Transcript: Council - 2026/05/14

Seats please will get started on our Council meeting this evening. Tonight we are here in City Hall for Victoria Sea Council Thursday May the 14th. We do have a fuller Council than you might be seeing as we have two members who are joining us online Councillor Gardner and Councillor Kim are both with us online Councillor Coleman is not able to join us this evening. As you well know and as it states on some of our public documentations we like to ensure that City Hall here is a place where civil discourse respected inclusion is paramount. And so we ask each of us to help make City Hall a place where we are all welcome and valued and where speakers and listeners honour the protocols that guide our work and that no form of discrimination is tolerated.

This evening we have 13 folks who wish to address Council and then after that we do have a public hearing this evening unusually considering a heritage designation for a property in Jubilee. But before we begin we always begin our meetings together before we get to do any work together acknowledging that the lens that we are sitting on have been stewarded for many many many generations by the incredible La Quangan people known to us today is the Song He's Nation and the Kosaps of Nation. We are very blessed by the fact that the nations continue to be generous with their time and work with us in various programs, projects and dreams, where we try and learn from one another and listen to one another and enjoy the time that we spend with one another. Reflecting on the past, looking straight ahead in the challenges that are in front of all of us each day, and always with an eye to the effect of the decisions that

we make for those who will come after us. And with that we continue to nurture their relationship, appreciate the relationship, and do all that we can to recognise it. With that they have taught us to say a simple thank you and to say hi Tricasm, but we add to it in our slow learning. To say hi to Casiem Niquhia, which is to say thank you, but also to express our thanks and our respect for those people who choose to spend any moment of their days doing good work on behalf of all of the community. And certainly that is true for everyone I believe who is in this room tonight and everyone who resides in the city as they make the choices they make each day.

So I should cassiam the Aqua to you all. This evening we're going to start our evening with a musical performance. We have with us tonight Brayden Barber and Marlo Carris who are post - secondary students in the diploma of music performance program at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. And so before we begin our work tonight, we will listen to both Bradenton and Marlow with a couple of pieces that will set the tone over to you too. This is Marlo. We're playing two bits of music for you. First one will be a solo piano work by WC. And then after we'll be a poem by Aaron Copeland and text written by Emily Dickinson. I hope you guys enjoy.

Everyone. Now next up, as promised, will be The World Fields Dusty by Aaron Copeland. And the poems, The Music written by Amedicness.

When we. Swap. To a. Die. Strong. Ti. Race. But. For. His friends. And I. Have friends with. The. Win. And. Ministry. When. I. First. Comes. To the. Face of. Heart.

Ready. Have a good meeting. Well we could not have it after that. There you go. Thank you both, Brandon Marlow and I would be remiss if I didn't note that in fact Marlowe is the daughter of one of our senior planning staff. Thank you for joining us tonight. That will move us on into the next item in our agenda and that would be a remarks from The Chair. I would only note tonight as I have earlier through our meetings during the day that today is a moose hide campaign day and you will see many folks walking around town today wearing a little square of moussite.

And this is of course part of a national campaign that was begun by indigenous men and boys leading the campaign some years ago now 15 years ago. Beginning a campaign to bring awareness to violence against remnant children. It's now become a very well - known and very well - supported campaign across the country. And we thank our indigenous partners for beginning that very important work. You will have seen, I'm sure earlier today, a walk that a number of community members undertook down near the legislature. And again an opportunity to bring awareness and education to these very critical issues. So you will have an opportunity to join in with that at your leisure. Uh, there are many places in Victoria and online to gather a little piece, a little square. You can get them here at City Hall for free. And so the next time that you're here, Drew ask for one to be given to you. That would take us on to the consideration of

the rest of our agenda. The next step would be a consideration of any late items, but there are no late items to be added to the agenda tonight. And so that takes us on to looking for a motion to approve the published agenda. Thanks Councillor Dell and Second of by Councillor Lawton. Any discussion of the published agenda. Not seeing any, and I will be checking periodically online to make sure that our colleagues online have a chance to join us. But seeing no comments, all those in favor of the published agenda. Anyone opposed? That is unanimous. Thank you very much for that. We do as I mentioned earlier, I have 13 people who would like to address Council tonight on a variety of different issues. Just before we start, I will just remind folks, although I'm sure most of you remember this. There are three lights on the podium when you come up to the podium.

There's a green light, which is indicating you should start. There's a yellow light which tells you that you have heavily one minute left, and then the red light when your time is up. You do have up to five minutes. You don't need to use them all, but you certainly are welcome to do so. Uh, after five minutes, uh, we will turn off your mic. So do try and time yourself, uh, accordingly. Uh, your role here is to address council so that we can learn from you and hear you and listen to you and connect with you after the fact. If in fact we have a desire or a need to follow up. We do have all of your contact information. Uh, it's important for you to address Council and not the audience, because this is your opportunity to help us learn. At the same time, audience, we will ask you to be respectful of the speakers and of the protocols that guide us in our

work here tonight. And so that means I know you're going to be enthusiastic and excited about some of our speakers. Please try and restrain yourselves. Because at the same time, if there were speakers for whom you perhaps have a little less support, they will be uncomfortable. And we want to make sure that they have a chance to speak their minds as they need. So let us get started with all of our speakers tonight. And interestingly, the very first person up is a video. And this is in fact, uh, by Ed Pullman with regard to cycling. And so staff, do you have this video ready to play? When you do. Throw it on. Victoria City Council.

It is a pleasure to address you tonight. Thank you very much for the opportunity. You boost volume there a little bit? I am here tonight to talk to you about how Victoria's bike lanes and benefit are region. A little bit about myself. I and Ascended resident for more Victoria resident. I live in the gorge Tilcombe area with my wife and two young children ages nine and four. My nine year old is approaching his teenage years. Is adolescence. And my wife and I don't want to have to drive our children everywhere. Until they can drive themselves. And we have no intention on buying them their own car because cars are extremely expensive. And we spend a lot of money on our mortgage and our essentials like food. I think a lot of families and young people are having this realization too. Uh, cars are expensive. And they are not the symbol status symbol of freedom that they were for a previous generation. In fact, it's quite

the opposite. We see that with auto dependency. Uh, children actually have less freedom. They get less exercise. And we see more preventable injury and death among children. The more cars we have in society. Uh, this is clearly seen, uh, in statistics Canada. Um, numbers unintentional injuries are the leading cause of preventable death. With motor vehicle collisions being the primary cause of injury related mortality for children over the age of one. That is a simple fact. And we can see this motor dome world that we live in clearly represented in the fact that children do not have the freedom of mobility that they used to have.

So here's a graph from a family studies and student at the United States. These numbers are taken from the states, but I would expect that we have very similar numbers up here in Canada. And I'd like you on Council to reflect on your own childhood. How much freedom you had to move around when you were young and think about the current generation and how little freedom they have. And I would like you to try to connect the two. Why is that. And I can tell you why. It's because we have way more cars, cars have gotten bigger. They're faster and they're everywhere. So cars harm children and impede their freedom. This is a simple fact.

It is a fact of basic physics. Force equals mass times times acceleration. We all learn this back in the seventh or eighth grade. Uh, so how do we reduce the death and injury of children from cars and give them their freedom back and make parents less afraid of giving their children the freedom that you had when you were a child. And it's really simple. We build safer streets. We put in traffic coming. We put in protected bike lanes. We slow cars down. So that they can do less harm to people when accidents and crashes happen. Because people make mistakes all the time, whether that's people driving cars or whether that's peep vulnerable users. Mistakes happen.

And we need to mitigate that harm. How do we mitigate that harm? It's very simple. Drive slower. Here is my son. Nine years old, cycling back from our swimming lesson. Uh, crystal pool. Uh, so, um, this is, uh, this is what our by group used to look like before the implementation of the gorge road bike lanes. We had a 7. 4 trip kilometer trip. To take essentially safe road. So no liking on arterial roads without a bike lane. I'm obviously not safe doing that with my child. So we took a 7. 4 kilometer root. And obviously a lot of the time we choose not to bike because frankly we didn't have the time. We have Saturday mornings, uh, 9 a. m. swimming classes. So not really in a position to get up that extra early bike this long distance. So usually I would either take him in my cargo bike or drive him. Uh, with the completion of the gorge road bike lane. This has

now been shortened to 4. 3 kilometers. So it's 3 kilometers less. And frankly, people aren't going to choose to bike much if they're having to detour 3 kilometers. So this safe by group provided by the leadership, um, at the City Victoria, benefits everyone in the region, including San Ed residents like myself. Uh, the last thing I want to mention quickly is that, um, I've talked to a lot of cyclists, novice and experience cyclists about this growing bike network that we have and all the more people trying to ride bikes. And one of the number one challenges I hear is wayfinding. So being able to safely get around and know how to get yourself around. For example, we have a great safe route from Holtane to downtown Via Cedar Hillcross Walnut Chambers and Princess. I can tell you very few people know about it. Uh, finally we need more direct investments, capital investments in wayfinding like we see in Vancouver. Thank you for your time. Thank

you very much. Ed. Up next is Helen Boyd, who is here in the room. Hello, Helen. Welcome. Yes, do pull that down a little bit just so you. How's that? Perfect. Okay. Whenever you're ready. I'm just waiting for the slides. Oh, slides. Right. Yes. There's a presentation. Okay. Thank you everyone, Mayor and Council. The opportunity to present to you on Climate Adaptation to heat waves in the city of Victoria. My name is Helen Boyd. I'm a registered nurse and mental health councillor and I'm a member of the Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment, the BC chapter. We're here to, I'm here tonight and with members of our organisation in support of the motion. Strategies and resources to require cooling 26 degree maximum in Victoria rental buildings. You will remember these headlines of the heat dome of 2021. In fact, it's 619 people that were killed during the he - dome. And here in the city of Victoria and greater Victoria 18 deaths occurred, according

to the BC Coroners, report. So this was an incredible heat wave. And so tonight we're here to recommend a public health recommendation of our maximum temperature of 26 degrees. In the 2021, he dome, people died because of the temperature inside and not the temperature outside. And that is according to Dr. Henderson of the BCCDC and her team. So what happened is indoor temperatures built up over consecutive days, but there was not an opportunity for cooling down at night. So I want to share with you that susceptible populations are between the range of 26 and 31 degrees. That's where people are at risk. And at 31 degrees, we have to physically remove them to a cooler place for them not to jeopardize their life. So who are the people that risk older adults during the heat dome also with chronic illness, who have mobility issues. So for them, it is not easy to move to a cooling station. People who live in poverty, those living with

mental illness or substance misuse. And those also who work outdoors. There is a continuum between heat exhaustion to heat stroke. And so you may have experienced heat exhaustion when you exercise vigorously outdoors, but it's very insidious to move from heat exhaustion to heat stroke. And that's what happened during the heat dome. And I'll just share with you a story of a woman who told me about her 78 year old husband who had chronic renal failure. During the heat dome, she noticed that he became increasingly confused, disoriented. And he actually had to hold on to furniture to walk in his apartment that was in the blazing sun. She quickly phoned 911. She went to the emergency room. He went to the emergency room. And of course was rehydrated with intravenous. But he was also hospitalized because of his chronic renal failure. They wanted to make sure he was okay. So that's an example of the health care costs of not addressing this issue. And the healthcare

cost of hospitalization emergency room visits far exceeds any strategies that we might take for cooling. So social vulnerabilities include social isolation, poverty, lack of support, but we are able to address no access to cooling and to change that. And I encourage us to do so. So I'm doing my share. I do heat wave readiness workshops and community in James Bay where I live where six deaths occurred. And I hear all the time about temperatures during the hedome of 36, 38, 39 in their apartments. I commend the city of Victoria for these extreme heat toolkits that are available in community centres. They include in erythermometers for core temperature, but also these nifty little endometers that people can have in their apartments to measure temperature and know to remove themselves when the temperature rises beyond 26. But that's not enough. We need to manage indoor temperature. And I commend new west again for adopting this bylaw very recently. And what I like about it, um, and I

think that it's really commendable is that it's not prescriptive. So landlords can do the attaining the 26 degrees in different ways. Installing thermal curtains, for instance, appropriate insulation can bring down the temperature significantly. Awnings reflective window coverings. And yes, all the way to electric heat pumps. And so electric heat pumps, yes, they could cause, you know, expenses. But what's really commendable is in this motion is the fact that there's a request to the ministry of housing to make sure that it does not lead to renovictions or increases in rent. Finally, the benefits of the motion or fewer illnesses and deaths for equity, it's protecting the renters and people at risk that I've mentioned. It reduces the strain on health care in terms of economics, but also on the workers themselves. And also in terms of climate change, it aligns with municipal retrofits and heat pump strategies. So thank you, uh, Council for the first step today and look forward to working with you. Victoria can

really be a climate leader. And most importantly protect health at the same time. Thank you. Thank you very much, Helen. Up next is Charlene Constant. Charlene in the room. Oh yes, there you are. Come right up to the podium. Pull it down a little so you can speak right into it. Hello. Very good. Yes. Thank you. Whenever you're ready. All right. So my name is Charlene Constant. And I'm from Manitoba. I'm Swampy Cree. And I thought I would just read a little. I guess, uh, some pages from my journal. So I'll start by just things that I've noticed. Um, being in the community, but also, uh, being active in a virtual sense so that empowerment can be something to be strive for instead of the neglect that seems so apparent. By the oppression that's enforced.

The level of harassment sometimes that resource centres that are supposed to be helping the most vulnerable are being perpetrated by staff members just by bumping into somebody. Well, that gets somebody kicked out for the night and they really needed that place for the night. But because that person was careless and clumsy around the staff member and bumped into that person, well, they had to find somewhere else. And. I just, uh, I think because I've been around some of the resource centres, I bear witness what is happening and it's, uh, there's still so much violence there sometimes. The help is the good ones, but there's also ones that are, um, enabling misconduct.

Conduct not be fitting of a staff member when harassment or. Shameful language where someone just asks you as a washroom at a resource centre. Which one are you doing? Number one or number two? This is what a staff member is asking someone that wants to use the washroom. Remember. And I remember growing up and we didn't have the signs of no one can use the washroom. We didn't have those signs, but now it's like, it's become the norm. And I don't find it really is normal because before we were a lot more compassionate when we were considering our neighbours. And now I walk around the city and the city sometimes smells so much like. Bodily fluids. And blood. And it hasn't been cleaned in a while. And I don't know if this is the responsibility of the business or the city. But walking on our own city on clean sidewalks, um, we'll keep the illnesses away. Because places are not safe to be yet. There

are. So many diseases that are contagious so easy too. To catch. And they're very invasive. They're very, and sometimes they're even weaponized against people. Friends that'll be enemies, but then, you know, they'll act out in defiance because for some reason, I may not fit into the scheme of things. I call them out on what they're doing wrong and how that's arming somebody else. And it becomes this, uh, until it gets addressed directly. And I, and I've had to tell people directly, you are stalking me. Stop it. You are harassing me. Stop it. So this is, uh, what, uh, I go through and I just wanted to share that with you as well so that maybe less colonialism can be used against us while we're reaching out for help. And more arts to be offered for the homeless because each one will pick precisely where they want to excel in. And develop that concept to get out of the harm's way because it's been taught to

them since they were a child. Because their parents were oppressed too. And so it passed from one generation to the next. And now it's like, it's like I have to rewire my mind because I'm investing in worry. Who taught me that? Well, my mom still does that. But it doesn't help anybody. And now it's just, okay, bye. Thank you, Charlene. Next up is Owen Haley. Is Owen Haley with us tonight. There you go. Come on up, Owen. Oh, just up to the podium, please. Owen, just up to the podium, please. Odom. Just up to the podium, please. Yeah. Yeah. That's where the mic is. This is just for you guys to read. It's like my resume or whatever. Okay. You can actually give that to our stopperson. If you don't need it. If you don't need it to speak to. Very good. Thank you. Thanks, Becky. That's okay. Uh, basically just says, um, my family's been Victoria for a long time. 1848, the Queen Victoria

gave us a table dining room table. We still have that. Um, my mom has it. My father started shakes by Haley back in 1848. Uh, he passed away 2012 when I took it over. And, uh, had the name to the state. But I'm here to talk about, um, homelessness and the problem with washrooms. And we have a few, we have things that are happening to us that it's inflicting upon you guys. Reasons why we're angry and we lash out against the regular community. And I believe washrooms storage and laundry are part of the issue and could really help ease attention between the homeless people and the regular community. So when you're homeless and you since 2023, for those people can't see it, 24, um, when you're homeless and you have to use a washroom, you can't use it in any regular place. And it comes on you and you have to use it in a bush or something. You come on there, you feel disgusting.

You're angry. You're mad at the world and you lash out at people. Um, it never works out well for, for anyone. Should cleanliness goes out the window. Um, so if there was a couple more washrooms put in, somewhere around the Fernwood area, somewhere around Johnson and, or sorry, uh, Cook and Paston area, uh, maybe one, just a couple more washrooms. Urinals would be good a few years. We'd be good in a few, uh, actual washrooms would be good. If you could figure out a way to have showers at these washrooms, uh, would make a big difference as well. Because I mean, besides, um, Crystal Poole, there's no real washrooms showers. Being showered, being clean, it makes you feel more human. So, you know, when you're out there, you really feel like people are looking at you and downgrading you. And, you know, they're looking at you like you're the piece of nothing. And it really, it really boosts the confidence to have a nice shower

and feels good about yourself again. So I thought maybe if you could think about putting, you know, the homeless people too, a lot of them want to work, but they can't do a nine to five. So if you could create these two to four hour shifts where, um, they come in and they can literally just do a two hour shift. Here's your 3540 bucks. There you go. Have a good day. You could put them in with a security guard maybe. Or, you know, you could put them in these washrooms to be a tendance and clean them. Lots of little places where they could help when, when, you know, instead of getting a 95 job, you could just give them a little bit of a role to do. Storage is a huge issue. We're throwing things in bushes. We're leaving them outside areas and things are getting stolen. We're blaming each other. And meanwhile, you forgot the other bush that you were at. And it's really

hard. Creates a lot of hostility amongst us. And when we get hostile, again, we last showed against, um, the rest of the regular community. So we got the storage laundry. All the Victoria needs a bit more laundry. I talked to everyone from police officers to regular people on the street. And if I was actually going to apply for grant maybe by putting a laundromat downtown, I think would be a really good idea. Um, everybody needs an extra laundromat. And run the fall bay area. I was thinking if you could get a bottle depot and a recycling depot in there, uh, it could kind of minimize the travel with some of the elderly. And you could get homeless people working that. If you did a 24 hour bottle depot homeless people, we're up all night. We're doing whatever all night long. So, you know, if we're sitting in a bottle depot, throwing cans and just other bins and packing them or whatever gives us something to

do, uh, I don't, this is definitely a big struggle for us when you're idle. You're thinking of things you can break into and people you can hurt. Cause you need money to do whatever. Right. Not me personally. Um, so these things, if we could ease, they would ease attention. They would allow the police officers to have been more breathing space because if we're, if the homeless people in the community are less struggling less, they're not going to lash out as much. And they're not going to try to be robbing people. They're not going to be felt, feel like they're so downgraded as human beings. Thank you very much. Thank you everyone. Up next is Ted Smith. Ted.

Home Ted. Nice to see you again. Um, thank you. Um, thank you Mayor and Council for giving me this opportunity to speak. My name's Ted Smith. I represent the Victoria Canada's buyers club at 1625 Quader Street. I come to you tonight to try and avoid a humanitarian crisis. That is unfolding in the streets victory right now. Her club has been in existence here for 30 years. And over that time we've prodded ourselves and providing the highest quality products to patients that we possibly could under whatever circumstances. But now that is threatened and we have patience that are afraid that if we're shut down. That they will have to take the maid program that they've already signed up to in some cases, but they've kept going because they've got the quality of life. They've not expected from us. Or others that will just commit suicide because this is, uh, the only alternative to the prescription drugs that they found that gives them life worth living. And

just others that will die without the medicines that we provide. That's something that's unbearable. The federal medical marijuana programs are unconstitutional and inadequate. And they have been from the very beginning. Time and time again, the city's even written in support of us to that effect. To both health Canada and the solicitor general only to be ignored time and time again. We've been to court many times. We've won every time, including at the Supreme Court of Canada where we made edibles and extracts legal for patients. But health Canada replied with a 10 milligram limit, which is completely inadequate for people trying to fight cancer or deal with chronic pain and not take opioids or other painkillers to live equality of life. The federal program also doesn't allow restorefront medical access, something that is critical, especially to new patients, cancer patients in the elderly that are just learning to use cannabis as medicine. But also the poor in the homeless that don't have credit cards and homes

and doctors that will necessarily sign them up to their programs. Recently, we've gone through not only our fourth rate since legalization, um, but you may have heard that as of last week, uh, the landlord is facing civil forfeiture for his building. Uh, that we've been in and facing proceeds of crime charges. And at the same time, our vice president and my girlfriend claim the clain as a lean against her home from fines from previous raids where we were on Johnson Street. And in those, in that case, the landlord never had civil forfeiture against him. And it seems very extreme that now the province would come down with such, uh, heavy - handed measures when after the last raid, three years ago, we filed lawsuit and an injunction and for judicial review and thought that our political efforts had quelled the provinces urged to shut down a club despite the potential suffering that may occur as a result.

We are now faced with a very scary situation. That we are pleading our city's help to face. Not only with advocating to the province to withhold on any further enforcement actions until we get a judicial review. We just want our day in court. We want to argue that health candleness programs continue to violate the charter of rights and freedoms. Continue to prevent the access to the medicines that our patients need, not only here in Victoria, but across the country. And so we just ask for that day in court, uh, in the meantime, there will be maybe facing an eviction, which could end us, uh, in serious trouble if the city doesn't provide us with help.

So we're even asking if the city, uh, if it comes to that, we'll give us a refuge in a building. The old, the recently purchased Urbana building has some space. There's two locations there. Um, the one that's further back on the lot, uh, maybe made wheelchair accessible, I think. And we might be able to move in there and continue to exist. And under the sanctuary of our local government. And so you'll be hearing from our members and myself in the weeks coming up pleading for, oh, thank you for your time. Thank you, sir.

Sir, if you could take your seat, please, so we don't have to remove you. Sorry for the disruption. Thank you, Ted. Up next is Jacob Haas. This Jacob with us tonight. We won the war on marijuana. Yet the government is still served. Please, please take your seat outside or remove yourself so we don't have to. Is Jacob with us tonight. Jacob. Jacob. Very good. Jacob, why don't you just pause for a beat? Sure. We'll let our guests depart and then we'll get you started in a minute.

I think we're good. When you're ready, Jacob, go ahead. Um, hi. My name is Jacob. I live on Glasgow Street by Topaz Park. And yeah, I have two kids. One's a two year old and one's a six year old. And the other kids on the street, young kids, and, um. I reached out to the city about installing some speed bumps. And things were going quite well. Um, I was informed that in 2021, there was like a speed assessment. Like the overall volume of traffic is acceptable for that type of road, but that there was, um, enough people speeding that it put us on a list to get speed bumps. And, uh, that was exciting. And, um, like, uh, one of the speed bump guys was on the street. Drawing where they were going to go in. And I said, Hey, there's like a construction project that's happening. So no, I didn't know about that. And essentially what happened was, you know, as that project was

wrapping up, um, well, actually, it's still going on. It's taking a long time, but, um, it looked like it was wrapping up and I reached out back to the city, the speed bump team. And they said, you know what? There's two other projects that are meant to happen. Undergrad, like the sewer and. What I forget the other underground pipe. And so we're going to, uh, we're going to delay the speed bumps. And, um. That was, uh, disappointed here. And I said, well, you know, what are we supposed to do? Like the city's identified a problem. That people are speeding. We have children on the street.

So he's known about it since 2021. And I could imagine that like if we did another assessment, it would be worse because people are driving faster. That was COVID. And it's frustrating and disappointing. And, um, like, like we, we really just, we, we don't want our kids to get hit. By car. And I joke that I would shed one tier. But like, that's all we want. And it's, it's the seat. Like the city's complicated. I understand that. There's a lot of projects. Those projects could have been coordinated. I was told that, but they weren't because of the complex nature of different budgets and bureaucracy. And so like, and there's no, even firm time for when those projects are going to happen. So I'm saying, you know, and I was told there's no interim solution. You have to wait. I have an email stating that. And I'm saying just put in three speed bumps. It costs 2, 100 dollars the speed bump. I'm watching the project.

You know, I was also told, you know, oh, if we put them in. And then they'll get torn up, a taxpayer is going to come and say, Hey, why'd you do that? What a waste of money. What are we supposed to say to them? And it's like the answer is so obvious. There are people speeding. We want to protect children. It costs a bit of money to do that. Um, so my request is, if there's nothing in the interim and the firm time for when those are going to be the two other projects they're going to be done, then just put the speed bumps in.

Please. That's all I have. Thank you, Jacob. Thank you. Appreciate it. Next up is Verna Stone. Is Bruno with us tonight? Great. Please pull that mic down a little. Yes. Thank you. Um, the title seems like I want to create rat habitat, which is quite the opposite. Anyways, good evening, Mayor and Council. I'm a senior on a fixed income attempting to grow as much food as possible. And I take advantage of Victoria's get growing in the city program. In recent years, rats have become a serious problem. They've eaten my apples even before they're ripe. They will eat half an apple and move on to eat the half of another. They have eaten my tomatoes, peaches, figs, and even dug into the ground and eaten my beautiful golden beets that were ready to be picked. I've used the spring - loaded traps and killed many. It is not a pleasant task. However, even when I have string embedded in the bait, many traps have been sprung,

bait eaten and no rats caught. I feel I am creating smarter and smarter rats. I had the traps in my apple tree and came home one day to find a younger rat caught dangling by one arm. He had obviously died a painful and slow death. And that was so distressing. Then something even more distressing happened. I inadvertently caught a bird. So I am done with traps. A very kind and helpful city gardener pointed out that the IV growing on the rock in front of the building I live in. Is a haven for rats. She pulled the Ivy apart and showed me several nests. My amazing and wonderful landlord helped me remove three truckloads of Ivy.

And I'm now planting the rock up with native species, sedums and knicknic and all the things that are good for our environment and the birds and bees and butterflies here. At the neighbouring apartment, the Aedra at 1249 - 4 Street, there is an IV condo tower of rat habitat. A very strong rat smell can be detected. This mound of IV is over 15 feet tall. The Ivy encroaches on the fencing of the property at 1080 MOSS, my neighbour at this address, Virachach is very elderly and hardly able to remove this invasive destructive IV on the other side of her fence. It should not be her problem to deal with. I have written a letter to owner and manager who I don't even know it is.

I just sent it to the building. Um, telling him of the IV problem and indicating I am willing to help cut it down. I have had no response. When I contacted the city about rats and invasive species on private land, I was told not her problem. I feel that in due of the recent Hantavirus outbreak, the city should be very concerned about the proliferation of rats in the city. Destroying their habitat is a good beginning. Ivy is so destructive in so many ways. It's weakens and kills trees. They will be more susceptible to be blown down in windstorms and we will be getting more of those because we're in a L ninho situation. And they can call falling trees can cause fires and kill people and destroy property. Anyways, IV decreases the local biodiversity. And it's, it's not good. It's not good stuff. So, so anyways encouraging owners of private land to keep IV under control would be a very proactive approach to discouraging rats.

I have a great appreciation for the intelligence of rats. However, rats are known vectors for disease. The city needs to develop a serious plan to keep them in check. As I previously stated, removing their IV habitat is a good beginning. Find out what has been most effective in other areas plagued by rats, creating and protecting habitat for owls and other species who use rodents as a food source is also a natural and cost - effective way to deal with this problem. Anyways, thank you. And, uh, I hope someone will get on the RAT problem. Thank you. And the IV problem. Thanks very much, Bruno. Up next is Ashley Lawson. Welcome.

Thank you. Do pull up that mic. I will just pull you up my notes. There you go. All right. Well, thank you Mayor and Council for the opportunity to speak with you today. I am here to voice my support for the motion brought forward by Councillor's Dell Thompson and Caradona on beginning to explore strategies and resources to require cooling in Victoria rental buildings, as well as to share some additional considerations for the Council. I'm aware you had a very fullsome discussion on this topic earlier today. So I will try not to repeat any previously touched on topics. I personally have lived in rental properties my entire adult life. Over the past 10 years and seven properties. I have never lived in a rental unit that provided cooling. But I have lived in multiple that prohibited AC units. I've been fortunate to call Victoria home for the past four years while completing my medical degree at the island medical program. My current apartment building in Sanich

does not have centralized cooling and was previously a 55 plus building. So this is an element of concern as many of my neighbours have various financial, physical and medical constraints that puts them at elevated risk of extreme heat related harms. During the 2021 heat dome, I was working out at emergency shelter in Vancouver's downtown east side. So I have firsthand experience with the damage that extreme heat can do to those that are vulnerable to it. And the lack of adequate cooling during this period did lead to those deaths as previously touched on. And all of those occurred indoors, in homes, in buildings and spaces that did not have the means to provide cooling or to people who did not have the means to relocate to cooler areas. While it saddens me to know that many of those deaths could have been prevented, I am very glad and grateful to the Council for bringing forward emotion to begin the process of putting protections in place to

prevent something like this from happening again. As the items raised in the motion, um, I agree that seeking advice from other communities such as new West that have forged similar paths is a great place to start. Restricting the prohibition of cooling equipment, um, stopping landlords for betting them would be a great first step, but it would only protect a select portion of renters who have the financial and physical means to procure and install AC units. And many of our vulnerable community members would not fit that description. Um, relating to the BC building code of 2024 that added that temperature cap of 26 degrees. That applies to new builds beyond 2024, looking around Victoria. We don't see many new builds going on at the moment. So one option that I didn't hear discussed could be to investigate whether the provincial government could expand the building code to any existing buildings that are seeking additional building permits to then adhere to the updated 2024 code. And thereby

be required to provide cooling. If they're already invested in building, they might as well invest in their residence. Um, in regards to the bylaw, to adapt the rental property standards of maintenance act similar to kind of what New West is doing, that is an interesting prospect. But as of February, 2026, there are many residential spaces that are not covered by the residential TENSEA Act. To my understanding, therefore they're not expressly covered by the rental property standards of maintenance by law here in Victoria. This would include transitional housing, emergency shelters, rehabilitative housing, and assisted living. So as you begin your exploration and drafting of methods to protect our community, I urge you to carefully consider the manner in which you choose to do so to best encompass all residents, not just those with financial means and not just those covered by the RTA. You have the opportunity today as you start along with path to lay a comprehensive groundwork that can avoid the need for further

revisions and duplication of effort. I know change takes a while, but climate change will not wait until all ducks are in a row. The temperature fluctuations are going to continue increasing. And as it currently stands, many residences don't have adequate climate resilience measures. I'm grateful to hear of your unanimous passing of today's motion. I'm glad the first initial steps can begin to be taken to protect the health and safety of its citizens and prevent needless loss of life due to extreme heat. Thank you very much. I look forward to your port in July. Thank you very much, Ashley. Up next is Harland Bird. And I believe Harland is on the phone. Is that correct? Is Harland ready to go on the phone. Yep. Okay. Yeah, we can hear you. Go ahead whenever you're ready. Fantastic.

Uh, I apologise for not being able to be there in person. Uh, but I also wanted to, uh, call in and support this motion to expore strategies and resources to acquire cooling. And Victoria's rental buildings on behalf of the Victoria Tenants Union or Vic TU, which I represent. It's now five years. Since high summer heat caused the death of about two dozen people in greater Victor Victoria and many more across DC with most of these deaths occurring in homes and multi - unit buildings without adequate cooling system, according to the BCE chief corner. And yet there's still no legal requirement for rental homes built prior to 2024 to include spaces that do not exceed 26 degrees Celsius. Um, as Councillor's know generally considered to be the maximum safe ambient indoor temperature. This is a major lapse of government's responsibility to safeguard the lives and well - being of their constituents. And with spring and summer heat continuing to rise, heat protections for tenants are urgently

needed. So big to you calls for a timely enactment of a bylaw or by laws that require at least one room in every rental unit in the city for exceeding 26 degrees. And which prohibit landlords from preventing tenants from further protecting themselves from unsafe temperatures by installing air conditioning unit. To be clear, however, it must be the landlord's responsibility to install the necessary cooling systems and to maintain at least one room at 26 degrees or cooler. Simply allowing tenants to expend their own resources installing air conditioning must not be sufficient to discharge this responsibility and will result in the preventable death and injury of tenants due to Heathstroke. And tenants cannot be expected to pay more than they already are for the quote unquote luxury of being safe in their homes. Rents and Victoria are already far too high with a recent Canadian Centre for POLLE TE's reporting that this city is a third most unaffordable in the country for renters, just behind Vancouver and

Toronto. And moreover, thousands of former and would - B tenants are already languishing on the city streets. Because they can't afford a home. Allowing landlords to raise rents to pay for cooling systems will only cast Bill More tenants out onto the street where they are hardly safer than they would be in an overheated home. This means that great care must be taken to ensure that landlords do not evict tenants in the name of renovations to install cooling systems as the absence of vacancy control and BC typically translates such displacement into higher rents. And landlords do not pass on the cost of installing cooling systems. The tenants, for example, through the additional rent increases for capital expenditures, loot poll, which allows above guideline rent increases to pass on repair and maintenance expenses to tenants. This will not be easier straightforward. Uh, the VICU is well aware that implementing this legislation will be challenging. But these challenges simply must be faced and overcome. Tenants who comprise majority

of Victoria's population need homes to live in, not slow cookers. So just to summarize, the Victoria Tending Union support for any legislation resulting from this motion is contingent upon three considerations. First, it must mandate one safe room parental unit, not per building. Uh, second, it must be the landlord's responsibility to provide and install the necessary cooling systems, not the tenants. And third, great effort must be made to prevent landlords from either evicting tenants in the name of renovations to install cooling systems or to pass on the cost of installing those cooling systems. Lieutenants. And we think this should include calling on the provincial government to institute vacancy control and additional rent increases for capital expenditures.

So we applaud Council for a passing this motion this morning, uh, and for finally taking a step towards preventing a repeat of the rash of heat deaths, the tenants suffered in 2021. And we urge you to do everything necessary to bring a heat protection flylaw for tenants into existence as US Minister has recently done. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Harland. Up next is Shannon Houston. Shannon with us. Oh, Shannon is a video that's correct. When you're ready to play that stuff, please go ahead. Hi, I'm Dr. Shannon Houston, a family physician here in Victoria and a volunteer with the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment. Can we boost the volume? Speaking in support of the motion before you today to require cooling in Victoria's rental buildings. Every day in my practice, I see patients whose health is already at risk. Elderly patients with respiratory disease, chronic illness or mental health conditions that worsen with heat and smoke. With this summer forecasted

to be one of the hottest on record and wildfire season looming, I'm deeply concerned. Our city's high proportion of seniors means we must act now to prevent another tragedy, like the 2021 heat dome. We're 619 British Columbians died. 98 percent of them indoors and most over the age of 70. This motion's about fairness and survival. Extreme heat exacerbates respiratory and cardiovascular disease. Triggers dehydration and kidney injury. And worsens stress, anxiety, and cognitive impairment. The people most vulnerable to extreme heat, including those without cooling options, those with disabilities, or taking medication that increase heat sensitivity. Place at 1. 3 times higher odds of hospitalization during heat waves. For my patients with schizophrenia, the risk is three times higher than the average British Columbian. Older adults, those are pre - existing conditions such as hard along disease and people who are socially isolated are at the greatest risk. No one should die in their home because they can't escape the heat. Victoria has a chance to lead.

Newest Minster recently passed a very similar motion, requiring landlord's ensure that at least one room in each home stay at or below 26 degrees Celsius. This motion asks for a staff report to explore the same here. A modest life - saving step. He pumps, which reduce heat, cool, and filter the air can be part of that solution. But we need standards to ensure no renter is left behind. The community charter and the local government act give you the authority to regulate rental housing for public health. The residential tenancy act unfortunately doesn't specify maximum indoor temperatures, but you can. And you have the moral obligation to do so because climate change won't wait. This isn't about comfort, but about health and equity. Low - income tenants, seniors, and people with disabilities often have the fewest options to cool their homes. A 26 - degree cap is necessary to protect lives. Our energy to support this motion.

My patients are counting on you. Let's make sure no one in Victoria. Suffers or dies because their home is too hot to survive. Thank you. Thank you, Shannon. Up next we have another video, I believe Ken Johnson. Hello. I am Ken Johnson. And I am speaking to you on behalf of the friends of Centennial Square. A group dedicated to the revitalization. Of Centennial Square. For many years, Victoria has contemplated a fine new building, ordering centennial square. And encompassing the site of the single - story building at the corner of Fisgard and Douglas and the existing city - owned parking lot. Many proponents speak of the main branch of the greater Victoria Public Library. Being a prime occupant. Parking for the new structure would be underground.

And restaurants, childcare, and a senior centre are contemplated. Expanded office space for a growing city staff and an additional residential component. Are also possibilities. Today, library dreams may seem far off. But. Our current budgetary restrictions may preclude any positive action. Planning could and should be instigated. The greater Victoria Public Library annular report states that the library is more than a building. It is a vibrant hub, where curiosity thrives, and meaningful connections blossom. A place to connect. Discover, and imagine. So, while we imagine new buildings, are there steps the city could take to turn centennial square into such a hub. The friends of Centennial Square wish to suggest the city permit immediate installation. Of a little free library within this square. Every neighbourhood within greater Victor Victoria is a number of little free libraries. It was recently reported that over 800 have been installed. But a closer review of the little free library map indicates that our few within the downtown core. A little free library

is open 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, and users do not need identification. A fixed address or an email address to borrow a book. We previously had a little re - library in the square. It was relocated for reasons cited as vandalism. During a tie when camping was allowed in the square. A library box was moved to the front of the crystal garden. But it has not been seen since 2022. The city has now increased security in the fuck square threefold. We are sure the city has the resilience to adapt and change and stand up to such senseless vandalism. The foreman placement of our little free libraries is indicative of the magitative and creative skills. Of our citizens. They can be large and small, colourful, and simple. Some reflecting an avatar of the nearby building, and some adding multiple divisions. And adjacent seating areas. A little free library could be freestanding. Or could be firmly attached to the convenience surfaces of nearby

walls. The intense presence of bylaw and security services should alleviate any concerns of vandalism. Victoria place making network. States that little free libraries help create an inclusive, inviting public space. Where neighbours and strangers. And meet each other to share books, ideas, or just small talk. We are sure you would agree. That Centennial Square could be such as public space. So how do we move this request forward. Which department should we contact. PERC. Facility services, planning. The friends of Centennial Square can supply the unit. What design. We can consult with whichever department is appropriate. And city public works can install, but we need help and direction.

Please have someone contact us. At friendsofcentennial Square at Gmail. com. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ken. Up next is Janie Rollins, but I do not see Janie here. Oh, you're hiding, you're hiding! There you go. One up, Janie. Nice to see you here. Nice to see you again. And I'm always quick into the point, as always. We know we need more, and I'm talking rental housing and low - income rental housing. And there's no it's or butts about what we need it. To help the people so that they can go from the street into the shelter, into low - income. Unless, of course, they happen to be well - educated and can get themselves a good job. Sometimes this happens, and having worked in a shelter for all of those years in my life, there was a few tenants like that. So I want to make sure that people don't have to, and get them off the street as soon as possible.

And I would like, if possible, all of the shelters to be, we were very firm. Ours is the second oldest shelter in the country. So, uh, people would fight to get into our shelter, even though it only had 17 beds, you know. But we were a dry shelter, so we had a lot of people who were on drugs. But they found it was very difficult to go off when they're surrounded by it. That's why I convinced the youth sheltered to have the top floor drug - free. But we need more dry shelters. Because as part of the transition. And we need to be more positive about the people on the street. I keep hearing negative stuff all the time. Go on job! You know? And the presumption that they're all there, because of taking drugs.

This is not the case. Many never, ever touched drugs until they were on the street. And it was a means of coping. Unfortunately, they became addicted. And so this makes it more and more difficult for them. And I wish people would really understand this more. And I would just like to see more and more help. So that we can get the people on with their lives. And the understand that people, everybody has a right. To have a wonderful future. And if it isn't right there at this moment, let's help them get it. And go on that way. Some people are able to do it themselves.

But most that are on the street have run into difficulties in their lives. And so they're going through a stage, which is very difficult and hard to get. In a positive direction. So I just want more dry shelters, and I want more low - income housing. Possibly, and I don't know if you can do this, check the income, because sometimes people could be in low - income housing. And then to get a job, and then they get a promotion. So I don't know if you check this, but they might be eligible to move out of there and open a space for somebody who needs it.

And we do need more rental housing anyway. And I'd like to mention one other thing, because I do care about all people. I have some of my relatives that have left. Victoria. Because they couldn't afford to buy a house here. And they wanted to have children. And they couldn't do both. And they've moved to Alberta. And they found a house. So what was going for one million hundred thousand here. In Victoria. In Calgary was 450, 000. And they found a place outside 20 minutes outside, 150, 000. They say it's a dump, but it gives them the belief that they can have a child and go on with their life. So I'd like to thank everybody here for listening to me. And I liked all the other people that spoke as well. I thought they were very, very informative. Thank you very much. Thank you, Janie.

Although I missed Janie in my peering, I don't see Diana. No, she can't make it this evening. Okay, that's great. Good to know. Thanks very much, Janie. Uh, we'll put her on the list for next time. Uh, that does then conclude our speakers for addressing Council this evening. And so we will now move on to the second part of our meeting, which is The Public Hearing. We don't do these very often, so I'm going to go through a little bit of information for folks. So public hearings these days can be, you can participate in them in five different ways. You can watch the meeting live, um, which is online at Victoria. ca Council meetings. You can submit written comments either by email to publicarings at Victoria. ca or by regular mail to legislativeservices, or you can just drop off your litter at City Hall. You can submit a pre - recorded video to public hearings at Victoria. ca, and you can also call us during

the discussion. And speak with us live via telephone, and we'll give the numbers up for that shortly. And of course you can be here tonight and attend in person. Just as a reminder again, our public hearing process has five different parts. First city stuff give us a brief overview of what the application actually is. And, uh, what are the material factors that Council should consider. And then the applicant has the opportunity to make a presentation of up to 15 minutes if they so choose. The public then has a chance to ask questions of the applicant. Uh, the applicant doesn't answer directly. I take notes of those questions. And then when all of the questions have been asked, then I will ask those of the applicant.

Finally, Council has a chance to ask questions of both the applicant and the staff before making their final decision after deliberating. So those are the five parts of the hearing process. So this is, as it notes on the Council Agenda, the Heritage Designation Application for the property at 1527 Red Vern Street. So first of all, I'm going to turn to our able staff, who I will hope will begin by identifying themselves for the public who will then give us a brief summary of the application and the matters that Council should consider. PENICH and good evening through the mirror. Uh, my name is Crystal Stevenau. I'm the senior Heritage Planner for Development Services. Um, so this is an owner initiated Heritage designation application for the property at 1527 Redfern Street for the purposes of designating the property as a municipal Heritage site and protecting the exterior of the house. The local government act requires a public hearing for Heritage designation bylaws and the matters for Council's

consideration this evening are whether there is sufficient Heritage Value and character to merit and approve the Heritage designation. Thank you for that, Steven. Is the applicant here present? Yes, you are. Do you wish to make a presentation. You're sorry, can you say that again? You do. Come on up then. If you're going to make a presentation, you've got 15 minutes. That's okay. You have up to 15 minutes. How about that? And, uh, do you have a presentation that staff have for you or are you going to? No, I just want to speak a few words. Very good. What were you? Um, I'd like to thank the opportunity for being here, um, for mayor and council.

My name is Debbie Campbell. I have lived at 1527 Redfordn Street for almost 27 years. And it is very much my home. And, um, I fell in love with it because it wasn't older home. Um, a little brief story. I grew up in Newfoundland and Labrador. And my parents are 90 and they keep asking me when I'm going to get a real house, a new house. But getting the heritage designation is really important to me for a number of reasons. One is self - study neighbourhood is a very unique, almost little secret within greater Victoria. There's only several streets. Um, I had the privilege of raising both of my young men, my adult son's there.

Of course, I'm very proud of. Um, and I had the wonderful opportunity of learning the history of my home. And it is an incredible history. Um, at one point in time, it was part of Oak Bay. It is on original co - sailids land. It was part of the PEMERSON farms. These lots were sold in Toronto. And throughout Canada. And people bought them site on the scene. Oat by Avenue was one of the first places that public transportation in the city of Victoria. Everything developed this house is this bill with love. And I would love to see it go back to its former glory. Um, everything from the plaster within the house is all handmade to the stained glass. Um, it was risen at one point in time for a duplex, which has been a rental and has been provided a rental for Victoria residents for many, many years. I think it also, um, I hope will be benefit to the neighbourhood association. Because if

you take a walk within those few streets, you'll see many houses like mine. And when I first became this process, um, in talking to the Association, we didn't know anything about the history of it. And, um, it was, it was built as the last street in South Jubilee. It was built in 1921. And one of the most amazing parts and history is parallel. Is that particular area in a time when women couldn't own homes. And they were single mums and they were single women. They were to the royal Jubilee hospital. That was me. I worked as a social worker there for 30 years. And I raised my two sons there as a single mum. And I don't know if I can really express the importance of that. And how very unusual it was. I've also had the privilege. Of through a mutual acquaintance of meeting somebody that grew up in that home. And it was only a few months ago. I picked up an order

at thrifties. With my address. And she said, do you live there. And, um, I knew of her. She told me about her childhood in that home. She told me about the playground. She told me everything her father built. She asked me of the staying glass still there. Is that covered still there. I've welcomed her to come and see it. It is, um, it's part of history. And I want to keep it part of history. And I know that in Victoria and Oak Bay, you know, in so many places, people have very strong opinions about when somebody purchases a house and does a tear down. And I respect that when everybody gets that permit. They can build whatever's approved. But I want to keep my house the way it's always meant to be. And that's a Heritage Hulk. So I'd like to thank you all for the opportunity of speaking. Um, yeah, thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Ms. Gamble. Are there any members of the public here in the gallery who have any questions about this application. Ella ask for a second time if there is anyone here in the gallery who have any questions about this application. And before I ask for a third and final time, I'm going to go to our staff and ask if the one on the phone who is called in to ask any questions. No callers, Mayor. So we have, um, adopted a hybrid model since COVID where we give an opportunity for anyone who may be watching to take a few minutes to call in and ask questions. And so right now we're going to take a five minute break and during that time, I'm going to suggest if there is anyone who's listening or watching who does have a question about this application, they can phone in at 778 698 240 with the participation code of 155 1794 followed by the number sign. We

will, as I say, break for five minutes. And at the end of that time, we'll check to see if anyone has phoned in with a question. And if not, then we'll proceed with the next stage. So I have 754. So we'll reconvene at 759.

Not seeing anyone indicating that, then I'm going to call the public portion of this public hearing closed and go then to the fourth part of our process, which is to ask Council if they have any questions for our staff or the applicant about this application. We do have a quorum despite what you see because I have a number of people online. Any questions from Council? Not seeing any questions from Council. Okay. Then the last thing up is for us to consider the merits of the application itself. So we'll look first for someone to move third reading of the Heritage Designation Application for 1527 Redford Street.

Thanks Council Cardona. Is your second account Sir Hammond? Either Caradona or Hammond wish to comment on the application? No. Yes? No? It's up to you. You're the mover. You can do what, as you like. Thanks, Samir. I'm happy to support Heritage Designation for 1527 Redfern. It was a very compelling story. It's a charming home. It's maybe not the oldest home that we will have designated. But I think it's old enough and it's craftsmen ship. I think align with the spirit and intent of our bylaws. So I think it's very easily supportable. PERIMEREN is the secondary, anything to add? Nothing to add? Any other members of Council wish to speak? Just check online of both of our councillors with us. Nope. All right, then for third reading. Yes, go ahead. Councillor Lawton, absolutely. Feel free. Thanks to you, Mayor. Just a quick last minute. Thing here, I just actually want to thank the proponent for bringing this forward. It's not always easy to go through the

process of Heritage designation. But I feel that it's vitally important for our city to preserve our history. I'm on the Heritage Committees for the city. And I think that both of those, particularly the Victoria Heritage Foundation really supports this work. And I just want to thank. You for doing this and bringing it forward and your words too and how meaningful that is. Thank you, Councillor. Well, we only have one application, so I might as well speak. And of course, I got to speak as a token South Jubilee resident. Which is one of the things that's interesting is we talk a lot about James Bay as a Heritage neighbourhood and some of the other areas, but South Jubilee, I live there as well. And not a lot of people go there because it is quite small, as you mentioned. There's actually a lot of really old and beautiful Heritage Homes in South Jubilee. And I don't know the exact history of the neighbourhood. I believe my

house is from 1907. And there, I believe, from the lady to 1800s. And it's kind of underappreciated as a neighbourhood, as a heritage neighbourhood, um, with some really beautiful home. So it's nice to actually, I'm not sure if we have any heritage homes. I can't think of any off the top of my head, although the couple designations, but it's nice to kind of recognise the history of that particular neighbourhood as well. And, um, yeah, so I definitely support this. And it's going to be cool to see it. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor. Councillor Gardner online. Council Gardner, we can't hear you. If you're speaking. Councillor Gardner, we can't hear you actually. And from our side, uh, it looks like you can, you do have volume from our side. So is there something on your side that you can adjust. Nope, still can't hear you.

Nope, still can't hear you. This rotor is there anything we can do from this side. No. Okay. So Councillor Gardner, we're not able to unmute you from this side. And so I'm going to presume, uh, I'm going to presume greatly that your likely speaking in favor, uh, and so see if you can't, uh, rejig something from your end. I'm going to just check in and see if Councillor Kim has anything to offer. Oh, no mayor. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much, Councillor Thompson. Anything you'd like to say. Seeing as we're waiting for Councillor Gardner, I will just pipe in to add my thanks to the applicant for actually coming in. And speaking to us, um, we always rely on staff to provide the technical information that we need to make, uh, decision under the, uh, statutes and bylaws. Uh, but, uh, with all due respect to staff, those, those are valuable contributions. But I did find the applicants narrative, uh, uh, interesting and, uh,

warm and memorable. And, uh, it's nice to have, uh, that addition to, uh, to our more technical conversations. So thanks again. Thank you Councillor Thompson. I'm just going to relay a message from Councillor Gardner, who's noting that South Jubilee is about to host a session on the history of their neighbourhood shortly. And the details for that session can be located on their website on the South Jubilee neighbourhood Association website. Thank you for that Councillor Gardner for sharing that. I would just echo the fact that this is a wonderful proposal. It seems that based upon what we were advised, we should consider. And that is the merit of whether or not this house has sufficient heritage features to be designated. It certainly sounds as if it does. And certainly based on the materials provided, there is ample evidence to be persuaded of that nature. And so I will be supporting this as well. Uh, Council Gurdner, one last time. Have you managed to, uh, resolve your

sound from your side. It does not look like it. So there you go. Uh, I have conveyed your message through, uh, the, uh, note that you sent to me by phone. And so I think what we'll do is we'll move on from there. Hi everyone who has indicated and is able to speak has done so. And so I will at this point call for the vote on third reading of the Heritage designation by Law for 1527 Redford, all those in favor. Is anyone opposed? That is unanimous. Could I also then have a motion to adopt the Heritage designation for the same address? Thanks Council Cardona.

Second by Councillor Thompson. Carrot on our Thompson. Any further comments. Not seeing anyone from anyone else on adoption. Not seeing anybody else. Okay. All those in favor. Anyone opposed. That is unanimous. Congratulations. That does take us to the end of our agenda this evening. There is no material required to be considered enclosed tonight. So I would look for motion to adjourn. Thanks Councillor Thompson. Second by Council Hammend. All those in favor. Anyone opposed. That is unanimous. Thank you very much. And thank you for coming this evening. That concludes our meeting for the evening.