Year in review: Hot and cold

HOT

A focus on diversity

During a time when political tensions seem to be heightened all over the world, Oshawa city council turned its focus the other way.

After consultations and assistance from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the City of Oshawa has developed its very first plan for diversity and inclusion. The plan acknowledges a number of programs and steps city hall can take to not only make it a more welcoming place to work for everyone, regardless of race, gender or sexual preference but also ways to engage with residents to discuss such topics as racism and white supremacy and how they exist in the city.

The plan set out approximately 100 steps to be taken over the year.

According to the plan, the city will also undertake an internal inventory and assessment of diversity and inclusion initiatives already taking place throughout the organization, investigating the potential of implementing a diversity and inclusion advisory committee, hosting one to two panels or forum sessions to discuss issues, and to develop a city “welcome kit” in consultation with the region for new citizens.

 

No more marathon meetings

Regional council decided to end its flirtation with the committee of the whole structure at the end of the 2014-18 term.

Councillors have supported a move back to the standing committee structure, which was utilized before September 2016.

At that time, council moved to a committee of the whole process as a pilot project.

Council, sitting as committee of the whole, had recommended by a slim 12-11 vote, to continue with the current practice at the April 4 meeting.

However, several councillors were absent from that vote, and the tide turned at the April 11 meeting.

Nester Pidwerbecki and Doug Sanders were the only Oshawa councillors in favour of continuing with the current direction.

For Clarington Councillor Joe Neal, the committee of the whole structure had impeded proper discussion on important issues, namely in the areas of health and social services.

“The health and social services committee used to deal with a lot of important issues in a much more informed and collegial way,” Neal observed.

Oshawa Councillor Amy McQuaid-England was a vocal supporter of the standing committee structure.

“I’ve never seen so much arguing as since we moved to committee of the whole,” she stated.

 

Turning the page on transit

Despite a headline stating Oshawa was “thumped” for $6 million, some say it could have been a lot worse.

That $6.2 million spurred from a settlement with the Region of Durham to cover ‘unfunded liabilities’ spurring from the uploading of transit services to the region in 2004.

The liabilities relate to future benefits associated with active and retired employees of the now-defunct Oshawa Transit Commission, including health care, sick leave, and WSIB costs. Pension costs were not part of the dispute.

Oshawa made an initial $2 million payment, and the remaining balance will be paid in 10 annual installments of $420,000, which represents a tax levy increase of 0.29 per cent.

“I’m happy that it is over, and that the legal fees will not continue for the residents,” Oshawa Mayor John Henry said of the settlement.

“Is it what I wanted? No, but it’s the best [we] could do,” Henry added.

Had an agreement not been reached in March, an arbitration hearing was scheduled on the matter for April 2.

Henry does not believe this would have gone well for the city, stating costs could have been up to $13 million.

“I don’t believe we could have won,” he stated. “If you look at what could have happened, this could have been very bad for us.”

 

Support for hospice

Durham regional council pledged support of $830,000 for two planned hospice sites in the region.

The initiative is being developed by Durham Region Hospice, a partnership between Durham Hospice and VON (Victorian Order of Nurses) Durham Community Corporation.

Current plans call for a 10-bed facility in Whitby and five-bed facility in Clarington.

Of that total, $569,250 would go to the Whitby site and $265,650 to Clarington.

The funding would be taken from the region’s hospital reserve fund.

The total capital budgets for two projects have been estimated at $7.59 million (Whitby) and $3.542 million (Clarington).

The province has pledged $3 million in capital funding and $105,000 annually for operating costs.

Ajax Councillor Shaun Collier, the lone dissenting voter, said while hospices offer a worthy service, the province should be bringing more funds to the table.

“It would make absolute perfect sense that the LHIN would step up with funding,” Collier said. “They are the ones who are going to be saving money.”

 

Fines added to two-unit house system

The city will now be applying fines for two-unit houses that are non-compliant or found to be not registered with the city’s existing system.

City staff said the application of administrative monetary penalties to the system will make it easier for the city to enforce the bylaw and allow for landlords to more “effectively and efficiently” be brought into compliance.

Previously, offences were made under the Provincial Offences Act, and required a court process.

“With the administrative penalty you can receive that immediately and you can appeal that here through the city,” said Jerry Conlin, the city’s director of municipal law enforcement and licensing services.

However, with that said, the change is not meant to scare landlords into compliance, and Conlin said that two-unit homeowners that aren’t registered should not be too concerned as generally, it is a fairly simple process to get registered, depending on the state of the home.

Under the new system, homeowners could be charged $250 per day that they are in contravention of the bylaw.

 

A matter of safety

A few days before Christmas, the first community safety zone in Oshawa was officially designated on a section of Conlin Road near the intersection of Simcoe Street North.

The area is close to both Durham College and UOIT.

The concept of the safety zone came as a result of a motion brought forth by Ward 2 regional councillor Tito-Dante Marimpietri, seconded by the ward’s city councillor, Jane Hurst, at council’s inaugural meeting on Dec. 3.

Marimpietri told The Oshawa Express he’s long had safety concerns about the area, but the death of a 19-year-old pedestrian in November was the tipping point.

“There’s a great deal of distress to myself, staff, and everyone, especially the student population, that there was a fatality there. Nobody should have to die to make sure that action was taken,” he said at the time.

The community safety zone is designated 100 metres west of Founders Drive to the west of the intersection to 100 metres east of Bridle Road.

 

COLD

Rental licensing system voted down

The possibility of creating a licensing system for rental units in Oshawa’s downtown was turned down by Oshawa city council, marking the second time councillors have quashed the idea of expanding licensing for landlords.

The idea, brought forward by Councillor Amy McQuaid-England during the city’s final day of budget deliberations in January, would have seen $60,000 being put toward a public input process “on the creation of a licensing system in the Oshawa downtown area for implementation in the 2019 budget.”

McQuaid-England’s motion points to a number of factors as to why Oshawa’s downtown should have such a system, including the fact that 61.4 per cent of households are rentals, the highest number of any part of the city, it has been listed as a priority neighbourhood by the Region of Durham’s Health Neighbourhoods mapping system, and there are a high number of different types of housing (two-unit houses, duplexes, triplexes).

However, the idea was eventually voted down with only Councillors Gail Bates, John Neal and Doug Sanders supporting the idea.

 

Firefighters told to take issues to chief

The president of Oshawa’s firefighter union was dumbfounded when told he and his members could not address councillors directly due to the city’s procedural by-law.

According to Peter Dyson, the president of the Oshawa Professional Firefighters Association (OPFFA), it was in late May that he was informed by city clerk Andrew Brouwer that he would no longer be allowed to appear as a delegate at either committees of council or council meetings.

Dyson appeared before the Community Services committee in March to share with councillors the union’s struggles in dealing with the management of the Oshawa Fire Service.

However, Brouwer says council’s Procedural Bylaw stipulates that when it comes to Dyson’s concerns, they fall into a category that prohibits him from bringing them forward to council, similar to issues surrounding labour relations.

“After Peter had come to committee, I got some further legal advice that said labour relations is broader than just something obvious like collection bargaining,” Brouwer says. “So, labour relations is about really the employment relationship, and the proper channel for staff to put forward their input on the way city services are delivered is through management.”

 

OPA triggers Harbour Road agreement

The City of Oshawa is potentially on the hook to construct a full extension of Harbour Road past Farewell Street.

At its Sept. 24 meeting, council narrowly voted against a potential agreement that would see the Oshawa Port Authority (OPA) build a private driveway, running east from the end of Harbour Road.

The OPA had agreed to cover the full cost of the potential driveway. The port points to growing truck traffic with the new McGinnis Cement operation and the upcoming installation of a grain storage facility as the reasons for needing another access to their site.

At its June 29 meeting, council had turned the proposal down, then moved to approve it after it became clear the OPA could trigger an agreement signed in 1976 that binds the city to build a full-service road in the area.

The 1976 agreement stipulates that the road would be 1,983 feet, asphalt pavement with complete concrete curb and gutter work, storm sewers, and sidewalks. The agreement states construction must begin upon six months of the written notice from the OPA with costs split between the city and port.

However, the matter has been put in the hands of the 2018-22 council, and OPA board chair Gary Valcour has said there is potential to reopen discussions.

 

Municipal election woes

Although not a decision of council, voter turnout in Oshawa remained historically low at around 25 per cent.

With a return to the ward system and some contentious issues, some believed there would be an increased interest in this October’s races.

Also, things got very personal during the regional chair race, notably between eventual winner John Henry and former Clarington mayor John Mutton.

Both took to social media during the campaign to accuse the others’ and their camps of spreading lies and misinformation.

There also appeared to be personal issues between Mutton and Tom Dingwall, a Durham Regional Police Service officer who took a personal leave to run in the election.

What was a very notable campaign ended up being a flop of a race, as Henry won going away with 55 per cent of the vote.

 

Depot documents delayed

The date originally set for the release of thousands of documents related to the investigation into the purchase of Oshawa’s Consolidated Works Depot passed at the end of August, but the city’s clerk said it is because the task is much more significant than expected.

The decision follows an appeal surrounding information provided to municipal investigator George Rust-D’Eye.

The city hired Rust-D’Eye to analyze claims made by former auditor general Ron Foster into the purchase of the depot property. In his report, Foster claimed the city overpaid for the property and accused the then city manager of influencing the process and threatening the independence of the auditor general’s office.

A group of city residents sought for the release of a computer drive given to Rust D’Eye and other related documents.

It was originally planned that the documents would be released on Thursday, Aug. 23, but City Clerk Andrew Brouwer says this was just not achievable for a number of reasons.

“We realized the scope of the records was larger than we anticipated,” he says.

In fact, Brouwer notes that the amount of records that will eventually be released has almost doubled. He added this fall’s municipal election also took up staff resources.

Jeff Davis is one of the local residents who made the original FOI request for the documents. To him, the city’s explanation is not cutting it.

“The city requested and was granted a 120-day extension to release all documents relevant to the [consolidated operations depot]. That expired on Aug. 23,” he told The Oshawa Express in an email.

To Davis, “there is no credibility in anything the city tells us.”

As of the end of the year, the documents had yet to be released.