Owen Sound Council Meeting Transcript — June 15, 2026

00:00:12 Speaker 01: Good afternoon.

00:00:12 Speaker 01: It is three p.m., June fifteenth, two thousand and twenty-six.

00:00:15 Speaker 01: This is Oceanside City Council, and this is a special meeting.

00:00:27 Speaker 01: We are calling it to order.

00:00:39 Speaker 01: Call for additional business first.

00:00:50 Speaker 01: Understand?

00:00:53 Speaker 01: Come to microphone.

00:00:58 Speaker 01: Yes, I'd like to add protocol agreement discussions.

00:01:02 Speaker 01: Protocol agreement discussions.

00:01:09 Speaker 02: Okay, declarations of interest, general nature thereof.

00:01:19 Speaker 01: Seeing no hands going up, I think, Councillor Merton is on the motions.

00:01:25 Speaker 01: Motion to move council into committee of the whole.

00:02:03 Speaker 01: Through you, move by myself, seconded by Councillor Middlebro', that City Council now moves into committee of the whole to consider presentations, matters arising from correspondence, and additional business.

00:02:18 Speaker 03: I call the question all in favor.

00:02:25 Speaker 03: That's carried.

00:02:28 Speaker 03: Sorry, I forgot at the start of the meeting.

00:02:37 Speaker 03: Councillor Dodd is not available to attend with us right now; we'll maybe see about later.

00:02:47 Speaker 03: Number five on the agenda is a presentation from Chief Ambrose on some police services statistics and River District update.

00:02:55 Speaker 03: Good afternoon, everyone.

00:02:58 Speaker 03: Could you bring up the document that was sent over?

00:03:03 Speaker 03: So, good afternoon, everyone.

00:03:16 Speaker 03: I was asked to come to speak to council based on the protocol agreement and the twice-year annual meeting, and it was suggested that we bring some information about downtown, which was timely.

00:03:40 Speaker 03: We were doing a report for the Police Services Board; so some of the summary from that information has been forwarded and provided to you from that report,

00:03:55 Speaker 03: and we've been receiving a number of calls and emails from concerned community members about the downtown and safety in the downtown,

00:04:11 Speaker 03: and that's been brought forward and highlighted at the Police Services Board as well as receiving those calls from the public at my office.

00:04:29 Speaker 03: So, going through some of that, we were looking at some of the calls for service and some of the disorder taking place downtown,

00:04:51 Speaker 03: and just wanted to reflect on the increases year over year for the calls for service downtown, and the increase in demands for service on the proactive side, and the drop in the time spent downtown,

00:05:05 Speaker 03: and the number of officers available.

00:05:26 Speaker 04: So when you look at the total events generated by the Owen Sound Police Service in the downtown area and the River District, based on a geographic GPS coordinate location on the map,

00:05:56 Speaker 04: including what would be most of the River District, those calls for service have increased year over year slightly, anywhere from four percent to seven percent.

00:06:16 Speaker 04: As well, when you look at the total counts for all events in the first part of the year, from January until the end of May, so that was comparable this year,

00:06:34 Speaker 03: those numbers have increased yearly as well, from 2024 all the way through to 2026.

00:06:42 Speaker 03: and the River District proactive times have gone down considerably,

00:06:53 Speaker 03: and that has a lot to do with our staffing levels and still having to cover the courts and put armed officers up with courts.

00:07:06 Speaker 03: So, there's been approximately 27 to 29 percent of total OSPS calls across the city take place within this area, this geographic area.

00:07:22 Speaker 03: In the first five months, about 30 percent this year have been all in this area, and a 17 percent increase in volume compared to the same time last year; those are as you see,

00:07:40 Speaker 03: the types of calls and the types of things and the increases.

00:07:48 Speaker 03: The weapons calls have increased 320 percent, which is significant, obviously, and that went from five in 2025 to 21 in 2026.

00:08:02 Speaker 03: So there's a significant increase in some of the time-consuming and dangerous, high threat level and high violence, including assaults as well.

00:08:12 Speaker 03: And our mental health calls are also a big concern, especially in the downtown.

00:08:30 Speaker 04: And those calls have also gone up about two hundred percent, going from seven in 2025 to 21 in 2026.

00:08:54 Speaker 04: So you can see the increased demands for service; certainly the top twelve basically stay the same, but the frequency and the amount of work that's going on is increased.

00:09:15 Speaker 04: So I am here to answer any questions or council questions.

00:09:18 Speaker 04: Councillor Farmer?

00:09:21 Speaker 04: Thank you through the chair.

00:09:32 Speaker 04: I'm always wary of statistics, having been taught that they can kind of represent a lot; we can read a lot of things looking at the same numbers,

00:09:52 Speaker 03: and the presence of these numbers alongside the increasing narratives that we've heard amplified through social media...

00:10:10 Speaker 03: I'm curious if seeing a third of calls in Owen Sound being connected to downtown; downtown is also a place where there's a greater density and mix of uses than other parts of the city.

00:10:33 Speaker 03: Knowing that this was pulled for another report and not necessarily for this meeting specifically,

00:10:46 Speaker 03: I'm just wondering whether off the top of your head you would know to what extent less than a third of the calls that OSPS receives are being related to downtown;

00:11:02 Speaker 03: tracks with what is normal where the number of calls that you get for the compost site—I assume—is much lower in that neighborhood.

00:11:11 Speaker 03: But how does this compare if you're in a place to speak to that?

00:11:14 Speaker 03: Yep.

00:11:18 Speaker 03: So I don't have the exact numbers from other years as far as this area.

00:11:23 Speaker 03: We don't track calls by geographic area,

00:11:40 Speaker 04: so this was done pulled out and it's rather time-consuming because you have to go through each year's data using the GPS points that are outlined to create the coordinates around the downtown area,

00:12:04 Speaker 04: and then each of those calls in each of those years that are plotted within that; they have to get sub-plotted.

00:12:17 Speaker 04: So it's a timely venture given the current analytics tools that we have.

00:12:37 Speaker 04: We're purchasing some other analytics tools to deal with that, but I will say that the calls—I don't know the total number of calls—but they would be somewhat consistent year to year,

00:12:57 Speaker 05: and I can tell each of the types of calls from year to year.

00:13:14 Speaker 03: So as I said, you know, I didn't; we didn't supply all the basics and all the numbers, but going back it was to speak to assaults: there were 76 in '23, 74 in '24,

00:13:28 Speaker 03: 69 in '25.

00:13:37 Speaker 03: But then they go up to 49 in the first five months of this year; so those are the types—that's the types of information that we're looking at and saying, okay,

00:13:54 Speaker 03: our number of foot patrols and community service on the proactive side—those are numbers that we generate that don't go into our overall call volume as a regular call for service.

00:14:19 Speaker 03: Those are down because we don't have the officers or the availability; but the reactive calls—and just to explain for clarity: if somebody sees something, you know at the corner here out front of City Hall,

00:14:44 Speaker 06: and we get three calls on into dispatch for that as three different people pass by feeling concerned about what the situation is—that creates one occurrence.

00:14:57 Speaker 06: That creates one call for service.

00:15:06 Speaker 06: They get duplicated to the original occurrence number.

00:15:16 Speaker 03: So those aren't calls; those are actual call responses—incidents that we respond to.

00:15:24 Speaker 03: We'll do the over and out thing through the mayor.

00:15:29 Speaker 03: I'm looking at this list.

00:15:38 Speaker 03: I'm as much as we're hearing narratives amplified that specifically would seem to point the finger for the cause of various social ills to a particular neighborhood or particular populations,

00:15:53 Speaker 03: I'm also seeing things here like attempted suicide near the top, mental health acts, threats, domestic disputes.

00:16:19 Speaker 07: Obviously my professional background throws that on my radar; a number of these seem like incidents of—or symptoms of—social unrest that might also be connected to people not doing well,

00:16:47 Speaker 03: and in an economic and social time when more people are not doing well, that could also lead to a particular increase in call volumes.

00:17:03 Speaker 03: Do the police have any practice or analytics trying to make sense of if there's more social unrest or the economy is downturning or rents are increasing so we see more calls for service on your

00:17:15 Speaker 03: end?

00:17:20 Speaker 03: And would we need to think about that as we try to make sense of these particular percentages?

00:17:40 Speaker 03: The mayor: We don't track down to the nuances to what caused the call for service, but I will say this isn't being generated in this particular area.

00:17:56 Speaker 03: This discussion isn't starting because we're looking at any one particular area or any one particular portion of the population.

00:18:09 Speaker 03: What I'm hearing is that people are unsafe or feel unsafe; there's a perception of safety in the downtown area and it doesn't relate to homelessness, mental health, or anything in particular.

00:18:26 Speaker 03: We just have this feeling of being unsafe so I don't want to get focused on the fact that we're dealing with—we're trying to deal with—a certain portion of the marginalized population.

00:18:45 Speaker 03: What we've done is discuss at the board level the fact that there are complex issues affecting everybody downtown and people call and ask the police to solve those problems,

00:18:57 Speaker 03: but the police aren't able to solve everybody's problems.

00:19:08 Speaker 03: That's the goal of this discussion: to highlight the fact that there seems to be some concern I bring it to the board because they're in charge of police governance.

00:19:25 Speaker 08: But the actual issue that needs to be discussed is that the police can't do this alone.

00:19:37 Speaker 07: I've said in the past when I sat here or stood here,

00:19:56 Speaker 03: you know we're not the right people to deal with a lot of the problems downtown and we're not the right people to deal with a lot of the social issues.

00:20:15 Speaker 03: But we're the ones that are there; we're the ones that get called; and we're the ones that have to pick up the pieces when nobody else is available, nobody else is working,

00:20:27 Speaker 03: and prevent it from escalating further.

00:20:30 Speaker 03: Go ahead.

00:20:36 Speaker 03: Thank you through the mayor: Yeah, I appreciate that perspective.

00:20:48 Speaker 03: I'm concerned—and maybe this is a conversation for later when we speak to the letter from the board—in particular there seems to be a real focus and narrative from the governance of the police service highlighting

00:21:10 Speaker 02: particular populations and people and organizations as an issue in a way that,

00:21:27 Speaker 02: to my understanding, doesn't help us properly understand the issues we're seeing or chart a path forward.

00:21:50 Speaker 02: Knowing calls for service are going up—and your requirement, as we've bemoaned many times—to be at the courthouse is also taking distracting folks from what would be the most helpful policing work; and I'm curious:

00:22:19 Speaker 02: how do we—or where do we—then have that conversation creatively and openly with the various sectors and services that could and should be involved?

00:22:33 Speaker 02: We've got the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.

00:22:41 Speaker 02: We've got a variety of informal community networks and working relationships.

00:22:51 Speaker 02: From your perspective, where can those conversations happen?

00:23:08 Speaker 09: And I'm also curious to know: when was the last time—for instance—the police board or OSPS had a sit-down leadership meeting between various social service organizations to talk about this?

00:23:25 Speaker 03: Is there a venue for that currently?

00:23:36 Speaker 03: So all of our senior leadership team members are assigned to different community agencies and serve as liaisons with them.

00:23:51 Speaker 03: I sit on—I don't know how many—committees locally, and I know you sit on some of them too: violence prevention, community safety, well-being; Women's House.

00:24:11 Speaker 10: We have regular meetings through Safe and Sound; we meet with them.

00:24:21 Speaker 10: We reached out to them after they got their funding asking to meet and discuss: "How is this funding for your social navigator program?

00:24:33 Speaker 10: They didn't call it that, but that's basically what it was."

00:24:55 Speaker 03: How is that going along, and how can we work with you to help take off or downstream some of those calls for service that aren't police matters and don't need a police officer to respond?

00:25:14 Speaker 03: How can we screen those out to have the best response for the individual without creating a police call for service?

00:25:27 Speaker 03: Those discussions took place but there was never any finalized agreement signed.

00:25:37 Speaker 03: And you know, the funding came to an end; so there's no point signing an agreement now since there's no program anymore.

00:25:52 Speaker 03: But we do have all those connections: we sit on all those groups and committees, and what is needed are results—basically that's the answer.

00:26:00 Speaker 03: Councilor Kapikis, thank you, Your Worship.

00:26:05 Speaker 03: Through me I probably will speak a little bit more when the correspondence comes up about other issues.

00:26:16 Speaker 03: But first I want to thank those who did send in correspondence feeling safe downtown; we haven't heard from them.

00:26:31 Speaker 11: We have heard from many people—both at police and through the city—who do not feel safe.

00:26:43 Speaker 11: So I think that's one of the reasons these topics come up.

00:26:58 Speaker 11: In your report, I know there are police patrols downtown and bylaw enforcement patrols downtown: would those particular issues already resolved by officers walking downtown be included in these statistics if they needed to?

00:27:21 Speaker 11: The answer is: if it's a proactive patrol, it gets captured under a proactive number.

00:27:32 Speaker 03: But if an incident takes place—if something happens—and I'm just interacting with somebody downtown having a conversation—that doesn't get captured.

00:27:50 Speaker 03: If there's something that needs follow-up or a complaint turns out not criminal but still needed investigation as a criminal matter—anything like that would generate a call for service, an incident that has to be tracked.

00:28:15 Speaker 03: So the general rule: going down meeting people, talking to them, providing contacts for community supports, giving someone a pair of socks; any type of proactive work like that doesn't generate incidents.

00:28:24 Speaker 03: These are majority generated by the public.

00:28:29 Speaker 03: Thank you thank you for the presentation this afternoon, Chief.

00:28:40 Speaker 03: My question is: when you interact with your peers around the province and discuss these complex socio-economic issues here, what do other communities look like in comparison to Owen Sound?

00:28:51 Speaker 03: What are you hearing?

00:28:56 Speaker 03: What initiatives may be instigated in other communities that are working or not working?

00:29:05 Speaker 03: And effectively, how do our trend lines compare relative to other communities?

00:29:10 Speaker 03: Great question.

00:29:20 Speaker 03: We spend a lot of time talking amongst the chiefs of small and mid-sized services about what's going on: what they're trying; what they're doing.

00:29:33 Speaker 03: A lot of conversation is around tools for the toolbox—so to speak—and the easiest ways of implementing them.

00:29:47 Speaker 11: What have you got that you can use in your toolbox?

00:29:57 Speaker 11: Is there a program providing 24-hour support?

00:30:00 Speaker 11: Whatever provides meals—is that available?

00:30:07 Speaker 11: Some communities don't have meal programs; we're very fortunate here because OSHaRE provides meals and all those different things.

00:30:25 Speaker 03: But a lot of discussion—and I brought it forward through the Police Services Board—relates to bylaws in place for licensing, shelters, communal living situations, etc. When I read that bylaw from the City of Cobourg,

00:30:46 Speaker 03: it provides some tools we don't have; so I bring that forward because it's a governance issue and the board reviews it since I do the enforcement side but ultimately it's the board.

00:31:02 Speaker 03: So that has come over to the city to talk about what that looks like: there's been a lot of discussion around encampments, including rulings in Kitchener-Waterloo; that's been a hot topic for us.

00:31:27 Speaker 03: Some communities have enacted bylaws tackling that issue.

00:31:36 Speaker 11: Is something like that needed here?

00:31:44 Speaker 11: It needs to be timely and dealt with because right now we're left picking up the pieces.

00:31:59 Speaker 12: I'll suggest: the encampment in Kitchener-Waterloo has been there a long time; it doesn't mean one couldn't happen in any other city or community if they want them moved along.

00:32:14 Speaker 12: And regarding very specific things, I remember my first meeting with my first City Manager here back in 2019—we talked about that issue and said: "You know, this law—the bylaw,

00:32:30 Speaker 12: the legislation—and the human rights complaint from Waterloo Region is no different than what was in place back then;

00:32:49 Speaker 12: there was case law at the time saying you can't move people without providing some type of option."

00:32:58 Speaker 11: So nothing new.

00:33:05 Speaker 11: I brought it forward almost seven years ago talking to that City Manager: "We need these tools," and they're still needed, yet municipalities have enacted them.

00:33:34 Speaker 11: When those initiatives are enacted, does it offset or reduce the load and resource requirements from police services?

00:33:50 Speaker 02: Or are police services required in all the same manner regardless?

00:34:04 Speaker 02: Because there is probably a safety element, there is a security element that the police provide that municipal resources don't always have with them.

00:34:25 Speaker 02: Absolutely, and I don't know that none of them have been in place long enough to like...

00:34:40 Speaker 02: And that's the thing we're trying to come up with: as the problem develops.

00:34:56 Speaker 02: There's no "go by this" and plug it in and that'll fix your problem, or go and enact this and this will fix your problem.

00:35:11 Speaker 02: No; if everybody had the answer, they would have done it by now.

00:35:20 Speaker 02: The... you know, there are results in different communities.

00:35:41 Speaker 02: I spoke at length with the Chief from Kingston about their encampment issues, and they finally had—I think it was—at least one homicide within the encampment, and then that became a pressure point, and you know,

00:36:05 Speaker 02: so they enacted some bylaw information; a bylaw put in place, and they provided some options, and they moved them along from that location.

00:36:21 Speaker 02: It doesn't necessarily fix the problem, but it is a way of dealing with the issue that they had at the time, and they have to move on with it.

00:36:38 Speaker 03: So long term, I don't know if anybody has a long-term solution, but certainly we're looking for options to try and make it better for everyone.

00:36:50 Speaker 03: Alison Merton, Your Worship; thank you for bringing this information forward.

00:37:08 Speaker 03: It is really important on an ongoing basis that we continue to do the trending analysis to see what's happening in our city.

00:37:19 Speaker 01: You rightly said your lens is enforcement; others may have a social service lens.

00:37:25 Speaker 03: Until we have a table that offers a whole community approach...

00:37:32 Speaker 01: We're still going to have dialogue back and forth.

00:37:51 Speaker 01: One of the key things that I've learned through the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness is "nothing about us without us," and the key people that we need to be part of this conversation are not

00:38:02 Speaker 13: here.

00:38:16 Speaker 14: Social service agencies—I see some of them in the back—but those who provide the meals, those who provide the encampment services where the people are, those with lived experiences need to be part of this conversation,

00:38:34 Speaker 14: or we'll be talking about it years down the road.

00:38:42 Speaker 14: I am grateful for the people who express concerns and grateful for the people who offer those positives; and we've been receiving those.

00:38:52 Speaker 13: We need those perspectives.

00:38:53 Speaker 03: However,

00:39:09 Speaker 03: until we evolve from this conversation into having a whole community approach with people who can help us do what we can in a complex system where many parts of the system are broken or we

00:39:26 Speaker 03: don't have access to the funding...

00:39:34 Speaker 03: We will continue to not be able to offer our residents what they need.

00:39:46 Speaker 13: Certainly; I'm glad that we're having the conversation.

00:39:56 Speaker 03: We need to continue, but the table is too small right now, and we need to expand it locally.

00:40:02 Speaker 03: Thank you, Councillor Carrese.

00:40:05 Speaker 03: Thank you through you, Mayor Boddy.

00:40:13 Speaker 03: Just a quick question on the stats, Chief: do the stats include our calls for service from repeat individuals?

00:40:23 Speaker 03: Like... for somebody like however they call involving the same client time and again.

00:40:29 Speaker 03: So would that be counted as one or like...

00:40:40 Speaker 03: Thank you.

00:40:56 Speaker 03: No; that would be—and I don't want to get into a whole other kind of worm so to speak—but that would be a whole other issue, you know: some individuals create many calls for service,

00:41:22 Speaker 03: and many of those individuals have been charged after the first incident and may have created several incidents with charges being laid following those.

00:41:36 Speaker 04: And they continue to be out under some form of supervision and continue to create calls for service and incidents while being charged criminally.

00:41:44 Speaker 04: One more quick question...

00:41:58 Speaker 04: You would see it front line with the work involved with our police services, and I totally agree: like to provide the services, it has to be a balance between bylaw enforcement, social services,

00:42:14 Speaker 04: and the community as a whole.

00:42:19 Speaker 04: So what are some of the gaps that you see?

00:42:27 Speaker 04: Because in the list there are things like suicide attempts, mental health threats, domestic violence, abuse...

00:42:40 Speaker 04: So where do you see is the main gap in connecting those individuals with the required social services which we do have here in Owen Sound?

00:42:53 Speaker 04: So what do you see as the main gap there, like?

00:43:00 Speaker 04: There's a number of gaps I think, and that's the biggest concern.

00:43:16 Speaker 04: And enforcement plays a piece in it; but I mean if somebody has a roof over their head, that takes away a lot of frustration, a lot of problems.

00:43:28 Speaker 04: A lot—if somebody has enough money to buy meals and pay for them—it takes away a lot of issues.

00:43:45 Speaker 04: Individuals who are addicted to substances: you know, if the supports are there when they need it, that can create a lot of positives.

00:43:57 Speaker 04: But we don't have a system waiting to provide supports for addictions at the time that they need it.

00:44:06 Speaker 03: There's no empty bed sitting there waiting for when somebody is ready to move forward.

00:44:17 Speaker 03: It—you know—you have to be able to provide what they need when they need it, and when they determine that they need it.

00:44:34 Speaker 03: So it's really difficult to say what's missing because for one individual it might be... you know—the support of inpatient mental health; it might be an inpatient addictions counseling—and if they have to wait,

00:44:57 Speaker 03: you might miss that opportunity, and they don't get the advantage of being able to use that time where they were ready or may have been ready.

00:45:09 Speaker 03: And you have to remember: it might not be the first time;

00:45:22 Speaker 03: it might be the second or third time that they go through and they get assistance that actually meets their needs so they can move forward from an addiction.

00:45:36 Speaker 01: So it's really difficult to say, you know, if we had X then the solution would be solved.

00:45:46 Speaker 01: That's why it is such a complex problem.

00:45:50 Speaker 01: But I think it has to be everybody working together and everybody having their role.

00:45:58 Speaker 03: Councilmember Brown; thank you through your chair.

00:46:05 Speaker 03: Thank you for coming and for the presentation.

00:46:12 Speaker 03: I think we all feel the frustration that we don't have the tools in our toolbox that we need.

00:46:27 Speaker 03: You don't have the tools that you need.

00:46:33 Speaker 01: We don't have the tools that we need.

00:46:43 Speaker 01: And being at the level closest to the community, we get basically the brunt of what's going on.

00:46:57 Speaker 10: So I feel for you; I feel for the members around our table here, and we're all under the same pressures.

00:47:01 Speaker 10: So...

00:47:10 Speaker 10: I think what I'm looking for from this meeting is ideas.

00:47:26 Speaker 03: So you, at your Police Services Board, had a motion that the Owen Sound Council take action on concerns raised by the River District Police Services Board Council.

00:47:54 Speaker 03: So what I'm looking for—I think—from that statement is: what is it that we're not doing that you want us to do, for starters?

00:48:17 Speaker 03: So I'll take a crack at part of that;

00:48:39 Speaker 06: but I think the board is probably better suited to answer portion of that because it's their motion and they are the governance side of things from the enforcement side.

00:48:57 Speaker 01: As I mentioned earlier: it's the tools in the toolkit.

00:49:03 Speaker 06: It's keeping up-to-date with the changes...

00:49:17 Speaker 06: And I'll go back, for example as an example: we went away from enforcement regarding possession of controlled substances; there were—they weren't moving forward with doing that.

00:49:33 Speaker 06: We've since changed our direction and we're making arrests.

00:49:39 Speaker 03: We're still not getting many charges through the courts if any, but we're getting some.

00:49:49 Speaker 03: We're advancing some charges, and it's up to the Crown—the federal Crown—if they want to move forward with them.

00:50:05 Speaker 03: But those are the types of things; that is the tool in the toolbox.

00:50:20 Speaker 03: And even you know people don't realize that a lot of arrests for possession led to identifying the person who was responsible for dealing large quantities and making money and preying on individuals who have that

00:50:39 Speaker 03: addiction—but if you don't have the product,

00:50:46 Speaker 10: you're not allowed to possess it, and you can't work back to get to that arrest of the individual who's trafficking those products.

00:50:57 Speaker 10: So that is where I talk about tools in the toolbox.

00:51:13 Speaker 14: So from an enforcement side: it's having the ability to do something in a situation and having those tools to deal with it.

00:51:23 Speaker 14: On the governance side...

00:52:02 Speaker 14: I don't want to speak for the board, but I think the goal is to have something concrete come forward that we can move forward on instead of having this conversation every six months;

00:52:15 Speaker 14: so somebody steps up and says: "Let's try something new.

00:52:21 Speaker 14: Let's do something innovative.

00:52:32 Speaker 11: Let's see what we can do to make a change and see if that's better."

00:52:42 Speaker 11: From enforcement piece, you know... more proactive work downtown.

00:52:55 Speaker 11: As the proactive side has gone down, the reactive side has gone up, so we're going to do some more proactive work and see if, for the next six months of the year,

00:53:10 Speaker 11: we can push that down and see if it makes a difference.

00:53:23 Speaker 11: If it helps, then certainly it reinforces the need for proactive patrols downtown.

00:53:30 Speaker 11: You had referenced the Social Navigator program that has now ended.

00:53:38 Speaker 11: Did you see any difference from your perspective that that was a help to the situation downtown?

00:53:54 Speaker 03: My feeling as a business owner: we didn't have a lot of interaction with them, and I don't feel that way.

00:54:16 Speaker 03: I think my issue is I think the pilot happened at the wrong time of year—over the winter months when it's not necessarily a big problem.

00:54:39 Speaker 03: If it had started in April and ran through till October, I think we would have seen a lot better results.

00:54:47 Speaker 03: But just from your perspective, did you see any difference?

00:54:54 Speaker 03: So I tend to agree with you.

00:55:05 Speaker 03: The funding came through; certainly there would have been much more visibility outside of the winter months when there are more people around.

00:55:12 Speaker 03: There's probably more interactions and opportunities.

00:55:15 Speaker 03: Did I see a change?

00:55:22 Speaker 03: When I look at the numbers and statistics, I'll say we didn't see a change.

00:55:36 Speaker 03: When it comes to setting up a protocol to screen off and stream non-police calls for service, nothing ended up happening with that;

00:55:56 Speaker 03: then I will say that it wasn't a great success because it didn't get to where I would have liked to have seen it by the time it was finished.

00:56:10 Speaker 11: And you know, we had the meeting.

00:56:15 Speaker 11: We went over what types of things they could handle and do.

00:56:33 Speaker 11: We sent back some information, but there was no finalized version of anything that came through.

00:56:51 Speaker 03: Because this is so multi-dimensional—involving social, economic impacts, mental health, and different levels of government—do you have any interaction directly with Grey County for either supports or because they are the homelessness and addiction experts?

00:57:06 Speaker 03: Like, do you have an avenue to communicate with Grey County about these issues?

00:57:13 Speaker 01: Yes, yes we do.

00:57:23 Speaker 01: I mean, I sit on a number of committees; I sit with people from Grey County on community safety and well-being weekly.

00:57:37 Speaker 01: There were weekly calls hosted by United Way that I was participating in.

00:57:46 Speaker 01: Our task force—I participated in all those things—we're involved and there.

00:57:59 Speaker 01: And we have connections: I can pick up the phone and call whoever at Grey County, but it doesn't always work out as hoped.

00:58:16 Speaker 01: We have a lot of interaction with the housing people at Grey County because often we are looking to assist people off-hours; if they're new,

00:58:34 Speaker 01: we'll place them into the system and reach out to help get them helped in the morning and that type of thing.

00:58:53 Speaker 14: So we have all the connections and we're sitting at all the tables.

00:59:07 Speaker 14: I just don't think anybody has what they need to make each sector work appropriately.

00:59:26 Speaker 14: So I wonder—and maybe this is a question for the City Manager—whether or not we could have a conversation with Grey County representatives, police representatives,

00:59:49 Speaker 02: and ourselves about maybe some sort of joint delegation at AMO with higher-ups at the province.

01:00:01 Speaker 02: If we could come up with something: what do you need from your side?

01:00:19 Speaker 02: What do we need from our side to put all the tools in the toolbox to make a difference?

01:00:32 Speaker 02: I'm wondering if that might be a possibility.

01:00:47 Speaker 02: Councillor Merton, Your Worship, it seems we've jumped to the motion before us and solutions; I'm happy to offer ideas if this is the right time.

01:01:12 Speaker 02: We now have a Community Impact Lab at Georgian College, and the idea is to use that lab to bring a variety of players together around issues in a facilitated manner, using tools and templates.

01:01:39 Speaker 02: My understanding is we're in the process of signing an agreement or have signed one about this.

01:02:05 Speaker 02: I don't disagree that we need to have a delegation to AMO to be able to support rural smaller cities that need extra resources because we don't have the critical mass; however, in the short term,

01:02:32 Speaker 06: we have locally some resources and we have a variety of organizations and agencies who have expertise.

01:02:49 Speaker 06: We need to bring what we call "unlikely actors" together—you know—to start looking at innovative ways to approach this: those with lived experience, those who manage Safe and Sound,

01:03:01 Speaker 15: those directly face-to-face with issues in the River District—and start bringing people together.

01:03:17 Speaker 16: Doing the same thing over and over, having conversations over and over results in where we are now.

01:03:35 Speaker 16: This is an opportunity to start looking at innovative ways, bringing other voices to the table, using best practices from other areas to guide us as we go forward.

01:03:55 Speaker 16: My concern is that we're polarizing our community: those who feel safe versus those who don't; those who say they have empathy for those who are disadvantaged and those who say otherwise—a variety of other things.

01:04:10 Speaker 16: Rather than polarizing, we need to bring together and redirect that energy into positively moving our community forward.

01:04:17 Speaker 16: Will we find a hundred percent solution?

01:04:21 Speaker 16: We haven't found one yet.

01:04:28 Speaker 16: Other municipalities are struggling—but is there more we could ask and do?

01:04:32 Speaker 16: I say yes, there is.

01:04:40 Speaker 16: Craig, if you don't mind, I want to follow up on that first point; I'm apparently out in left field.

01:04:49 Speaker 16: What does the Community Safety and Well-being Plan Group do?

01:04:57 Speaker 16: Is that not what they discuss at those meetings, or do we need another group on top of that?

01:05:05 Speaker 16: I thought that's what they did.

01:05:08 Speaker 16: Yeah, that's the idea behind it.

01:05:18 Speaker 16: The Community Safety and Well-being planning should be looking at preventing people from falling in the river upstream rather than pulling them out—rescuing as they float by during a storm surge.

01:05:32 Speaker 16: You ask why are they falling in the river; if we pull them out upstream so they never fall in the first place, that's the nutshell vision of community safety and well-being—and that goes for everything.

01:05:47 Speaker 16: That applies back to youth issues too—you know—and gang activity and...

01:05:57 Speaker 16: I'm not saying gang activity alone; I'm just saying youth in general, and gang activity, and keeping people busy, and you know, sports, and all those things.

01:06:13 Speaker 16: That's the whole idea of community safety and well-being in practice.

01:06:19 Speaker 16: And are there social groups that are not at that table that should be, or aren't represented by somebody at that table?

01:06:32 Speaker 16: If that makes it easier, that's a really tough question because there's a lot of agencies that are at that table and that are involved in that.

01:06:49 Speaker 16: Obviously, could you use more, and are there opportunities for others to get involved?

01:06:55 Speaker 16: Yes, but I mean, what becomes unmanageable?

01:07:01 Speaker 16: So, I mean, I don't think I'm going to say whether it's the right number or who's missing.

01:07:11 Speaker 16: Yeah, it wasn't so much the number; I was just thinking of those that were missing.

01:07:20 Speaker 16: But I kind of sandbagged you with that because you wouldn't have known that question was coming.

01:07:29 Speaker 16: Brock, sorry, I want to go back—did you get your question answered?

01:07:36 Speaker 16: Do you want it answered first?

01:07:39 Speaker 16: Okay, Tim.

01:07:42 Speaker 16: Through you, Mayor, to Councillor Middlebro'.

01:07:49 Speaker 16: Yeah, as far as arranging a meeting, we could do that.

01:07:58 Speaker 16: I would probably suspect it would be best outside of AMO.

01:08:04 Speaker 16: At AMO, you get your fifteen minutes with various ministries.

01:08:18 Speaker 16: But I think it would require a meeting with Owen Sound Police Services, the county, and the city, all meeting with various people down in Toronto: you have the Solicitor General, Ministry of Health,

01:08:32 Speaker 16: Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

01:08:37 Speaker 16: Like, not one ministry has purview over everything addressed—homelessness, addictions, and all the other issues.

01:08:49 Speaker 16: So I think almost a day-long planned event like that would be helpful.

01:08:54 Speaker 16: I just want to go back—you mentioned proactive patrol.

01:09:14 Speaker 16: I recall a while ago you had pulled officers off of that to deal with the three homicides we had that one summer, and I think two times when you came up,

01:09:33 Speaker 16: you said that you'd be getting back to that.

01:09:45 Speaker 16: Am I reading into this that you haven't got officers back where you want them on proactive patrol?

01:10:03 Speaker 07: So about the time they cleared out from the homicide cases, and we were going back and starting to do proactive patrols,

01:10:32 Speaker 07: when the province came down with recommendations around armed presence at court for court security... so the people who are primarily responsible for proactive patrol are tied up with courts doing armed security.

01:10:49 Speaker 07: And I think I'm pretty sure I mentioned that last fall when we were doing budget.

01:11:03 Speaker 07: Well, and I don't know if I'm maybe jumping ahead here: like when you're talking about tools in the toolbox, I think I understand what you mean,

01:11:21 Speaker 07: but maybe if you can clarify—are you talking about the city passing a bylaw under the Safer Municipalities Act?

01:11:34 Speaker 07: That may be one opportunity.

01:11:49 Speaker 07: There's an opportunity from looking at the encampment bylaw from the City of Guelph, or looking at licensing for accommodations that is coming from the City of Cobourg.

01:12:06 Speaker 07: It might mean increasing our proactive patrols—that's a tool in our toolbox we can use.

01:12:22 Speaker 07: It's a matter of freeing them up from courts and getting somebody assigned there; it's also a matter of having to build up staffing levels in order to staff those court positions.

01:12:45 Speaker 07: So when that gets approved, remember someone has to get approved for January, but we have to hire them by March.

01:13:04 Speaker 07: They go to college in March till June, then until the following November or December they're in training, so you're out before they're actually hitting the road doing their job.

01:13:26 Speaker 07: That's the part we are now in the process of getting up to speed and assigning somebody full-time to courts.

01:13:36 Speaker 07: Oh, sorry—thank you through the Mayor.

01:13:43 Speaker 07: I want to flag two things.

01:13:52 Speaker 07: One: just piggybacking off the Mayor's community safety and well-being question because it is a two-county framework for that.

01:14:18 Speaker 07: For the main plan with a steering committee and an advisory table made up of municipalities with elected officials and staff, we meet quarterly but are also composed of other community tables that are more focused,

01:14:37 Speaker 07: like housing and homelessness.

01:14:46 Speaker 07: The Poverty Task Force is one of the pillar committees; Violence Prevention—Grey Bruce—is another framework to bring together collaboration already happening so more people are aware of more things rather than it being "Ghostbusters."

01:15:09 Speaker 07: We can't just call in Community Safety and Well-Being Plan and they'll show up and fix the thing for us.

01:15:27 Speaker 07: My recollection from last time we had a conversation like this is that leadership said, "We're a two-county thing," and if there is a geographically specific or municipality-specific issue,

01:15:49 Speaker 07: it's not going to be something Blue Mountains and Hanover—and Saugeen Shores—participate in unless they choose to.

01:16:08 Speaker 07: That's up to us to host the conversation and bring those local stakeholders together; that was my understanding of that.

01:16:25 Speaker 07: I'm also conscious here that we may not all mean the same thing when we say "the problem."

01:16:36 Speaker 07: Whether it's correspondence receiving complaints on social media, people seeing unhoused individuals visibly homeless as the problem,

01:16:55 Speaker 07: or the fact that people are unhoused being the problem—or that they've dropped out of a rental market skyrocketing and social assistance rates haven't increased (we sent that letter two years ago saying this is too

01:17:07 Speaker 07: low in Ontario;

01:17:13 Speaker 07: please make it higher)—that also hasn't happened.

01:17:27 Speaker 07: So I think one sticking point I'm hearing is we don't actually all mean the same problem when we say "the problem" or deal with the issue,

01:18:14 Speaker 07: and conflating people suffering with people's discomfort versus people actually experiencing violence—and the people most likely to experience violence—my understanding from our policing partners is that these are the people who are most vulnerable and marginalized.

01:18:36 Speaker 07: We're struggling to come up with something that sounds like a solution because I don't think we're actually speaking to or identifying the problem and its causes in the same way,

01:19:01 Speaker 07: and until we do that and have a way to do so, I think these conversations will be frustrating, and people will continue to look at our various boards and organizations saying,

01:19:16 Speaker 03: "Why aren't you fixing it?"

01:19:24 Speaker 03: When we don't all mean the same "it," or we don't actually all have a mandate for the "it" people are talking about.

01:19:37 Speaker 16: But I'll look to the Chief to correct me if I've categorized that wrongly.

01:19:53 Speaker 16: Arthur—you know, I think you're right; there are a number of problems.

01:20:00 Speaker 16: It's a multifaceted problem.

01:20:23 Speaker 16: There are many issues, and if there was an easy solution to any one of those problems, it would take that piece away from it.

01:20:47 Speaker 01: And I think it creates a hole—it speaks to the people who feel unsafe, and it speaks to the people who are marginalized and don't get what they need.

01:21:00 Speaker 01: That's the whole problem.

01:21:11 Speaker 17: I will—and maybe I shouldn't—but I'm going to speak to your comment about the two-county approach and the fact that you know it doesn't affect other counties.

01:21:42 Speaker 17: I suggest part of the reason it doesn't affect others is because of all the resources here within the city, the people who are here, and the supports available here.

01:22:06 Speaker 17: And as I speak with my cohorts in other areas—not just Grey and Bruce but elsewhere in the province—they don't have those same supports or demands; they don't face the same problems.

01:22:24 Speaker 17: So it's incumbent on leadership from community safety and well-being across the two counties to look after the problem mostly concentrated within our city.

01:22:57 Speaker 17: Having two communities together made so much sense when putting the plan together and attracting everybody, but is it time we thought about splitting it up since resources stop at the boundary line?

01:23:21 Speaker 17: Grey County are Grey Counties; Bruce County are Bruce Counties—other than maybe ambulances going back and forth,

01:23:35 Speaker 17: does it make sense now to split those up going forward so we can focus more on what's happening in our own community?

01:23:50 Speaker 16: Rhetorical question.

01:24:04 Speaker 16: Not putting you in this spot, but I wonder if that's something we should all be thinking about.

01:24:25 Speaker 01: But again, you don't have to answer directly; however, I won't answer your question directly, but I will put forward the notion that if such a consideration were made,

01:24:59 Speaker 01: the biggest issue—and indeed the greatest success or failure of community safety and well-being—is properly funding it, properly staffing it, and making sure those doing the job have the resources and people they need.

01:25:30 Speaker 01: Otherwise, I can tell you there are other areas where community safety and well-being don't have a permanent full-time person assigned to them; things are floundering with nothing happening.

01:25:57 Speaker 01: There is nobody working in Grey or Bruce County who wouldn't agree with that or think their own program could be better funded—and consider what they could do with it.

01:26:12 Speaker 04: You're bang on, but that's scarcity: unlimited demands, limited resources.

01:26:18 Speaker 02: Okay, anyone else?

01:26:20 Speaker 16: Yeah—go ahead.

01:26:34 Speaker 16: Through Emma... just based on the conversation that just happened regarding most of the individuals listed in calls—or those you see associated with some issues—are they all from Owen Sound,

01:27:01 Speaker 16: or do we hear this often where people might be residents of Grey County but when calls come and incidents occur in Owen Sound, are they considered part of Owen Sound?

01:27:15 Speaker 16: What stats do we have on that?

01:27:37 Speaker 16: Through me: although we collect information on everybody we deal with—you know, when you're talking to them, you get their name, date of birth, where they live or stay—we don't track statistics by geographic location.

01:28:04 Speaker 06: And I guess part of it is someone unable to meet needs elsewhere becomes a resident of Owen Sound; so I don't have the answer to that one specifically.

01:28:18 Speaker 06: Marion—sorry.

01:28:19 Speaker 06: Thank you.

01:28:30 Speaker 06: Um—I didn't know, Your Worship—if you wanted to kind of end 5A and move on to 6A?

01:28:38 Speaker 14: We've obviously done that.

01:28:40 Speaker 14: Okay.

01:28:47 Speaker 06: Well, it leads into item 6A, so maybe I'll leave it till then.

01:28:57 Speaker 06: Okay, we completed our questions for Craig.

01:29:03 Speaker 06: Not seeing any hands.

01:29:05 Speaker 06: No. Thank you very much.

01:29:07 Speaker 06: So now we will move to Item 6A, which is correspondence from the Chair on some Police Services Board River District matters.

01:29:11 Speaker 06: This concerns the Bruce Grey Sauble Regional Police Service (BRGPS).

01:29:12 Speaker 06: Councillor Caputo, go ahead.

01:29:12 Speaker 06: I'll just ask a question and perhaps ask that the Chief come back up later.

01:29:13 Speaker 06: My question is: regarding police presence, does it seem okay if I ask this?

01:29:14 Speaker 06: Yes.

01:29:14 Speaker 06: Yeah.

01:29:14 Speaker 06: Okay.

01:29:14 Speaker 06: It seems obvious to me that maybe police presence and bylaw enforcement presence has an effect on people feeling safer when they see that kind of presence downtown.

01:29:15 Speaker 06: And I wondered if the City can possibly hire a security company to fill in times where police aren't available.

01:29:15 Speaker 06: Do you feel there is a difference if that presence is provided through the Mayor?

01:29:15 Speaker 06: Yes, I mean, I think proactive enforcement and proactive visibility downtown assists in that feeling of perception and safety.

01:29:15 Speaker 06: There's no question about that.

01:29:15 Speaker 06: We have an operationally planned approach moving forward with some more enhanced visibility for a proactive response downtown to see how that assists and maybe changes the narrative on the numbers moving into the second half

01:29:15 Speaker 06: of the year.

01:29:16 Speaker 06: But until we get those officers back from court, we really couldn't add that immediately.

01:29:16 Speaker 06: I would say leave it with the enforcement side first and see how that goes.

01:29:16 Speaker 06: Councillor Cullen?

01:29:16 Speaker 06: No, no weekend work right now.

01:29:17 Speaker 06: And staffing levels: we have a supervisor, two full-time bylaw officers (one not on staff yet), one part-time officer, and a student.

01:29:17 Speaker 06: So that's our current extent of our bylaw team.

01:29:17 Speaker 06: But Brianna, you could correct me on that.

01:29:17 Speaker 06: Through the Chair?

01:29:17 Speaker 06: Just to clarify, currently we have a supervisor, a full-timer, a part-timer, and a summer student.

01:29:18 Speaker 06: Thank you, through the Chair.

01:29:18 Speaker 06: So you referenced Bruce County, Grey County, and even talking to other municipalities where they don't have these services or problems—which is kind of what I was going earlier with like:

01:29:18 Speaker 06: do you talk to Grey County because they fund a lot of social services that we have in the City?

01:29:18 Speaker 06: Because we have all those services, we get all those people.

01:29:18 Speaker 06: The burden becomes ours collectively.

01:29:19 Speaker 06: Do you think there is an avenue to go to the county level—be it Bruce or Grey—and request funding and help?

01:29:19 Speaker 06: I feel like you sit on committees with all these people, but I don't know what comes out of them.

01:29:19 Speaker 06: However, if your people end up here because we have the things they need,

01:29:19 Speaker 06: then I feel like there needs to be a partnership to pay for it and assist whether you need more policing or we need more bylaw enforcement.

01:29:19 Speaker 06: Do you have any solutions on that front?

01:29:20 Speaker 06: Through me: I don't have specific solutions yet.

01:29:20 Speaker 06: I can tell you it was a broken record from the time I arrived here regarding court security funding; every opportunity I had to speak with the CEO at Grey County,

01:29:21 Speaker 06: I spoke about court security funding.

01:29:21 Speaker 06: I'm not going to claim responsibility for that, but there were certainly echoes in the room about court security funding.

01:29:22 Speaker 06: It's really no different on social agencies and supports—that is beyond this office and beyond what you're paying me to do.

01:29:22 Speaker 06: So it gets into more municipal politics and governance than operations; I think it's provincial.

01:29:22 Speaker 06: So because you had to use your patrol people to cover costs or coverage at the Court Security building, is that correct?

01:29:23 Speaker 06: And maybe that's a question for Kate: Is Grey County funding that additional cost?

01:29:25 Speaker 06: Yes, they cover that portion of the court security cost.

01:29:26 Speaker 06: So the issue is more about staffing levels than it is an additional cost.

01:29:26 Speaker 06: It's just taking away from your existing staffing levels.

01:29:26 Speaker 06: Exactly; it's resources and staffing levels.

01:29:26 Speaker 06: You know what?

01:29:26 Speaker 06: I'll tell you that the biggest issue we have right now is HR and finding people for all positions available at present, specifically hiring police officers.

01:29:26 Speaker 06: We're still looking and still hiring, but the number of applicants compared to even five years ago is a fraction of what we used to get.

01:29:27 Speaker 06: It's not an easy job, and it's not getting any easier.

01:29:27 Speaker 06: So we have to make sure we select the right people and keep our standards where they are.

01:29:27 Speaker 06: And we've done amazingly well; we've got remarkable people working for us.

01:29:28 Speaker 06: But I don't want that to change.

01:29:28 Speaker 06: I wanted to go back to tools in the toolbox.

01:29:28 Speaker 06: You've referenced a number of times, like Cobourg and Guelph, and KW (Kingston) and Kingston.

01:29:29 Speaker 06: Clearly they have other things they're doing that maybe we don't have here.

01:29:31 Speaker 06: So I'm just looking for a way to identify what you are speaking about: What is Cobourg doing?

01:29:31 Speaker 06: What is Guelph doing?

01:29:32 Speaker 06: Is there a way between now and this meeting to have someone identify the specific things in our toolbox that we aren't using or need adding, which you've identified as unknowns?

01:29:32 Speaker 06: So those items can take place during regular conversations with City Manager and city staff.

01:29:32 Speaker 06: I'm just going to jump in here: We are looking at the Cobourg bylaw regarding Kitchener-Waterloo.

01:29:32 Speaker 06: I attended a seminar two years ago—or last summer—where that Waterloo region was presenting, along with Sudbury.

01:29:33 Speaker 06: They went through a list of everything they wanted to do but weren't doing yet; we were doing absolutely every one of those in Grey County.

01:29:33 Speaker 06: It's cash coming here—it's money from the provincial government for homelessness—that passes straight through the county.

01:29:33 Speaker 06: Most of it is spent right here in Owen Sound.

01:29:42 Speaker 06: If we don't spend it, we don't keep it; it goes back to them.

01:29:43 Speaker 06: Grey County spends more on housing and homelessness per capita than any other upper-tier municipality in the province by a long shot.

01:29:43 Speaker 06: Your Deputy Chair moved at Grey County that we increase spending on housing and homelessness by one percent, which we did.

01:29:44 Speaker 06: So stop there: lots of stuff going on, but we're doing it all here already.

01:29:44 Speaker 06: And frankly, if you've been to Ottawa, London, Toronto, Edmonton, or any of these places, we aren't that bad.

01:29:44 Speaker 06: Other people apparently think differently, but we are not that bad; go and look.

01:29:45 Speaker 06: Go ahead, Rob.

01:29:46 Speaker 06: You mentioned that we're looking at the Cobourg bylaw, and I'm just wondering if City Manager can maybe speak to that?

01:29:46 Speaker 16: Thank you, through Mayor, to Councillor Hamley: Yeah, the Chief forwarded the Cobourg bylaw to us about six or seven weeks ago, and I had arranged a meeting for us to get together.

01:29:47 Speaker 16: I guess about four weeks ago, and we discussed it with bylaw, the chief, the deputy chief, and a few others in the room.

01:29:48 Speaker 16: I have a subsequent report on River District actions coming up at council; in that, I speak a small part about bylaw, taking a look at certain bylaws: the business permit bylaw, the property standards bylaw,

01:29:48 Speaker 16: and there'll be updates coming in July.

01:29:49 Speaker 16: But those bylaw updates will be incorporating some of the elements out of that.

01:29:50 Speaker 16: Councillor Merton, through you, Mayor.

01:29:50 Speaker 16: Going back to Grey County and the involvement with housing and homelessness.

01:29:50 Speaker 16: Recently, at the Healthy Communities Conference, a presentation around the benefits of the Housing First approach was provided.

01:29:52 Speaker 16: So one of the changes with Housing First is that previously, those who were addicted were expected to have come out of that addiction before a roof was placed over their head.

01:29:52 Speaker 16: However, with the Housing First approach, that's not a requirement; they're given a home and a roof because that's the first step towards helping them move towards recovery.

01:29:52 Speaker 16: So the Housing First approach is a different approach with wraparound services.

01:29:53 Speaker 16: And this: there are tools that are moving forward and that are being encouraged.

01:29:53 Speaker 16: Statistically, we know it works.

01:29:53 Speaker 16: That doesn't mean people don't go through the cycle a few times; research tells us that happens as well.

01:29:53 Speaker 16: So there are things that, as we move forward, we can look more at supporting all levels of government using a Housing First approach.

01:29:53 Speaker 16: The second is feedback from those with lived experience and those providers.

01:29:54 Speaker 16: Although in theory an encampment with running water sounds ideal, we need to listen to those who have the direct experience; it may not be the solution that is anticipated.

01:29:54 Speaker 16: So however we move forward, the input from those so that we don't follow down a path where we establish something that then becomes legally very, very difficult to change.

01:29:54 Speaker 16: And this is where I look to the wisdom of the social service agencies: those who work in the shelters and Safe and Sound, and all of those,

01:29:55 Speaker 16: to be able to advise us as we move forward looking at any bylaw.

01:29:55 Speaker 16: Thank you, Councillor Cepi.

01:29:55 Speaker 16: Thank you, Worship.

01:29:55 Speaker 16: I have some questions regarding the nuisance bylaw; I know enforcement is likely complaint-based,

01:29:56 Speaker 16: but I just wonder if people are not directly using the nuisance bylaw—particularly if they're concerned about impeding their passageway on sidewalks or loitering in public places,

01:29:56 Speaker 16: or leaving and throwing deposit refuse or litter in public or private property—is this not being enforced?

01:29:56 Speaker 16: Or are people just not complaining about it?

01:29:56 Speaker 16: Through your Worship: as you know, we are mostly based on complaint, but we do have proactive presence in the River District.

01:29:57 Speaker 16: So now that we are up to full capacity, we are going to be downtown a lot more, and we do respond to all complaints that we receive.

01:29:57 Speaker 16: Some of those situations can be difficult to enforce, but they're doing all that they can.

01:29:57 Speaker 16: Okay; not seeing any other hands.

01:29:58 Speaker 16: Now I'm seeing a hand go up: John, thank you through the Mayor.

01:29:58 Speaker 16: I prepared some remarks, but I just want to maybe jump in ahead of time to say,

01:29:58 Speaker 16: I think the idea that having more police officers present downtown would reduce issues or harm—I don't think that's actually borne out.

01:29:59 Speaker 16: If we can do the thought experiment and say if every human being in Owen Sound had a police officer following them around to stop them from doing bad things right before they did it:

01:29:59 Speaker 16: we could spend a lot of money, and I don't think that would actually help.

01:30:00 Speaker 16: And that might also just be my background working primarily in domestic violence response; having police around doesn't actually stop bad things from happening.

01:30:00 Speaker 16: Traffic stops are maybe a great example too, which I'll name.

01:30:00 Speaker 16: Watching the Police Board meeting on May 27th that generated this recommendation, I was reminded of some research from back in 2019 by Historica Canada.

01:30:00 Speaker 16: If you're familiar with the organization that does heritage minutes: they did a poll about whether folks in Canada could differentiate between opinion and fact.

01:30:00 Speaker 16: In fact, sixty-nine percent were confident in their ability to differentiate between an opinion piece and a news article; but when presented with six statements of either opinion or fact,

01:30:00 Speaker 16: just one in ten—twelve percent—could correctly identify them all.

01:30:01 Speaker 16: I want to take a moment to state for the record that it is not true that the individual prejudices and beliefs of board members and their Facebook friends represent the views of everyone who lives,

01:30:01 Speaker 16: works, and visits downtown Owen Sound.

01:30:01 Speaker 16: It is infuriating to me as a person who lives a couple blocks away from the River District;

01:30:01 Speaker 16: someone who takes one child to and from daycare on the other side of town five days a week; someone who works downtown, shops downtown, and takes my four-year-old for bike rides downtown.

01:30:01 Speaker 16: To hear such serious issues discussed by a public board in a recorded meeting in such deeply unserious ways:

01:30:02 Speaker 16: I was amazed to hear the board members lament that business is dying and nothing is happening while also hearing them refer to the neighbourhood response team pilot by the wrong name and not identify that

01:30:02 Speaker 16: it was a project run in collaboration between Safe and Sound and the county.

01:30:03 Speaker 16: My son started soccer this year, and we had to go get cleats and shin pads; so we just went next door to Treehouse last month on a Saturday morning.

01:30:03 Speaker 16: On our way back from the market, we ran into kids from his school, from daycare, and their families.

01:30:03 Speaker 16: And it was my first time in the new location, and it was great.

01:30:03 Speaker 16: It was bustling.

01:30:04 Speaker 16: That business and its customers were entirely invisible in the police board discussion at the end of May.

01:30:04 Speaker 16: Over the last two months—and even this past weekend—I've seen the River District positively bustling on weekend nights with people out to dinner, headed to shows at The Roxy, Hartwood, and the Harmony Center.

01:30:05 Speaker 16: One night we were at Bee Trees for dinner; a tour bus rolled up in front, and a bunch of people came in.

01:30:05 Speaker 16: On our way out, I was asking who they were and where they were from: they were part of the Toronto Bruce Trail Club.

01:30:05 Speaker 16: And on my way to a bluegrass concert at the Harmony Center there was a contra dance going on, so I told them about that; a bunch of them showed up.

01:30:06 Speaker 16: I could give so many more examples of great experiences that I, and my family, my neighbors, and my friends have recently had downtown.

01:30:06 Speaker 16: And I just want to state for the record here: there are also clearly wicked problems we need to address.

01:30:07 Speaker 16: But personally,

01:30:07 Speaker 16: the times when I've worried for my physical safety or the safety of my children in the last five years have all been the result of vehicles—often pickup trucks—being driven recklessly or with disregard for pedestrians

01:30:08 Speaker 16: and other road users.

01:30:09 Speaker 16: In one case while walking back from daycare approaching an intersection: a car rolled through the stop sign just in front of me; it was pushing our stroller.

01:30:09 Speaker 16: And it just so happened that one of the corps officers was on the other side of the street, and I hauled her over to say "How about a rolling stop?"

01:30:09 Speaker 16: And he said "Which car?"

01:30:09 Speaker 16: And I said "That one."

01:30:10 Speaker 16: And it was already two blocks away driving off; there was a police officer right there, but that did not prevent either the illegal thing or make us safe in that moment.

01:30:11 Speaker 16: I have no doubt that person would have responded immediately if we had been hit, but just being there was not enough to make us safe in that moment.

01:30:11 Speaker 16: I'm baffled by the persistent narrative that downtown is in a crisis state—most often coming from people who I don't see on my daily travels downtown.

01:30:11 Speaker 16: This moral panic narrative isn't informed by curiosity or data;

01:30:11 Speaker 16: it seems to me to lack the reference points that would come from actually being in relationship or dialogue with community partners who are working to support human beings and address the causes and symptoms being

01:30:13 Speaker 16: described.

01:30:16 Speaker 16: I haven't heard the board talk about AMO's research on homelessness and responses.

01:30:16 Speaker 16: I didn't hear the board talk about Grey County's Housing and Homelessness Response Plan, which was published in draft form in February.

01:30:17 Speaker 16: And I'm confused as to how a board that is evidently very interested in this topic could be unaware of the work of partners and the county—especially with former county council members at the table.

01:30:17 Speaker 16: This is the second annual discussion now about the failures of other organizations stemming from the police board, offering magical solutions:

01:30:17 Speaker 16: "if only folks could roll through the streets" or if people could come to council to tell us that they're taking over because we've failed—that would solve the issues—but those just aren't serious solutions.

01:30:17 Speaker 16: I think they're the magical thinking of an authoritarian fantasy; it assumes that we can just punish people into wellness, and that's not true.

01:30:18 Speaker 16: There are issues we absolutely do need to address,

01:30:18 Speaker 16: and I think we should be having serious and collaborative conversations that actually support the people who live and work in our community—including organizations working upstream to keep people from falling into the river for OSPs

01:30:18 Speaker 16: (Ontario Support Program) and emergency services pulling them out.

01:30:18 Speaker 16: To my knowledge there's nothing structural stopping the police board from connecting with or working with other organizations,

01:30:19 Speaker 16: but continuing to use the platform of the board to disparage community service partners—or suggest that it is businesses most impacted by issues of homelessness and addiction instead of human beings dying on our streets because

01:30:19 Speaker 16: they're exposed to elements or a poisoned drug supply—undermines credibility.

01:30:19 Speaker 16: It does not reflect the care, concern, and professionalism I know are part of daily work for frontline staff of the police.

01:30:19 Speaker 16: I agree with board comments that leadership is necessary to address these complex and interconnected issues; but real leadership looks like relationship building—not pointing fingers at other organizations.

01:30:19 Speaker 16: And I think we need to name this as unhelpful.

01:30:20 Speaker 16: That's all I wrote.

01:30:20 Speaker 16: Well, a lot of my thoughts are going to echo Councillor Farmer's comments just now: business that you mentioned was selectively moved downtown this spring from another location.

01:30:20 Speaker 16: So as someone who has had a business downtown for twenty years, it's encouraging to see ongoing reinvestment by individuals opening new businesses, restaurants and establishments;

01:30:21 Speaker 16: they believe in their community and look to make it better.

01:30:21 Speaker 16: And it's great to hear customers come visit our business and comment about how good our downtown is—actually relative to various other places across the province and different communities where they come from.

01:30:21 Speaker 16: I wish there was a request to have comments made about our colleagues at the county, the C.A.O., deputy C.A.O.—a director retracted from that meeting—that is absolutely not true.

01:30:22 Speaker 16: I say without pause: they wake up every day thinking about their residents and looking after them in every part of decision-making we go through up at the county.

01:30:22 Speaker 16: So I think it was unfair to allow that comment to stand, and that's why I'm calling it out now; that is not accurate.

01:30:22 Speaker 16: I speak to individuals across the city.

01:30:22 Speaker 16: I spoke to a lady last year who had suitcases in front of City Hall on a hot, humid morning right there crying: asking her if there's anything we can do for her?

01:30:24 Speaker 16: She lived not in Owen Sound—she was here for services we provide.

01:30:24 Speaker 16: I know county staff will work diligently looking after her and others like them as best they possibly can.

01:30:24 Speaker 16: I have had—and am extremely thankful for—the services of the Owen Sound Police because seven or eight years ago,

01:30:26 Speaker 16: an extremely violent individual came into our business on a Saturday morning who was arrested for attempted murder within steps of leaving my establishment;

01:30:27 Speaker 16: he had stabbed I think two people downtown and police were there surveying.

01:30:27 Speaker 16: They took him down within three to four feet of exiting.

01:30:28 Speaker 16: I asked him where he was from while he was in the store, and he said "I've been everywhere man."

01:30:28 Speaker 16: This is not a resident of Owen Sound.

01:30:29 Speaker 16: We have individuals coming here for a plethora of reasons; by the way: this person was the second scariest individual into my business within a few months that year.

01:30:29 Speaker 16: This is not a new issue.

01:30:30 Speaker 16: Fifteen years ago—and I still see the same lady who I asked fifteen,

01:30:30 Speaker 16: sixteen or seventeen years ago to please move off my front steps in our business because she was selling prescription meds effectively to teenagers: "I said no; not in front of my business."

01:30:31 Speaker 16: This demonstrates again how multifaceted this problem is.

01:30:33 Speaker 16: You've got an individual selling prescription meds—she's still in the community hopefully not doing what used to be the case.

01:30:36 Speaker 16: The problem is so complex.

01:30:41 Speaker 16: I've said for five years plus it has taken a generation to get to where we are now; it will take another generation to get out of this mess.

01:30:41 Speaker 16: It's a challenge.

01:30:42 Speaker 16: We're dealing with a lot of individuals who are not criminals.

01:30:43 Speaker 16: The municipality of Collingwood just had a very similar meeting about six weeks ago: they cannot direct the police in terms of what responses the police will do—that was evident in reporting from that meeting.

01:30:43 Speaker 16: I'm encouraged to do everything we can to enhance our downtown where weaknesses are located.

01:30:43 Speaker 16: I have one question actually; I see River District board minutes come through council with concerns raised by the River District, but I haven't seen that in formal correspondence.

01:30:44 Speaker 16: So if my peers can inform me whether there's something I've missed formally documented: I would appreciate being aware of it.

01:30:44 Speaker 16: Um... a week and a half ago we invested heavily on the 900 block in a new boardwalk; I encourage our athletes to run through there, maintain and own public space—don't lose it, use it.

01:30:44 Speaker 16: And a couple weeks ago there were two fully loaded grocery carts on the side of the embankment at the northern terminus: that's maybe seventy-five to eighty percent gradient slope.

01:30:44 Speaker 16: Those garbage cans—not recycling cans although I've seen those—the grocery carts are on their way into the river; we don't want litter in our river either.

01:30:44 Speaker 16: We don't want to become a third world country so we do want a response and resources that can clean up where it's needed.

01:30:45 Speaker 16: And by the way: at that moment there were three,

01:30:46 Speaker 16: if not four very much impaired-by-drugs people whose safety was compromised because they easily could have just teetered off the boardwalk on the river side into the water; their safety, wellness and life would be compromised.

01:30:47 Speaker 16: So we do want municipal resources to enhance police response.

01:30:47 Speaker 16: If there are nuisances you're unable to respond to: I'm encouraged to hear that you are looking at other municipalities like Cobourg for bylaws we can strengthen enforcement under.

01:30:48 Speaker 16: There has to be some element of consequences for people; that's also something lacking in society at large.

01:30:48 Speaker 16: So that's encouraging, and I would fully support our City Manager looking for further solutions on that.

01:30:48 Speaker 16: But we are not criminalizing homeless individuals—they're not criminals.

01:30:48 Speaker 16: There are perhaps 15 people I see with regularity because I work every day downtown who are a challenge to look after: you get service restrictions from every provider along the way.

01:30:48 Speaker 16: So what do we have as response for these individuals?

01:30:48 Speaker 16: Because right now we don't have anything formally to steer them into somewhere safe; and right now for some of them just being on the street isn't safe—it's not a good alternative.

01:30:49 Speaker 16: But we're not going to solve it overnight.

01:30:49 Speaker 16: I'm not going to sit here and pretend there's a magic solution.

01:30:49 Speaker 16: I'd like to thank you for your work, looking out for other municipalities and solutions we can utilize and strengthen our bylaw enforcement; it's no different than what Collingwood was doing six weeks ago.

01:30:51 Speaker 16: So problems are pervasive: if individuals get dropped off in your community without resources around them instantly housed or able to succeed again—and then we're left responding to those challenges—it's a challenge,

01:30:51 Speaker 16: but hey with every challenge is an opportunity.

01:30:51 Speaker 16: So today is the start of different opportunities to look at addressing concerns we hear from everyone in the community both for and against; thanks for coming today because it's a start.

01:30:52 Speaker 16: Okay; anyone else?

01:30:53 Speaker 16: Okay seeing none.

01:30:53 Speaker 16: I'm just wondering: was there formal documentation from the River District Board about formal concerns?

01:30:53 Speaker 16: Off the top of my head, I don't know that there is or what specific concern—but we attend all River District meetings and meet regularly with shopkeepers downtown as you're probably well aware.

01:30:54 Speaker 16: Our officers—our core officers especially—and there have been more and more concerns addressed to them about what's going on downtown; we've met with a number of individuals,

01:30:54 Speaker 16: I personally went out and met with a number of shopkeepers about issues downtown and spent hours meeting with different individuals about specific concerns.

01:30:54 Speaker 16: And those are what I would consider formal concerns from shopkeepers or members of the DA (Downtown Association).

01:30:54 Speaker 16: And I'm not going to say who I'm meeting with because that's between them and me; but I will say we've met with a number of businesses downtown.

01:30:55 Speaker 16: I value and appreciate that response Chief, thanks.

01:30:55 Speaker 16: Through the Mayor: I just want to pick up so Deputy Mayor mentioned impact of people being discharged from imprisonment into homelessness—there was recently a report through United Way I believe that named that pipeline specifically;

01:30:55 Speaker 16: if we have got people coming out of situations where clearly things weren't...

01:30:55 Speaker 16: Going great if they were incarcerated to begin with, and now someone's being dropped off at what five o'clock on a Friday night with nothing, including without their ID or their bank card in Owen Sound.

01:30:55 Speaker 16: That was like all of that stuff.

01:30:57 Speaker 16: The systems are amplifying a number of these challenges, and I encourage folks to go read that report because it was really detailed and good.

01:30:57 Speaker 16: Not seeing any hands going up, so thank you very much.

01:30:58 Speaker 16: Anything else we have to do?

01:30:58 Speaker 16: Motion to receive.

01:30:59 Speaker 16: Councillor Hamley put his hand up to move receipt of that.

01:30:59 Speaker 16: All in favor?

01:31:00 Speaker 16: That's carried.

01:31:01 Speaker 16: Seconds at through six a.m.

01:31:01 Speaker 16: There's 6:00 a.m., number seven.

01:31:01 Speaker 16: Discussion of additional business.

01:31:01 Speaker 18: Mr. Mayor, councillors, city staff, fellow board members, what I want to briefly touch on is about the protocol agreement between the City and the Police Services Board.

01:31:02 Speaker 18: Pardon me.

01:31:02 Speaker 18: Under Section 141, Item Three of the Community Safety and Policing Act, police boards are required to enter into a protocol agreement with its municipality addressing the sharing of information with the municipality,

01:31:02 Speaker 18: including the types of information to be shared and the frequency for sharing that information.

01:31:03 Speaker 18: Our current protocol agreement was signed in June twenty-six, two thousand and seven.

01:31:03 Speaker 18: It's almost nineteen years old.

01:31:03 Speaker 18: Since it was signed, there's been a number of changes, including the Community Safety and Policing Act, and as a result, the agreement no longer complies with the current legislation.

01:31:03 Speaker 18: There are also some areas that don't apply as it relates to the sharing of services.

01:31:04 Speaker 18: I've had an opportunity to review some other recent updates to protocol agreements from other municipalities.

01:31:05 Speaker 18: One example I have is from Niagara.

01:31:06 Speaker 18: It's two pages long.

01:31:06 Speaker 18: Ours is sixteen.

01:31:06 Speaker 18: Police Governance of Ontario, previously known as the Ontario Association of Police Service Boards, has just released a guide on information sharing protocols under the Community Safety and Policing Act,

01:31:08 Speaker 18: which highlights the legislative areas that should be covered in protocol agreements.

01:31:08 Speaker 18: What I'd like to do today is identify a process to update our joint protocol agreement.

01:31:08 Speaker 18: Our last protocol was drafted by the police service board and then sent to the City for review.

01:31:09 Speaker 18: What I might suggest, if you agree: as we follow the same process for this new draft, the Police Service Board can draft the agreement and then send it to the City for review.

01:31:09 Speaker 18: Also, if we could identify a timeline that would be appropriate for the City to review, and should that be sent to Brianna for review?

01:31:10 Speaker 18: So, going back to point one: suggesting that the police service board draft the agreement based on the information we have from Police Governance of Ontario.

01:31:10 Speaker 18: Welcome to Council.

01:31:10 Speaker 18: Any response?

01:31:12 Speaker 18: Nobody's responding.

01:31:12 Speaker 18: John.

01:31:13 Speaker 18: Through the Mayor, I'm curious about the timing.

01:31:14 Speaker 18: I think my understanding is that there's an alignment between the municipal election cycle and also Board member terms.

01:31:14 Speaker 18: Does the timing of this get complicated by the election?

01:31:14 Speaker 18: And my initial thought is that this is something that would be better handled by a new board and council.

01:31:15 Speaker 18: But I also don't know if that's administrative enough for staff to develop, with the board moving it along.

01:31:15 Speaker 18: Instead, my initial concern is we don't have very many meetings left; we're into lame duck really quickly, so...

01:31:15 Speaker 18: I would suggest, Councillor Farmer: if you want to move that staff work with some Police Services Board members to review and renew—I don't know—something like that.

01:31:15 Speaker 18: The update on the whatever it is.

01:31:15 Speaker 18: Yeah, Brianna.

01:31:16 Speaker 18: Through your Worship, procedurally we should waive the notice of motion.

01:31:16 Speaker 18: provision because this wasn't identified on the agenda.

01:31:18 Speaker 18: So I need a motion first, then to waive the motion; waive notice, waive notice first.

01:31:19 Speaker 18: Councillor Capkic: I'll move that we waive the notice of motion on this particular item.

01:31:19 Speaker 18: All in favor?

01:31:19 Speaker 18: That's carried.

01:31:20 Speaker 18: Thanks, Brianna.

01:31:20 Speaker 18: Sorry, I didn't have my microphone.

01:31:21 Speaker 18: I'm kind of feeding you, and I should do it publicly.

01:31:22 Speaker 18: Then set it to come back in February or March or whenever you think is appropriate.

01:31:22 Speaker 18: I will move that Council direct staff to work with the Oshawa Police Service Board to update the protocol agreement,

01:31:23 Speaker 18: and with the direction that that draft agreement come back to Council sometime in early 2027—early 2027 as work plans and staffing allow.

01:31:23 Speaker 18: Motion's made: Councillor Merton, seconding the motion.

01:31:24 Speaker 18: A point of clarification: We're under new legislation.

01:31:26 Speaker 18: Because of that, if we delay or at this current time, am I assuming we don't have a protocol agreement?

01:31:27 Speaker 18: Because legislatively it's referencing the previous legislation.

01:31:27 Speaker 18: Is that correct?

01:31:29 Speaker 18: So if we wait until 2027, we actually don't have a protocol agreement based on that legislative requirement.

01:31:29 Speaker 18: That's a bit of a concern for me.

01:31:29 Speaker 18: And what's likely to happen with an election coming between now and the end of December anyway?

01:31:29 Speaker 18: Point of clarification around my own ignorance: Is it the changes to the Act that took effect in 2020, like recently, or the ones from a few years ago in 2014?

01:31:30 Speaker 18: So if this agreement has been either voided or out of date for two years already, I wonder what another seven or eight months is going to do.

01:31:30 Speaker 18: Like Mike: I think we're better off continuing with the status quo and having this actually be actionable rather than rushing something and have it risk coming back in lame duck.

01:31:30 Speaker 18: Councillor Kerfoot: Thank you, Worship.

01:31:30 Speaker 18: Through you, probably to the Clerk.

01:31:30 Speaker 18: I think the Police Service Board wouldn't have an issue getting the draft done as soon as possible,

01:31:31 Speaker 18: and I feel that it's important for those on the board currently who have been involved with the protocol agreement and recognizing all the issues within it,

01:31:31 Speaker 18: that they be the ones that assist with drafting of the new protocol agreement.

01:31:32 Speaker 18: But I just wonder from the Clerk's perspective if that was done: The next Board meeting is June for the Police Service Board.

01:31:32 Speaker 18: I don't know if at a June or July meeting they'd possibly have it; there might still be time for Council to see it.

01:31:32 Speaker 18: Through you, Your Worship, we do have two meetings in July and two meetings in September where this could be brought forward.

01:31:32 Speaker 18: In terms of staff workload, I would need to have the City Manager respond to that.

01:31:32 Speaker 18: Yeah, through you Mayor: Sorry, I'm just pulling up a calendar.

01:31:32 Speaker 18: So we have two—yeah, two meetings in July.

01:31:33 Speaker 18: Going over a new protocol with Owen Sound Police Services, we need something in the next two weeks.

01:31:33 Speaker 18: I just... and that's barring Council has no questions about what's in the agreement.

01:31:33 Speaker 18: Like so, we're trying to push through an agreement in five weeks.

01:31:33 Speaker 18: To me, that's probably not the best approach.

01:31:34 Speaker 18: But unless I'm missing something here: go ahead.

01:31:34 Speaker 18: So last time the protocol agreement was drafted: The Miss McKnight or Knight at the Police Services Board drafted the agreement based on other agreements she found with other police services boards.

01:31:34 Speaker 18: She brought it to myself when I was Clerk/Deputy Clerk at the time, and all I did was basically do some wordsmithing and made it more of a legal eagle type of thing.

01:31:34 Speaker 18: And there weren't any changes that Council had because...

01:31:34 Speaker 18: Council had no input because it's a Police Service Board bylaw.

01:31:35 Speaker 18: Two: Council has to pass it, but the police service board does networking with other police services boards that have them.

01:31:35 Speaker 18: So there really wasn't any changes on the council side or the Clerk's office.

01:31:35 Speaker 18: Well, I think I've got Councillor Farmer's motion on the table.

01:31:35 Speaker 18: We can either vote it up or vote it down, or somebody can amend it.

01:31:36 Speaker 18: And if you want to amend it: amend it.

01:31:36 Speaker 18: But if you don't... let's go John, or the other one Scott.

01:31:36 Speaker 18: Yeah, I was just going to ask: Is this subject matter actually even restricted by the provisions of the lame duck period?

01:31:37 Speaker 18: I will amend my own motion to say remove the date provision, and that way staff can—if it fits into the workflow and it's reasonable—great.

01:31:37 Speaker 18: If it doesn't fit into the workflow, it'll be in the hopper, and whoever sitting at this table can get that when they need to.

01:31:37 Speaker 18: So I think that would just end with directing staff to work with the police board to develop a new protocol agreement for consideration of Council.

01:31:40 Speaker 18: Period.

01:31:41 Speaker 01: Everybody understand it?

01:31:42 Speaker 01: Then, so no limit on it, no time.

01:31:43 Speaker 01: Okay, call the question.

01:31:43 Speaker 01: All in favor?

01:31:43 Speaker 01: That's carried.

01:31:44 Speaker 01: Unless there's a second part.

01:31:45 Speaker 01: That was it.

01:31:46 Speaker 01: Good.

01:31:46 Speaker 01: Okay.

01:31:46 Speaker 01: Anything else, Council?

01:31:46 Speaker 01: Anything else, John or Craig?

01:31:47 Speaker 01: No. Okay.

01:31:47 Speaker 01: So next is motion that the committee of the whole rise and report.

01:31:48 Speaker 01: Move by myself that the committee of the whole rise and report.

01:31:48 Speaker 01: All in favor.

01:31:49 Speaker 01: It's carried.

01:31:49 Speaker 01: Number nine.

01:31:49 Speaker 01: Motion to adopt proceedings in committee of the whole.

01:31:49 Speaker 01: Move by myself, seconded by Councillor Middlebro', that the action taken in committee of the whole in considering presentations, matters arising from correspondence, and additional business be confirmed by this council.

01:31:50 Speaker 01: All in favor.

01:31:50 Speaker 01: That's carried.

01:31:50 Speaker 01: And then the bylaw. We want to read it. Move by myself, seconded by Councillor Middlebro', that Bylaw Number 2026-065 be passed and enacted. And for the record, that's a bylaw to confirm the proceedings of the special meeting of Council of the Corporation of City of Owen Sound held on the 15th day of June, 2026. All in favor? That's carried. So we are now at 4:31 p.m. We've completed the business of this special meeting, and we're adjourned to return back here at 5:30. Thanks.