Regional Council

The Council of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton met at Haydon Hall, Regional Headquarters, 111 Lisgar Street, Ottawa, on Wednesday, 27 October 1999 at 1:30 p.m.

The meeting was called to order at 1:40 p.m. and opened with the singing of the National Anthem, sung by members of the Glebe Collegiate High School Choir.

The Regional Chair, Robert Chiarelli, presided and led Council in prayer.

ALL MEMBERS WERE PRESENT EXCEPT COUNCILLORS HILL AND VAN DEN HAM.

The minutes of the Regular Council meeting of 13 October 1999 were confirmed.

"I would now like to present a Regional Certificate of Recognition to a very vibrant and dynamic resident of our community – Mr. Daniel Richer.

Mr. Richer has just returned from Sidney, British Columbia where he was named the Most Elegant Town Crier in the World at the Eighth World Town Crier Championships.

Mr. Richer is said to be the fifth busiest crier in the world, having introduced the Pope, the Queen, Mikhail Gorbachev, Lech Walesa, and every Prime Minister since Pierre Trudeau.

Mr. Richer, it is an honor to have you with us today and to have you as our very own Town Crier.

M. Richer, nous sommes très heureux de vous accueillir parmi nous aujourd’hui. C’est un honneur pour nous d’avoir notre propre crieur public.

On behalf of the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, it is with great pleasure that I extend to you, most sincere congratulations on the occasion of being named the Most Elegant Town Crier in the World."

"It is my pleasure today to present the Governor General’s Certificate of Commendation to OC Transpo bus operator Daniel Dorion. C’est un plaisir de présenter cette mention d’honneur du Gouverneur général à Daniel Dorion, un chauffeur d’OC Transpo. Daniel has been behind the wheel for 19 years, and is being honoured today for his life-saving actions during a fire on December 23, 1997.

He was also named our 1997 TRANSECURE Employee of the Year and received a National Transportation Week Award of Valour in 1998 for this incident. Some people say that things happen in threes, and Daniel is here to receive his third award.

Two days before Christmas, in the bitter cold and darkness before dawn, he used his bus radio to report a fire that had just broken out in a convenience store – then realized there were apartments above the store. With no time to lose, he found a way upstairs. He woke and evacuated three families just before thick smoke filled the building. The families, including a six-day-old baby, stayed warm on Daniel’s bus. They credit him with saving their lives. Daniel a sauvé la vie de trois familles, y compris un bébé âgé de six jours.

For the past six years, the Governor General has awarded Certificates of Commendation to those who have made a significant contribution by providing assistance to another person in a selfless manner.

Congratulations, Daniel, your heroism went well above and beyond your normal duties. Félicitations Daniel, nous sommes tous très fiers de ton acte de bravoure. We’re proud of the contribution that you, and all our on-street employees, make to our Region’s safety and security."

The Regional Chair, Robert Chiarelli, called upon Paul Allore, with the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, to come forward into the Council ring. Mr. Allore provided Council with an overview of the Ministry of Transportation’s Road Safety Challenge which the Region participated in over the summer. Mr. Allore stated that the Region won the Intersection Safety Award for its proactive efforts in raising public awareness about intersection safety in our community.

"Thank you. The Region is pleased and honored to receive this award on behalf of the 33 partners who worked with us to help make the 1999 Road Challenge a success.

I would like to make special mention of two of our staff who worked hard on the 1999 Road Safety Challenge Campaign. Blair Patacairk, who works in our Environment and Transportation Department and was the Road Safety Challenge Committee Chair, and Gail Salminen of our Health Department who was the Committee Co-Chair.

I would now like to invite Blair, Gail, ETD Commissioner Mike Sheflin and Deputy Commissioner Doug Brousseau and Medical Officer of Health Rob Cushman, to join myself and Paul Allore of the Ministry, for this presentation."

"Merci, Monsieur Le President.

Last year, Council approved Traffic Calming Studies for two neighbourhoods in Capital Ward, Old Ottawa East and the Glebe. It's been 25 years since there was a traffic calming study conducted in the Glebe and Main Street has never been studied. I would like to express on behalf of my constituents how pleased we were that Council chose to finance these studies. They are underway now.

You will see to the left of Chair Chiarelli some of the painted figures called `the Bronson People'. They will be placed along Bronson Avenue to amuse, delight and hopefully remind drivers on Bronson that they are passing through a neighbourhood which is densely populated. We have a large high school beside Bronson, some of whose students are with us today to sing the national anthem. The Bronson figures are fanciful recreations of people who live along Bronson, grandparents, parents, children, the blind, all of whom need to cross this busy regional road many times a day.

The `Bronson People' project springs from the creative mind of Bhat boy, a Glebe artist who is becoming known, not just in our Region, but around the world. It also springs from the Traffic Calming Study of which Bhat boy is an active member. The community has raised over $3,000 to create and make the cut-out figures. And the Region has contributed by funding the study, cutting out the figures in our sign shop and will be mounting them in November.

I've also asked Mr. Jim McKeen to visit our Council chambers today. Jim is a Glebe businessman who owns and manages the Glebe Loeb grocery store. He has commissioned four very large tableaux by Bhat boy, and we have brought them in to show you today. You will see that they are whimsical creations of the Glebe with many of the communities’ central institutions, the Glebe Community Centre, the high school, primary schools, some of the principal streets and homes all wrapped up in a playful way. These paintings will not be placed along Bronson Avenue.

Mr. McKeen is also responsible for the recent, very successful launch of the Bronson People at the Glebe Community Centre, which Chair Chiarelli and I attended.

I am very proud of these efforts by my community and wanted the chance to share them with you.

Merci, Monsieur le President."

"I would like to thank the Chair and Council for the opportunity to pay tribute to an extraordinary woman, Alice Taylor, who passed away on October 12, 1999. Alice died as she lived – peacefully, surrounded by love and in the company of two dear friends, Molly Meehan and Fran Brophy.

Alice would not use the term extraordinary to describe herself – but others would. This lady, known as the salt of the earth, would have turned 102 on October 30, 1999. She was born in Goulbourn and lived in the Ottawa-Carleton area all her life, and for the last several years at 2651 Regina in Bay Ward.

She married Richard Taylor in 1917 following his return from service in WWI in France. Their first child, Richard, was born in 1918. Richard served in WWWII, also in France, and was tragically killed in Caen in 1944 following the Normandy invasion. Following his death, Mrs. Taylor was presented with the Silver Cross from Veterans Affairs.

Mrs. Taylor was Ottawa’s last remaining Silver Cross Mother from the second world war. What truly illustrates, not only the importance of the Cross to Mrs. Taylor, but her courage and indomitable spirit, was her reaction three years ago to the attempted robbery of her purse in the courtyard outside her home. When some thugs grabbed her purse and ran off, she gave chase and got her purse back. When the police reprimanded her for her "dangerous" actions, she firmly told them that it contained the Silver Cross given to her in memory of her son, and she was not going to let it go.

Mrs. Taylor was a very active woman all her life. Her second son, Douglas, tells of how she went to the Ottawa exhibition every year up until just two years ago. She used to go on the merry go round and never missed a year. She also took up bowling at 86 and played until she was 90.

During the war, she worked in the war records office. She also did a lot of volunteer work. Extremely matter of fact and down-to-earth Mrs. Taylor called former Governor General Romeo Leblanc by his first name.

She lived independently with her cat, Tiger, for company since the death of her husband in 1977. Mrs. Taylor is survived by her son, Douglas, his wife, Judy and three grandchildren, Lisa, Michael and Jamie.

Mrs. Taylor is a women who truly will be missed. God bless."

No declarations of interest were filed.

The following members of Council advising that they will be absent from Council and Committee meetings during the dates indicated:

Councillor B. Hill 27 October 1999 {Regional Business}

Councillor R. van den Ham 26 - 27 October 1999 {Regional Business}

Moved by Councillor J. Legendre

Seconded by Councillor W. Byrne

RESOLVED THAT Planning and Environment Committee Report Nos. 44 and 45 {In Camera} be received and considered.

Moved by Councillor D. Beamish

Seconded by Councillor M. Bellemare

RESOLVED THAT Planning and Environment Committee Report Nos. 44 and 45 be received and adopted.

Moved by Councillor M. Bellemare

Seconded by Councillor J. Legendre

RESOLVED THAT the following by-laws be enacted and passed.

Moved By Councillor M. McGoldrick-Larsen

Seconded by Councillor A. Loney

Moved by Councillor M. Meilleur

Seconded by Councillor C. Doucet

Moved by Councillor D. Holmes

Seconded by Councillor W. Byrne

RESOLVED THAT Motion No. 195 be amended as follows: that the words, "be removed and" be removed from the resolved clause and be substituted with the word "be".

Moved by Councillor W. Stewart

Seconded by Councillor L. Davis

RESOLVED THAT by-law 83 of 1999 to confirm the proceedings of Council be enacted and passed.