could you please conduct

00:06:14 Speaker 05: our roll call? Councillor Mackie. President.

00:06:19 Speaker 05: Councillor McKay sends his regrets today.

00:06:21 Speaker 05: Councillor Carlton. Councillor Pringle. Councillor

00:06:24 Speaker 05: McQueen, I believe, is joining us

00:06:26 Speaker 05: momentarily. Councillor Nielsen. President.

00:06:29 Speaker 05: Councillor Patterson. Councillor Dickert.

00:06:32 Speaker 05: Councillor Kentner. Councillor Keaveny. Councillor

00:06:35 Speaker 05: Body. Councillor Gregg. Councillor Milne.

00:06:39 Speaker 05: Councillor Dobrinski. Councillor Dobrine, Gordon

00:06:44 Speaker 05: Matrasovs, Councillor Bordyniawski says regrets

00:06:46 Speaker 06: today. Councillor Echols, Councillor Hutchinson. We

00:06:51 Speaker 06: have all members in attendance today,

00:06:53 Speaker 06: with the exception of Councillors McKay,

00:06:56 Speaker 07: Bordyniaw and McQueen. Thank you, Madam

00:07:00 Speaker 07: Clerk. Let us begin by acknowledging,

00:07:02 Speaker 07: with respect, that we are gathered

00:07:04 Speaker 07: on the traditional territory of the

00:07:06 Speaker 02: Anishinaab Nation, the people of known

00:07:08 Speaker 02: of the three fires, known as

00:07:10 Speaker 02: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi nations.

00:07:14 Speaker 02: We give thanks to the Chippewa

00:07:15 Speaker 02: of Sogee and the Chippewa of

00:07:17 Speaker 02: Nawash, collectively known as the Sogee

00:07:19 Speaker 02: Ojibwe Nation, the traditional keepers of

00:07:22 Speaker 02: these lands and waters since time

00:07:24 Speaker 02: immemorial. In our south lies the

00:07:27 Speaker 02: traditional territories of the Six Nations

00:07:29 Speaker 02: of the Grand River and the

00:07:30 Speaker 02: Haudenosaunee. We are dedicated to honouring

00:07:34 Speaker 02: Indigenous history and culture, and committed

00:07:36 Speaker 02: to moving. forward in the spirit

00:07:38 Speaker 02: of truth, reconciliation, and friendship with

00:07:41 Speaker 02: all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit

00:07:44 Speaker 08: people. At this point in time,

00:07:49 Speaker 08: I would like to put out

00:07:50 Speaker 08: a call. If there are any

00:07:51 Speaker 02: declarations of interest, seeing none, we'll

00:07:55 Speaker 02: move on to the adoption of

00:07:57 Speaker 02: the minutes. It's recommended that these

00:07:58 Speaker 02: minutes of County Council meeting and

00:08:00 Speaker 02: the committee, the whole meeting, dated

00:08:02 Speaker 02: August fourteenth, twenty twenty-five, and the

00:08:05 Speaker 02: resolutions can. And the resolutions contained

00:08:07 Speaker 02: therein be adopted as presented. May

00:08:08 Speaker 02: I ask for a mover? Moved

00:08:12 Speaker 02: by Councillor Kivney, seconded by Councillor

00:08:16 Speaker 02: Eccles. Any discussion? Seeing none. All

00:08:19 Speaker 02: those in favour? And that motion

00:08:22 Speaker 02: is carried. Next, item six B.

00:08:24 Speaker 02: It's recommended that the closed session

00:08:25 Speaker 02: committee of the whole meeting minutes,

00:08:28 Speaker 02: dated August fourteenth, twenty twenty-five, be

00:08:31 Speaker 02: adopted as provided. May I ask

00:08:33 Speaker 02: for a mover? Moved by Councillor

00:08:35 Speaker 02: Patters. Moved by Councillor Patterson, seconded

00:08:38 Speaker 02: by Councillor Mackie. Any discussion? All

00:08:40 Speaker 09: those in favour? And that motion

00:08:43 Speaker 02: is carried. We do not have

00:08:45 Speaker 02: any close close meeting matters on

00:08:47 Speaker 02: this council agenda, and that allows

00:08:49 Speaker 02: us to go to our reports.

00:08:52 Speaker 02: And we have it's recommended that

00:08:54 Speaker 02: the Board of Health minutes dated

00:08:56 Speaker 02: June twenty seventh, twenty twenty five,

00:08:58 Speaker 02: be received for information. May I

00:09:01 Speaker 02: ask for a mover? Moved by

00:09:06 Speaker 02: Councillor Dicker, seconded. seconded by Councillor

00:09:11 Speaker 02: Dobrine. Any discussion? All those in

00:09:12 Speaker 10: favour? And that motion is carried.

00:09:16 Speaker 10: Thank you. All right. That allows

00:09:17 Speaker 10: us to move on to number

00:09:19 Speaker 02: nine, which is the bylaws. It's

00:09:22 Speaker 02: recommended that bylaw fifty-two forty-eight twenty-five

00:09:31 Speaker 02: be it be introduced. Oh, sorry.

00:09:33 Speaker 02: We just did that. Yes, yes,

00:09:35 Speaker 02: we had it moved by Councillor

00:09:36 Speaker 02: Dickert, I believe, and seconded by

00:09:42 Speaker 02: Councillor Green. So, I no apologies

00:09:43 Speaker 02: necessary. Yes, it's always good to

00:09:45 Speaker 02: make sure that we're covering everything.

00:09:54 Speaker 02: Thank you very much. So, with

00:09:55 Speaker 02: that, yes, so we are going

00:09:57 Speaker 02: to recommend that Bylaw fifty two

00:09:59 Speaker 02: forty eight twenty five be introduced

00:10:01 Speaker 02: and taken. as read a first,

00:10:03 Speaker 02: second, and third time, finally passed,

00:10:04 Speaker 02: signed by the warden and the

00:10:05 Speaker 02: clerk, sealed with the seal of

00:10:07 Speaker 02: the corporation, and engrossed in the

00:10:10 Speaker 02: bylaw book. This is fifty-two forty-eight

00:10:11 Speaker 02: twenty-five, a bylaw to confirm all

00:10:13 Speaker 02: the actions and proceedings of council.

00:10:14 Speaker 02: Deputy warden, would you like to

00:10:22 Speaker 02: move that? Moved by deputy warden.

00:10:27 Speaker 11: May I ask for a seconder?

00:10:30 Speaker 11: Seconded by councillor Eccles. All those

00:10:34 Speaker 11: in favour, and that motion is

00:10:35 Speaker 11: carried. Excellent. So we now move

00:10:38 Speaker 11: on to news and celebrations, and

00:10:43 Speaker 11: I think perhaps CAO. I think

00:10:44 Speaker 11: I'm going to call up on

00:10:46 Speaker 11: Director Myers first for some exciting

00:10:48 Speaker 11: news about our Grey County Gallery

00:10:50 Speaker 11: launch event. If you want to

00:10:52 Speaker 11: come forward, Director Myers, to the

00:10:54 Speaker 11: lectern, and and then we'll follow

00:10:58 Speaker 11: up with some updates from Aimo.

00:10:59 Speaker 12: Thank you. Excellent. Thank you, Orden.

00:11:01 Speaker 12: Good morning, County Council. You have

00:11:03 Speaker 13: an invitation on all of your

00:11:06 Speaker 13: desks there for the official grand

00:11:08 Speaker 13: opening of our Gray Gallery. This

00:11:10 Speaker 13: has been an eight-year project that

00:11:12 Speaker 13: has been ongoing. A lot of

00:11:14 Speaker 13: time and effort has gone into

00:11:15 Speaker 13: making sure that we've got something

00:11:18 Speaker 13: for our next twenty years or

00:11:21 Speaker 13: more. Our very final exhibit that

00:11:22 Speaker 13: is put together in this piece

00:11:24 Speaker 13: of the gallery is called Hope.

00:11:25 Speaker 13: So, what a way to end.

00:11:26 Speaker 13: So we would like to invite

00:11:28 Speaker 13: all of you out next Friday

00:11:30 Speaker 13: night from six to eight. There's

00:11:31 Speaker 13: an RSVP on that invitation if

00:11:34 Speaker 13: you're available to come and see

00:11:35 Speaker 13: the gallery. We've got staff to

00:11:36 Speaker 13: be able to take you through

00:11:37 Speaker 13: a tour of it. And if

00:11:39 Speaker 13: you're not available that night, please

00:11:40 Speaker 13: do join us at any time

00:11:41 Speaker 13: to come and see it because

00:11:42 Speaker 13: it really is impressive, and I

00:11:43 Speaker 13: think that we've got longevity out

00:11:44 Speaker 13: of this and a great story

00:11:48 Speaker 13: to tell about Gray County. So

00:11:50 Speaker 13: thank you, thank you very much,

00:11:51 Speaker 13: Director Myers. And with that, I'd

00:11:52 Speaker 13: like to look to the CAO

00:11:54 Speaker 14: to provide us with a. summary

00:11:57 Speaker 14: to share a summary of the

00:11:59 Speaker 14: AML conference and the delegation update,

00:12:00 Speaker 14: and then we'll open it to

00:12:02 Speaker 14: county council members who were in

00:12:04 Speaker 15: attendance that wish to add any

00:12:06 Speaker 16: extra highlights. Thank you. Well, thank

00:12:09 Speaker 16: you, Warden Matrosov, and good morning,

00:12:10 Speaker 16: Council. So this is our first

00:12:12 Speaker 16: council meeting since the AML conference

00:12:13 Speaker 16: that was held last month. So

00:12:14 Speaker 16: we thought it'd be good to

00:12:15 Speaker 16: do a bit of a recap

00:12:18 Speaker 16: of the conference. The Warden and

00:12:20 Speaker 16: several Great County Councillors and senior

00:12:22 Speaker 16: staff attended the the multi

00:12:24 Speaker 16: day event, including Multi-day event included

00:12:27 Speaker 16: various educational programmeming and opportunities to

00:12:29 Speaker 16: meet with various government representatives. the

00:12:32 Speaker 16: The county put forward four delegation

00:12:33 Speaker 16: requests to various ministries, and we

00:12:36 Speaker 16: were granted all four delegations. The

00:12:38 Speaker 16: first delegation was with Deputy

00:12:41 Speaker 16: Premier Minister of Health Sylvia Jones.

00:12:43 Speaker 16: Delegates discussed community paramedicine funding and

00:12:46 Speaker 16: and reporting, and thanked the minister

00:12:47 Speaker 16: for the recent increases in permanent

00:12:50 Speaker 16: funding support and the significant stability

00:12:53 Speaker 16: that's helped to bring to the

00:12:54 Speaker 16: community. Paramedicine Programme, we ask that

00:12:57 Speaker 16: the Minister consider ensuring that these

00:13:00 Speaker 16: funding programmemes see inflationary supports over

00:13:03 Speaker 16: successive years. Funding for the Community

00:13:05 Speaker 16: Paramedicine Programme comes from two ministries:

00:13:06 Speaker 16: being Long Term Care, as well

00:13:08 Speaker 16: as the Ministry of Health,

00:13:12 Speaker 16: and each stream comes with distinct

00:13:14 Speaker 16: reporting requirements and processes. The delegation

00:13:16 Speaker 16: raised concerns about the duplication of

00:13:17 Speaker 16: reporting requirements to both the Ministry

00:13:20 Speaker 16: of Health and the Ministry of

00:13:22 Speaker 16: Long Term Care. Overall, the the

00:13:24 Speaker 16: meeting with Minister Jones was was

00:13:26 Speaker 16: productive, and the minister really seemed

00:13:28 Speaker 16: to focus on the the duplicate

00:13:30 Speaker 16: reporting issue. So, county staff will

00:13:31 Speaker 16: be following up with ministry staff

00:13:33 Speaker 16: to see if this is something

00:13:37 Speaker 16: that we can work with

00:13:38 Speaker 16: the ministries to streamline those reporting

00:13:42 Speaker 16: requirements. The second delegation was with

00:13:44 Speaker 16: Minister Kusendova-Bashta, Minister of Long Term

00:13:46 Speaker 16: Care. Discussions included the the

00:13:49 Speaker 16: long wait times for vulnerable sector

00:13:51 Speaker 16: screenings, the continuation of residents. The

00:13:53 Speaker 16: continuation of resident support personnel alongside

00:13:56 Speaker 16: PSWs, as well as an update

00:13:58 Speaker 16: on the Rockwood Terrace redevelopment project.

00:14:00 Speaker 16: Delegates also requested clarity on whether

00:14:04 Speaker 16: projects already underway would be eligible

00:14:06 Speaker 16: for the new funding model announced

00:14:08 Speaker 16: in the 2025 regional budget. Further

00:14:09 Speaker 16: clarity was provided by the minister

00:14:12 Speaker 16: and her support staff, and county

00:14:13 Speaker 16: staff will be following up with

00:14:15 Speaker 16: respect to this. Staff are also

00:14:18 Speaker 16: in the process of obtaining more

00:14:19 Speaker 16: information about the new long-term care

00:14:21 Speaker 16: redevelopment. funding model announced by the

00:14:24 Speaker 16: province, and we'll be bringing back

00:14:27 Speaker 16: further information to council regarding this.

00:14:30 Speaker 16: The third delegation was with Minister

00:14:32 Speaker 16: Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research

00:14:36 Speaker 16: Excellence, and Security. The discussion focused

00:14:38 Speaker 16: on the financial pressures facing small

00:14:40 Speaker 16: rural college campuses. Delegates advocated for

00:14:44 Speaker 16: sustainable funding and investments in colleges,

00:14:47 Speaker 16: as they they are essential

00:14:49 Speaker 16: rural infrastructure for for our region.

00:14:52 Speaker 16: Ontario colleges are. facing a financial

00:14:54 Speaker 16: crisis. Without stabilization funding and structural

00:14:56 Speaker 16: reform, campuses are at risk. There's

00:14:59 Speaker 16: fewer local training opportunities, would mean

00:15:01 Speaker 16: that fewer skilled workers, which would

00:15:03 Speaker 16: directly impact our businesses and economy.

00:15:06 Speaker 16: The minister was receptive to our

00:15:07 Speaker 16: delegation and understood the importance of

00:15:09 Speaker 16: rural college campuses for workforce development.

00:15:11 Speaker 16: So we'll be continued to work

00:15:14 Speaker 16: with Georgian College and the province

00:15:15 Speaker 16: to continue to underline the importance

00:15:18 Speaker 16: of the Georgian College Owen Sound

00:15:20 Speaker 16: campus. Georgia College-owned campus as a

00:15:22 Speaker 16: key workforce development hub in our

00:15:25 Speaker 16: region. In our last delegation, Gray

00:15:28 Speaker 16: County advocated for a return to

00:15:29 Speaker 16: long-term funding for small business enterprise

00:15:32 Speaker 16: centres, with the Associate Minister Nina

00:15:34 Speaker 16: Tangri of the Ministry of Economic

00:15:36 Speaker 16: Development, Job Creation, and Trade. Gray

00:15:38 Speaker 16: County is home to more

00:15:40 Speaker 16: than thirteen thousand businesses, and ninety-two,

00:15:42 Speaker 16: ninety-nine percent of which are small

00:15:45 Speaker 16: businesses. And the Gray County Business

00:15:47 Speaker 16: Enterprise Centre supports hundreds of entrepreneurs.

00:15:48 Speaker 16: each and every year. Long-term funding

00:15:51 Speaker 16: for our business enterprise centre

00:15:54 Speaker 16: ensures we can continue providing the

00:15:56 Speaker 16: tools and services that help local

00:15:58 Speaker 16: businesses start, grow, and succeed. Associate

00:16:00 Speaker 16: Minister Tangri acknowledged the importance of

00:16:01 Speaker 16: the small business enterprise centres and

00:16:03 Speaker 16: seemed interested in touring the Sydney

00:16:05 Speaker 16: campus, which is where the business

00:16:07 Speaker 17: enterprise centre is located. So we'll

00:16:09 Speaker 17: again be following up with her

00:16:11 Speaker 17: staff and try to arrange a

00:16:13 Speaker 16: tour at some point in the

00:16:15 Speaker 16: near future. In addition to Great

00:16:17 Speaker 16: County. In addition to Grey County

00:16:19 Speaker 16: delegations, I know Ward Matrasov also

00:16:21 Speaker 16: participated in meetings with local municipalities,

00:16:24 Speaker 16: the Western Terre Warden's Caucus, the

00:16:27 Speaker 16: Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Cities

00:16:29 Speaker 16: Initiative, just to name a few.

00:16:32 Speaker 16: All Grey County delegations were supported

00:16:33 Speaker 16: by Bruce Gray, Ounseau, MPP Paul

00:16:35 Speaker 16: Vickers, and we thanked MPP Vickers

00:16:37 Speaker 16: for attending and supporting all the

00:16:39 Speaker 16: delegation meetings. Members of the Grey

00:16:41 Speaker 16: County team participated in a number

00:16:44 Speaker 16: of other local delegations in areas

00:16:46 Speaker 16: such as local access to primary

00:16:47 Speaker 16: care physicians and. family practitioners, to

00:16:49 Speaker 16: seeking to reduce red tape, and

00:16:52 Speaker 16: with administrative transportation with respect to

00:16:54 Speaker 16: public transit and the Olmstead Harbor.

00:16:56 Speaker 16: And I want to thank Nile,

00:16:58 Speaker 18: Jen Cornell, and Savannah Myers for

00:17:01 Speaker 19: their assistance with the county delegations,

00:17:04 Speaker 19: as well as Rob Hatton and

00:17:05 Speaker 19: Kayla Rye for helping with finalizing

00:17:07 Speaker 19: all the delegation briefs. So that's

00:17:08 Speaker 19: a summary of the email. Excellent,

00:17:10 Speaker 19: thank you, and I'm glad that

00:17:12 Speaker 19: you concluded with the participation of

00:17:14 Speaker 19: our of our senior. staff and

00:17:16 Speaker 19: the way that they're helpful, both

00:17:18 Speaker 19: behind the scenes and preparing the

00:17:19 Speaker 19: applications and the materials, and then

00:17:20 Speaker 19: that those that were able to

00:17:23 Speaker 19: come, I certainly think it does

00:17:24 Speaker 19: it does resonate, makes a difference

00:17:26 Speaker 20: on the other side of the

00:17:30 Speaker 20: table when there are staff members

00:17:32 Speaker 20: that are key key professionals and

00:17:33 Speaker 20: experts in the particular field that

00:17:34 Speaker 20: we're talking about. Because you, Director

00:17:35 Speaker 20: Myers, Director Cornell, and and the

00:17:37 Speaker 20: others, they are the you're the

00:17:38 Speaker 20: ones that they'll want to talk

00:17:39 Speaker 20: to when they want to delve

00:17:41 Speaker 20: further into those topics. so it

00:17:43 Speaker 20: was excellent, and it was also

00:17:45 Speaker 20: wonderful to be able to have

00:17:46 Speaker 20: both our Cao and our Deputy

00:17:47 Speaker 20: Cao, and to be able to

00:17:51 Speaker 20: divide and conquer when necessary. And

00:17:53 Speaker 20: my appreciation to the Deputy Warden

00:17:56 Speaker 20: who was able to help with

00:17:57 Speaker 20: that when there were some conflicting

00:18:00 Speaker 20: presentations to make. And certainly, the

00:18:02 Speaker 20: highlight that I would like to

00:18:04 Speaker 20: share is is the the demonstration,

00:18:07 Speaker 20: which was duly noted by the

00:18:09 Speaker 20: Ministries of the collabourative partnership that

00:18:11 Speaker 20: we have with Georgian College with

00:18:13 Speaker 20: Advantage Ontario by sharing and. presenting

00:18:15 Speaker 20: the the luncheon and also talking

00:18:17 Speaker 20: about the issues for long term

00:18:19 Speaker 20: care at our delegation and the

00:18:22 Speaker 20: counties and that included sitting in

00:18:23 Speaker 20: together with the delegation with Bruce

00:18:25 Speaker 20: County, who continues to be our

00:18:27 Speaker 20: our most sister county and it

00:18:30 Speaker 20: was very much appreciated again by

00:18:30 Speaker 20: the ministry that we could come

00:18:33 Speaker 20: together and talk about issues together

00:18:35 Speaker 20: and certainly that was one of

00:18:36 Speaker 20: the effectiveness of the the Western

00:18:38 Speaker 20: Ontario Wardens Caucus as well to

00:18:40 Speaker 20: be able to speak saying what

00:18:41 Speaker 20: what's what's happening here in Gray

00:18:43 Speaker 20: County is also happening in 15

00:18:45 Speaker 20: counties, so it's worth paying attention

00:18:46 Speaker 20: to and problem solving together. So

00:18:48 Speaker 20: with that, can I just open

00:18:51 Speaker 20: it up for any highlights that

00:18:53 Speaker 20: any other members who are attending?

00:18:54 Speaker 20: So many of you were so

00:18:57 Speaker 20: busy lined up in the hallways

00:18:58 Speaker 20: waiting to give your own municipality

00:19:00 Speaker 20: presentations. A number of you, the

00:19:01 Speaker 20: the chairs of our committees, also

00:19:03 Speaker 21: came along to the Gray County

00:19:06 Speaker 21: delegations. Just is there anything else

00:19:07 Speaker 22: that you'd like to share about

00:19:10 Speaker 22: AMO before I open up news

00:19:11 Speaker 22: and celebrations to? Up and using

00:19:12 Speaker 22: celebrations to all the other wonderful

00:19:14 Speaker 23: things that happen in our municipalities.

00:19:16 Speaker 23: Councillor McLean. Well, thank you, Madam

00:19:17 Speaker 23: President. Good morning, County Council. Just

00:19:18 Speaker 24: in a sense, thank you very

00:19:21 Speaker 24: much for the update on those

00:19:23 Speaker 24: delegations. I think it's very important

00:19:25 Speaker 24: that we all hear the highlights

00:19:27 Speaker 24: of those delegations. I guess the

00:19:28 Speaker 24: question I'm going to raise, and

00:19:31 Speaker 24: I did raise it for the

00:19:33 Speaker 24: Friday before the conference, was the

00:19:36 Speaker 24: ability for County Councillors to attend

00:19:37 Speaker 24: those delegations. In the past, I

00:19:38 Speaker 24: think there was normally an email

00:19:39 Speaker 24: or something went out if you

00:19:42 Speaker 24: wish to attend. certain delegations. That

00:19:44 Speaker 24: because I understand they'd like to

00:19:46 Speaker 24: register those county councillors that would

00:19:47 Speaker 24: like to attend. And I don't

00:19:48 Speaker 24: know if we need a policy

00:19:51 Speaker 24: on that process. I know that

00:19:54 Speaker 24: in the past, I think all

00:19:57 Speaker 24: county councillors were invited to attend

00:19:59 Speaker 24: if they wish. And so I

00:20:00 Speaker 24: don't know if there's any comments

00:20:01 Speaker 24: to that. But I know from

00:20:03 Speaker 24: numbers, I when I was warden,

00:20:05 Speaker 24: I'd be 2020. I know the

00:20:08 Speaker 24: county, the warden's caucus was made

00:20:09 Speaker 24: up of many people. that fill

00:20:12 Speaker 24: the room, so I don't know

00:20:13 Speaker 24: if there's a number, but I

00:20:15 Speaker 24: I do realize that they maybe

00:20:16 Speaker 24: want to know beforehand. But I,

00:20:18 Speaker 24: you know, and and furthermore, I

00:20:19 Speaker 24: know there was a lot of

00:20:20 Speaker 24: communication that came out with regards

00:20:21 Speaker 24: to those attended. Some might ask,

00:20:22 Speaker 24: well, why are the county councillors

00:20:23 Speaker 24: there if they're at the email

00:20:25 Speaker 24: conference? I just think there's a

00:20:26 Speaker 24: there's a I think just think

00:20:29 Speaker 24: there's a process that we need

00:20:31 Speaker 24: to follow through here in the

00:20:33 Speaker 24: sense of policy, and I think

00:20:35 Speaker 24: I know there's a couple I

00:20:36 Speaker 24: might have liked to attend, which

00:20:38 Speaker 24: I wasn't invited, and I look.

00:20:41 Speaker 24: Which I wasn't invited, and I

00:20:42 Speaker 24: looked in past emails from past

00:20:44 Speaker 25: years, and we were invited. So

00:20:46 Speaker 25: anyway, just saying, moving forward, maybe

00:20:48 Speaker 26: we can because there's both Amal

00:20:52 Speaker 26: and Roma itself. I know we're

00:20:54 Speaker 26: busy with our own municipalities, and

00:20:56 Speaker 26: sometimes we have joint delegations as

00:20:56 Speaker 26: well. But I think in the

00:20:58 Speaker 26: past we have had an opportunity

00:20:59 Speaker 26: of those kind of councils attending

00:21:01 Speaker 26: to be present during those delegations

00:21:03 Speaker 26: as well. Thank you, and certainly

00:21:05 Speaker 26: I have noted over the years

00:21:08 Speaker 26: that I have been attending delegations.

00:21:09 Speaker 26: both in the previous term and

00:21:10 Speaker 27: this term. That there has been

00:21:13 Speaker 27: a change from the ministry. They

00:21:14 Speaker 27: are very specific now about who

00:21:15 Speaker 27: is entering the room, and and

00:21:16 Speaker 02: we're less agile. We're less able

00:21:19 Speaker 02: to have people come and then

00:21:22 Speaker 02: people change. It seems to be

00:21:23 Speaker 02: more of a procedure when there

00:21:25 Speaker 02: has to be a substitution. So,

00:21:26 Speaker 02: and I appreciate that they want

00:21:29 Speaker 02: to know that they want to

00:21:32 Speaker 02: have that heads up. So that's

00:21:34 Speaker 02: certainly something that that we we

00:21:36 Speaker 02: have noticed a difference in, and

00:21:37 Speaker 28: and we have been over the

00:21:41 Speaker 16: all look to the CAO. Over

00:21:43 Speaker 16: the, I'll look to the CAO

00:21:45 Speaker 29: for how long we've been doing

00:21:48 Speaker 29: the practice of making sure that

00:21:50 Speaker 29: the committee chairs are involved for

00:21:50 Speaker 30: that specific topic, and and perhaps

00:21:53 Speaker 30: some feedback on when the transition

00:21:55 Speaker 30: may have been and and what

00:21:57 Speaker 30: we can do moving forward in

00:21:59 Speaker 30: terms of policy. For sure, thank

00:22:03 Speaker 30: you, thank you for your comments,

00:22:04 Speaker 30: Councillor McQueen, and and for the

00:22:07 Speaker 30: comments, Warden Matrasovs. I'm of course

00:22:10 Speaker 30: happy to take any further direction

00:22:12 Speaker 30: from Council in terms of how

00:22:14 Speaker 30: to approach this, as the Warden

00:22:17 Speaker 30: indicated. what we've seen is a

00:22:19 Speaker 30: bit of a shift in terms

00:22:20 Speaker 30: of ministers asking. Well, when we're

00:22:22 Speaker 30: submitting our delegation request, even listing

00:22:26 Speaker 30: who's going to be in attendance

00:22:27 Speaker 30: for that, for those sessions, and

00:22:30 Speaker 30: and so it's difficult to obviously

00:22:32 Speaker 30: indicate, you know, all all the

00:22:34 Speaker 30: the council members that potentially could

00:22:35 Speaker 30: be attending those sessions ahead of

00:22:39 Speaker 30: ahead of time. But we're happy

00:22:41 Speaker 30: to explore what other options to

00:22:43 Speaker 30: be able to make. sure that

00:22:44 Speaker 30: we have proper representation around that,

00:22:46 Speaker 30: around those delegations, in order to

00:22:48 Speaker 30: be able to provide the information

00:22:50 Speaker 30: that the the ministers are looking

00:22:52 Speaker 30: for, as well as the what

00:22:54 Speaker 30: we're hoping to try to portray

00:22:55 Speaker 30: to the various ministries. So with

00:22:58 Speaker 30: that, it's yeah. Again, I'm open

00:23:00 Speaker 30: to any direction. I was based

00:23:02 Speaker 30: on the delegation request, the names

00:23:05 Speaker 30: that were put forward. I usually

00:23:07 Speaker 30: put the the or we've been

00:23:11 Speaker 30: doing the the warden, the past,

00:23:13 Speaker 30: the deputy. warden, in case there's

00:23:16 Speaker 30: conflicts, which there usually always is

00:23:17 Speaker 30: some conflicts. So again, a bit

00:23:21 Speaker 30: of a divide and conquer approach.

00:23:24 Speaker 30: We also try to include any

00:23:24 Speaker 30: if there's chairs of certain committees

00:23:26 Speaker 30: where it's associated with a particular

00:23:28 Speaker 31: topic, as well as if there's

00:23:30 Speaker 31: a specific matter that's associated with

00:23:32 Speaker 31: a particular municipality. So, for example,

00:23:34 Speaker 16: Georgian College being an own sound,

00:23:36 Speaker 16: we had an own sound rep

00:23:38 Speaker 16: as well attend for it. Well,

00:23:39 Speaker 16: attend for for that. So that's

00:23:41 Speaker 16: that's how we've been approaching this

00:23:43 Speaker 16: in terms of again we have

00:23:44 Speaker 16: to put these in so far

00:23:47 Speaker 16: advance in terms of delegation requests

00:23:49 Speaker 16: and who's going to be attending

00:23:51 Speaker 16: those. That's how we approached it

00:23:53 Speaker 16: this year and tried to stick

00:23:55 Speaker 16: to a similar process in the

00:23:56 Speaker 16: previous years. But again, happy to

00:23:57 Speaker 16: take any further direction from council

00:24:00 Speaker 16: in terms of how you'd like

00:24:02 Speaker 16: to approach this. I think the

00:24:04 Speaker 16: best practice is to try to

00:24:06 Speaker 16: make sure that the representatives that

00:24:07 Speaker 16: are appearing for the delegation, just

00:24:09 Speaker 16: because when you get to a

00:24:11 Speaker 16: delegation going through the various introductions,

00:24:13 Speaker 16: it takes a bit of time.

00:24:15 Speaker 16: The key is to make

00:24:18 Speaker 16: sure that we're getting the message

00:24:19 Speaker 16: across to the ministry staff and

00:24:21 Speaker 16: to the minister or the associate

00:24:23 Speaker 16: minister in terms of what our

00:24:26 Speaker 32: requests are. So just just putting

00:24:29 Speaker 32: that into context in terms of

00:24:31 Speaker 32: you know who should be in

00:24:32 Speaker 32: attendance for those those sessions. I

00:24:33 Speaker 32: think absolutely it should be at

00:24:35 Speaker 02: least the warden and or deputy

00:24:38 Speaker 33: warden and. and or some chair

00:24:41 Speaker 33: representatives would be staff's recommendation, but

00:24:43 Speaker 34: also happy to take any direction

00:24:47 Speaker 34: further in terms of who else

00:24:48 Speaker 35: should be in attendance in future

00:24:51 Speaker 35: Roma AMO delegations in the in

00:24:52 Speaker 35: the future. Okay, thank you. So

00:24:54 Speaker 35: I'll take that into

00:24:58 Speaker 36: consideration. So I'd like to open

00:25:01 Speaker 36: the floor then for any further

00:25:03 Speaker 36: highlights on AMO before we go

00:25:06 Speaker 36: into other news and celebrations, Councillor

00:25:08 Speaker 36: Body. Thank you. We had

00:25:10 Speaker 36: six delegations, one of them being

00:25:12 Speaker 37: jointly with Hanover on policing, and

00:25:16 Speaker 36: maybe it's I'm going to back

00:25:18 Speaker 36: up. I want to thank everybody

00:25:20 Speaker 36: that that attended with us. So

00:25:24 Speaker 36: we certainly had representation from the

00:25:27 Speaker 36: county and from municipalities, neighbouring municipalities,

00:25:29 Speaker 36: and different different leadership because we

00:25:31 Speaker 36: wanted to show that we're all

00:25:32 Speaker 36: in there. You're absolutely right. That

00:25:34 Speaker 36: was noticed when you go in

00:25:36 Speaker 36: with mayor's deputies, mayors, and representatives

00:25:38 Speaker 36: from different municipalities. all saying this

00:25:41 Speaker 36: is an issue. I found this

00:25:42 Speaker 36: year that the response was different

00:25:45 Speaker 36: from the ministers, and every one

00:25:47 Speaker 36: that we attended was making notes,

00:25:50 Speaker 36: asking questions, wanting to follow up,

00:25:52 Speaker 36: wanting to come to visit. And

00:25:53 Speaker 36: I found that a little bit

00:25:55 Speaker 36: different. And I was talking to

00:25:57 Speaker 36: somebody who works in the Ontario

00:25:58 Speaker 36: government, saying, "Was there a directive

00:26:00 Speaker 36: from the premier's office?" And the

00:26:02 Speaker 36: answer was absolutely not. But they

00:26:04 Speaker 36: found too that there's more of

00:26:05 Speaker 36: us coming in from the municipalities

00:26:07 Speaker 36: with ideas that we're sharing, not

00:26:08 Speaker 36: necessarily asks and demands. And that

00:26:10 Speaker 36: was certainly how we framed everything

00:26:13 Speaker 36: that we went with this year,

00:26:17 Speaker 36: and felt that we got a

00:26:20 Speaker 36: positive response on a lot of

00:26:22 Speaker 36: things. Of course, proof will be

00:26:23 Speaker 36: in the pudding and the outcome

00:26:25 Speaker 36: in the in the coming months

00:26:28 Speaker 36: of whether we move the move

00:26:29 Speaker 36: the line in any way. But

00:26:31 Speaker 36: I found it a really good

00:26:35 Speaker 36: conference. I do note that on

00:26:38 Speaker 36: the sessions, which I didn't get

00:26:40 Speaker 36: to many with the six delegations,

00:26:41 Speaker 36: there was one session in four

00:26:43 Speaker 36: days on homelessness. There were four

00:26:45 Speaker 38: sessions that I counted that had

00:26:49 Speaker 39: the word housing in it, but

00:26:54 Speaker 39: most of them were just talking

00:26:56 Speaker 39: about not necessarily affordable housing, but

00:26:59 Speaker 39: just housing in general and trying

00:27:01 Speaker 39: to get more housing built. I

00:27:03 Speaker 39: found that interesting. With what we

00:27:05 Speaker 39: here on the ground is municipal.

00:27:06 Speaker 39: representatives in our own communities on

00:27:08 Speaker 39: those topics. It seems to be

00:27:11 Speaker 39: a bigger topic, perhaps here than

00:27:13 Speaker 39: it was at AMO, which is

00:27:14 Speaker 39: fascinating. Thank you. Thank you very

00:27:16 Speaker 39: much. And other AMO highlights. Okay.

00:27:19 Speaker 39: Well, I think the CEO provided

00:27:21 Speaker 39: us with an excellent review, and

00:27:23 Speaker 39: certainly they there were more delegations

00:27:26 Speaker 39: than ever. We were hearing 800

00:27:28 Speaker 39: different presentations and delegations were made

00:27:30 Speaker 39: because it was not just. to

00:27:32 Speaker 39: the ministers, but also to ministry

00:27:34 Speaker 39: staff as well, or the parliamentary

00:27:36 Speaker 39: assistant. So we did. We at

00:27:38 Speaker 39: one point in time, we actually

00:27:39 Speaker 39: presented to our MPP Vickers and

00:27:41 Speaker 39: his role in agriculture. So it

00:27:42 Speaker 39: was very good to see. I

00:27:44 Speaker 39: I did attend a total of

00:27:46 Speaker 39: sixteen delegations, and thank very much

00:27:47 Speaker 39: the municipalities that invited me to

00:27:50 Speaker 39: attend, so that we could understand

00:27:51 Speaker 39: the the the connections and the

00:27:53 Speaker 39: way that we could support the

00:27:56 Speaker 39: lower tier in in what the.

00:27:57 Speaker 39: Here in in what the asks

00:27:59 Speaker 39: were, and and also had to

00:28:00 Speaker 39: turn down a number because of

00:28:04 Speaker 39: the conflicts. So it was very

00:28:05 Speaker 39: good to see. Didn't see much

00:28:07 Speaker 39: of the programme, but that's okay

00:28:08 Speaker 40: because as I explained to people

00:28:12 Speaker 40: who are looking from the outside

00:28:13 Speaker 40: in, this is a key aspect

00:28:14 Speaker 40: of of both Ama and Roma.

00:28:15 Speaker 40: This is not just an aside.

00:28:16 Speaker 40: This isn't this isn't a distraction

00:28:19 Speaker 40: from the main event. This is

00:28:20 Speaker 40: actually part of the main event

00:28:21 Speaker 40: to be able to have that

00:28:22 Speaker 40: face to face time and use

00:28:23 Speaker 40: exquisite. Use exquisitely the ten minutes

00:28:26 Speaker 40: that you have, and allow enough

00:28:27 Speaker 41: time for the minister to ask

00:28:29 Speaker 41: questions back to be able to

00:28:31 Speaker 41: to you know make it make

00:28:33 Speaker 41: it the one that they put

00:28:35 Speaker 41: the dog ear on the top

00:28:38 Speaker 41: of and say we've got to

00:28:39 Speaker 41: follow up on this one. So

00:28:40 Speaker 42: certainly, time is of the advantage

00:28:44 Speaker 42: in each and every one of

00:28:46 Speaker 42: those, but the very crucial ten

00:28:47 Speaker 42: minutes that you have in front

00:28:49 Speaker 43: of the ministry at that point

00:28:52 Speaker 43: in time. Okay, so let's open

00:28:54 Speaker 44: it up to other news and

00:28:57 Speaker 44: celebrations. Then from the municipalities, this

00:28:58 Speaker 44: certainly has been a wonderful. fall

00:29:00 Speaker 44: fair season thus far, and there

00:29:01 Speaker 44: are more to come. But so

00:29:05 Speaker 44: news and celebrations, things that are

00:29:07 Speaker 44: coming up that you'd like to

00:29:09 Speaker 44: share. We'll go to Councillor Carleton.

00:29:11 Speaker 44: Thank you, Warden Matress Johnson. Good

00:29:13 Speaker 44: morning, County Council. This is not

00:29:15 Speaker 44: something that's coming up; it's something

00:29:16 Speaker 44: that happened this past Tuesday evening

00:29:18 Speaker 45: and at Grave Roots, where Georgian

00:29:21 Speaker 46: Bluffs held our Connect and Collabourate

00:29:24 Speaker 46: for residents to come in, ask

00:29:26 Speaker 47: questions. So, with the new waste

00:29:29 Speaker 47: management system. coming in, there were

00:29:32 Speaker 47: a lot of questions about that.

00:29:33 Speaker 47: Questions about roads, about planning. The

00:29:36 Speaker 47: Owensend Library joined us, and we're

00:29:38 Speaker 47: quite pleased with the response that

00:29:40 Speaker 47: they got from people. So, as

00:29:43 Speaker 47: a facility to use, I'm really

00:29:44 Speaker 47: glad that Cree Roots is within

00:29:45 Speaker 47: Georgian Bluffs because it's a perfect

00:29:47 Speaker 47: spot for us. So, thank you.

00:29:50 Speaker 47: Thank you very much, and we'll

00:29:51 Speaker 47: go to Councillor Kibany. Thank you,

00:29:54 Speaker 47: Warden Matrasovs, and good morning, County

00:29:56 Speaker 47: Council and everyone. I just wanted

00:29:57 Speaker 47: to share that our annual Scarecrow

00:30:00 Speaker 47: Invasion is in full swing in

00:30:03 Speaker 47: Miford. Hundreds of scarecrows, handmade by

00:30:04 Speaker 47: volunteers, are adorning our lamp posts

00:30:06 Speaker 47: and decorating businesses and our municipal

00:30:09 Speaker 47: facilities. So it's always fun to

00:30:10 Speaker 47: come out and see what the

00:30:12 Speaker 47: theme is this year, which is

00:30:14 Speaker 47: actually just scarecrows. So there's a

00:30:17 Speaker 47: real variety of characters around Miford.

00:30:19 Speaker 47: The family festival and parade is

00:30:21 Speaker 47: October the third this year, so

00:30:23 Speaker 47: they're a huge attraction. Come out

00:30:25 Speaker 47: and see. Attraction come on out

00:30:27 Speaker 48: and see. There's an apple pie

00:30:29 Speaker 48: tasting contest and lots of activities

00:30:31 Speaker 48: for kids. And also, as if

00:30:32 Speaker 48: that's not enough, we've got a

00:30:34 Speaker 48: myth happening, our Miford International Film

00:30:35 Speaker 49: Festival, another annual event. And this

00:30:39 Speaker 50: is taking place from the 18th

00:30:41 Speaker 51: to the 21st of September with

00:30:46 Speaker 36: six films, three dinners, and three

00:30:50 Speaker 36: parties. This year's dinners are provided

00:30:54 Speaker 36: by Franny's Mercato, Lovebird, and the

00:30:57 Speaker 36: Dam Pub. And this is a

00:30:59 Speaker 36: fundraiser by our Miford Culture Foundation,

00:31:01 Speaker 36: and those proceeds all go back

00:31:02 Speaker 36: into support, capital, and programmeming at

00:31:04 Speaker 36: Meadford Hall. So check out the

00:31:06 Speaker 36: brochure. I've got one with me.

00:31:10 Speaker 36: If anybody wants to take a

00:31:11 Speaker 36: peek at what's happening, and hopefully

00:31:12 Speaker 36: we'll see some of you at

00:31:14 Speaker 36: Meadford Hall. Thanks so much. Thank

00:31:15 Speaker 36: you. And next we'll go to

00:31:17 Speaker 36: Councillor Body. Thank you. This weekend

00:31:20 Speaker 36: is we host in the area

00:31:20 Speaker 36: Canada's biggest premier motoring festival. Year

00:31:24 Speaker 36: motoring festival with the Concord to

00:31:25 Speaker 36: elegance. I think it's the tenth

00:31:27 Speaker 36: year. It's pretty special event. Friday

00:31:28 Speaker 36: they'll be touring some of the

00:31:31 Speaker 36: some of the cars over to

00:31:32 Speaker 36: Wharton and no doubt down Gray

00:31:34 Speaker 36: County Road One with those great

00:31:36 Speaker 36: hills and views. Wonder if they'll

00:31:38 Speaker 36: be going up. Some of them

00:31:40 Speaker 36: don't have the best brakes. Anyway,

00:31:41 Speaker 36: that's beside the point. Saturday we've

00:31:43 Speaker 36: got cars and copies starting on

00:31:47 Speaker 36: Main Street and on Sound, which

00:31:51 Speaker 36: is classic cars in the area.

00:31:52 Speaker 36: Some of the cars from the

00:31:54 Speaker 36: Concorde come to come to it,

00:31:56 Speaker 52: running a little bit later, but

00:31:58 Speaker 53: during the day, same day, in

00:32:01 Speaker 53: front of the Legion as the

00:32:02 Speaker 53: Concorde lemons. That is so much

00:32:05 Speaker 53: fun. That's where you get really

00:32:07 Speaker 53: creative stuff, rusty stuff, anything that

00:32:08 Speaker 53: if you think about it as

00:32:09 Speaker 53: being the anti-car show, this is

00:32:11 Speaker 53: this is it. People put a

00:32:13 Speaker 36: lot of creativity into into their

00:32:17 Speaker 36: vehicles, and they're painted differently, and

00:32:19 Speaker 36: sometimes look like a golf green.

00:32:22 Speaker 54: Really, really neat. fun stuff, and

00:32:24 Speaker 54: everyone has fun, and the winners

00:32:26 Speaker 36: win cans of spam and different

00:32:29 Speaker 36: things. So it's it's just so

00:32:31 Speaker 36: much fun. At the Roxy, are

00:32:33 Speaker 36: two seminars that pretty neat, and

00:32:34 Speaker 36: you get a lot of really

00:32:37 Speaker 36: neat history. This year, I don't

00:32:44 Speaker 36: have the name, but it is

00:32:45 Speaker 55: the son of the person that

00:32:49 Speaker 55: brought Ferrari racing to North America,

00:32:50 Speaker 55: and he's going to tell the

00:32:52 Speaker 56: the family stories and everything that

00:32:54 Speaker 36: goes with that. Jo Villeneuve's wife,

00:32:57 Speaker 36: Jock Villeneuve's mother, is well. Doc

00:33:00 Speaker 36: Villanueva's mother is one of the

00:33:04 Speaker 36: speakers, which is really cool. I

00:33:07 Speaker 36: can't remember what the other seminar

00:33:10 Speaker 36: is, but look it up if

00:33:12 Speaker 36: you're into cars. These two seminars

00:33:17 Speaker 36: will be pretty amazing, and then

00:33:21 Speaker 36: of course the big show is

00:33:24 Speaker 36: Sunday out at Cobble Beach in

00:33:26 Speaker 36: in Georgetown Bluffs, outside the city

00:33:27 Speaker 36: of On Sound. Still, Jesus, I

00:33:29 Speaker 36: didn't get I didn't get a

00:33:30 Speaker 36: reaction to that. If you if

00:33:32 Speaker 36: you haven't been to the Concord

00:33:34 Speaker 57: Elegance, you have to go. All

00:33:37 Speaker 57: the proceeds are going to Sunnybrook

00:33:38 Speaker 58: Hospital and the Bright Shores Health

00:33:41 Speaker 36: Systems. Sunnybrook, of course, is doing

00:33:43 Speaker 36: the little tie-in using the isotopes

00:33:45 Speaker 36: coming out of Bruce Power and

00:33:47 Speaker 36: doing research and doing treatment with

00:33:48 Speaker 36: them. So it's nice to have

00:33:51 Speaker 36: that connection between here, Sunnybrook, and

00:33:53 Speaker 36: and. Brook and and our own

00:33:56 Speaker 36: hospital here that has cancer treatment.

00:33:58 Speaker 36: These are the most special cars

00:34:02 Speaker 36: in the world. A couple years

00:34:04 Speaker 36: ago, I joked with one of

00:34:05 Speaker 36: the joke. No, a couple of

00:34:06 Speaker 36: years ago, stupidly, I said to

00:34:07 Speaker 36: one of the owners about the

00:34:09 Speaker 36: the chrome on his car, and

00:34:11 Speaker 36: he lost it on me. It

00:34:12 Speaker 36: was silver from such and such

00:34:14 Speaker 59: a mine in Sweden because chrome

00:34:17 Speaker 60: wasn't invented until 1934, and this

00:34:21 Speaker 60: was 1918. He had the entire

00:34:22 Speaker 39: history of the car had only

00:34:26 Speaker 39: been owned by three different people.

00:34:27 Speaker 39: It had ostrich skin seats. It

00:34:28 Speaker 61: won the first Concours. Like these

00:34:31 Speaker 61: are really really amazing pieces of

00:34:33 Speaker 62: art. And even if you're not

00:34:36 Speaker 62: into them, historic cars. Bill Gates

00:34:38 Speaker 62: Porsche is going to be there.

00:34:41 Speaker 62: He brought it over from Europe,

00:34:44 Speaker 62: but couldn't get approved to be

00:34:47 Speaker 62: in the streets for 10 or

00:34:51 Speaker 62: 12 years. Ridiculous amount of time.

00:34:54 Speaker 62: So some pretty special cars are

00:34:56 Speaker 62: going to be there. So encourage

00:35:00 Speaker 62: everyone to. come up to North

00:35:02 Speaker 62: Gray and and enjoy the two

00:35:05 Speaker 62: days of the motoring festival. Thanks.

00:35:08 Speaker 62: Thank you. And are there any

00:35:11 Speaker 62: other music celebrations? Looking around the

00:35:13 Speaker 62: room, we'll go over to Councillor

00:35:17 Speaker 62: Dobrin, and then we'll go to

00:35:20 Speaker 62: Councillor Eccles after that. Thank you,

00:35:22 Speaker 62: and good morning, Warden, County Council,

00:35:25 Speaker 62: and guests. I did want to

00:35:26 Speaker 62: give a shout out to the

00:35:28 Speaker 62: Dundalk Fall Fair that held its

00:35:33 Speaker 62: 168th. 68th annual fall fair on

00:35:35 Speaker 63: this past weekend, but due to

00:35:39 Speaker 63: Mother Nature not cooperating, the first

00:35:41 Speaker 64: ever drone light display had to

00:35:44 Speaker 64: be postponed. And I wanted to

00:35:46 Speaker 64: extend an invitation to all to

00:35:48 Speaker 64: attend that drone light display show

00:35:51 Speaker 64: in Feversham at the Feversham Fall

00:35:55 Speaker 65: Fair this Friday evening. It admission

00:35:57 Speaker 64: is free, and it is being

00:36:01 Speaker 64: brought. to the Feversham Fall Fair

00:36:07 Speaker 64: at the Osprey Community Centre, compliments

00:36:12 Speaker 64: of the Dundalk Agricultural Society. So,

00:36:14 Speaker 64: big shout out to all of

00:36:17 Speaker 64: the volunteers that participated over this

00:36:19 Speaker 64: past weekend, and we look forward

00:36:23 Speaker 64: to the light show that will

00:36:26 Speaker 64: grace the the Fall Fair in

00:36:27 Speaker 64: Feversham. Thank you, and we'll go

00:36:29 Speaker 64: to Councillor Eccles. Thank you, Madam

00:36:32 Speaker 64: Warden. And speaking of fall fairs,

00:36:34 Speaker 64: the Newstead Fall Fair is on

00:36:38 Speaker 64: September 20th to 21st. Getting near

00:36:41 Speaker 64: the end of the fall fair

00:36:44 Speaker 64: season, we save the best to

00:36:46 Speaker 64: last for certain. And would like

00:36:49 Speaker 64: to say that there was a

00:36:52 Speaker 64: function held in Newstead at the

00:36:54 Speaker 64: brewery a week ago last Friday.

00:36:55 Speaker 64: They had a a lot of

00:36:57 Speaker 64: crafters. Friday Night Lights is what

00:37:02 Speaker 66: they called it, and it caused

00:37:05 Speaker 64: a major traffic jam in Newstead,

00:37:10 Speaker 67: as there was over 2,000 attendees,

00:37:13 Speaker 67: and parking was certainly at a

00:37:15 Speaker 67: premium. But the function, and if

00:37:17 Speaker 67: you get a chance, they are

00:37:19 Speaker 67: putting on a on a another

00:37:20 Speaker 67: programme there for Octoberfest. I believe

00:37:22 Speaker 67: it's the first weekend of. October,

00:37:23 Speaker 50: that they're going to host that

00:37:26 Speaker 50: and the reclamation of the brewery

00:37:28 Speaker 50: and the continuing of it. I

00:37:30 Speaker 50: noticed that the deputy mayor of

00:37:32 Speaker 50: Hanover was able to find his

00:37:34 Speaker 50: way down. I won't comment on

00:37:35 Speaker 68: how he got home, but obviously

00:37:47 Speaker 68: he was very well because he's

00:37:48 Speaker 68: here again today. So a fabulous

00:37:49 Speaker 02: show and congratulations to the owners

00:37:53 Speaker 02: of the brewery. We owners of

00:37:54 Speaker 02: the brewery, we're promoting Gray County

00:37:55 Speaker 02: tremendously. Thank you. Anyone else? Come

00:37:59 Speaker 02: out of the room and look

00:38:02 Speaker 02: on the screen. Okay, great. That

00:38:05 Speaker 02: concludes our news and celebrations. And

00:38:07 Speaker 02: so, with that, I would like

00:38:08 Speaker 02: to ask for a motion to

00:38:09 Speaker 02: adjourn. May I ask for a

00:38:12 Speaker 02: mover? Moved by Councillor Patterson. Seconded,

00:38:13 Speaker 02: oh, by Councillor Nielsen. Online. Any

00:38:15 Speaker 02: discussion? All those in favour? And

00:38:16 Speaker 69: we are so adjourned. We will

00:38:21 Speaker 39: take a moment to switch over

00:38:26 Speaker 39: the. technology and begin our agenda

00:38:28 Speaker 39: with the committee of the whole.

00:38:31 Speaker 39: Thank you.

00:38:41 Speaker 39: Thank you.

00:38:52 Speaker 39: I'd like

00:39:03 Speaker 70: to now call to order this

00:39:05 Speaker 70: committee of the whole of September

00:39:07 Speaker 70: 11th, 2025. And at this point

00:39:08 Speaker 70: in time, I'll ask for this

00:39:09 Speaker 70: agenda. Are there any declarations of

00:39:11 Speaker 71: interest? Seeing no hands raised, we'll

00:39:13 Speaker 71: move on. Business arising for minutes,

00:39:15 Speaker 71: and with that, we will begin.

00:39:16 Speaker 71: With we have two delegations this

00:39:18 Speaker 71: morning. The first one is going

00:39:19 Speaker 71: to be from Bright Shores Foundation,

00:39:20 Speaker 71: and it is the one-year update.

00:39:21 Speaker 71: And so, I would like to

00:39:24 Speaker 71: invite our presenters to come forward

00:39:25 Speaker 71: at this point in time. And

00:39:27 Speaker 71: the clerks will provide assistance with

00:39:29 Speaker 72: the lecter and Mike. And I

00:39:32 Speaker 72: understand you have a presentation. So

00:39:33 Speaker 72: make sure you're all set up.

00:39:35 Speaker 73: Okay. Yes. Good morning, Warden and

00:39:37 Speaker 73: members of Council. We're really delighted

00:39:39 Speaker 73: to be here this morning. My

00:39:40 Speaker 73: name is Amy McKinnon, and I'm

00:39:45 Speaker 73: the CEO of the Bright Shores

00:39:46 Speaker 73: Foundation. With me today is Naomi

00:39:49 Speaker 73: Vodden, who's the director of mental

00:39:52 Speaker 73: health and addictions programme at Bright

00:39:53 Speaker 73: Shores, and Ann Ford is here

00:39:55 Speaker 73: as well, and she's the CEO

00:39:57 Speaker 73: of Bright Shores, and she'll join

00:40:00 Speaker 73: us up here at towards the

00:40:02 Speaker 73: end of our presentation. Today, we're

00:40:04 Speaker 73: here for a couple reasons. First

00:40:05 Speaker 73: of all, we're very grateful for

00:40:08 Speaker 73: the million dollars. commitment from the

00:40:11 Speaker 73: County of Bruce to the Wellness

00:40:13 Speaker 73: and Recovery Centre, and we just

00:40:14 Speaker 73: recently celebrated our one-year anniversary in

00:40:16 Speaker 73: June of having clients in the

00:40:18 Speaker 74: building. So we're here today to

00:40:51 Speaker 75: share with you some of the

00:40:54 Speaker 75: successes of the one-year anniversary, and

00:40:56 Speaker 75: just to further share with you,

00:40:58 Speaker 75: this model of care was grown

00:41:00 Speaker 75: here out of Brightshore staff. So

00:41:02 Speaker 75: this model of care that was

00:41:03 Speaker 76: developed for the Wellness and Recovery

00:41:07 Speaker 77: Centre for treating mental health addictions

00:41:10 Speaker 77: is now being modeled across the

00:41:12 Speaker 77: province. There's 19 facilities across the

00:41:16 Speaker 77: province that are going to be

00:41:18 Speaker 77: built, and Naomi and her team

00:41:19 Speaker 77: have had many tours and discussions

00:41:22 Speaker 77: with these other municipalities that are

00:41:23 Speaker 77: having being built these committee. So

00:41:26 Speaker 77: I am going to hand it

00:41:28 Speaker 77: over to Naomi, who's going to

00:41:30 Speaker 77: share with you more about the

00:41:33 Speaker 77: facility and the successes after the

00:41:36 Speaker 77: first year. Okay. Good morning. Thank

00:41:40 Speaker 77: you for inviting us today, and

00:41:42 Speaker 77: a really big echo of Amy's

00:41:44 Speaker 77: words. Thank you for the funding

00:41:46 Speaker 77: for this project. It's been very

00:41:48 Speaker 77: exciting. I'm going to try to

00:41:50 Speaker 77: lean forward here. I'm too short.

00:41:52 Speaker 77: So, as Amy indicated, the facility's

00:41:54 Speaker 77: been open for a year,

00:41:57 Speaker 77: from June, and we've had just

00:42:00 Speaker 77: really exciting successes. So, just to

00:42:02 Speaker 77: recap for those of you who

00:42:04 Speaker 77: don't remember or are new. just

00:42:07 Speaker 77: some of the services that we

00:42:10 Speaker 77: have. So we have a three-week

00:42:12 Speaker 77: detox programme, more traditionally called detox,

00:42:14 Speaker 77: but we call it withdrawal management.

00:42:16 Speaker 77: We have a 90-day treatment programme,

00:42:19 Speaker 77: and we have long-term supportive stabilization

00:42:21 Speaker 77: for up to 10 patients, clients,

00:42:25 Speaker 77: and they can stay up to

00:42:31 Speaker 77: a year. We also have community

00:42:33 Speaker 78: addiction programmemes. We have a lot

00:42:35 Speaker 78: of walk-in services every day. Clients

00:42:37 Speaker 78: can attend a walk-in if they're

00:42:39 Speaker 79: To walk in if they're just

00:42:44 Speaker 79: feeling ready and want to connect,

00:42:46 Speaker 79: we have community mental health programmemes

00:42:48 Speaker 79: as well, and walk-in and outpatient

00:42:51 Speaker 79: leisure recreation programmemes. We have our

00:42:53 Speaker 79: injection and clozapine clinics, which are

00:42:56 Speaker 79: our main tools for stabilizing long-term

00:42:59 Speaker 79: mental health patients. We have peer

00:43:00 Speaker 79: and family support, which we've really

00:43:02 Speaker 79: had some great success with. Our

00:43:06 Speaker 79: family members are really grateful for

00:43:09 Speaker 79: an opportunity to connect with a

00:43:12 Speaker 79: worker, especially when their family member.

00:43:14 Speaker 79: And their family member is not

00:43:16 Speaker 79: quite ready for treatment. We've had

00:43:17 Speaker 79: some great partnerships, and the meals

00:43:21 Speaker 79: in in are provided by CMHA.

00:43:23 Speaker 79: And I just wanted to highlight

00:43:25 Speaker 79: one of the clients that I

00:43:27 Speaker 79: just got an email about today.

00:43:31 Speaker 79: And this was a patient that

00:43:34 Speaker 79: was homeless and from Neahshinuming, and

00:43:36 Speaker 79: he's been followed by SOS when

00:43:38 Speaker 79: he's in. this area, he's been

00:43:40 Speaker 79: followed by our crisis teams, M

00:43:41 Speaker 79: Hart through CMHA and M Cert

00:43:43 Speaker 79: through our hospital programmemes. By OPP,

00:43:45 Speaker 79: by Owen Sound Police. Let's see

00:43:48 Speaker 79: if I'm missing anyone because there

00:43:49 Speaker 79: is a lot of people involved.

00:43:51 Speaker 79: Our merged departments and I got

00:43:52 Speaker 79: an email today from OPP just

00:43:54 Speaker 79: stating how grateful they were that

00:43:58 Speaker 79: this the I would say the

00:44:00 Speaker 79: Wellness Centre along with the SOS

00:44:02 Speaker 79: team, have been working so well

00:44:04 Speaker 79: together and providing an opportunity to

00:44:06 Speaker 79: collabourate and a central hub to

00:44:07 Speaker 79: collabourate. And that this individual now

00:44:10 Speaker 79: has finished their treatment programme at

00:44:12 Speaker 79: the wellness centre and is moving

00:44:14 Speaker 79: into their next stage of of

00:44:16 Speaker 79: housing. So this person was very

00:44:18 Speaker 79: unstable, very unwell, and I really

00:44:20 Speaker 79: think it's a collabourative between all

00:44:22 Speaker 79: of our partners. But I would

00:44:24 Speaker 79: say with the hub with SOS

00:44:27 Speaker 79: and the Wellness and Recovery Centre.

00:44:31 Speaker 79: We've seen this great success. So

00:44:33 Speaker 79: in terms, so that's more the

00:44:36 Speaker 79: people part of the success, but

00:44:39 Speaker 79: we also have the numbers part

00:44:41 Speaker 79: of the success. And so I've

00:44:44 Speaker 79: got the chart here, and so

00:44:49 Speaker 79: initially on this chart, what we

00:44:51 Speaker 80: saw is one of the metrics

00:44:56 Speaker 79: we track track is our thirty

00:44:59 Speaker 79: day readmits to our emerge departments,

00:45:02 Speaker 79: because we know that this is

00:45:06 Speaker 79: not the best place for mental

00:45:09 Speaker 79: health and addiction clients in the

00:45:12 Speaker 79: emerge. so we track that to

00:45:15 Speaker 79: try to make sure that we're

00:45:18 Speaker 79: diverting them once they come in

00:45:20 Speaker 79: to emerge. And so, what we've

00:45:21 Speaker 79: seen over the last five years

00:45:24 Speaker 79: is, well, on this chart, 30%

00:45:26 Speaker 79: reduction. But we just got updated

00:45:28 Speaker 79: data, and it stated 65% reduction

00:45:29 Speaker 79: in ED visit that return rate.

00:45:33 Speaker 79: So, some really great successes because

00:45:35 Speaker 79: we know that this provides an

00:45:37 Speaker 79: opportunity for our patients and. clients

00:45:40 Speaker 79: to get faster access to the

00:45:42 Speaker 79: emergent department for other issues, and

00:45:44 Speaker 79: also more appropriate access to services

00:45:47 Speaker 79: for our mental health and addiction

00:45:50 Speaker 79: clients. So to highlight, we have

00:45:51 Speaker 79: fifty eight percent of our clients

00:45:53 Speaker 79: from Grey County. We have being

00:45:55 Speaker 79: a Ontario wide programme. We've developed

00:45:58 Speaker 79: a triaging system. Develop a triaging

00:46:01 Speaker 79: system so individuals from Indigenous are

00:46:05 Speaker 79: ranked on the triage sheet first,

00:46:07 Speaker 79: and people from Grey Bruce are

00:46:09 Speaker 79: second. So our waitlist did go

00:46:10 Speaker 79: up. We were taking people from

00:46:12 Speaker 79: outside of the area on our

00:46:15 Speaker 79: waitlist, but with these this triage

00:46:17 Speaker 79: in place, we weren't able to

00:46:19 Speaker 79: really accommodate them, and our waitlist

00:46:22 Speaker 79: grew up to 65 people, which

00:46:24 Speaker 79: wasn't really so really able to

00:46:27 Speaker 79: accommodate. So what we've done is

00:46:29 Speaker 79: we've we've held off on even

00:46:33 Speaker 79: taking the intakes from people outside

00:46:34 Speaker 79: Grapers, and so our wait list

00:46:36 Speaker 79: now is 45 individuals. But we've

00:46:37 Speaker 79: developed a really creative model in

00:46:39 Speaker 79: which those people that are on

00:46:43 Speaker 79: the wait list can come in

00:46:45 Speaker 79: for day programmeming if they're from

00:46:48 Speaker 79: Owen Sound. They can have access

00:46:49 Speaker 79: to a tablet, and they can

00:46:51 Speaker 79: have have remote access to programmeming

00:46:54 Speaker 79: while they're waiting. And we've developed.

00:46:57 Speaker 79: a partnership with our crisis support

00:46:59 Speaker 79: programme, which is off the emerge,

00:47:01 Speaker 79: to take two people that are

00:47:06 Speaker 79: on the wait list that are

00:47:10 Speaker 79: more acute. We've also prioritized people

00:47:13 Speaker 79: that SOS wants to bring in,

00:47:18 Speaker 79: and so we've gone to over

00:47:19 Speaker 79: capacity to flex beds just for

00:47:21 Speaker 79: the people that OS SOS want

00:47:23 Speaker 79: to to to bring in to

00:47:25 Speaker 79: ensure that it's a very complex

00:47:28 Speaker 79: patient population that SOS serves. And

00:47:31 Speaker 79: we really, when they have that

00:47:33 Speaker 79: moment that they want service, we

00:47:37 Speaker 79: wanted to give them a bed,

00:47:38 Speaker 79: even if we were full. So

00:47:41 Speaker 79: we've done thirty-three out, thirty-three thousand

00:47:43 Speaker 79: outpatient visits from June to June,

00:47:46 Speaker 79: which is really quite remarkable, and

00:47:49 Speaker 79: that's a lot of groups, a

00:47:51 Speaker 79: lot of virtual, a lot of

00:47:52 Speaker 79: in-person, and what else can I

00:47:55 Speaker 79: highlight? Thirty-one at the end of

00:47:58 Speaker 79: June, thirty-one patients that were homeless

00:48:00 Speaker 79: prior to going into the programme

00:48:03 Speaker 79: have stable. housing, and so 202

00:48:05 Speaker 79: clients had finished their individualized treatment

00:48:08 Speaker 79: programme. Recognizing that everyone has different

00:48:10 Speaker 79: goals and objectives. Well, just for

00:48:12 Speaker 81: those who you haven't been there,

00:48:15 Speaker 79: you're always welcome to reach out

00:48:18 Speaker 79: for a tour. This is the

00:48:19 Speaker 79: picture of the outside facility. It's

00:48:21 Speaker 79: on 615 Sixth Street A East,

00:48:23 Speaker 79: kind of by the Longmeadow. The

00:48:25 Speaker 79: Longmire Quay Building. It's in the

00:48:27 Speaker 79: old Baby School. This is a

00:48:29 Speaker 79: treatment room, just to give you

00:48:32 Speaker 79: an idea. Just a note: the

00:48:36 Speaker 79: quilts on the beds. So we

00:48:38 Speaker 79: were just really lucky that our

00:48:40 Speaker 79: Quilting Guild donated quilts and ongoing

00:48:43 Speaker 79: quilts to our programme, and this

00:48:45 Speaker 79: just lovely touch just makes it

00:48:47 Speaker 79: feel so much more warm and

00:48:48 Speaker 79: welcoming and less institutional. There's just

00:48:53 Speaker 79: the two-bedroom room. We were. Bedroom

00:48:55 Speaker 79: room. We were originally just doing

00:48:56 Speaker 79: single rooms, and we've changed some

00:48:57 Speaker 79: of those rooms over to double

00:48:59 Speaker 79: rooms in order to optimize our

00:49:02 Speaker 79: space and to ensure we can

00:49:07 Speaker 79: treat as many patients as possible.

00:49:08 Speaker 79: Wanted to highlight this: we have

00:49:12 Speaker 79: a very strong committee that is

00:49:14 Speaker 79: from our clients, and we really

00:49:16 Speaker 79: want to empower them to have

00:49:17 Speaker 79: some control over their life because

00:49:20 Speaker 79: the addiction has had control in

00:49:22 Speaker 79: their life. So we have a

00:49:25 Speaker 79: strong social committee. This group meets

00:49:28 Speaker 79: every Thursday with the staff to

00:49:31 Speaker 79: both address their problems, concerns, and

00:49:33 Speaker 79: and look to improve the programme,

00:49:36 Speaker 79: and as well to plan social

00:49:38 Speaker 79: activities. As one client has said,

00:49:41 Speaker 79: their whole world has been focused

00:49:46 Speaker 79: on their addiction. So how do

00:49:48 Speaker 79: you go now to having a

00:49:52 Speaker 79: healthy social life? This is a

00:49:54 Speaker 79: picture of the Oasis. It's just

00:49:58 Speaker 79: a group room where they can

00:49:59 Speaker 79: do a lot. of arts and

00:50:02 Speaker 79: crafts activities. Again, really trying to

00:50:06 Speaker 79: develop the whole, the whole self.

00:50:08 Speaker 79: The gym, again, just just reminding

00:50:10 Speaker 79: people that our lives are full

00:50:12 Speaker 79: of social and recreation opportunities. And

00:50:14 Speaker 79: clients who have had an addiction

00:50:17 Speaker 79: for many years haven't had those

00:50:19 Speaker 79: developed. So we have a very

00:50:20 Speaker 79: fulsome programme. All of the staff

00:50:22 Speaker 79: have really jumped in. Community partners

00:50:23 Speaker 79: have jumped in. We have even

00:50:26 Speaker 79: a. secretary doing line dancing on

00:50:28 Speaker 79: her noon hour breaks, and we

00:50:30 Speaker 79: have really close relationships with our

00:50:32 Speaker 79: indigenous community. We have an elder

00:50:35 Speaker 79: that comes up twice a week—one,

00:50:36 Speaker 79: one, two different elders—and they do

00:50:38 Speaker 79: group and individual counseling. They provide

00:50:41 Speaker 79: this service to anyone who wants

00:50:42 Speaker 79: it. Actually, not just indigenous. We

00:50:45 Speaker 79: just finished the. Finish the sweat

00:50:47 Speaker 79: lodge, and the fire pit area,

00:50:48 Speaker 79: and I think we've done three,

00:50:52 Speaker 79: maybe four sweats by now. One

00:50:54 Speaker 79: of our non-Indigenous clients made a

00:50:56 Speaker 79: point of telling us that even

00:50:58 Speaker 79: though our that he thought our

00:51:01 Speaker 79: programme was really helpful, really wonderful,

00:51:03 Speaker 79: and had lots to good to

00:51:04 Speaker 79: say, he said it's nothing compared

00:51:06 Speaker 79: to going to this sweat. So

00:51:07 Speaker 79: he was non-Indigenous, went to the

00:51:09 Speaker 79: sweat, and said, "I just had

00:51:11 Speaker 79: so many in." Said I just

00:51:14 Speaker 79: had so many insights into myself

00:51:15 Speaker 79: from going to that sweat, and

00:51:18 Speaker 79: here's just another picture. It's kind

00:51:19 Speaker 79: of neat those stones that you

00:51:22 Speaker 79: see under. On the flip side

00:51:24 Speaker 79: of the stones are positive messages

00:51:25 Speaker 79: written by all the clients because

00:51:28 Speaker 79: the clients work with our indigenous

00:51:30 Speaker 79: partners to build this area. So

00:51:33 Speaker 79: what's next? We're working with the

00:51:35 Speaker 79: Bright Shores Research Institute, and we're

00:51:36 Speaker 79: doing an evaluation just to, not

00:51:40 Speaker 82: just give you these numbers, to

00:51:42 Speaker 82: but really quantify the outcome. The

00:51:43 Speaker 82: outcomes. We're almost done our kitchen.

00:51:45 Speaker 82: No, we're almost done our roof.

00:51:46 Speaker 82: Our kitchen has just started, so

00:51:48 Speaker 82: we've been working hard on workarounds

00:51:49 Speaker 82: with CMHA to provide food services

00:51:51 Speaker 82: for our building. So it will

00:51:52 Speaker 83: be lovely to have the finished

00:51:55 Speaker 83: kitchen for CMHA to work

00:51:58 Speaker 83: out of, and for our clients

00:52:01 Speaker 83: to learn again how to prepare

00:52:03 Speaker 83: a meal and how to, yeah,

00:52:05 Speaker 83: maybe maybe even more than prepare

00:52:07 Speaker 83: a meal. They may be interested

00:52:08 Speaker 83: in food services, and we want

00:52:11 Speaker 83: to do it in time. We

00:52:12 Speaker 84: want to do in time some

00:52:15 Speaker 85: more work on our beautiful property,

00:52:17 Speaker 85: so we're working on just a

00:52:19 Speaker 85: site plan, so we can. As

00:52:20 Speaker 85: we all noted, I think in

00:52:22 Speaker 85: earlier conversations here today, lots of

00:52:23 Speaker 85: funding challenges, but maybe in time,

00:52:25 Speaker 85: there's a small community project that

00:52:26 Speaker 86: can take part of the grounds.

00:52:29 Speaker 86: So this we actually found on

00:52:31 Speaker 86: Google, so it didn't come to

00:52:33 Speaker 86: us directly. So I'll just read

00:52:35 Speaker 87: it. I spent five and a

00:52:40 Speaker 87: half months there, and I'm beyond

00:52:41 Speaker 88: grateful to. the staff and clients.

00:52:45 Speaker 88: It is a programme that you

00:52:47 Speaker 88: can honestly give your life back

00:52:49 Speaker 88: if you put the work in.

00:52:50 Speaker 88: The recovery workers, counselors, facilitators, bubble

00:52:51 Speaker 89: staff—that's the withdrawal management part. Custodians,

00:52:56 Speaker 90: the secretary Crystal, the nurse practitioner

00:52:59 Speaker 91: Robin, and the managers Amy and

00:53:02 Speaker 91: Director Naomi—and I'm sure I missed

00:53:03 Speaker 91: some—are just amazing humans and truly

00:53:06 Speaker 91: treat you like a friend. They

00:53:07 Speaker 91: are rooting for. I am celebrating

00:53:09 Speaker 91: six months of sobriety today. I

00:53:10 Speaker 91: get emotional easy when I hear

00:53:12 Speaker 91: these stories. and I wouldn't be

00:53:15 Speaker 92: able to do that without every

00:53:19 Speaker 92: single person in that building. Please,

00:53:21 Speaker 92: if you're struggling with addictions and

00:53:23 Speaker 92: live in the Gravest region, reach

00:53:26 Speaker 92: out. There is help in life

00:53:29 Speaker 92: after addiction. It's wonderful, and I

00:53:30 Speaker 92: would be remiss to not just

00:53:34 Speaker 92: highlight the work that SOS does

00:53:36 Speaker 92: in collabouration with the Wellness Centre.

00:53:40 Speaker 93: It really is a fulsome partnership.

00:53:43 Speaker 93: Is there any questions for Naomi,

00:53:44 Speaker 93: or do we have time for

00:53:46 Speaker 79: questions? I'll put it out for

00:53:50 Speaker 79: questions, but please don't apologize. It

00:53:52 Speaker 79: just demonstrates the dedication that you

00:53:54 Speaker 79: have to your role and the

00:53:56 Speaker 79: impact that you're making in people's

00:53:58 Speaker 94: lives. Any questions at this point

00:54:00 Speaker 94: in time? We'll go to Councillor

00:54:02 Speaker 94: Greg. Thank you very much for

00:54:04 Speaker 94: the presentation here this afternoon. I

00:54:05 Speaker 94: do have one question. You've got

00:54:06 Speaker 94: a great partnership established with Fresh

00:54:08 Speaker 79: Roots, and we know in town,

00:54:10 Speaker 79: Fresh Roots has been able to

00:54:12 Speaker 79: leverage community gardens well. across this

00:54:15 Speaker 79: country, we have vast amounts of

00:54:18 Speaker 79: underutilised space which exists in schools.

00:54:20 Speaker 95: And I'm just wondering, being an

00:54:23 Speaker 95: old public school, is like community

00:54:25 Speaker 95: garden or gardening facility something that

00:54:26 Speaker 95: you have evaluated or may look

00:54:28 Speaker 95: at in the future terms of

00:54:30 Speaker 95: an opportunity to kind of introduce

00:54:31 Speaker 95: fresh produce and enhance that that

00:54:33 Speaker 95: lively kitchen production area? You've got

00:54:35 Speaker 95: plans for? it. Yes, it's definitely

00:54:41 Speaker 95: on the plan. On the original

00:54:42 Speaker 95: plan, we had a greenhouse as

00:54:44 Speaker 96: well as gardens. Obviously, we have

00:54:47 Speaker 96: to really apply to different ministries

00:54:49 Speaker 96: for that kind of funding. But

00:54:50 Speaker 96: that is one of the projects,

00:54:52 Speaker 96: even the gardens that we envision

00:54:54 Speaker 96: the community could jump in and

00:54:56 Speaker 97: use. So we wanted the site

00:54:59 Speaker 98: plan so that we didn't just

00:55:01 Speaker 99: start putting a garden here and

00:55:04 Speaker 99: a garden there, and then maybe

00:55:05 Speaker 99: you know take up the space

00:55:07 Speaker 99: for the greenhouse vision. So. House

00:55:08 Speaker 99: vision, so it's a very important

00:55:10 Speaker 99: part of our project, and we

00:55:12 Speaker 99: see it also providing food for

00:55:13 Speaker 99: the facility. So it's like right

00:55:15 Speaker 99: now they we have two OT

00:55:17 Speaker 99: leisure aides, we call them occupational

00:55:18 Speaker 100: therapy leisure aides, and they are

00:55:22 Speaker 79: doing some small scale gardening. But

00:55:25 Speaker 101: that is one of the items

00:55:32 Speaker 101: that we look forward to in

00:55:33 Speaker 101: the future, and certainly partnerships are

00:55:35 Speaker 101: the way to go there because

00:55:37 Speaker 102: we don't have that expertise at

00:55:40 Speaker 102: all. Okay, I'll just look around.

00:55:42 Speaker 103: We'll go to Councillor Kevney, and

00:55:46 Speaker 104: then over to Councillor Patterson. Thank