Owen Sound Committee - Community Services Meeting Transcript — October 15, 2025

00:00:37 Speaker 01: Call the meeting to order, and I'll call for additional business.

00:00:43 Speaker 01: There are no items of additional business.

00:00:46 Speaker 01: Declarations of interest: Are there any?

00:00:49 Speaker 01: Hearing or seeing none?

00:00:52 Speaker 01: Should one arise, please indicate at that time.

00:00:55 Speaker 01: Confirmation of the minutes.

00:00:57 Speaker 01: This is the meeting of September 17th, which council has received, sorry, approved, but we need to formally approve at this committee meeting.

00:01:06 Speaker 01: So I'm looking for a motion to approve the minutes of September 17.

00:01:11 Speaker 01: Councillor Kukreja.

00:01:13 Speaker 01: All those in favour?

00:01:15 Speaker 01: That's carried.

00:01:17 Speaker 01: We have no deputations and presentations.

00:01:18 Speaker 01: Do we have anything from the public forum?

00:01:25 Speaker 01: Nothing.

00:01:26 Speaker 01: We have, I believe, correspondence items.

00:01:28 Speaker 01: Could I call on Christine to list those correspondence items that we have?

00:01:42 Speaker 01: Okay.

00:01:42 Speaker 01: We received additional information on Bill Five, the report on Bill Five.

00:01:47 Speaker 01: If you could just list, identify the individuals that sent that in, or I could do that if you like.

00:01:54 Speaker 01: It's probably fine.

00:01:55 Speaker 01: I have them listed here.

00:01:57 Speaker 01: We did receive correspondence from Megan Miles and Catherine Scott, and Nialla McLeod Farley, and Bronwyn Thompson, all expressing their opposition to Bill Five.

00:02:14 Speaker 01: Moving on to reports of city staff, we'll look at the facilities bookings, community and programmememes, regarding the summer recreation wrap-up, and I'll call on Andy O'Leary.

00:02:28 Speaker 01: Good evening, committee.

00:02:31 Speaker 01: Through the chair, this is report CS 25-109 regarding summer recreation programmememes 2025 wrap up.

00:02:39 Speaker 02: The City plays an important role in providing affordable and inclusive recreation opportunities for youth in our community.

00:02:46 Speaker 02: For years, two separate one-week soccer camps were offered, along with power skating and hockey skills programmememes; indoor swim lessons were also provided by the YMCA.

00:02:55 Speaker 02: In 2023, staff recognized a need to increase camp options during the summer months.

00:03:01 Speaker 02: Following consideration and Council's approval, staff developed and introduced additional summer camps, which have been well received and have grown to be quite successful.

00:03:11 Speaker 02: A total of six weekly summer day camps are provided, plus hockey skills and power skating programmememes.

00:03:18 Speaker 02: Swimming lessons have also grown and are offered through the YMCA at their indoor pool as well as at the Harrison Park outdoor pool during the summer months.

00:03:27 Speaker 02: The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the 2025 recreation programmememes.

00:03:34 Speaker 02: Power skating and hockey skills operated very close to capacity with 124 participants.

00:03:41 Speaker 02: Between the two programmememes, these programmememes accommodated almost all registrants, leaving very few on the wait list.

00:03:49 Speaker 02: Both programmememes generated just over $3,500 in net revenue for the City.

00:03:54 Speaker 02: Soccer camp was hosted at Victoria Park, which allows for the use of the Julie MacArthur Rec Centre for washrooms as well as the arena floor when the weather requires the group to move inside.

00:04:05 Speaker 02: They also use the arena floor on days when it's super hot and the kids need a break from the heat.

00:04:15 Speaker 02: These camps had combined over 150 registrants and generated a combined net revenue of $2,600 for the City.

00:04:24 Speaker 02: Hockey camp, which was held in August this year to better align with the hockey season, operated at full capacity, with a few on the wait list.

00:04:35 Speaker 02: And staff have already met with the camp provider or the camp instructor to explore opportunities to expand on the numbers and accommodate more people in 2026.

00:04:46 Speaker 02: Other areas of improvement that were discussed included a more robust check-in and check-out process, adding swim times and altering ice times to allow better flow for the daily camp activities.

00:04:58 Speaker 02: This camp generated over $3,000 in net revenue.

00:05:02 Speaker 02: Lacrosse camp was held in July this year, which was also moved to better align with that season, which typically ends in July and into early August.

00:05:14 Speaker 02: Fifty-two kids participated and enjoyed the use of Victoria Park, the arena floor at the Rec Centre, and swimming at the YMCA.

00:05:21 Speaker 02: A net revenue of over $3,600 for the City.

00:05:25 Speaker 02: In areas of improvement, included improving the check-in and check-out process and also altering swim times.

00:05:33 Speaker 02: Harrison Park Sports Camp was two one-week camps with over 100 total registered between the two weeks.

00:05:40 Speaker 02: It operated out of Harrison Park, with kids playing many sports, swimming at Harrison Park, and spending time exploring the many areas throughout the park.

00:05:48 Speaker 02: I heard from many that crayfish hunting was a highlight.

00:05:52 Speaker 02: On days where the weather is forecasted to be a challenge, camp drop-off and pick-up is moved to the Rec Centre, and on days where the weather changes quickly,

00:06:02 Speaker 02: the Harrison Park Senior Centre is used as a shelter.

00:06:06 Speaker 02: These camps generated almost $6,000 in net revenue.

00:06:11 Speaker 02: Harrison Park swimming: The City partnered with the Y in 2025 to deliver public swimming at the outdoor pool through a memorandum of understanding.

00:06:20 Speaker 02: Based on the agreement between the City and the YMCA, the Y offers certified swimming instruction year-round at the Y, and in 2024, they began scheduling additional swim lessons at the Harrison Park outdoor pool,

00:06:33 Speaker 02: which again continued in 2025.

00:06:35 Speaker 02: Participation numbers were up this year.

00:06:39 Speaker 02: Staff do seek sponsors to support programmememing and help offset the cost to operate the facility, and the cost to operate the facility was improved by $4,000 this year over last year,

00:06:55 Speaker 02: which is a positive story.

00:06:57 Speaker 02: The follow-up survey from the camps that is sent to the parents was altered this year,

00:07:04 Speaker 02: so we learned that people who register multiple children for several camps weren't necessarily completing the survey because it ended up being seven or eight surveys over a summer, and it just became redundant.

00:07:18 Speaker 02: So we did alter it to just send one generic survey at the very end, which sounded like it was well received.

00:07:28 Speaker 02: A high percentage of respondents were satisfied with the camp, the instructors, the activities, the registration process, the location, and many indicated they plan to register their child again next summer.

00:07:40 Speaker 02: There were some suggestions provided through the survey, and as mentioned previously, staff have met with the camp instructors to discuss opportunities to implement some of these changes.

00:07:49 Speaker 02: I also want to mention, on top of the revenue generated from the camp, there are listed revenue dollars from facility rentals under each camp.

00:07:59 Speaker 02: And lastly, some positive feedback.

00:08:01 Speaker 02: I just wanted to point out briefly about the camp counselors.

00:08:06 Speaker 02: These City camps are provided by local young adults who already make a positive impact in local minor sports.

00:08:14 Speaker 02: They are teachers, coaches, business owners, and mentors.

00:08:18 Speaker 02: These camp counselors hire local students from Owen Sound schools to help with these camps, whether it be for volunteer hours, for high school, or simply a part-time summer job.

00:08:29 Speaker 02: Just another positive way these camps are benefiting our community.

00:08:34 Speaker 02: Is to receive the report for information purposes.

00:08:39 Speaker 01: Thank you, Andy.

00:08:40 Speaker 01: Great report and lots of positive numbers in there.

00:08:44 Speaker 01: Go ahead, John.

00:08:46 Speaker 01: Sorry, Councillor Farmer.

00:08:49 Speaker 03: Through the chair, I'm okay with John.

00:08:51 Speaker 03: A couple of questions.

00:08:53 Speaker 03: One, just to clarify, the report under the highlights section mentions that the camps were for ages six and up, but in subsequent parts of the report, it looks like age four.

00:09:01 Speaker 03: The report looks like there were some camps that maybe also served folks as young as four.

00:09:08 Speaker 03: Knowing that that junior kindergarten/Kindergarten age group is really hard for folks to find summer activities for.

00:09:16 Speaker 03: Wondering if we could just clarify what the age range is there, and if there is an option to expand offerings for that younger school-age bracket going forward.

00:09:29 Speaker 02: Through the chair: Yes, the ages four and five are for the soccer camp only, and that was kind of grandfathered in from the previous camp counselor.

00:09:41 Speaker 02: In discussions with the camp counselors for the other weeks, six was kind of as low as they wanted to go in terms of being self-sufficient and being an outdoor sports camp.

00:09:57 Speaker 02: They didn't want it to be more babysitting as opposed to being active and outside.

00:10:08 Speaker 03: Another question through the chair: There are a couple of sections where it looks like the number of people admitted was higher than the number of spots that we had.

00:10:18 Speaker 03: Was that to sneak a few more people in, or is that a typo?

00:10:24 Speaker 02: Through the chair: That decision is made by the camp counselor.

00:10:28 Speaker 02: So they set their capacities at what they are, and then depending on whether or not they have enough staff to accommodate more.

00:10:37 Speaker 02: I know in previous years, staff has been hard to come by, so they weren't able to expand their numbers.

00:10:45 Speaker 02: There are some scenarios where they could allow say there's three on the wait list; they allow those three attendees to attend, and it works out well for everyone.

00:10:56 Speaker 02: Through the chair: Happy to move the recommendation.

00:11:00 Speaker 01: Are there other questions or comments on the report, Member Kemer?

00:11:05 Speaker 04: Just a quick comment, and through the chair, my family participated in this.

00:11:10 Speaker 04: I think we had three or four weeks in different camps.

00:11:13 Speaker 04: The counselors were awesome.

00:11:14 Speaker 04: The kids came back exhausted and happy, which was wonderful.

00:11:19 Speaker 04: And I really liked; there was a couple pictures at the end of each camp that showed the lost and found items.

00:11:25 Speaker 04: So a lot of family members were happy with that as well.

00:11:28 Speaker 04: So thank you.

00:11:28 Speaker 04: Kudos to you and your staff for doing that.

00:11:32 Speaker 04: Other comments?

00:11:34 Speaker 01: Seeing none.

00:11:35 Speaker 01: We'll take a vote on the motion.

00:11:37 Speaker 01: All those in favour?

00:11:39 Speaker 01: That's carried.

00:11:40 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:11:42 Speaker 01: Moving on to the next item is the Senior Advisor External Relations and Investment Attractions regarding external relations and an attraction plan, Rebecca.

00:11:56 Speaker 01: Good evening, committee.

00:12:17 Speaker 05: I'm here today to present staff report CM 25-026 and rec.

00:12:22 Speaker 05: 0.26 and recommend the approval of an external relations and investment attraction action plan for 2025 to 2027.

00:12:33 Speaker 05: Building on the Future Owen Sound Vision 2050 long-term strategic plan, the objective of this action plan is to foster economic growth and prosperity for Owen Sound by investing in key relationships, capacity-building initiatives,

00:12:50 Speaker 05: and generating new opportunities with a particular emphasis on future-focused priority sectors.

00:12:58 Speaker 05: This plan directly aligns with two Vision 2050 strategic priorities: fostering mutually beneficial and respectful relationships, which includes government, community, and Indigenous relations, as well as working with our institutional and commercial partners; and prosperous city,

00:13:16 Speaker 05: which will support initiatives to enhance our competitive advantage locally and regionally, and our overall quality of life.

00:13:27 Speaker 05: The entire plan is structured around a simple yet powerful three-phase approach designed to establish a strong foundation for sustainable growth.

00:13:38 Speaker 05: The three phases are building relationships, building capacity, and building opportunity.

00:13:46 Speaker 05: So, this initial phase is about proactive outreach and engagement.

00:13:53 Speaker 05: It involves identifying critical partners, strengthening our relationship with Indigenous communities in the spirit of reconciliation, and developing a coordinated plan to both attract and retain residents and workers.

00:14:06 Speaker 05: This work can already be seen in recent stakeholder engagement initiatives, like the meeting to support our River District community members, as well as our work as founding members of the Southwestern Ontario Isotope Coalition,

00:14:19 Speaker 05: and our support, which is ongoing, for the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council's Isotopes for Hope campaign, and we've heard there's going to be an exciting update to that plan, to that campaign later next month.

00:14:37 Speaker 05: Here we shift to investing in our capacity as a community.

00:14:41 Speaker 05: This includes data-informed practices and development initiatives.

00:14:47 Speaker 05: Key actions include creating an economic health report card to measure trackable indicators of prosperity over time, conducting a gap analysis to inform a targeted outreach plan for skilled workers,

00:14:59 Speaker 05: and identifying and preparing investment-ready industrial sites.

00:15:04 Speaker 05: One opportunity in particular that I would like to highlight that we became aware of recently is partnering with Georgian College's Centre for Change-Making and Social Innovation to establish a local community impact lab.

00:15:18 Speaker 05: These are modular resource hubs that support collabouration between multiple stakeholders within a community,

00:15:25 Speaker 05: and it's designed to address complex social issues by bringing multiple voices to the same table and guiding the process of going from, you know, brainstorming into like a strategy, into budgeting into reality.

00:15:42 Speaker 05: So it's a really cool tool.

00:15:44 Speaker 05: We got to see it when we toured their campus in Barry recently, and I think that we should have one here.

00:15:52 Speaker 05: All right.

00:15:53 Speaker 05: So next, we have the leveraging phase.

00:15:57 Speaker 05: We will work to amplify our regional strengths through active membership in national and international initiatives and advance the regional cluster development of our priority sectors.

00:16:07 Speaker 05: Some of this work is ongoing through close collabouration with our partners at Grey County and the Grey Bruce Campus of Georgian College in Owen Sound,

00:16:14 Speaker 05: and other industrial and institutional partners such as the Brightrose Health System.

00:16:22 Speaker 05: This plan is about a holistic approach to economic development and celebrating our current strengths.

00:16:28 Speaker 05: But we've also identified four priority sectors to focus our investment attraction efforts.

00:16:33 Speaker 05: The four sectors we've identified are clean energy, healthcare, and life sciences.

00:16:38 Speaker 05: Healthcare and life sciences, and those two kind of combine to advance the nuclear medicine industry as well, advanced manufacturing, and marine innovation.

00:16:49 Speaker 05: These four sectors are deeply interconnected and vital for Owen Sound's future, providing not just our own community but also the broader region with a focused and competitive edge.

00:17:05 Speaker 05: Once approved, the external relations and Investment Attraction Action Plan, or the Area Action Plan, will be incorporated into 2026 work plans and the city's 2026 budget.

00:17:17 Speaker 05: We will aim to initiate these actions over an eighteen-month time frame, and staff will return to committee in the fourth quarter of next year with a review of activities and recommendations for subsequent actions.

00:17:33 Speaker 05: In conclusion, the City of Owen Sound is well positioned to advance its economic interest by embracing its role as a regional hub and championing innovation through collabourative partnerships.

00:17:48 Speaker 05: My recommendation is before you that, in consideration of staff report CM 25-026 respecting external relations and investment attraction plan, that the Community Services Committee recommends that City Council approve the plan as presented.

00:18:03 Speaker 05: The plan is presented.

00:18:06 Speaker 05: Thank you, committee, and I welcome any questions you might have.

00:18:10 Speaker 01: Thank you, Rebecca.

00:18:12 Speaker 01: Questions around the table, go ahead, Councillor Palmer.

00:18:17 Speaker 01: Through the chair, I'm curious.

00:18:19 Speaker 03: Under the first strategic focus area, building relationships, there one of the bullets says: provide direct support to community building initiatives to welcome new residents and enhance youth retention.

00:18:32 Speaker 03: I'm curious if we're supporting that work.

00:18:36 Speaker 03: Is that work that the City of Old Town is primarily doing itself in the way that we support that kind of effort,

00:18:43 Speaker 03: or is there other work that community organisations are aligned levels of government are doing that we can give a boost to that way?

00:18:53 Speaker 03: I'd love to know more about that.

00:18:56 Speaker 05: Through you, Chair.

00:18:58 Speaker 05: I'm really glad that you asked that because this is one of the suggestions that came directly through the Vision 2050 efforts,

00:19:04 Speaker 05: and was actually included in a list of potential initial actions that could be taken by staff to support the strategy.

00:19:13 Speaker 05: This would involve identifying community groups that are already doing that work of creating a welcoming community,

00:19:21 Speaker 05: and using the budget allocation in support of the Vision 2050 initiatives to offer like modest support in the form of, you know, for example,

00:19:33 Speaker 05: I believe some of the resident suggestions were to cover like tea, coffee, you know, cookies, snacks, like just those little expenses that build up over time when it's a community group doing it.

00:19:46 Speaker 05: But this is valuable work that our community members are doing, and the more that we are able to identify the groups that are doing those activities, and that includes working with, for example,

00:19:57 Speaker 05: YMCA settlement services programmememes, reaching out to our various community members and saying, "Hey, we want to support you.

00:20:06 Speaker 05: in finding rooms.

00:20:08 Speaker 05: For example, do you need coffee and tea?

00:20:11 Speaker 05: You know, what can we do to help make this a welcoming community?

00:20:14 Speaker 05: And what can we do to help support that work that you are already doing?"

00:20:21 Speaker 03: Through the chair, that I think that's really exciting.

00:20:25 Speaker 03: I've daydreamed about what like a community-based kind of welcome wagon would look like, if the or communication through the city.

00:20:32 Speaker 03: If we already know every new person who registers for a water bill, is there a way for us to kind of amplify that?

00:20:39 Speaker 03: And I think the youth piece, we may have a similar experience, and that people who grow up here look to find ways to come back.

00:20:49 Speaker 03: A few people around the room nodding, and I wonder if there are ways to plant the seed.

00:20:55 Speaker 03: With high school students graduating to go off and build skills and experience and generate capital and then come back later on—that's really exciting.

00:21:05 Speaker 03: And I imagine that this could go a number of directions.

00:21:09 Speaker 03: So I'd be happy to support the motion as recommended, or the recommendation as written.

00:21:17 Speaker 03: Okay.

00:21:18 Speaker 03: Are there others who have comments around the table?

00:21:21 Speaker 03: Go ahead, and Member Kammick.

00:21:23 Speaker 04: Member Kamen, thank you.

00:21:25 Speaker 04: And through you, Madam Chair, I think this is great.

00:21:27 Speaker 04: I do a lot of these initiatives and this research, and whatnot takes a lot of manpower.

00:21:34 Speaker 04: So I'm just wondering what other resources are required to put this in action and get it going.

00:21:44 Speaker 04: Through you, Chair.

00:21:46 Speaker 04: It is an ambitious plan.

00:21:49 Speaker 05: One of the great strengths of our community is our collabourative partnerships.

00:21:55 Speaker 05: I work very closely with our colleagues and counterparts at Grey County, Georgian College, NII, our industrial partners.

00:22:05 Speaker 05: Like this is truly a canoe that we are all rowing together.

00:22:08 Speaker 05: So I do believe that we can at least get started on most of these initiatives within the eighteen-month plan.

00:22:15 Speaker 05: I plan to, but again, we're going to initiate all of these things, and I. And ideally, make progress towards those broader goals that are included in the Vision 2050 strategy.

00:22:30 Speaker 04: I'm really interested to see the outcome as well as the economic health report card.

00:22:34 Speaker 04: I think that'll be a great addition to the dashboard they already have through the county and some other stats that we can be comparing ourselves to.

00:22:43 Speaker 04: So, nice.

00:22:48 Speaker 01: Other comments.

00:22:50 Speaker 01: Okay, we'll take a vote on the motion.

00:22:51 Speaker 01: All those in favour?

00:22:53 Speaker 01: That's carried.

00:22:55 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:22:56 Speaker 01: Thanks, Rebecca.

00:23:00 Speaker 01: Next, we have a report from the Manager of Planning and Heritage regarding Bill 5, Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, and a 2025 update.

00:23:12 Speaker 01: Welcome, Sabine.

00:23:23 Speaker 06: Good evening, committee, and thank you, through your chair.

00:23:28 Speaker 06: On June 5, 2025, Bill 5, sorry, titled "Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act," was received royal assent and became law.

00:23:40 Speaker 06: The province's stated objective with Bill 5 is to protect Ontario's economy from the impact of existing and threatened tariffs on Canadian goods, by accelerating the delivery of critical mineral and energy projects across Ontario.

00:23:54 Speaker 06: Bill 5 enacts, amends, and repeals several statutes that govern the planning, approval, and delivery of infrastructure projects in Ontario through ten separate schedules.

00:24:04 Speaker 06: Bill 5 modifies the Endangered Species Act and the Ontario Heritage Act, among others, and creates the Species Conservation Act, which is to be enacted at a future date, and enact the Special Economic Zones Act.

00:24:18 Speaker 06: Bill 5 has been subject to significant scrutiny and criticism, including that the legislation will weaken environmental protections, reduce oversight of mining and development projects, and limit opportunities for First Nations consultation and consent.

00:24:33 Speaker 06: As noted in the report, and there are links provided in the report, there are a number of postings currently on the Environmental Registry of Ontario,

00:24:41 Speaker 06: requesting comments on regulations and criteria regarding the various portions of the Act.

00:24:46 Speaker 06: The county ecologists, which are the group of people that provide the city with comments on matters of natural heritage,

00:24:55 Speaker 06: have noted that they are providing technical comments on the proposed Endangered Species Act through the registry postings.

00:25:04 Speaker 06: Of note, the provincial planning statement policies regarding natural heritage are not altered or impacted by Bill 5.

00:25:10 Speaker 06: Impacted by Bill 5, the Natural Heritage Reference Manual, which provides guidance for implementing the Natural Heritage policies of the Provincial Policy Statement, is also not altered by Bill 5.

00:25:23 Speaker 06: In conclusion, the staff recommendation is that, in consideration of this report, CS 25-11, the Community Services Committee recommends that City Council receive the report for information.

00:25:36 Speaker 01: Thank you, Sabine.

00:25:39 Speaker 01: We're certainly happy to finally get this report.

00:25:42 Speaker 01: I know there's been a lot of interest around it and a lot of discussion.

00:25:46 Speaker 01: So, looking around the table to, Councillor Farmer, a couple of questions.

00:25:53 Speaker 07: Starting off with, the report mentions that a number of powers have been given to the Lieutenant Governor, and I'm curious.

00:26:03 Speaker 07: My maybe failed grade ten civics education made me think that that was largely a.

00:26:07 Speaker 07: Think that that was largely the Lieutenant Governor's, like the Governor General, largely symbolic and stamping legislation.

00:26:14 Speaker 07: So surprising to me to see descriptions of the Lieutenant Governor deciding what is a priority and not.

00:26:21 Speaker 07: Could you speak a little more to why that, like why and how that sits with that particular position?

00:26:32 Speaker 06: And so honestly, I do—I don't have an answer to that question, and it's something that I.

00:26:37 Speaker 06: would have to honestly explore further and possibly report back to the committee.

00:26:43 Speaker 06: This is not a type of legislation that we, through the Planning Act, are familiar with.

00:26:53 Speaker 03: Through the chair, there's the impact of special economic zones in their ability to magically disappear: a variety of previously important legislation around employment and like safety standards and environmental assessments and all of that.

00:27:18 Speaker 03: I'm curious if knowing that both AMO and the Professional Association for Planners have had specific comments on the impact of special economic zones,

00:27:30 Speaker 03: I'm wondering if you could elabourate a little more for us on what that means for municipalities and whether that would impact Owen Sound, or if it was applied to Owen Sound,

00:27:43 Speaker 03: what that would mean in our own context.

00:27:49 Speaker 06: Through you, Chair.

00:27:50 Speaker 06: I am my apologies.

00:27:52 Speaker 06: So this report covers a great amount of legislation that I am not very familiar with.

00:28:01 Speaker 06: We basically took what the province offered to us.

00:28:05 Speaker 06: I think the gist of it is that the province would declare a special economic zone, and that the legislation within that zone would specify what policies and sort of rules do not apply,

00:28:26 Speaker 06: and which ones were changed.

00:28:27 Speaker 06: If they're not specifically mentioned in the legislation, they continue to apply.

00:28:35 Speaker 04: Member Kammick, through the chair.

00:28:39 Speaker 04: Thank you to you and your team for putting this together.

00:28:41 Speaker 04: This was—it's a lot of information, and to have you answer questions specific to it—I know you're not going to be able to provide us that.

00:28:51 Speaker 04: So my question is: Yes, we're happy that we received the information.

00:28:55 Speaker 04: I know for myself, and I think there's another communication that came through about Bill Five in terms of okay, we have the information now.

00:29:04 Speaker 04: Now what do we do?

00:29:06 Speaker 04: So I think that's my next question.

00:29:09 Speaker 04: Is great.

00:29:09 Speaker 04: We have all kinds of research saying stop it, stop Bill Five.

00:29:15 Speaker 04: Let's just stop it in its tracks.

00:29:18 Speaker 04: So can I put a recommendation forward or a motion or whatever that next step is?

00:29:24 Speaker 04: Is can we have our city stand up and say: "Please oppose Bill Five."

00:29:32 Speaker 04: I'll turn to the director of community services first, Councillor Dodd.

00:29:39 Speaker 04: Thank you, Madam Chair.

00:29:40 Speaker 08: Sure, you can ask the city to do anything.

00:29:44 Speaker 08: If it's already received royal assent on June fifth, five months ago, I do think it does become a little bit limited to what maybe power that might provide to it,

00:29:56 Speaker 08: and I know whether you agree with everything that's there or not, and the city can make a stand and say, "No, I don't think you should do that."

00:30:04 Speaker 08: For sure, they could.

00:30:06 Speaker 08: I just don't know how much meat that would be.

00:30:11 Speaker 08: First of all, let's be completely clear and completely honest here: the province hasn't taken into account what municipalities were thinking.

00:30:20 Speaker 08: The public consultation period opened nine days prior to it closing, so I think they already knew what they were going to do,

00:30:29 Speaker 08: and this isn't the first time we've seen a Canadian or an Ontario bill come through and being forced upon municipalities.

00:30:36 Speaker 08: And we have sent letters in the past, even in time for their public consultation period, and it's resulted in not even a letter back to say, "Hey, thanks for your feedback."

00:30:46 Speaker 08: It's been: we're doing what we're doing.

00:30:54 Speaker 08: I do think there just needs to be a sense, a little bit of reality of the fact that if you had AMO and another Association of Municipalities of Ontario, as well as the Planning Association,

00:31:10 Speaker 08: publicly state that these things are wrong, well before all this, and they've even triggered an MPP to even question something.

00:31:23 Speaker 08: And with having a majority in the provincial government, I just don't see changes occurring.

00:31:29 Speaker 08: That'd be my own personal opinion, but if that's what committee wants of council to do is to provide a written statement to the province saying we're in opposition.

00:31:39 Speaker 08: Sure, I just do believe we need to be mindful of the fact that this isn't our first rodeo with the province,

00:31:48 Speaker 08: and if the province really cared about hearing about all this information and consideration of municipalities, their public consultation window would be longer than nine days.

00:31:58 Speaker 08: Let's just be honest.

00:31:59 Speaker 08: So those are my only comments.

00:32:04 Speaker 08: Director Coulter, do you have comments?

00:32:07 Speaker 09: I think, and certainly I appreciate the comments and questions.

00:32:12 Speaker 09: The legislation amended eight different acts.

00:32:14 Speaker 09: There would have been a provincial team that worked on this.

00:32:16 Speaker 09: That's probably equal to the entire city staff complement, in terms of all our staff, not just the three people we have working in planning.

00:32:24 Speaker 09: So, in terms of a detailed understanding, you know, some of it will come out as we work with it.

00:32:34 Speaker 09: I guess, and certainly, we're creatures of the province.

00:32:38 Speaker 09: We're bound by Bill Five until that bill changes again, and change happens with sometimes with advocacy.

00:32:46 Speaker 09: We certainly know that.

00:32:48 Speaker 09: I guess I do take some comfort in understanding that the county ecologists are going to provide some technical comments on those endangered species regs.

00:33:01 Speaker 09: I think they're the best.

00:33:03 Speaker 09: They're the people we rely on for our comments, and they're going to be providing the comments.

00:33:07 Speaker 09: And we'll watch and see how those get incorporated into the regulations.

00:33:12 Speaker 09: Those regulations are really kind of the place where the rubber hits the road.

00:33:16 Speaker 09: Also, you know, the PPS remains and the natural heritage policies in there remain.

00:33:22 Speaker 09: So in terms of requiring EIS and those types of things, some of that doesn't change through these changes.

00:33:30 Speaker 09: So not to say you shouldn't have a motion, and the report outlines definitely some concerns.

00:33:41 Speaker 09: But I hope you can appreciate that in however 11 pages, it's hard to succinctly describe this, and we could spend months working on this to be able to analyse it more fully.

00:33:57 Speaker 09: Member Boswell, Cecilia.

00:34:00 Speaker 09: Thanks, the chair.

00:34:01 Speaker 10: Thank you very much.

00:34:04 Speaker 10: It's such sweeping changes.

00:34:05 Speaker 10: I can really appreciate how hard it is to summarise this in a report, but very much do appreciate that.

00:34:12 Speaker 10: In terms of talking about the proposed motion on the floor, definitely it's like we had some shared notes here or something with bringing forward something.

00:34:20 Speaker 10: I definitely sympathize with the feeling of kind of like apathy,

00:34:25 Speaker 10: maybe of or just cynicism with the process of not being able to submit comments in a timely manner or even respond to as these changes are proposed.

00:34:36 Speaker 10: I think I am more leaning towards the side that we still should provide comments just as a show, even to not let citizenism win, I guess in the end, too,

00:34:46 Speaker 10: to say that like we are still taking a stance on what we think is the appropriate action here.

00:34:51 Speaker 10: On a local level, we do have neighbouring municipalities, Grey Highlands and Township of Georgian Bluff, already having issued a formal opposition through letters on this,

00:35:03 Speaker 10: and I think it is a strong stance for us to kind of say that we are also in agreement with these neighbouring municipalities.

00:35:12 Speaker 10: A key note is Paul Vickers does sit on the committee that will be reviewing some of this legislation.

00:35:16 Speaker 10: To have a big number of his constituents potentially having a response to this, and a clear response is important.

00:35:24 Speaker 10: I was trying to see like how many other municipalities around this area have responded.

00:35:30 Speaker 10: I did see well, it wasn't a direct response.

00:35:33 Speaker 10: Tana Bluenand has already requested that the province not consider certain things a special economic zone,

00:35:38 Speaker 10: which to me kind of cites that there is a bit of concern about this power being strategically wielded and kind of power being taken away from our local government powers.

00:35:48 Speaker 10: I agree.

00:35:49 Speaker 10: I kind of struggle with what is the best next step because we aren't necessarily saying as a committee, like this is our opinion.

00:35:55 Speaker 10: You should do it.

00:35:56 Speaker 10: This feels like something that should go to a council level to discuss and provide.

00:36:00 Speaker 10: But I was also coming back to as a committee, this act includes a lot of changes to reportorial.

00:36:04 Speaker 10: To report, or we'll include a lot of changes to reports that we will be asked to comment and reflect on.

00:36:10 Speaker 10: So it seems almost worthwhile for it to come through this committee to say at council level, maybe this is worth a discussion, and if we should be having a formal stance.

00:36:19 Speaker 10: So I'm happy to second the motion to bring this forward, and yeah, I'm just trying to say, look, briefly skim through and make sure that things been covered.

00:36:31 Speaker 10: I'm happy to hear that the ERO comments we received are or commented on by the, or at least technical notes will be given, and yeah, that is it for me.

00:36:41 Speaker 10: So happy to second the motion, and yeah, strongly in favour of it.

00:36:48 Speaker 10: Other comments?

00:36:49 Speaker 10: To the chair, I agree with this cynicism.

00:36:54 Speaker 07: I've been a councillor for three years, and the first meeting I got to, Bill Twenty Three, I think it was, had closed a week before, and none of us just a week before,

00:37:03 Speaker 07: and none of us had a chance to look at that or talk about that, and the door was shut.

00:37:08 Speaker 07: And I think it's worth calling out, if especially highlighting that this is another bill that reaches from the provincial level down into the jurisdiction of municipalities to have the province unilaterally decide things for municipalities.

00:37:24 Speaker 07: That this is another cut as they work towards a thousand cuts on municipal jurisdiction, and that if we stop saying "ow," then maybe they...

00:37:33 Speaker 07: Stop.

00:37:34 Speaker 07: There at least won't be the protest to say that we, yeah, that Aimo is right when it says that the province should be partnering with municipalities instead of imposing things on us.

00:37:46 Speaker 07: And I also note that like the Saugeenish Nation has released statements, and the former chief of Nawash, Greg Nagawon,

00:37:56 Speaker 07: was quoted in CKNX News talking about what the impact would be for them and how they plan to respond.

00:38:05 Speaker 07: These, I think, these changes are a big deal,

00:38:07 Speaker 07: and it's worth amplifying the voices that say if the Ontario we want to live in includes endangered species that are not yet extinct and workers' rights and municipal authority over planning decisions.

00:38:23 Speaker 07: So I'm strongly in favour of asking council to send a letter, even if it's symbolic.

00:38:31 Speaker 07: I'm also curious whether there's staff capacity to provide feedback from Owen Sound for some of the open ERO windows or consultation periods that way.

00:38:43 Speaker 07: And I'm, but I also think I need Member Kemick if there's a particular phrasing of that motion.

00:38:51 Speaker 07: I think I heard that more as a suggestion than the formal language of "I move that."

00:38:58 Speaker 07: If you could clarify, and if staff could speak to the ability to comment for open ERO calls, I will further look to Member Khammick.

00:39:09 Speaker 01: Include it in your motion, or the beginning of your motion, likely should be to receive the report from information, and then another clause indicating a direction that you would like.

00:39:22 Speaker 01: And personally, I think it doesn't hurt for this committee to let council know how it feels, and it doesn't hurt for council to let the constituents know how they feel.

00:39:35 Speaker 01: So I'll look to you to word your motion for the secretary.

00:39:43 Speaker 04: So I will go ahead and move CS 25-111 as report for information,

00:39:51 Speaker 04: and I would like to include a piece that we would like council or staff to put together an opposition letter that includes something along the lines of, you know,

00:40:10 Speaker 04: standing with our municipalities and other partners.

00:40:14 Speaker 04: We talk about a lot of business partners.

00:40:19 Speaker 04: Thank you, appreciate that.

00:40:21 Speaker 04: Thank you.

00:40:21 Speaker 04: Perfect.

00:40:22 Speaker 04: There we go.

00:40:25 Speaker 04: Here, this is perfect.

00:40:28 Speaker 04: Provide formal notice to the province that we would join with our neighbouring municipalities, nice one,

00:40:34 Speaker 04: and oppose the reduction of environmental and cultural heritage protections outlined in Bill 5 that override the rule of law and that nullify municipal planning authority.

00:40:46 Speaker 04: We urge the province to support housing and infrastructure development in ways that align with sound environmental planning and wildlife protection, and empower municipalities with appropriate planning tools.

00:40:59 Speaker 04: The other note that I would like to include in there is, I forget what one it is, is about accountability, basically that they don't have to be accountable.

00:41:11 Speaker 04: We can't take them.

00:41:13 Speaker 04: Yeah, I forget what that one was, but yeah, something along those lines.

00:41:19 Speaker 04: And then include okay.

00:41:22 Speaker 04: So this should be sent to Honourable Rob Flack, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing; Honourable Todd J. McCarthy, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks; Honourable Graham McGregor, Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism;

00:41:48 Speaker 04: and Ship and Multiculturalism [sic].

00:41:50 Speaker 04: Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario; Paul Vickers, MPP, Bruce—Gray, Owen Sound; The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).

00:42:00 Speaker 04: Oh, I can stop there.

00:42:02 Speaker 04: Perfect.

00:42:03 Speaker 04: Great.

00:42:03 Speaker 04: They don't like us.

00:42:04 Speaker 04: Yeah.

00:42:04 Speaker 04: Awesome.

00:42:05 Speaker 04: I think that does that sum it up.

00:42:08 Speaker 04: And I'm sure that that exact wording will be sent to the recording secretary.

00:42:16 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:42:17 Speaker 01: Okay, the motion is on the floor.

00:42:19 Speaker 01: Any other comments to the motion?

00:42:22 Speaker 01: Seeing none, I'll ask for those in favour of the motion.

00:42:27 Speaker 01: That's everyone.

00:42:28 Speaker 01: Okay, thank you so much.

00:42:32 Speaker 01: Next, we have matters postponed.

00:42:38 Speaker 01: There are none.

00:42:39 Speaker 01: Motions for which notice was previously given.

00:42:42 Speaker 01: There are none, and we're on to correspondence.

00:42:45 Speaker 01: The first item of correspondence is regarding joining a committee, and I would call on Christina to provide some comments.

00:42:56 Speaker 01: The city is now accepting applications for public members to sit on various committees, including this one, with terms beginning February 1st.

00:43:05 Speaker 11: Applications are open until November 7th, and more information is available at owensound.ca/committeevacancies or at the Service Owen Sound counter at City Hall.

00:43:16 Speaker 11: Being part of a committee is a great way to get involved in the community, provide insights, and gain experience with local government.

00:43:23 Speaker 11: I hope that our current members will share this opportunity with their networks, and that those listening at home will consider applying.

00:43:31 Speaker 11: Thank you very much.

00:43:33 Speaker 01: Next, we have a memorandum from the Chief Building Official regarding development update, and Sabine will provide a report on that.

00:43:45 Speaker 01: I'm sorry, Councillor Farmer.

00:43:46 Speaker 01: You have comments on the last issue.

00:43:50 Speaker 01: Through the chair, I would just highlight that anyone watching, curious about joining a committee, can come talk to folks about how much fun it is at the City Open House on Monday, at the Bayshore.

00:44:03 Speaker 07: Four thirty to seven is seven thirty.

00:44:06 Speaker 07: Seven till seven.

00:44:08 Speaker 07: Four thirty to seven.

00:44:10 Speaker 07: Thank you for that.

00:44:12 Speaker 01: Go ahead, Sabine.

00:44:13 Speaker 01: I'm sorry.

00:44:16 Speaker 01: Thank you, and through chair, this is the development update for September 2025.

00:44:21 Speaker 06: The major permits and projects in September included a new Amazon distribution centre.

00:44:29 Speaker 06: A building permit was issued, and the modular building is under construction and will be arriving soon.

00:44:35 Speaker 06: I think we issued ten permits for Ripfest, the Fall Fair, and two Fest, the Fall Fair, and two private events.

00:44:42 Speaker 06: Pet value on the city's west side will soon be growing, and there's a permit to expand and renovate the existing space.

00:44:48 Speaker 06: And sort of very exciting from a planning perspective is that we planning staff are working with the IT team and cloud permit to go live with the planning application module in early 2026.

00:45:01 Speaker 06: So this is sort of the next step after the building module, and it'll allow people to submit planning applications digitally, and for us to process them and provide notice.

00:45:14 Speaker 06: And so we're very excited for this application to come online with a soft launch probably in early January 2026.

00:45:23 Speaker 06: The sort of some updates to this basically report that you receive every month is that we're now tracking affordable housing units, and so you can see the numbers there,

00:45:39 Speaker 06: and it's note that it's data based on best information available to the city at this time.

00:45:49 Speaker 06: And so the highlights are a construction value of almost one million five hundred thousand dollars, and thirty-one building permits issued, with a total of eighty-nine building inspections during the month of September.

00:46:05 Speaker 06: Thank you.

00:46:06 Speaker 06: Sounds very busy.

00:46:08 Speaker 06: Thank you for that.

00:46:10 Speaker 01: Next, we have on the correspondence was a site plan, and maybe you could provide a wee bit of an update on that.

00:46:18 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:46:19 Speaker 01: Thank you, through chair.

00:46:21 Speaker 12: Just as a quick correction, it should be 1756 Avenue East.

00:46:27 Speaker 12: So it's a six-story, one hundred and twenty-room hotel.

00:46:31 Speaker 12: Exterior service parking stalls and one vehicular entrance, site landscaping, and full municipal servicing.

00:46:37 Speaker 12: Site plan approval was given on September 9th, and you can see the layout of basically of the hotel on the second page.

00:46:47 Speaker 12: And this is, I guess, a follow-up to the zoning bylaw amendment that was completed for this property last year.

00:46:53 Speaker 12: So it's great to see these applications coming through the process, and we anticipate them applying for a building permit hopefully before the end of the year.

00:47:03 Speaker 12: Thank you.

00:47:05 Speaker 12: Thank you very much.

00:47:06 Speaker 01: On those looking for a motion to receive the information package, Member Kemic.

00:47:12 Speaker 01: All those in favour of receiving the information?

00:47:15 Speaker 01: Thank you.

00:47:17 Speaker 01: Additional business.

00:47:19 Speaker 01: Has anyone thought of something more other than the open house on Monday, October 20th at four thirty p.m.?

00:47:27 Speaker 01: I understand each of the maybe I will ask the director or the city manager to provide us with just how the layout will work, and is it a come-and-go thing, or what's happening?

00:47:42 Speaker 01: Through you, Madam Chair.

00:47:43 Speaker 13: Glad to update everybody.

00:47:45 Speaker 13: It is a come-and-go.

00:47:46 Speaker 13: It's going to begin at four thirty in the afternoon at the Bayshore, and it goes till seven zero pm.

00:47:51 Speaker 13: So there's lots of opportunity to come in and meet people.

00:47:55 Speaker 13: We'll have a lot of various stakeholder agencies at the open house also that people can interact with, and then in addition to that, there are specific tables set up for different matters.

00:48:07 Speaker 13: So, in fact, this year we'll have a table set up that talks about the 2026 budget.

00:48:12 Speaker 13: The mayor will be there with our director of corporate services to talk about the budget because it's a new process this year, being the mayor's budget.

00:48:20 Speaker 13: We'll have a table set up about from our parks team, from our public works operations team.

00:48:25 Speaker 13: So, if you just want to know how does the city decide to cut down trees, or what trees should be cut down in what order, or what potholes get filled,

00:48:34 Speaker 13: or what roads get resurfaced before other roads.

00:48:37 Speaker 13: All of those types of questions are open for anybody to ask, and we'll have the appropriate staff there that they can have conversations with.

00:48:44 Speaker 13: There is transit available.

00:48:47 Speaker 13: Thus, we're starting at 4:30.

00:48:49 Speaker 13: From 4:30 to 6:30, they can take Owen Sound Transit if you need that option available to you.

00:48:54 Speaker 13: But we're looking forward to having a good turnout from the public.

00:48:59 Speaker 13: Thank you.

00:48:59 Speaker 01: I'm just one question: Will there be accommodations for those interested in applying for committees at that time?

00:49:10 Speaker 01: Yes, there will be a table dedicated to council and committees, and we'll have application packages and information for people as well.

00:49:19 Speaker 11: Thank you.

00:49:21 Speaker 11: Okay.

00:49:23 Speaker 11: Seeing nothing else, are there any notices of motion?

00:49:27 Speaker 01: Seeing none, then I will declare the Community Services meeting of October 15 adjourned.

00:49:33 Speaker 01: Thank you.