e okay uh good morning everybody and uh welcome to the uh council meeting for uh Wednesday September the 11th uh we call this meeting to order I'd like to start with our land acknowledgement we are gathering on lands that have been home to First Nations people from time immemorial we acknowledge that what we now call Richmond Hill is on the treaty lands and territories of the mogas of the Credit First Nation and the mogas and Chipawa nations of the Williams treaty we also recognize that we are on parts of the traditional territories of the hodon and the hiron wendat we would also like to acknowledge all First Nation Inuit and matey people from across Turtle Island uh who now reside in the city of Richmond Hill we are committed to building a constructive and Cooperative relationships uh so at this time if you can I'd like you to stand for the national an [Music] [Applause] [Music] okay thank you very much uh we have a public forum which I don't think we have anybody uh signed up for uh the next item on the agenda would be Council announcements is there anybody that has announcements for today uh councelor Shu uh thanks Mr chair uh good morning everyone I'm so excited to invite you all to my favorite first outdoor event this Sunday afternoon from 12: to 4: at the L staff Community Center parking lot and we will have the first 3003 barbecue ice cream popcorn cotton candy on the first come first serf basis and over 20 community service organizations from our city and York Region setting up boo to showcas the services and uh on stage we will have amazing performance from Chinese Persian Italian South Asian Korean performers and uh also don't miss the chance to win an exciting prizes in our lucky draw like a free travel gway and free Moon kicks as part of the Moon Festival celebration so I love to see all residents in our city especially the Neighbors in my world world 6 come out for for a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon and September 15 this Sunday from 12:00 to 4: at landstop Community Center and see you all there thank you Mr here thanks councelor I look forward to being there uh region local councel Chan thank you very much Mr Mayor good morning um last actually just this past uh week um on Monday two days ago um I had opportunity thank you uh Mr uh mayor uh for the opportunity um to welcome that uh over 100 uh delegates from across onario uh to the 66 training education Symposium of Ontario fire prevention Officers Association in Richmond Hill um and I I'm very proud to share as well uh actually not only the president of the association is from the Richmond Hill fire and emergency services but also the president from um the Ontario fire Educators Association is also a member of the our richond Hill fire emergency services so um thank you for the opportunity to bring greetings on behalf the mayor and Council uh it is uh certainly um a particular moment for the five fs and the reason I said that I I'm sure we all know today's 911 um that U I understand that actually five station in Richmond Hill uh had their ceremony this morning um to commerate um that terror attack back 23 years ago um on that note I think that it Mr Mayor I think that we um my suggestion we should um have a moment of silence uh in commemoration of um all the innocent men women and children who um perish were perish at that particular incident 20 three years ago okay thank you okay thank you very much uh councilor tree okay thank you Mr Mayor uh there are few events hyen or going to be happen uh this weekend in word for our city uh last week there was a running family running un happen in world four organized by Jefferson commune Association around 40 rers join this program uh from age five and until age 60 so um I'll try to promote this here next year and hopefully every year going to like like running as fames please join us as well thank you for Deputy Mayor Gman CH join this event as well so for this weekend Saturday uh International taii day is going to come in soon so this Saturday in City Hall I'm going to organize one of the events for the taii demonstration lot of seniors from West Brook Community going to join us so we're going to D demonstr in certain TIY movement so if everyone interesting about this type of events please join us the date will be a Saturday from 2: to 4: just in our uh the ballroom near by us so this uh another event coming from this Sunday and uh one of the autism program Founders living in Westbrook communities in reach to us so there will be a a f raising event a charity events happening in richond Green Park so the path shows fashion shows will be demonstrate there all the money fund reading from this event will send to this North Star special autism kids program so if anyone want to contribute please come to the rich manarine uh Sunday from 1 to to 900m to enjoin the pet show also the fashion show as well uh also next week will be the mid uh Autumn Festival day Mo Festival so who are you enjoy and celebrate this Festival happy Festival thank you so much okay thank you very much uh councelor Davidson thank you I just want to say this Sunday at 9:30 will be the Terry Fox run at Oak's Community Center so please come on down and support uh raising money for important cancer research and try to be at oid's Community Center by 10 o'clock uh this Sunday that's all okay thank you anybody else I have a couple of things um so I I do want to reiterate uh today is uh the anniversary of 911 and uh I this is a I'm sure everybody uh that's listening in in this room uh remembers where they were uh the day the world changed and and I certainly do as well I was actually not in Richmond Hill at the time and I think um it really um was a poignant moment not being able to even get home um and not really knowing what tomorrow was going to bring a lot of time has passed since that time but I think it is very important uh for us to remember uh the almost 3,000 people that were killed uh in that uh tragic and uh horrible uh event uh so I also would like to um thank councelor svitz and gamina beton Court in particular for uh helping us with the the launch of the a book about Terry Fox and it was uh we were honored to have that group uh do that launch here in Richmond Hill uh right at our Richmond Hill Center for the Performing Arts it's it's a really great book I U have not had a chance to read it yet but I've I've heard about it and skimm through it uh but it was wonderful to have uh the authors and the uh Publishers there but also a lot of people who were part of the book and a part of the stories uh uh to tell about Terry Fox and and his uh uh quest to run across uh Canada and um as was said I think importantly that event was a a really nice kickoff uh to raise awareness that on September 15th as as councelor Davidson mentioned in her Ward at the Oak Ridges Community Center we'll be having our Terry Fox run and um you know this is a a great event and uh it's interesting that as time has gone on since Terry Fox has passed away uh we have a whole significant generation of people that were born without actually being alive when Terry Fox was around but his legacy really has continued and um it it is amazing um the legend that he has become and the great work that he his legacy has produced for cancer research um and then the the last thing uh just again I wish everybody a a joyous Moon Festival we're coming into that uh time of year again when there's a whole lot of um uh reasons to celebrate and uh I have made a conscious decision given my um my love of moon cakes that I'm going to be starting my uh diet after the Moon Festival so hopefully there won't be another cultural Festival after that because it might have to be pushed off further and further I don't know but that's that's my problem not yours okay thanks everybody um so with that being said um we need to ask if there's any emergency or time sensitive matters to be put on the agenda we seeing none uh we need adoption of the agenda we have a fairly full agenda which most of which except for the member motions could be adopted on consent if that's the wish of council okay so councelor svitz adopts the agenda disclosures of Peary in oor second by councilor Shu all those in favor opposed carried thank you uh disclosure of Peary interest or the general nature thereof they seeing none uh is there so sorry adoption of previous Council minutes we have two uh council meeting on June 19th and the council public meeting on June 25th we need a moover for that councelor tree seconder councelor Davidson all those in favor pose that carries unanimously thank you okay so identifications of items requiring separate discussion is there anything from the agenda other than the two member motions which will be held automatically that we would like held okay seeing none so I need adoption of the remainder of the items which is everything okay we'll do the bylaws at the same time time so that's 183 to 18 11 okay Regional counselor Chan secondary counselor tree all those in favor oppose that carries okay and uh public hearings we have none presentations we have none delegations we have none okay so um all right so we have we actually have a uh do we have we have a in camera item as well right so we we actually we need to hold that yeah okay all right so um we have the two uh member motions then so we'll move to that the first member motion is uh local uh Regional local councel uh chair thank you very much uh Mr Mayor um I table this motion uh on one hand I want to really um applaud the Y Regin police uh that has been uh doing great work in terms of um protecting uh communities in yor region and specifically two District which has the responsibility of this uh Richmond Hill and so on and I'm not going to repeat what the uh uh police have announced recently about particular on the issue of Public Safety in particularly on the crime Trends uh that of concern to to um a number of residents at least that I'm aware of um just to site very briefly uh as state inw statement um it's certain alarming that um over five year period since 2019 K jacking in your origin is a whole increase by 400% um I think the uh this is between August 2023 and August 2024 I think one of the most alarming things uh i41 uh as uh also mentioned by police is that apparent well based on one year we hardly call it Trend but also a pattern of um increasing incidence of violence nature and on that note uh much have been talking about carjacking what the federal provincial and police been doing um but relatively um um not as much talking about something that I hear concerns from residents is on bricks and ERS in terms of perence meaning the frequencies uh as well as the um uh any particular action such as task force against the auto threat but not as much hearing of about from the police on the Bren entrance not to say police are not paying attention um but more concerning and that's why I brought for this um motion is that I for one and I believe probably some of my colleagues maybe not all uh have been uh uh seeing some of these um Clips on video showing those vient nature of home invasion and break and Enter uh some of them are in Richmond Hill of course some might not be here but it's alarming from what is uh uh being shown um and my sense is that uh for moving this motion the objectives is twofold one is very simple that to show that um our Council as a whole support wholesomely that yorion police in his mission to ensuring the citizens are safe and secure and the other objective is uh demonstrating we are taking leadership as responsible elect official to collaborate the Euro General police in dis similation of crime information statistics from an official Source in the and not a misinformed manner because when it was on the social media videos um that certainly um in some cases it kind of stirred the um uh uh concern or fear uh that may necessary if you look at the official information from the police may show so it's very simple uh in the sense that those my two full objectives and my honest hope is to have a constructive uh forum for the two district superintendent uh and um in inspector who's the commanding officer to share with in a public forum uh with not only Council but residents of Richmond Hill um what has been the specifically for two District which are mostly richond hill mtic crime stats so that people Everyone the public and us as council members here firsthand from official voice so those this is my motion um to request command officers of number two District of York which police to share the crime trends for at the future council meeting oh is it okay I'm sorry it's a different time okay yeah right okay thank you very much and that's meaning is really meaning before the end of 2024 so that's my motion uh U Mr chair and uh I look forward to uh a constructive dialogue uh discussion if any uh from Council Members okay um before we open it up to council uh so um I was not aware of this until the uh it was published on the agenda and I actually uh have called uh the the district Commander for two district and they have not been contacted by yourself either which is I think is uh problematic in the sense it would have been better um for them to understand what it is that you're asking before uh this happens so that we can kind of decide how to best do this um I have had a number of concerns that from people that this um motion would appear and I'm sure this is not your intention but to to kind of throw the police under the bus a bit and and I know that's not what you had meant but I think there a much more positive approach because I actually don't think that this motion is necessarily um very necessary uh we can invite the police to come at any time and as a matter of fact uh there's a number of things that the police are currently working on right now including uh the unveiling of an of an an additional uh group of of uh items to prevent car thefts uh there's also a number of of uh initiatives that are happening about breaking enters and and uh homebased uh crime and the police budget is going to be um significant uh the ask this year at the regional table and there's going to be a number of initiatives and new hires and you know things that are happening in that budget to respond so I think the better approach to this motion because really what you're asking for here according to the motion is to share crime Trends and the crime Trends are on the website and that was an A change that was made to the website recently where you can see up Toth minute crime Trends and where they're happening and so on so I I don't think there's really any need to for that that information is available but I would suggest that a better approach and a more positive approach would be to have the police um and invite the police to come to council to present all of the new things that they're doing uh in a month or two uh once these new initiatives are rolled out and and are they can present it in a package so uh I would personally recommend that we um I would ask that this MO be withdrawn because I think there's a better way to do it um anyway I'll open it up to members of council um to see uh what what the the appetite is so C councelor Davidson can I can we discuss it without me second name it okay well councelor Davidson I don't want to Second it so you don't want to Second are you the second or because you spoke first I I'm not second yeah me neither who okay do we have a seconder for the motion councelor Shu you're going to Second it yeah go ahead go ahead actually I'd like to Second this motion because um I appreciate the initiative behind it and I believe it's a good idea to discuss it further here uh but before before I I think we moving forward I have a few questions regarding some language and phrasing in this motion for example uh like the last paragraph Prime trans I don't think this tring is a bit art because unlike the the economy or weather Prime Trends is not something we can predict or forecast like weather like like economy for me in in my word I'm not concerned about the trends what I'm what I'm concerned and we are concerned about is is there any way to tackle this roning issue from the ri P do they have any advice to make it better but not about the trends so I'm just concerned about the phrasing in this motion and so I'm just thinking if this if it's possible to to to modify some phrasing in this motion to make it easier to understand but if you insist Prime trend is the focus of the meeting I won't move forward so I'm just thinking about if there's any Amendment for this motion on the phrasing and the language of this motion there my comment wait okay so I all right so you are seconding it though as it is or are you proposing an amendment it depends on uh it depends on the Mover actually I will second it because I appr appreciate the initiative and I and I think it's a good idea to to move it forward because I think it's necessary to ask an officer to come up to the chambers to speak okay so I I would like to second first okay all right so we have the motion on the floor so we have a list of speakers so councelor Davidson thank you um and through you Mr chair I agree crime stats are a problem for all us those are all of York Region stats and crime is up in some neighbors not up in others but I remind Council that on May 28th we all met in separate groups with this superintendent and we had a discussion a very wholesome discussion about these stats and other CRI crime Trends and as you know some of what was discussed is not for public consumption but I left that meeting feeling that our police are working with other police and working with other levels of police to tackle these problems so I do feel like they have come to council and explained these statistics um and I agree with the mayor that uh there is the yrp portal where if you want to see where the crimes are being committed and what crimes are being committed it's open to the entire um public to just go on there it's a very interesting and insightful website I would also encourage anyone on Council to um subscribe to yrp emails and bulletins because what doesn't hit the headlines is the ones that they solve and when they round people up and when they stop stop a uh carjacking and the good things they're doing we also most of us have a neighborhood watch which might be a better form for any counselor who wants to engage police with residents to hold a meeting and that's right directly with the residents and they can ask whatever they want so I do agree that police um need to be accountable to the public I feel like they have been accountable to us and I feel that this motion that it while I agree we do want to stay on top of what's happening with crime and our community it's it's a little heavy-handed when a friendly invitation to come and talk to council might be the route or even a more public forum where we invite police to come and have a Q&A with residents on a bigger scale that's not this room so I can't support this motion okay thank you uh anybody else councelor tree and then councelor silit thank you so much Mr Mayor so I remember a few months ago before summer uh our dep our director and also inspector came to our office had a separate I think two or three meetings with to share the information and since then we don't have any updates from them so uh as a courtesy I think we can have a different way to engage them either ask him to he to come here uh for another round of uh meetings with a council member or have a public meeting with all uh resents if they want talk here and for this motion if you can turn around and find another alternative give them a high up give them warm welcome so you City we need updates do you have availability come here have a demo for us I think that might be a better approach Instead This motion to demanding them come to our office I'll say turn around find a different approach to get the me can achieve the same objective by using a different approach that's my thought thank you okay um um sorry councilor syllabuses thank you Mr Mayor and um I I want I want to say to Deputy Mayor Chan that I understand his reasoning for bringing this forward but I cannot support it and there's a number of reasons why um councelor Davidson um uh basically uh caught me at the gate there because she said everything that I was going to say as well as as did um as did mayor Mayor West we we had um a a very high level meeting members of council uh with uh yrp a while ago and we were informed of everything including some things as Council Davidson said that are not for public consumption so I personally am quite satisfied that YP is doing the exact job they are supposed to do I've also had them um come to one of my w five cic engagement committee meetings and speak to um uh speak to the uh the people there and that was very successful as well and I know that other counselors have done the same and I think that to to me I believe that that's that is the route to go I don't believe that um with all respect to coun to uh uh Deputy Mayor Chan I don't believe that this motion is the the end to the the means to the end and I don't believe that as the the municipality we should be we should be asking such I believe that this particular ask should either come from the York Region Services police board or it should come from York Region itself because they are the entity responsible for our uh for our police and they do a very very good job so um unfortunately I'm I I cannot support this um and and I have I would like to also reiterate that if you if you go to the York yp.ca website you will be able to see uh Trends uh local break-ins um carjackings all of that it it's a very very very good resource and um I I believe that that's what the residents need to uh need to look at and uh investigate uh it needs to come from the source and it does it comes from the source online thank you Mr Mayor okay thank you um is there anybody else on the first round okay I I'll just make a couple of comments so as I said at the beginning um I'm not in and I don't think anybody on Council is suggesting that um you know we're not in a situation right now in Richmond Hill and frankly the rest of the province where crime is definitely top of a mind for everybody and you know as the police chief actually said last year when he presented the police budget at the region it's important for us to be safe obviously but it's also really important for people to feel safe and right now there are a significant number of people in our community that don't feel safe even though statistically I mean we still do live in a in a fairly safe Community but I think the best way to get to this as I said I'm not debating whether the police shouldn't should come to council I I think that's a idea it's a matter of um doing it in a way that is kind of the the best way to do it and the best timing this motion um as I said I'm sure it's unintentional but it it's it's not the approach that I would have taken to have them come and and in fact I think they should be coming uh but on their terms when and and the purpose of this is not to relay crime Trends uh but to relay what they're doing uh to make everybody safe and feel safe and that uh there are as I said a number of things that are happening right now uh imminently uh that are going to be uh changes in response to these increasing uh uh problems that we're having that the police are going to be able to to talk to people I think having a public forum is a good idea that the council uh meeting can be one of those forums that's fine but I think um my recommendation and and if this motion doesn't pass uh I can tell you right now I've spoken to both the executive leadership team at uh headquarters and also the uh Folks at District 2 and they're more than willing to come in uh and give us a presentation with all of the new initiatives and the initiatives that they're currently doing um for all of us to know and I think that's a good idea and I think that's the best approach to make that happen uh and I will certainly make sure that that happens if this ends up not going through um but I I think that's a better way to to get the information out there it's not the crime trends that were that really are the the the important part of this I mean it's obviously um something that are on people's minds but it's the actions that we're taking to respond to all of this that I think are is more important and that's what I would um expect that the police would do when they come and and speak um to our Council so those would be my uh comments uh if there's no one else for second round first round we have a second round councelor Chan um let me be very clear of thank you uh my colleagues for your sharing your views and as I indicated uh it certainly is not meaning to um uh throw uh yop under the buses uh might have mentioned he is really well intended as a number one is to acknowledge that um the feeling or perception of uh uh concern and uh in the issue about Public Safety um that the May is correct that that's why preface the subject is on Public Safety the crime Trends is something that is certainly would be uh in a sense like reactive but I'm also hearing the proactive meaning the steps will be undertaken and I'm glad to hear my colleages have uh different suggestions and so on um like for example York Regional Council we have a special meeting on policing uh just back a few months ago and and that's the kind of kind of concept idea that I'm thinking of in certainly not limited to crime statistics but absolutely correct is how we moving forward in in terms of um Community as a whole and council with uh work and collaborate with yor original police U so I want to make it very clear but I also hear um from my colleagues Direction and the mayor has good suggestion so um I would like to withdraw the motion uh I'm glad that we have a constructive Dialogue on this message here so that we hear uh views from our council members who are representing our residents in this beautiful city so um Mr Mayor um perhaps that might bring an end to the discussion which is positive and I think that uh some of the uh um uh uh voices have been heard and I think that um members of community have expressed concern to me in particular I understand we do have a YP crime portal but the other objective I mentioned earlier hearing from the York Region Police is the accurate official Source versus some of these have been circulating in the social media with the videos with something that uh perhaps need to be um from the U YP versus our places so I'm glad we have the discussion so it's on the table but I'm happy after discussion take the other approach as suggested recommended and withdraw this motion and thank you Council sh uh for supporting motion um bracing all this uh the real intent is to have an open public form for discussion thank you on Public Safety days not just crime thank you Mr Mayor okay thank you very much I I I appreciate that I I do think that the the outcome uh may not be that different from what was going to happen but I think we're doing it in a better way and I will ask um that I'll follow up on my initial conversation with number two Division and ask them to uh be scheduled into a meeting um as soon as we have the initiatives that are being announced shortly uh out in the public I think it would be a better time to to do this when they can present the entire package because what the York Regional Police is doing right now and and you've said this uh councilor Chan that they you know they are doing a really great job they are on the front line of some very disturbing trends that are happening across our Province particularly around car theft and break and enters and and you know violent crime guns and gangs all that type of thing and these men and women are the ones that are standing up you know day and night in front of the public to make sure that we are safe and you know we need to make sure as Regional counselors because that's where police jurisdiction lies that we are resourcing the these men and women to the best uh so that they're safe and that they are keeping us safe and they're most importantly being in effective at trying to to stop some very disturbing uh Trends both provincially nationally and globally and it's it's a Monumental task it really is and and I think I do appreciate the spirit I think of what your motion was um and we will capture that that you know the public needs to know and the public needs to know what's being done why it's being done the way it's being done and how it's going to positively impact our community and that's what I think the um the the purpose of bringing the police in um it it's not just about crime Trends it's about what what are they doing what's the action on the ground and I think we all we I'm sure we can all agree that that's the what we want to hear and I'm sure that that's exactly what the uh public wants to hear too so thank you for that I appreciate the collaboration all right um yeah go ahead well yeah go ahead okay thank you so much mayor uh I also and add some maybe more requirement if suitable because this one is for the safety of community right is anti uh anti anti uh anti-crime Etc so can I add a few uh additional requirement if achievable uh the topic may be including also the homeless drug problems and also uh the vandalism problems in if possible just give us a full map map of the how we control the safety our community that's it thank you that's fine I I would be H like let's take this offline and if there's other subjects that people council members want to talk about I'm happy to to chat with you before I I'll call later today so if you have something after this meeting let me know all right so um the last or second last I guess item on the agenda so I I put a motion forward we had um oh actually I guess I need to give up the chair so Regional local councelor Chan go ahead and uh I'll present the motion thank you um thank you I'm assuming the chair for the council meeting Mayor West on your motion okay thank you um so the we had a a meeting I've been thinking about this for a while there's you know the well before European settlers arrived in this part of Turtle Island uh there were uh as our land acknowledgement states there were a number of different groups of of indigenous people that were that stewards of this land lived on this land um and in that time uh the you know the the landforms that we recognize today were probably very similar to the landforms that were that were there with at that time and those landforms had names and they weren't European names they were names that were given by the people that lived there at the time and I think part of the calls to action in The Truth and Reconciliation committee Commission report is to acknowledge that you know there there's language and there's names that were uh here long before uh settlers arrived and one of the the simple things that I think we can do among the other things that we're doing around reconciliation is to help people to understand that uh bodies of water like the the rivers that come out of the oak rides Marine um are important to us as a as community in the greater Toronto area and to publicize the name that uh you know that those Rivers were given in the ojibway language and uh so what I would like to do uh actually let me just back up so we had uh Chief salt uh come to our community a little while ago she's the chief of the Mrs sagas of the Credit First Nation and she was we were honored to have her here to open up the exhibit that's currently at our um Heritage Center about the War of 1812 and the Mrs sagas of the credits um contributions to that and we had a discussion about this and a number of other things and and I said you know would it be great if we could start recognizing some of the names of different landforms that we have here in Richmond Hill and she was very excited uh by that and so I put this motion together simply to ask staff to go out and work with the our treaty holders who are Mrs sggs of the credit uh First Nation and the Williams treaty olders as well and um come up with some interpretive signage that can be put in parks that can help people to know the names and maybe the history of why the name is the way the name from a a a rudimentary scan that I've done it's there some really interesting names and some interesting stories and I can tell you um settlers like myself are going to have to do some work on trying to be able to pronounce some of these names but I think that's all part of uh the adventure that we're on uh to you know work towards reconciliation so um anyway the motion I think is fairly self-explanatory but and I understand councelor soit uh would be happy to second that so that's what uh that's what I'll say about that thank you Mayor West indeed um yes uh councilor civit uh next thank you de you mayor Chan um and my thanks to um to Mayor West for bringing this forward I think it's a wonderful idea I'll gladly second it um it's it's really a it's it's an excellent idea it's so in keeping with um everything that we as a municipality are attempting to do and I think being quite successful at Truth and Reconciliation so um uh I I look forward to to to seeing what uh staff will come forward uh with as as signage um and um I I hope that we can have um uh Chief salt back with us and when we actually do something I think it would be a wonderful idea for her to actually be there as as we unveil you know maybe the first of the signage so um again my thanks to to Maya West and um uh I I am I'm very um I'm very impressed if I may say so myself at the manner in which this University this municipality continues to move forward in uh Truth and Reconciliation with our first Nations it is unbelievably important and has my full support so thank you thank you any other speakers no um yeah and before I call the vote and uh I have shared with uh Mr Mayor I'm in full support of the motion in front of us and in particular uh as we all know on September 30th uh would be the national day uh for the um uh recognizing uh the consideration and Truth um and so this motion certainly um represent and actually are showing leadership from which Council so with no other speaker I'd like to call the vote all those in favor of the motion in front of us I'm happy to say un pass unanimously and I'm happy to pass the chair back to Mayor West okay thank you very much so um I think that does it for the Open session we have a an in camera item so I need uh do we have bylaws that we want to do before got them all done okay so we need um a motion to go in camera Regional loal councelor doollo councelor svitz all those in favor oppose that carries uh thank you very much you just do when come okay