Committee of the Whole and Special Board Meeting: January 16, 2024

Written By Cathryne Milburn

Four public meetings for the Ottawa-Carleton District took place on January 16, 2024. Staff brought forward five reports with two recommendations for discussion.

In the Special Committee of the Whole Meetings, staff brought forward for discussion, Report 24-001, Report 24-002, and a background study on the Education Development Charges, with me as chair. The Education Development Charges By-law provides the board with a source of funding for growth-related education land costs, and costs to acquire and prepare school sites to accommodate students generated from new development. During the meeting, I asked the following:

  • Question: I appreciate that we have until March 5, 2024, to provide more questions but one thing that gave me pause in both reports is that we opened our public engagement on Friday, December 15, 2023, and beginning on Thursday, December 21, 2023, hard copies of the background study would be made available to the public. Now that we are having our meeting on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, it is a very tricky time to do public engagement. I am looking for staff to comment on how we made sure people were aware this meeting was happening tonight. I do understand that we had a public notice in the Ottawa Citizen but can further comment be provided.
    Answer: There is a legislated process for communication on Education Development Charge By-Laws. One of the requirements is that you post an advertisement in a newspaper with paid circulation in the community. Very similar notification system to other municipal processes. In addition, there is information available on the website and in our weekly communications, we will include reminders. It is also important to note there are different audiences for this consultation. The development industry has also been consulted during this process. Historically, we have only received very few inquiries about the Education Development Charges.

During the Committee of the Whole Meeting, staff brought forward two reports with one recommendation, with me as chair.

I voted in favour of the recommendation in Report 24-004, for the New Findlay Creek Elementary School Study – Approval of Opening Grade Structure, Program Offering, and Attendance Boundary. This report looked for the approval of the opening grade structure, program offering, and attendance boundary for a new elementary school that is to be opened in the Findlay Creek neighbourhood. The opening of this new elementary was approved by the board in September 2023. The recommendations were carried.

The First Annual Public Report from the Office of the Human Rights and Equity Advisor was brought forward for discussion. This report is the first report of the Office of the Human Rights and Equity Advisor and gives staff and trustees an opportunity to reflect on the progress made to date in advancing the organization’s commitment to building and maintaining a culture of respect for human rights, as well as the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility. During the reporting period for the Office of the Human Rights and Equity Advisor, 17 system-level recommendations were made. These system-level recommendations aim to identify barriers contributing to systemic discrimination and make recommendations to remove these barriers. During the discussion, I asked the following (timestamp: 4:10:00):

  • Question: I have heard around this table that this report is invaluable, and your office and small team are invaluable. It is highlighted in this report that there were budgetary constraints and you had to reduce your office. I would like a comment from staff on what the plan is going into this next budgetary year.
    Answer: The work of the office is invaluable and helps us be better as an organization, so it is critical that we support it. When it comes to the budgetary process, we are getting into the priorities as senior staff. There are gives and takes in the priorities of staff, and the priority of this office will be part of that discussion. The budget does need to balance the priorities and balance when we bring it forward for discussion. When there was an extra staff member, that was in anticipation of the work required at the opening of the office. That funding was for a fixed period of time.

  • Comment: I thought it was very interesting that you presented to a Civics class at Earl of March Secondary School. It is important to expose our students to different new careers. I think that is an initiative that we should be expanding.

During the Special Board Meeting, one report was brought forward by staff. I moved the following recommendation from the discussion on the Investigative Report on the Code of Conduct, I moved the recommendation from Report 24-007, Code of Conduct - Consideration of Appeal (timestamp: 3:04:45):

  • THAT the Board confirm the determination made on December 19, 2023, that Trustee Kaplan-Myrth breached Policy P.073, Board Member Code of Conduct; and

  • THAT the Board confirm its decision regarding the sanctions imposed on Trustee Kaplan-Myrth at the Special Board Meeting of December 19, 2023.

  • While closing the recommendation, I shared the following thoughts (timestamp: 3:16:06):

I am once again disappointed that we are revisiting this Code of Conduct. We had a lengthy discussion in December. I said it before, and I am going to say it again. I am calling on all my colleagues to hold themselves to a level of respect that is higher than what is outlined in this report.

I stand by the report, I stand by the decisions we made, and I stand by the sanctions that we compromised on. At the end of the day for me, this is about respect. I appreciate the appeal and I appreciate following the process. I stand by our decisions. I am asking each colleague around the room to do the same.

I voted in favour of the recommendation. The recommendation passed.

Please note a break was called during the Committee of the Whole Meeting so the Special Board Meeting scheduled for 9 PM could take place. As per our By-Laws and Standing Rules, at 10:30 PM a vote is called to continue the discussion. I voted in favour of continuing the discussion that evening, but the vote failed. There has been a commitment to bring the First Annual Public Report from the Office of the Human Rights and Equity Advisor back for discussion at a later date, as we were mid-discussion at the time of adjournment.

Please note, that the opinions expressed here are entirely my own and do not reflect an official position of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board or the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board of Trustees. Please note answers from staff are paraphrased, the recording can be found here if you would like to watch the entire meeting. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me using my contact form here.

 

Key links

Cathryne Milburn

By day I am passionate about diversity, inclusion, and communications. By night I am passionate about education, student well-being, and student achievement.

https://cathrynemilburn.com/
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