Category Archives: Comparing

Comparing Affordable Transit Passes

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Amherstburg does not offer an affordable bus pass program like neighbouring municipalities. However, on September 9, council will consider Administration’s recommendation to waive transit fares for the Uncommon Festival from 6pm on September 20, 2024, through the end of the service day on September 22, 2024.

If the taxpayers can absorb the cost for Festival attendees, who no doubt can afford costumes and restaurants, why not offer affordable bus passes for people in need?

The Affordable Pass Program (APP) allows eligible Windsor-Essex residents to purchase a discounted 30-day bus pass from Transit Windsor. The APP covers 49% of the cost for a full-price 30-day Smart Pass, and registrants pay the remaining 51% at the time of purchase. 

The APP is funded by Pathway to Potential. Full details and how to apply are found on Pathway to Potential’s web page.

Available Affordable Pass Program (APP) Subsidies

Bus Pass TypeDiscountService ProviderEligible Residents
30-Day49%Transit WindsorWindsor
30-Day49%LaSalle TransitLaSalle
30-Day Leamington to Windsor (LTW)50%Leamington TransitLeamington, Kingsville, Essex
10-Ride (LTW)50%Leamington TransitLeamington, Kingsville, Essex

Tecumseh Transit offers free fares for children under 5, Veterans, blind persons and persons accompanying disabled riders.

Lakeshore was looking at a transit feasibility study.

Comparing Amherstburg Council Meeting Behaviour With Others

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Compared to Amherstburg council meetings, other local council meetings are a pleasure to watch and they are so much more efficient.

Not one mayor passed an imaginary gavel to speak or ask a question as per Robert’s Rules of Order.

No longwinded speeches.

No repeat questions or belabouring a point.

No staff member on either side of the mayor whispered in his/her ear.

When the mayors asked if there were any comments or questions, the discussion was limited to members of council.

The videos are clear.

Videos are available on YouTube.

Videos zoom in on the speaker or split the screen.

Some provide county council updates.

Some receive county council minutes.

Some, like county council, vote electronically.

Delegates are asked to push the microphone button which is less condescending than a councillor jumping up and down to do it.

Council members were mindful of their microphone positions.

Committee meetings can also exhibit similar behaviour.

A screenshot of Shirley Curson-Prue, chair of the Amherstburg Accessibility Advisory Committee who frequently speaks with the microphone off to the side making her inaudible at times.

Comparing Amherstburg To Other Municipalities: Routine Disclosure And Active Dissemination Policies

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In February 2020, former CAO Miceli advised Amherstburg was ‘in the process of creating a Routine disclosure and Active Dissemination Policy’ but one has still not been created.

“Open Government is based on the core belief that the public has the right to access the records and proceedings of government to enable greater openness, accountability, and engagement.” 

Information and Privacy Commissioner ontario

Townships to large cities commit to open government in by-laws, policies or a simple statement on the municipal website.

Blandford Blenheim proactive without formal policy endeavours to provide as much information as possible to the public without the necessity of submitting a formal Request under the Act.

Brockton endeavours to provide as much information as possible to the public without the necessity of submitting a formal Freedom of Information Request.

Wasaga Beach policy
April 19, 2016 

North Perth by-law
September 14, 2015

Northern Bruce Peninsula by-law
January 20, 2021

Grand Valley Most of the time, a formal request for information under the Act is not required to access information from the Town of Grand Valley.

Mono contact first for information

Orangeville contact first for information

Shelburne promotes open government and encourages the routine disclosure of information to the public without requiring a formal Freedom of Information (FOI) request under Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).

St. Thomas The Act does not interfere with the present open disclosure practice of the City and cannot be used to access information already available to the public

LaSalle
October 9, 2018, reviewed October 1, 2022

Oshawa policy is committed to ensuring the public is provided with Official Records and Information easily and informally, supporting a culture of open and transparent government. 

Comparing Cheque Registries

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Councillor Pouget campaigned ‘to regain the loss of trust by many of our taxpayers.’ Following her motion to reinstate accounts payable on public agendas, council and administration discussed it for about fifteen minutes at the December 5, 2022 council meeting. Read the full post: Accounts Payable On Agenda: A Matter of Trust. Deputy Mayor Gibb was the lone dissenting vote.

Now the ‘cheque registry pilot program‘ is on the November 27 agenda, although the motion to place the cheque registries on the agenda from about a decade ago was never rescinded or reconsidered.

Amherstburg population 21,936 (2016 census).

Comparing other municipalities that post the item to their agendas:

Southgate population 7190

Wasaga Beach population 20,675

St. Catharines population 140,370

New Tecumseth population 41,439

Comparing Procedural By-law Council Input

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As mentioned in Comparing Procedural By-law Public Input, Port Hope residents were invited to provide input; Amherstburg residents were not. Also, Port Hope staff worked ‘with all members of Council to gather their individual input on meeting processes and specific elements of the procedural by-law to ensure the recommended draft by-law is reflective of all points of view on Council.’

On October 19, and again on November 9 because no one answered, I questioned members of council, based on Port Hope’s procedural by-law review.

On November 10, Councillor Allaire answered the questions:

the burg watch: Did members of administration individually consult members of council on the Procedural By-law for input?

Councillor Allaire: No, we were not individually consulted from my knowledge.

the burg watch: Did you consider public consultation? 

Councillor Allaire: No, I did not at the time.

the burg watch: Do you feel that the revised by-law reflects your point of view on civic participation?

Councillor Allaire: No, I believe everyone should have a voice to speak. However, they still do it just seems to happen a lot more behind the scenes as in someone would have to approach council or administration to raise their concern for them, which I am willing to do for residents.

the burg watch: When do you intend to evaluate the policy and to update or amend it?

Councillor Allaire: I did not consider evaluating the policy, updating, or amending it. I will look into it.

The Town of Amherstburg’s August 2023 procedural bylaw seems more restrictive than it used to be and more so than our local comparator municipalities.

Comparing Procedural By-law Public Input

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It would have been so easy, but no public input was sought for the Town of Amherstburg’s newly adopted procedural bylaw, which seems more restrictive than our local comparator municipalities and more than it used to be, despite one of Mayor Prue’s campaign priorities to Promote citizen participation in municipal affairs and allow full deputation rights at town meetings.

The Town of Port Hope, population approximately 17,538, conducted a Procedural By-law Review and actually wanted input from its residents; from their website:

Through this review, we hope to:

  • Improve the meeting experience for all attendees, including public, delegates and Council Members
  • Ensure decision making is efficient
  • Reflect the changing demographics within the municipality
  • Account for changes in technology

Why is it important?

The Procedural By-law is important because it: 

  1. Ensures fairness and consistency in the decision making process
  2. Fosters respectful conduct and collaborative approaches to decision making
  3. Supports an open, accountable, transparent governance process so that the public, Council and staff understand how decisions are made and what to expect at the meetings.

CALL TO ACTION

Email Mayor Pure: mprue@amherstburg.ca to remind him one of his campaign priorities was to Promote citizen participation in municipal affairs and allow full deputation rights at town meetings.

Comparing Procedural By-law Delegate Rules

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The Town of Amherstburg’s newly adopted procedural bylaw seems more restrictive than it used to be.

When Mayor Prue noticed a raised hand at the September 11 council meeting, he stated a unanimous vote was required to allow Mr. Amlin to speak.

Section 5, Introduction, states: Any procedure under this By-law which is discretionary and not mandatory under statute may be suspended with the consent of a majority of the members present.

Section 14.5, CONDUCT OF PROCEEDINGS states: The rules of procedure may be suspended by a unanimous vote of Council and shall be time limited and specific.

  • Town of Essex If a Delegation is not registered with the Clerk, and Council, by a two-thirds vote of the Members present at the Meeting, gives the Delegation permission to address Council, the Delegation shall only address Council with respect to an item on the published Agenda.
  • Town of Kingsville offers residents choices to submit a request or make a written delegation instead of speaking (a procedure that I asked our municipality to establish). Also, for the Committee of the Whole, the Chair may relax the procedural rules to facilitate informal discussion as between the public, Staff and the Members, including but not limited to relaxing the rules related to delegation speaking time and registration.
  • Town of Lakeshore written request prior to the council meeting; if no application made, may be heard on a 2/3 vote of Council to speak an agenda item and have options to appear: In-person; computer or smart device or phone.There are also separate Rules for Public Presentations (a person or group wishing to present new items not on the Council meeting agenda).
  • Town of LaSalle has separate rules for Delegations – Items on the Agenda – written request by noon at least 4 days prior to the meeting; Delegations – Public Meeting -not required to provide advance written notice of their intention to speak; Delegations – Items Not on the Agenda – submit a written request as outlined in Section 9.2 by noon at least 21 days prior the Meeting; Delegations – Presentation – certain partner and external Persons may be granted presentation status in order to inform Members of matters of significance to the Town. noteworthy: the table of contents links to the sections.
  • Town of Leamington offers choices: Delegates can notify the clerk prior to the agenda or can request to delegate to address an item listed on the agenda or if not listed on the agenda as a delegation may request permission at the council meeting to address Council which may be granted upon a resolution of council members.
  • Town of Tecumseh Persons desiring to verbally present information on matters of fact or make a request of council, shall give written notice to the Clerk seven (7) days in advance of the meeting at which they wish to appear; shall state the topic to be discussed and any request to be made of the members. noteworthy: It shall be the duty of the Clerk to ensure that the minutes of the last regular meeting and all subsequent special meetings held more than three (3) days prior to a regular meeting, are placed on the next following regular Council meeting agenda.
  • Strathroy-Caradoc Right of Public Input and Notice The public has the right to have input and receive Notice of the public decision-making process. The methods for doing so include: writing to the Clerk or Secretary, submitting a petition, or speaking as a Delegation. Should an individual wish to be provided with further Notice related to a matter of business, they are required to indicate this wish to the Clerk or Secretary on the prescribed form; Anyone requesting to address the Members on an item that is not on the agenda may do so at the sole discretion of the Chair; Delegations in person may be permitted at the discretion of the Chair.
  • Scugog A delegation not listed on the agenda requires at least a Two-Thirds Majority of the Members present.
  • Lincoln The Clerk provides the Chair with all requests to delegate submitted after the deadlines for Council consideration; a majority vote is required to permit the delegate to speak.
  • Owen Sound A person may ask a question of the Members on any matter during the Public Question Period portion of a meeting.

Delegate Request Form Amherstburg/Whitby

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If you can’t locate information on the town of Amherstburg website, do a search. When I typed in ‘delegate’ the drop down menu appeared as this:

A click on the town of Whitby delegation request form resulted in a list including this:

Clicking on that link resulted in a pdf of the Amherstburg Delegate Request Form:

Searching delegate request yields different results including different names: delegation request form which is online and Delegation Registration Form – Amherstburg which links to Drainage On-Site Meeting Delegation Regist:

The online delegation request forms differ. Amherstburg’s asks if you have contacted Administration regarding this matter and asks that speaking notes and/or presentation materials be attached.

Whitby’s asks for preferred attendance: either in person or virtually and also states, Additional information regarding appearing before Council can be found on whitby.ca/delegations.

Strategic Planning Presentation Request Answered

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You might remember that I requested a copy of the April 18 Strategy Corp. slide presentation to Amherstburg town council and CAO Critchley advised, As the slides used by Strategy Corp are proprietary information, should you wish a copy of the presentation, please submit an MFIPPA request.

In an email to council and Critchley, I strongly urged council to enact a Routine Disclosure Policy, but no responses were received.

The May 17 Essex County Council Strategy Corp. slide presentation was attached to the agenda.

On May 18, I emailed Strategy Corp. and mentioned how the slides were not on Amherstburg town council’s April 18 agenda. I requested a copy of the Amherstburg presentation and requested permission to post it to my blog for my readers.

On May 18, my email was acknowledged and it would be looked at.

On June 9 I followed up to find out if the public can access the Amherstburg presentation the same way the public accessed the county presentation.

On June 17 I followed up again. And, upon completing the Strategic plan survey, I added, ‘there is no mention of accommodating people with disabilities if pop up events pose barriers, as does the online survey. it was disappointing to see accessibility as an item separated from the DEI, but a number of the disability community know too well that accessibility is not usually a part of DEI.’

On June 20, Strategy Corp. emailed: In response to your more recent comment, we have been directing folks who require accommodation to reach out to the town directly at 519-736-0012 or accessibility@amherstburg.ca. This had been included in promotional material but was missing from the webpage. I have updated the webpage to include those instructions, so thank you for bringing that to our attention!

While I do understand that accessibility is considered a key part of DEI, our previous engagement up to the survey development has indicated that accessibility, in particular, is a concern and priority for the Town. We therefore thought it appropriate to include it as a distinct option for residents to prioritize. As you rightly point out, not everyone realizes accessibility is a key part DEI efforts.

Finally, I do apologize again about the delay on the presentation. This type of material has historically been considered proprietary, and that is why it was not attached to the Council agenda for April 18. However, the presentation itself was recorded in an attempt to maximize transparency for residents interested the process being undertaken. I will follow up with my colleagues about what we are able to share with you directly, and get back to you this week.  

On June 20, within an hour, Strategy Corp. emailed, these slides are considered proprietary and I was asked to direct my readers to watch the full presentation to Council on the Town’s website here: April 18th Special Council Meeting Video. I’ll note we had some brief technical difficulties during the presentation and so the presentation gets going around the 6-minute mark.

Related: Strategic Planning Presentation – File an FOI Request

Comparing Amherstburg To Other Municipalities: Inclusive Communities Grants

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The Town of Amherstburg applied for, and received $60,000. from the provincial Inclusive Communities Grants Program that helps communities become more inclusive and accessible for people of all ages and abilities.

Ontario.ca:

“The Inclusive Community Grants Program helps ensure local governments and community organizations consider Ontarians of all ages and abilities at every stage of community planning and development. Inclusive communities respond to both the opportunities and challenges of an aging population by:

  • creating physical and social environments that support independent and active living
  • enabling older adults and people with disabilities to continue contributing to all aspects of community life

Ontario’s Inclusive Community Grants Program supports community projects that:

  • benefit local communities
  • promote accessibility, safety and active living for people of all ages and abilities
  • meet the needs of seniors and people with disabilities.”

In a report to council, then-Clerk Paula Parker stated, the primary purpose of this initiative is to help Amherstburg to become an age-friendly community by ensuring that the needs of the residents of all ages and abilities are considered in every stage of community planning and development. The Town will engage a consultant to complete a Needs Assessment and Action Plan which will involve obtaining direct input from those most affected, seniors 55+, older adults 65+ and persons with disabilities and disenfranchised populations in the immediate region, community stakeholders, including municipal officials, local businesses, and providers in the recreational and health sectors.

At the Regular Council Meeting Monday, April 12, 2021, Councillor McArthur congratulated town staff for getting up to $60,000 from the province to be spent on seniors’ initiatives and asked what are we going to spend the money on?

Then-CAO Miceli explained we are going to be spending money basically developing a Seniors Master Plan showing the services and the needs of seniors in our community, a more inclusive and welcoming community for our seniors. The work plan will develop a significant amount of public consultation with our seniors groups, throughout various locations in Amherstburg. At the end of it all we’re going to have a plan that’s going to be a guiding document for council on what our seniors would like to see in our community of Amherstburg.

McArthur said we’ve been after this seniors master plan for a while and asked what the timelines was. Miceli said the timeframe to complete the project would be spring 2022. 

A committee was formed, a consultant was hired and the Inclusive Community Program (ICP) Final Report and the 2022 03 23 ICP Needs Assessment and Action Plan were presented to council on March 28, 2022. At the same meeting, it was recommended that: The Seniors Advisory Committee composition BE REDUCED by one lay member.

OTHER MUNICIPALITIES USED THE GRANT for a variety of projects, including accessible kayak launch, beach access mats, inclusive picnic tables, accessible pathway,  several accessible washrooms, upgrade accessible trails to meet AODA standards, making outdoor spaces and public buildings more accessible, accessible charging stations in local parks, accessible (CNIB) approved signage and resting benches,

Read the full listing: A total of 55 projects received an Inclusive Community Grant.