Tag Archives: amherstburg

Richmond Street Accessibility: Public Consultations Matter

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Several months later I found out why, despite my requests that public consultations be held in the spirt and letter of the AODA, there were no public consultations.

BACKGROUND

January 29, 2024 emailed council and urged members “to embrace the spirit of the AODA and consult the public regarding Richmond Street sidewalk repairs even though the report to council does not mention public consultation in accordance with the AODA’s Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation regarding exterior paths of travel, rest areas:

‘Designated public sectors when constructing new or redeveloping existing exterior paths of travel that they intend to maintain, shall consult on the design and placement of rest areas along the exterior path of travel and shall do so in the following manner: 

  1. the public and persons with disabilities.
  2. a municipal accessibility advisory committee if one exits.’

The report to council concludes with Financial Matters and admin’s recommendation to use Accessibility Compliance Reserve Funds that are ‘intended for repairs and improvements designed to reduce or remove barriers and promote greater access to public spaces, goods and services.’ Planters may create barriers for people with disabilities who rely on visual cues and space to travel along the sidewalks. Another concern is that there is no mention of what standards will be specified in the tender. Some of you voted to keep the loading/unloading zone on Dalhousie Street for accessibility reasons, so why not commit to accessibility and persons with disabilities in this instance and hold public consultations?”

January 29: Councillor Pouget asked questions at the council meeting and acknowledged receipt of my concerns and question regarding why they are not consulting with the public according to the AODA. 

The clerk responded and stated, in part, if they were building a rest area, they would have an obligation to consult with the public of course and mentioned feedback mechanisms. When Councillor Pouget asked how they would reach out to the people in our community to ask them, the clerk’s answer was, in part, so in this case we’re not required to consult with the public. We’re looking at perhaps maybe 20 feet of brick sidewalk that we would lift and reset in the same place where it currently exists. So there’s no requirement in the act to deal with the sidewalk as an exterior route of travel. It’s with regards to rest areas that would be placed along the sidewalk and we’re not impacting a rest area. So this time, the consultations that exist in terms of the committees are all that that is recommended. 

May 12 email to council members: I have some concerns about the Richmond Street sidewalk repairs. Shouldn’t rest areas be more important than more planters?

I repeated my January email, I urged council to embrace the spirit of the AODA and consult the public regarding Richmond Street sidewalk repairs even though the report to council did not mention public consultation in accordance with the AODA’s Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation regarding exterior paths of travel, rest areas:

‘Designated public sectors when constructing new or redeveloping existing exterior paths of travel that they intend to maintain, shall consult on the design and placement of rest areas along the exterior path of travel and shall do so in the following manner: 

  1. the public and persons with disabilities.
  2. a municipal accessibility advisory committee if one exits.’

May 27 Council Meeting: As a delegate regarding Murray Street: If you plan to redevelop the area, I urge you to hold public consultations for on and off street parking and rest areas. You might decide there’s no requirement to consult the public and people with disabilities. But nothing in the legislation prevents our municipality from exceeding the minimal AODA standards and why wouldn’t you? Last spring Mayor Prue referenced the AODA 2025 deadline and acknowledged in this town we have not brought it into force. Why not? You have an opportunity now to prevent barriers and increase inclusion.

August 29: a reader sent me photos of the Richmond Street rest areas along with some comments: placing a bench on the “repair” by the Scotia bank totally blocks the normal flow of the sidewalk and we have no idea what the “curb” on the repair is for, unless it’s going to be for a bicycle rack. It also slopes downward toward Bathurst now. The repair farther down by the bank on Dalhousie is a bit better, as the bench sits closer to the building and doesn’t impede pedestrian traffic quite as much.

photo 1 by reader of Richmond St. sidewalk repair

photo 2 by reader of Richmond St. sidewalk repair
photo 3 by reader of Richmond St. sidewalk repair
photo 4 by reader of Richmond St. sidewalk repair
photo 5 by reader of Richmond St. sidewalk repair

August 30: emailed council to request an explanation for not consulting the public and people with disabilities regarding the design and placement of rest areas along Richmond Street. 

August 30: Councillor Pouget responded that there was probably not any consultation at all.  She said she raised the issue at a Council meeting and the clerk explained there was no rest area.

September 20: emailed council: I would still appreciate an answer to my August 30 question to council: what is the explanation for not consulting the public and persons with disabilities regarding the design and placement of rest area along Richmond Street?  

September 27: emailed Critchley another week has passed and I would still appreciate answers.

October 2: CAO Critchley emailed, With respect to the rest areas along Richmond Street, these were created while doing a larger construction project that was subject to a timeline which unfortunately did not allow for consultation.

Mayor Prue’s Stance On Provincial Grant Funding

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During the October 15 council meeting discussion of a provincial grant, Mayor Prue passed the gavel to speak. Following comments he made about MPP Leardi and Premier Ford which, in my opinion, were unprofessional I reached out to MPP Leardi, who responded.

Unofficial transcript of Prue’s speech: (listen to the audio).

I’m going to pass the gavel because I want to speak to this. I’m going to support this. And I know that some people say, oh, he just wants to spend the money. No, I also want to save the money. If we put in this application now, we are eligible for 50% funding from the province. If we don’t put it in now and we wait, which was suggested, we’re going to get zero. So am I going to say to the people of Amherstburg I said I’m going to, you know, we should just wait and maybe next year or the year after, we can see whether we have enough money at that point and forego the $500,000 from the province of Ontario, absolutely not. It is very difficult and anyone who sat around this table over many years will know it’s very difficult at budget time to try to do all the competing interests. But never once did I ever, in all of my years see a politician refuse provincial or federal money when it was there, and I don’t think we should be just saying cavalierly, no, we’re not going to even apply, because if we don’t do this tonight, we can’t, we can’t even apply. Might as well kiss it goodbye, and I am not going to kiss that money goodbye. It’s difficult enough waiting for Provincial funds. And every year our funding from the province goes down. Every year it gets less and less and less. And somebody sent me something from Facebook, and I was rather appalled so many people in Amherstburg commenting how wonderful Mr. Leardi was making sure we were getting 200 or $2 million from OCIF. That’s the least amount we’ve got in the last 10 years. Every year it goes down. Every year it goes down. And yet there are people who congratulate him for pushing it down. When I went to the to the AMO conference, there’s the Premier up there, big and bold as could possibly be, bragging that in his four years as Premier, he’s never had to raise taxes once, no, because he doesn’t fund things like municipalities anymore. And then we have to turn around and do the best we can. So when this rare opportunity comes for $500,000 I’m going to take it and I’m going to support this tonight so that we can get that 500,000. If we don’t get it, I know what we’re going to have to do instead. I don’t like it, but I want to see that place built right out if it can be done, I’ll take the gavel back.

MPP Leardi’s response was: Thank you for letting me know about Mr. Prue’s comments. I don’t think he has a full understanding of the millions of dollars that Amherstbug gets in infrastructure grants. Below is a breakdown. The infrastructure grants effectively doubled in 2022. In infrastructure grants alone, Amherstburg has received over $16 million from the Ford government. 

Mayor Prue’s Response to Open Air Complaints and Lawsuit Inquiry

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I requested Mayor Prue’s comments about Open Air complaints and former CAO Peter Simmons’ lawsuit, which he answered below.

  • how many complaints about open air have you received?
    Prue: I have received less than 10 complaints including your own, since becoming Mayor.
  • how many complaints about open air has the town received?
    Prue: I do not have that statistic. We have a seven member Council and many paid staff.
  • what are your comments regarding peter simmons’ lawsuit against the town?
    Prue: I have no comment as this is a personnel matter.  This was clearly enunciated by the Town’s CAO to you, in the past few weeks.

Follow-up question:

Regarding answer 2: if you don’t have the statistics of complaints the town has received, do you feel you’d be making a well-informed decision about what is in the best interest of the town?

Regarding answer 3: I did not ask the CAO for a comment; I asked if she could confirm the claim against the town by former CAO Peter Simmons. I only asked you for comments about it since you’re the official spokesperson.

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.

Amherstburg Previous Agendas: Access and Transparency

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August 15, I emailed CAO Critchley and council members: there appears to be changes made to the town’s website regarding previous years’ agendas. would you please provide me with a link to previous agendas?

No answer.

August 19, I emailed CAO Critchley and council: there are no agendas in records repository as you can see from the screenshot. Where are they located?

No answer.

August 29, I emailed CAO Critchley and council, summarizing my previous emails and stated,
I am emailing again to request the link to all previous agendas. Pursuant to Section 270 of the Municipal Act, 2001, the town created an Accountability and Transparency Policy that states: The Corporation of the Town of Amherstburg is committed to ensuring that it is accountable to the public for its actions and that its actions are conducted in an open and transparent manner by: Section 1.4 Providing access and disclosure of public information in compliance with current legislation.

Screenshot that clearly indicates 5 folders exist:

Inconsistencies: Meeting Notices

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On July 25, I emailed council and CAO Critchley, today’s calendar listing includes the accessibility advisory committee meeting with no agenda link and no notice of cancellation. as you can see from the attached screen shot, it states the event has already occurred. would someone please advise if the meeting will be held?

Critchley replied, The calendar module has a known issue with the statement “the event has already occurred.” We have opened a service ticket with our provider. 

The meeting was tentatively scheduled and has been cancelled, the next meeting will be the fourth Thursday in August, August 22nd. The change has been noted on the page to reflect this cancellation. 

Anyone with interest in staying up-to-date for Town meetings can subscribe at: https://calendar.amherstburg.ca/council/Subscription to receive notifications as they are provided.

And I answered, Thanks. I already subscribe but received no cancellation notice. 

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.

Concerns Over Removal of Parking Spots: Questions Raised

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Councillor Diane Pouget emailed the following questions to CAO Critchley:

I am very concerned about the removal of two (2) vital parking spots in front of the Salty Dog on Dalhousie Street.  This is the 3rd removal of very limited parking spaces in that area.

I immediately contacted Bill Tetler yesterday morning, while they were building the deck in these prime parking spaces.  Bill explained that Council had approved the Temporary Patio Extension on May 27th.  I am requesting the following information:

  1. A copy of the full report submitted to Council, regarding the Temporary Patio Extension on May 27th.  (Outside of Open Air)
  2. The motion approved by Council, giving permission to remove 2 parking spaces in front of the Salty Dog.
  3. The response and feedback by all businesses in that area, that could be adversely affected by this action.
  4. All correspondence from our relevant committees approving the removal of these parking spots.
  5. A report, regarding any other businesses, that have requested permission to enter into an agreement to remove parking spaces in front of their businesses.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.  I wait for your response.

Inconsistencies: Deputy Mayor Gibb On Social Justice Issue

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On June 25, 2024, during discussion of the Transit Service Agreement Renewal, Gibb said he thinks the other big thing that they’re not talking about is this is really a social justice issue. He continued that there’s a lot of people who can’t afford transportation or reliable personal transportation so he thinks this is a good deal for the people of Amherstburg; it’s the right thing to do so he’ll definitely be supporting it.

When I delegated on March 25, 2024 regarding OPEN AIR I stated, in part, ‘A Divisional Court affirmed that the AODA is “social justice legislation” that is meant to redress a history of discriminatory exclusions by identifying, removing and preventing barriers to participation in society.’ I requested council prioritize a commitment to the principles of governing legislation and ensure everyone is welcome to equally participate in our public spaces.

The number 1 complaint about Open Air is accessibility and Gibb stated on am800 that Open Air is accessible so we just want to invite all of Windsor and Essex County to come out to Amherstburg and get together and have a great time.

But not everyone can participate. Merry go round.