City Council
Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 9:00 A.m. - 11:00 A.m.

Council Chambers

Guelph City Hall, 1 Carden Street

Changes to the original agenda are noted with an asterisk "*".

City Council meetings are live streamed at guelph.ca/live. Visit guelph.ca/delegate to submit correspondence or register to speak before Council regarding an item on this agenda. 

To listen to the meeting over the phone, call 1-416-216-5643 and enter access code 2335 584 7662.

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1.

Call to Order

1.1

O Canada

1.2

Silent Reflection

1.3

Indigenous Territorial Acknowledgement

1.4

Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof

2.

Confirmation of Open Minutes

• Recommendation:
  1. That the minutes of the open Council Meetings held November 13, 19, 26 and 27, 2024, and the Committee of the Whole meeting held November 5, 2024, be confirmed as recorded and without being read.

3.

Committee of the Whole Consent Report

The following resolutions have been prepared to facilitate Council’s consideration of various matters and are suggested for consideration. If Council wishes to address a specific report in isolation of the Committee of the Whole Consent Report, please identify the item. It will be extracted and dealt with separately as part of the Items for Discussion.

3.1

2024 Third Quarter Budget Monitoring Report, 2024-504

• Recommendation:
  1. That the funding adjustments detailed in Table 4 of Attachement-2 of the 2024 Third Quarter Budget Monitoring Report dated December 4, 2024, be approved.
  2. That a budget adjustment of $448 thousand for PM0001 Paramedics Facility Renewal, be approved.

4.

Items for Discussion

The following items have been extracted from the Committee of the Whole Consent Report and the Council Consent Agenda and will be considered separately. These items have been extracted either at the request of a member of Council or because they include a presentation and/or delegations.

4.1

Impact from Closure of Guelph Consumption and Treatment Services Site - 2024-407

This item was extracted from the October 25, 2024 Information Items.

Councillor Allt will speak to this item. 

• The following motions have been provided by Councillor Allt:
  1. That Guelph City Council urges the Ontario government to continue to permit the operation and funding of the Guelph consumption and treatment site beyond the proposed termination date in March 2025. 
  2. That Guelph City Council encourages the Ontario government to maintain, if not expand, funding for the proposed Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs.
  3. That Guelph City Council encourages the Ontario Government to not take steps to prohibit the establishment of supervised consumption sites, including urgent public health needs sites (UPHNS). 
  4. That this resolution be forwarded to the Premier of Ontario, the Minister of Finance, the Health Minister, AMO and to municipalities that currently have an operating consumption and treatment service and/or supervised consumption site(s).

4.2

In Support of Charter Rights and Freedoms

Councillor Caton will speak to this item. 

• The following motions have been provided by Councillor Caton:
  1. That Guelph City Council opposes the use of the Notwithstanding Clause as requested by a collection of Ontario Mayors, to circumvent the courts ability to rule on Charter Rights on the subject of encampment relocations due to municipal bylaws throughout Ontario. 
  2. Further, Council opposes the use of force in involuntary treatment of people with substance use disorders or mental illness who are protected under disability legislation, outside of the existing process. 
  3. That a letter be sent to AMO, OBCM, and the 12 municipalities included in the 13 mayor request letter for information regarding Guelph Council’s opposition. 

4.3

Council Motion in Support of Solve the Crisis Campaign

Mayor Guthrie will speak to this item. 

• The following motions have been provided by Mayor Guthrie:

  Whereas there is a humanitarian crisis unfolding on the streets in our municipalities, large and small, urban and rural, across Ontario. The time for words is over, we need immediate
  action at all levels of government, starting with the Province of Ontario

  Whereas the homelessness, mental health and addictions crisis continues to grow with 3432 drug related deaths in Ontario in 2023  and over 1400 homeless encampments across Ontario communities in 2023 ; and

  Whereas the province has provided additional funding and supports, such as the recent investment of $378 million for HART Hubs that includes funding for approximately 375 beds with wraparound supports, it does not adequately address the growing crisis and the financial and social impact on municipalities and regions across the province; and

  Whereas municipalities and regions are stepping up and working with community partners to put in place community-specific solutions to address this crisis, but municipalities and regions lack the expertise, capacity, or resources to address these increasingly complex health care and housing issues alone; and

  Whereas this is primarily a health issue that falls under provincial jurisdiction and municipalities and regions should not be using the property tax base to fund these programs; and

  Whereas there is no provincial lead focused on this crisis leading to unanswered questions that span over a dozen ministries, and a lack of support to manage the increasing needs of those who are unhoused.

  Therefore, be it resolved that the City Guelph supports Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) SolvetheCrisis.ca Campaign;

  AND calls on the provincial and federal governments to commit to immediate action to solve the humanitarian crisis that Ontario is facing as the numbers of unhoused individuals and those suffering with mental health & addictions grows exponentially; 

  AND that the province officially makes Homelessness a Health Priority;

  AND that the province appoints a responsible Minister and Ministry with the appropriate funding and powers as the single point of contact to address the full spectrum of housing needs and equally as important, the mental health, addictions and wrap around supports that must be put resourced and put in place;

  AND that the provincial government strike a task force with broad sector representatives including municipalities, regions, healthcare, first responders, community services, the business community and the tourism industry to develop a Made in Ontario Action Plan;

  AND that this provincial task force reviews the current programs and policies developed by municipalities, regions and community partners that have proven successful in our communities, as well as programs and policies proposed by various stakeholders, to evaluate their effectiveness, ability to be scaled up, and to ensure that a variety of solutions are available, as there is no one-size-fits-all answer, and can be implemented quickly and effectively to tackle this crisis;

  AND that the federal government is included in these conversations;

  AND that both levels of government provide adequate, sufficient and sustainable funding to ensure that municipalities have the tools and resources to support individuals suffering with mental health and addictions, including unhoused people and those from vulnerable populations that may be disproportionately impacted;

  And that this Council calls on the residents of the City of Guelph to join us in appealing to the provincial and federal governments for support by visiting SolvetheCrisis.ca and showing your support;

  AND further that a copy of this motion be sent to:

  • •  The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
    • The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities of Canada
    • The Honourable Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
    • The Honourable Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health 
    • The Honourable Paul Calandra, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
    • The Honourable Michael Parsa, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
    • The Honourable Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
    • Local MPs
    • Local MPPs and
    • Ontario’s Big City Mayors ([email protected] and [email protected]) 

5.

By-laws

6.

Mayor’s Announcements

Please provide any announcements, to the Mayor in writing, by 12 noon on the day of the Council meeting.

7.

Adjournment