In an unusual change of procedure, Ottawa City Council began its monthly meeting with a private, in-camera session that lasted nearly 45 minutes.
Councillor Catherine Kitts kicked off the public session by bringing forward a motion asking that Caitlin Salter MacDonald be appointed city clerk, effective April 12, 2024. The motion also requested that a By-law formalizing the appointment be drafted for the next session of Council. The motion was unanimously carried to Council’s applause.
Councillor Ariel Troster proposed a motion to declare March 8 International Women’s Day at the city level. Troster pointed out that the declaration is made yearly “because it’s important” and that she hopes to see all her Council colleagues at the mayor’s breakfast on Friday morning. The Troster motion was carried.
Councillor Troster then brought forward another motion asking the city to write the Association of Municipalities of Ontario requesting legislation to strengthen municipal codes of conduct surrounding sexual assault and workplace harassment with an administrative punishment regime for these situations.
In the wake of the 2020 scandal surrounding former Councillor Rick Chiarelli, Councillor Stephen Blais, now a Liberal MPP, has been pushing for such legislation at Queens Park. However, the Ford government has twice shot down Blais’s private members’ bill.
During Chiarelli’s time in office, the City of Ottawa struggled with laws surrounding sexual misconduct by a sitting councillor. The only action taken was to suspend Chiarelli without pay for 450 days, but the councillor maintained his Council vote.
Calls to remove rogue actors from Council who have been found to have committed sexual harassment have been made before. Still, the city cannot update its procedures for punishing and removing councillors without the provincial laws in place. The Troster motion was carried.
Councillors Troster and Dudas then brought forward another motion for the city to use 230 Queen Street East as an emergency housing shelter. The city will lease the building for $4.3 million over the next ten years and set aside an additional $1.48 million for renovations. The motion further asked that the Acting Director of the Real Estate Office be given the power through the Council to negotiate with the landlord and enter a lease agreement.
Councillor Wilson Lo asked city staff when the facility would open, and they responded that it would open on November 1, 2024. Councillor Marty Carr spoke about the general housing and homelessness situation, noting that the level of homeless encampments is not as bad as in her native Edmonton. She stated that the federal government, which controls the intake of migrants and asylum seekers, needs to compensate Ottawa for the costs of taking care of the unhomed, many of whom are recent arrivals to Canada.
On a lighter note, the City Council heard a motion brought forward by Councillor Laura Dudas on declaring Ottawa the “Shawarma Capital of Canada.”
The Council meeting concluded after just under one hour of on-record voting. City Council is scheduled to meet again on March 20 at 10:00 a.m.
Photo: Google
