Much of the six-hour Kitchener City council meeting on January 29, focused on delegates’ opposition to the City’s proposed Growing Together Plan.
One of the objectives of the plan is to increase affordable housing stock close to the ION stations and major transit areas.
Most of the delegates to Council were in various ways associated with property development and opposed the recommendations in the report.
There were others, not related in a financial capacity to issues of rezoning, who also disagreed with the recommendations.
Some of the objections raised were about the challenges of preserving the integrity of heritage neighbourhoods during a housing crisis in which the city wants intensification.
Gail Pool of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario North Waterloo Region branch was one of the people who presented opposition to the Report’s recommendations for the Victoria Park Heritage District.
Tent fires have become a common occurrence in the winter at the Victoria Street encampment in Kitchener and a local housing advocacy group is helping find solutions.
FightBack KW, thinks it might have found an answer. The organization is building temporary sandbag structures that two people can live in and up to six can congregate in.
Fire is a problem because the tents used at the encampment were not designed for winter use. In order to survive the winter outside, people must insulate or warm their tents, which carries huge risks and can be a difficult balance to achieve.
FightBack KW is looking for community partnerships with relevant businesses to fund and help build the structures. The next build day that individuals are welcome to participate in is February 3, this Saturday from 11-dark.
Wren Wombwell of FightBack KW talked to CKMS News about the situation and the sandbag structures.
Kitchener City Council voted unanimously on Monday to divert city-owned end-of-life computer equipment from the e-waste stream.
Instead, the City will donate this equipment to the Working Centre’s Computer Recycling program, which already accepts technology donations and provides low-cost computer equipment to the community.
The city examined the possibility of running this program in-house, but collaborating with the Working Centre provides benefit to the community and makes sense logistically and financially.
Invasive Group A Streptococcus (IGAS) – which can cause afflictions from a sore throat to flesh-eating disease – is on the rise in Waterloo.
Chief Medical officer of Health Dr Hsiu-Li Wong presented the respiratory disease update at the Region of Waterloo council meeting on Wednesday evening.
While the overall number of people infected is still low as of early January, the Public Health Agency of Ontario noted that 540 infections were reported in Ontario alone from October 2023 to the end of December. Within this data were 6 children under the age of 9 who succumbed to the disease.
Dr .Wong described symptoms of a severe IGAS infection, which include fever, sore throat, neck pain and rash that continue to worsen.
Epidemiologists do not yet understand why the disease has spiked and recommend taking precautions including proper hand hygiene and staying home when sick.
The debate over the future of the outdoor shelter at 1001 Erb’s Road was reignited at the Region of Waterloo Community and Health Services Committee on January 16.
The Region must either find a solution to the wastewater management problem at the site or move the shelter altogether before April 2025. While some councillors wanted staff to begin to work on a wind down plan, others thought it could wait.
The site, at 1001 Erb’s Rd, sits beside the landfill just west of the Wilmot line, making it primarily a concern for Wilmot Township.
Councillor and Wilmot mayor Natasha Salonen’s motion was a response to the admission at the November 7 Community and Health Services Committee meeting in which regional staff told council there was no plan in place for the shelter to draw to a close. Regardless, Councillor Salonen’s motion was defeated.
The 2023 Christmas Bird Count in Kitchener recorded a decreased number of birds of prey, such as american kestrels and rough legged hawks, compared to previous years, according to Ethan Gosnell, the local coordinator for the international project.
The Christmas Bird Count takes place across North America, allowing for tracking of winter bird populations and distributions. It is organized by Audubon in the USA, and the in Canada by Birds Canada. In 2023, the Christmas Bird Count marked its 90th year in Waterloo Region.
Ethan discussed the rising numbers of some more typical summer birds in the Christmas count, in particular, the green winged teal, and what happens to these warmer weather birds when the seasonal freezing weather sets in.
In early January, Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) in Kitchener announced through Instagram that 18 out of 30 – or 60% — of fentanyl samples tested also contained the animal sedative, xylazine.
Leigh Wardlaw of CTS talked to CKMS news about xylazine, why it is added to the supply, the health impacts, and the wider problem of adulterating drugs.
Leigh also explains the importance and impact of testing, and how to access the service. Although, that access may be limited as CTS’s current funding ends at the end of March, leaving the service with an uncertain future.
Over 200 people went to Waterloo City Hall on Tuesday December 19 to sing for peace. The ‘Mennonite Day of Action Hymn Sing for a Ceasefire’ was put on by the group Mennonite Action, which says it is a movement of Mennonites who believe they have a responsibility to speak out for peace and justice.
Sam Ramer of Mennonite Action talked about the purpose of the hymn sing and why they are focusing on Palestine.
But Mennonite Action’s event was not only in Waterloo. On December 19, over two thousand people came to sing hymns in 42 cities and towns across North America.
Thank you to A.S. Compton, for permission to play their recording of the hymn sing on the show.
Tensions simmered when the topic of A Better Tent City (ABTC) came up at the last Waterloo Regional Council meeting of 2023. ABTC is tiny home community in Kitchener that currently houses 50 chronic homeless people.
On one side were those who supported the motion from Councillor and Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic which granted $236,390 for the next two years to ABTC. On the other side were those who said the grant was unfair and inequitable.
Several Councillors insisted the wording of Councillor Vrbanovic’s motion be removed as they felt it was insulting to staff. Another criticism arose because six other groups had been denied original funding but did not afterwards ask Council for money, some councillors felt this was unfair and inequitable
Despite the criticism, Council carried Councillor Vrbanovic’s motion granting ABTC $236,390 for the next two years
On October 18 of this year, the House of Commons unanimously passed the right to repair amendment under the Copyright Act (Bill C-244). The bill, originally tabled by Cambridge MP Bryan May, will allow the circumvention of a technological protection measure (TMP) so long as it is for diagnosis, maintenance, or repair purposes.
TPMs are meant to protect proprietary information or software, but they also inhibit an individual’s right and ability to repair any device that they own, and so often devices end up in landfills. Waste diversion concerns are among the key reasons for this amendment, as is the expense that repair places on people.
Murray Zink is the founder of 4RepairKW and the UW Repair Hub and has been promoting repair for many years. CKMS News talked to both Bryan May and Murray Zink.
Of the three firework celebrations allowed in Kitchener in 2023, Diwali fireworks drew the most complaints, leaving Mayor Berry Vrbanovic to speculate if this reflects less tolerance in the community towards the Hindu festival.
Other councillors believed it was more of a lack of education by both those setting off the fireworks and those calling the bylaw office to complain. To counter this, new fireworks regulations include a comprehensive education campaign to educate residents and an increase in the number of bylaw enforcement officers on duty from two to eight for firework days.
Councillor Ayo Owodunni announced that 184 complaints were made to the bylaw office regarding fireworks in 2023, with Diwali accounting for 63 of these, Victoria Day, 54 and Canada Day, 32. Complaints are likely underreported as email/phone complaints after the fact are not included in these totals.
The motion introducing these new regulations about non-compliance with city’s fireworks regulations was carried.
The rental housing crisis was on full display in front of Kitchener City Council on Monday night.
A proposed 13-storey mixed-use building at 93-99 Benton Street and 39-43 St. George Street, within the Cedar Hill neighbourhood in Kitchener, would offer 96 new units but would also demolish the 13 current affordable units, evicting the current tenants.
Eric Schneider, Senior Planner at the City of Kitchener laid out what the developer is asking for and the arrangements with the current residents.
The applicant, Ideal Capital Limited from Mississauga, a self-proclaimed ‘premium’ real estate developer, answered Council’s questions and, after their request, indicated he would meet with residents.
Thirteen delegates asked Council to reject this proposal. Delegates included three representatives from a local tenants’ rights group (ACORN WR), several current residents of the townhouses, and neighbours from the Cedar Hill community.
Against several of the delegates’ wishes, City Council chose to defer their decision until the January 22, 2024 meeting.
The UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Wednesday was marked with a protest outside Scotiabank in uptown Waterloo.
November 29 is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, marks the passage of the United Nations Resolution 181 on November 29, 1947, which partitioned Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.
The group was protesting the bank’s involvement with Elbit Systems, which is the primary provider of drones and land-based equipment to the the Israeli military, and called on them to divest from the company.
The protest itself was peaceful and lasted for about 90 minutes during which Scotiabank locked its door and called police. Police questioned protestors but left soon after. Scotiabank refused comment, but in an email to Reuters earlier this week, the bank accused protestors of spreading misinformation and hate speech. Scotiabank stated their exposure to Elbit is via mutual funds managed by their asset management arm.That mutual fund is Scotiabank’s 1832 Asset Management mutual fund which is the third-biggest shareholder in Elbit.
In 2021, Elbit reported revenue of 5.28 billion USD.
This protest against Scotiabank follows several others in recent week, including on November 14, at the Giller Prize ceremony, which celebrates Canadian literature and which is sponsored by the bank, and on November 17 on Bay Street in Toronto.
The Kitchener centre by-election is this week, November 30, and while the outcome is still far from clear, there is little faith that the elected representative will have any impact in the house.
Three attempts over 10 days were made to contact the Progressive Conservative candidate Rob Elliot, but we did not hear back from the PCs in time for broadcast.
The last provincial election was held in 2022 and of the 124 seats in Queen’s Park, the PC have 80 seats, NDP have 28, Liberals have 9 and the Greens have 1. So unless Rob Elliott is elected, the MPP will be in the minority. So given that the Kitchener Centre by-election this week, CKMS took the opportunity to ask the four front-runner candidates, how will you participate in the process when you are not a decision-maker but rather as a member of a minority party. In what areas do you see yourself contributing? What committees do you want to focus on?
NDP is the only other party in the house, and they are the official opposition. Debbie Chapman attributes the Ford government’s reversal on the Greenbelt to Marit Stiles. Chapman believes the NDP can win the next election.
Kelly Steiss of the Liberals noted that because the Liberals don’t have official party status, it requires MPPs to be very well connected with and to listen to constituents for when the party does have the opportunity to speak, she will be ready.
Aislinn Clancy of the Greens used the example of how Mike Morrice has been effective in Federal parliament, working collaboratively and across party lines. She focuses on putting the needs of people ahead of partisan politics.
This is one in a series of shows about the Kitchener Centre by-election in which we ask candidates some of the lesser-asked questions that are important to our community.
Residents of Kitchener Centre provincial election will choose their new MPP this week, in a by-election influenced as much by party politics as much as local politics.
The former MPP, Laura Mae Lindo, resigned the seat she held for the NDP in July.
The NDP candidate is Debbie Chapman who has served on Kitchener City Council for almost five years as councillor for Ward 9, and she teaches political science at Wilfrid Laurier University.
The Liberal Party candidate is Kelly Steiss, who has worked in municipal government for over two decades. She has volunteered in different capacities to help social inclusion, including as a member of the Mayor’s Task Force for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Steiss has also been the president for the Waterloo Rotary Club.
Aislinn Clancy is running for the Green Party of Ontario. Clancy is currently the Ward 10 councillor for the City of Kitchener and is also the deputy leader of the Ontario Greens. Previously, Clancy worked as a social worker for the Waterloo Catholic District School Board.
Progressive Conservative candidate Rob Elliott has experience in the transportation and government sectors and a former PC party vice-president and regional organizer. Mr. Elliott does not live in Kitchener. He lives in Keswick, north of Toronto.
We spoke to University of Waterloo Political Science Professor Emeritus Robert J. Williams. During his 35 year career at Waterloo, Professor Williams taught courses on provincial, Ontario and municipal government and politics.From 1994 until 2003 he was Academic Director of the Ontario Legislature Internship Programme at Queen’s Park. He has conducted or advised on ward boundary and electoral system reviews in more than twenty-five Ontario municipalities, and testified as an expert witness before the Ontario Municipal Board in several cases involving electoral arrangements. Professor Williams has also served as President of Municipal Cultural Planning Inc., a not-for-profit organization created in late 2009 to advance the practice of municipal cultural planning in communities across Ontario.
Professor Williams provided some history of the Kitchener Centre riding and context for the by-election. He noted that the riding had voted liberal for fifteen years before the previous MPP Laura Mae Lindo and the NDP took the seat in 2018.
Professor Williams noted the fact that Rob Elliott does not live in the constituency is telling and questions why the PCs could not find anyone in the riding to run.
While the PC party casts a long shadow on this byelection, the larger political parties may also influence voters. Professor Williams talks about these wider influences and their possible impact in the Kitchener by-election.The Liberals are currently without a leader and will be holding a leadership convention on December 2. The Green party has one MPP, but the positive reputation of the Green MP Mike Morrice, may also influence voters. And while the NDP have managed to survive a controversy, Professor Williams wondered if it would cause any repercussions at the voting booth.
Professor Williams mentioned the Sarah Jama controversy, which happened when Sarah Jama a NDP MPP from Hamilton expressed sympathy for the current situation in Palestine. Marit Stiles, the leader of the NDP, kicked Jama out of the NDP caucus saying Jama had broken the trust of her colleagues. Then the Kitchener Centre NDP riding issued a statement alleging Stiles was “out of touch with the one million Muslims in Ontario.” The journalist Sabrina Nanji of the Queens Park Observer interviewed Chapman about the situation and she replied she had no knowledge of the letter. She was not aware of the letter and was not involved in its publication, in fact she said the letter blindsided her. Chapman noted three members who were involved in writing the letter resigned, and she stands by Stiles.
Professor Williams was not entirely optimisitic that the new MPP will have a lot of influence, “You are not determining who will be the premier but you are choosing someone who will … contribute as a member of a party to deliberations.”
The former MPP, Laura Mae Lindo, resigned the seat she held for the NDP in July. The Kitchener Centre riding has a population of about 105,260 and is about 42 km2. The person who does win the riding could have approximately 3 years in the job before the next election. The surrounding constituencies – Kitchener South Hespeler and Kitchener Conestoga are both held by PC MPPs, while the Waterloo riding is currently held by the NDP.
This is one in a series of shows about the Kitchener Centre by-election in which we ask candidates some of the lesser-asked questions that are important to our community.
The reason the Kitchener Centre by-election was called is because the previous MPP, Laura Mae Lindo, stepped down and one of the challenges she cited was the difficulty of obtaining childcare.
With the Kitchener Centre by-election this week, CKMS took the opportunity to ask the four front-runner candidates what they think about the state of childcare in the region, the pay rise and, how if elected MPP, they will be able to influence staff hiring and retention?
The four main candidates are Rob Elliott of the Progressive Conservatives, Debbie Chapman of the NDP, Kelly Steiss of the Ontario Liberal party, and Aislinn Clancy of the Ontario Greens. Three attempts over 10 days were made to contact the Progressive Conservative candidate Rob Elliot, but we did not hear back from the PCs in time for broadcast.
In response to our question, Aislinn Clancy focused on space and labour. She said that parts of the riding are a childcare desert, and Clancy believes more can be done to incentivise underused buildings such as community centres and churches, to develop childcare centres. Clancy also focused on bringing more respect to the profession of early childhood education and in doing so, continue to increase their pay.
Debbie Chapman said that she would like to see free childcare. She also noted that ten dollar a day care is great, but the waiting lists are very long and that puts parents in difficult situations.
Kelly Steiss noted that even though there is 10$ /day childcare, there aren’t enough workers to keep the system going. She was disappointed it took the Ontario government so long to sign on to the federal agreement. Steiss said early childhood educators do important work and paying them well is an investment in our future. She also noted that $23.86 is a good place to start in relations with these workers.
This is one in a series of shows about the Kitchener Centre by-election in which we ask candidates some of the lesser-asked questions that are important to our community.
In early November the NDP leader Marit Stiles introduced a motion called on the government to provide a timeline and funding commitment for the Kitchener GO Line expansion, which was then promptly voted down by the Conservatives (66 to 30).
With the Kitchener Centre by-election this week, CKMS took the opportunity to ask the four front-runner candidates if, after all the effort that has been applied, the government still won’t budge, what can they add to this effort?
CKMS News made three attempts over 10 days to contact the Progressive Conservative candidate Rob Elliot, but did not hear back from the PCs in time for broadcast of this story. The other three candidates responded and spoke to CKMS News about GO train service in Kitchener Waterloo.
First up is Debbie Chapman of the NDP who says two-way, all-day GO service is a top priority for her and her party, and despite the Conservatives voted down the motion, the fight continues.
The Liberals have also called for all-day and all weekend train service to Toronto. Kelly Steiss, the Liberal candidate explains how people have been pushing for more GO trains and acknowledges the frustration riders feel.
Aislinn Clancy of the Ontario Greens noted how the PCs have said they are supportive of the idea of increased GO service, but then vote against it. Clancy has called on focusing on financial elements of the decision to appeal to the Conservatives. All levels of government to speed up the process to secure increased GO service.
CKMS asked the candidates who agreed to speak about their familiarity with local transit is and if they actually use it, asking them “When was the last time you went to Toronto on the GO train?” and “When was the last time you took the GRT (Grand River Transit buses) and Ion Rapid Transit Service (light rail)?”
Debbie Chapman of the NDP had not taken the GO transit to Toronto recently, but does take local public transport
Aislinn Clancy of the Greens has had recent experience on GO transit and the GRT and highlighted the problems that she has experienced and heard.
While Kelly Steiss of the Liberals has not had recent experience with GO Transit, her campaign staff have. She also has recent positive experience with the Ion.
This is one in a series of shows about the Kitchener Centre by-election and in which we ask candidates some of the less-asked questions that are important to our community.
City of Kitchener Councillor Bil Ioannidis said that we have gone way too far with cycling infrastructure. The Councillor made the comments at the Finance and Corporate Services committee meeting on Monday, November 20. The committee was reviewing the city of Kitchener’s 2024 draft operating budget that is to go to the mayor for approval in early December. The budget includes approximately $5.5 million to advance the strategic priorities, which were determined in the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan. Some of these areas, and the funding given to them in this budget include:
$700,000 for downtown cycling grid and infrastructure;
$424,000 in traffic calming;
$300,000 trail improvements for the Active Transport plan;
$1.2 million for the Housing for all Strategy;
$117,000 for the Creative Hub;
$173,000 to expand community centre hours; and
$240,000 to launch additional special events, including one new major festival in 2024.
Councillors raised a series of questions about different strategic priority funding options, but it was the competing interests of cycling, trails, and traffic calming that occupied most of the meeting. In addition to Councillor Ioannidis’s remarks, other councillors balked at both the $700,000 given to the downtown cycling grid and infrastructure and the $300,000 for additional cycling and trail connections, while traffic calming, a much more important issue in many of the councillors’ opinions, was afforded only $424,000.
City staff tried in various ways to address the concern about too much attention paid to cycling which came from at least 3 of the councillors attending. Councillor Paul Singh asked where the $700k for the cycling infrastructure came from, and why it had been applied to the cycling infrastructure. First Jonathon Lautenbach, city of Kitchener CFO explained the city’s position and then Justin Readman,· General Manager, Development Services at city of Kitchener, elaborated the funds are the final phase of a long-term capital investment that the city agreed to undertake years ago.
Councillor Christine Michaud also noted that she’s not hearing complaints about cycling but rather about the speed that people drive their cars and the need for traffic calming. City staff said that traffic calming has been funded in the past and what is in the budget reflects what Council has previously agreed to, based on what each area needs. But Michaud reinforced her concerns, and desire for more funding, to contend with traffic calming and reducing drivers’ speed.
Councillors Dave Schnider and Jason Deneault expressed strong interest in improving signage in parks for trails and cyclists. Councillor Schnider noted you can get on a trail and go all the way around the city but there are no signs informing people they can do so. City staff assured Council a comprehensive wayfinding strategy is going to be revealed soon.
Councillors Ioannidis and Margaret Johnston asked about lighting on trails and parks, but were informed that lighting beyond the major trails (namely the Iron Horse Trail and the Spurline Trail) is too expensive.
The Kitchener City operating budget also included funding for new and continuing services and infrastructure. Kitchener City Chief Financial Officer, Jonathan Lautenbach summarised the tax increases for services and infrastructure, which include a 3.9% per year rise in property tax (that’s a $47 rise over last year) and 6.3% increase in utilities (a $77 increase).
Next week is the final week for any changes to the budget. Public are reminded next Monday, November 27, is public consultation night and the Council will also examine the Capital budget on that same evening. For more information on the 2024 operating budget, the city of Kitchener has a detailed description on their website here.
In his annual State of the City address, on Thursday November 9, Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic made several new announcements, including new incentives to build affordable housing in the city.
Starting in 2024, the city of Kitchener, with the help of the federal government, will offer incentives to to build not-for-profit, supportive, and affordable rentals or affordable coops units. The initiative is meant to help construct more than 500 new affordable housing units and will cost over $5 million. These incentives consist of matching grants at $5,000 per unit to subsidize early-stage development costs. No-interest loans of an additional $5,000 per unit will also be available from the city. The mayor said more information will be release about this new initiative over the next few weeks.
This housing announcement comes on the heels of the previous announcement by Federal Minister Sean Fraser that $42.4 million of funding from the Government of Canada’s Housing Accelerator fund will fast track the construction of 1200 new local homes by early 2027. See the announcement here.
The Housing Accelerator Fund was launched by the Federal government in March of this year to assist municipalities to increase the housing supply.
The Mayor told the crowd how Minister Fraser noted that Kitchener has the most significant growth rate of any Housing Accelerator Community in Canada, of which there are about 500.
Other announcements the Mayor made in his address include changes to the community centre model to reflect changing and more diverse neighbourhoods and to help newcomers become more connected to community. The mayor talked about the city’s efforts to build a creative and ideas hub downtown and also announced a new relationship structure between the city and local performing arts organizations. This new structure consists of the city playing a larger part in the operations and promotions of the performing arts groups in order to boost tourism.
The mayor listed ongoing environmental goals such as increasing the tree canopy to 30% in all neighbourhoods by 2050 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, namely by converting city-owned combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles. He also noted plans to add a major new park near the Grand River, but did not provide additional details.
Despite talking in depth about housing, the idea hub, the environment and changes to community centres and the relationship with performing arts venues, the Mayor did not talk about the affordability or growing homelessness crises.
The ceremony was held at the Kitchener Market and featured videos with residents and each of the councillors talking about what has been accomplished in the past year.
A complete recording of the State of the City event can be found here. To learn more about the City of Kitchener’s 2023 – 2026 Strategic Plan and its vision for 2043, visit kitchener.ca/ourplan.
Lodging home licensing is on the way in Kitchener, but at Monday night’s council meeting, council took the opportunity to defer the motion until March 2024.
At last week’s council meeting, on October 30, a motion to remove restrictions on lodging houses was deferred. Councillor Bill Ioannidis introduced the deferral after questioning if fourplex apartments are a better option overall to increase affordability and if a pilot study would be a better approach to roll out licensing.
In response to those questions, at this week’s meeting, delegate Phil Marfisi noted how lodging homes differ from fourplex apartments, and that lodging homes do not require much in the way of preparation and can be occupied without additional construction or renovation. Because of this, Marfisi said, lodging homes can be a more economical mode of housing. Marfisi also explained how a lodging house pilot study would not meet the urgency of the crisis and would impede the delivery of this needed housing.
A second delegate, Lynn Intini, presented a description of lodging home residents and how the plan integrates with the city of Kitchener’s overall housing plan. She also pointed out that exclusionary zoning bylaws can have human rights implications if it restricts where people can live.
Council was informed on Monday night that the bylaw will be back in March 2024. Councillor Scott Davey moved to defer the lodging house motion as nothing would be able to be enacted until the lodging house licensing bylaw was ready anyway. Councillor Jason Deneault agreed with the deferral and noted that by deferring, more research can be done into issues such as short-term rentals that overlap and influence the affordable rental market.
Proposed changes to the Grand River Transit (or GRT) fares would see cash fares rise, but under these proposals, accessibility services would also increase. Commissioner for Transportation Services Mathieu Goetzke presented the proposals to Regional Council during a budget consultation meeting on Wednesday November 1.
This budget consultation meeting, one of several in the run-up to the final budget day on December 13, focused on determining the budgets for the Region’s equitable services and opportunities. Items of discussion included improving community safety and well-being, automated speed enforcement, youth-focused initiatives, paramedic services, transportation, and proposed transit fare changes to the GRT.
These proposed fare changes include increasing the electronic cash fare by two cents from $2.98 to $3.00, increasing monthly passes from $92 to $96; and increasing cash fares from $3.75 to $4 per single ride.
Commisioner Goetzke explained why this cash fare price increase is needed, but several councillors expressed concern. Councillor Natasha Salonen wondered if the cash fare increase wouldn’t hurt the most marginalised.
Another proposed increase is the fare window, which is how long one bus ticket is good for. Currently the GRT offers a 90-minute window and is proposing a 120-minute, or two-hour, window. Councillor Rob Deutschmann suggested increasing the fare window to three hours, arguing the size of the region justified increasing the transfer window. Councillor Jim Erb agreed and noted that Waterloo Region riders often switch between the bus and ION train systems, which takes more time.
Commisioner Goetzke listed the proposed measures to increase accessibility, including removing $5 minimum load on easy go card, developing a mobile payment app, increasing the discount on needs-based fares, and introducing a new group pass for $12, which would allow unlimited travel for up to five people regardless if they are a family or not.
These proposed changes were presented as a preview of what will be discussed in more detail at a later council meeting. The intention of this review was to bring forward a budget-day motion to adopt a new user fee and charge bylaw.
Councillors have until December 4 to make a motion to amend the budget before the final budget day on December 13.
At the next Strategic Planning and Budget Committee, on November 8, Council will be examining the draft 2024 budgets focusing on the theme homes for all.
Kitchener city staff have drawn up new guidelines for land use and zoning changes for lodging houses in the city, but Council isn’t satisfied. At the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee meeting on October 30, Kitchener Council examined these changes, and given the mix of opinions on council, deferred their decision until the next council meeting on Monday November 6.
Several review studies, including Kitchener’s Housing for All Housing First strategy and the March 2021 Lower Doon Land Use Study, among others, encouraged the city to examine how lodging (or rooming houses) can play a role in alleviating the housing crisis. And so, at Monday evening’s council meeting, Kitchener city planning staff came back with a proposal that would remove references in the official plan and zoning regulations to minimum distance separations, lodging houses parking regulations, and geographical limitations on lodging houses.
Two delegates presented to Council in favour of lodging houses. Nelson Chukwuma from the Conestoga Student Inc.‘s Board of Directors and Martin Asling of the Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) housing advocacy group. Both explained the importance of lodging houses to help both students and permanent city residents secure affordable housing.
In the mid 2000s, as part of then-official plan, the City of Kitchener sought to limit the creation of new lodging houses. Currently there are about 20 licensed lodging houses located across the city and an unknown but an assumed large number of unlicensed lodging houses.
One of the recommended zoning changes is to scrap the minimum distance provision, which limits lodging houses from being too close to one another. Up until now, lodging houses have to be at least 400m from one another. Martin Asling explained that this, according to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, is a form of ‘people zoning’ and is illegal in Ontario. In considering this change, Councillor Scott Davey expressed concerns about a possible overconcentration of lodging homes in an area, and he wondered what the consequences of that would be.
City staff also recommended that parking regulations be removed. Martin noted that these regulations are from an earlier time and are now out of date and no longer in line with the city’s aims.
Another recommendation from staff, that both delegates agreed with, was to lift restrictions to allow lodging houses in all residential zones throughout the city.
Affordability was a concern for many of the councillors. Councillor Bill Ioannidis asked Martin how to keep lodging houses affordable and prevent landlords from overcharging. In response, Martin listed a series of studies that have examined the implementation of lodging houses and which found that affordability stayed intact. Councillor Debbie Chapman asked Martin if he knew of any measures that could be put in place now to ensure affordability, and Martin explained how preventing the loss of lodging house supply is important.
City staff made a point to note that this meeting was not about licensing lodging homes but rather land use and zoning changes. Despite this, throughout the meeting, questions on licensing and enforcement popped up, Mayor Berry Vrbanovic asked if both the zoning and licensing could be dealt with concurrently given the importance and urgency of this measure. Staff were quick to point out that the licensing depends on removing some of the zoning and land use restrictions, and perhaps it could be done concurrently, but the changes to zoning and land use must occur before a licensing program is overhauled.
Other issues of licensing that were raised included how to incentivize landowners to obtain a licence, how licensing would be enforced, and what repercussions there currently are if landowners choose not to obtain a license.
Councillor Ioannidis expressed a preference for the four-plex housing strategy, which was passed at council previously. By the end, the Councillor noted he had more questions than answers and pushed for a deferral to the next council meeting. The deferral motion was passed and the issue will be readdressed at Council meeting on November 6.
The City of Waterloo is offering a free assisted sidewalk and windrow snow-clearing service for eligible residents who are unable to clear their sidewalks and windrows during the winter months. Earlier this year and after obtaining community feedback on how to proceed with future snow clearing in the city, City Council decided to open applications for a trial snow-clearing service.
Tiffany Smith, Manager, Senior Services and Community Services at the City of Waterloo, explained who the program is meant to help, how to apply, and what the future plans are.
Demand has been high and the city has quickly received applications for half of the forty spots available. Smith explained how this initiative is the first of a four year phase-in program that will see snow-clearing services expanded. Council approved this plans in a May 2023 meeting. A synopsis of this report can be found at EngageWR. There are plans to assess the program and gather further input from homeowners and the community after this first trial season.
As a part of its current snow-clearing responsibilities, the city clears multi-use trails and paths around the city, as well as walkways and bike lanes. City plows also currently clear about 85 km of sidewalk in and around various city parks and facilities
Applications open until October 31st and can be found online here.
Up-to-date COVID and flu vaccines will be available for all residents on Monday, October 30. The announcement was made at last week’s Waterloo Regional Council meeting by Dr. Hsui-Li Wang, the chief medical officer for Waterloo Region.
There are no walk in appointments at this time, and clinic appointments must be made through the provincial booking system.
Also on October 30, the Board of Health will begin sending notifications to parents as reminders to update children’s immunization records and vaccines.
The update also stated that while COVID 19 has been increasing slightly in the Region, wastewater data remains at elevated levels with signals dominated by most recent variant (XBB).
“Show up and tune in” was the message from the Poverty Reduction Forum, when asked how people can engage with 2024 police budget consultations. The Forum, which was hosted by the Kitchener Public Library and presented by the Waterloo Region Community Legal Services, was held on October 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The Forum consisted of two four person panels that included outreach workers; people with lived experience of poverty; academics; a former politician; and social workers.
Some of the conversation at the Forum revolved around the problems and challenges when dealing with the police. Consistently, across the panels, delegates encouraged all members of the public to get involved in the community consultation process, in particular to attend the upcoming public consultations on the police budget on October 26 and November 6.
Earlier this year, the Waterloo Regional Council approved a motion that demanded the WRPS board consult with council and the public before approving its annual budget, in an effort to encourage transparency and improve relations between the police and the public. Up until now, Regional Council could only approve or reject the police budget and had no control over individual budget items or the process.
As reported by CKMS news last week, Regional Councillor Rob Deutschmann presented a motion to council to express dissatisfaction and disappointment in the engagement process so far and that the WRPS budget seems to have been finalized with neither public nor council input. That motion ultimately failed, though the vote was close.
At the Poverty Forum, advocates Kamil Ahmed, a community organizer and mediator at Community Justice Initiatives, and Sara Escobar, co-founder of Peregrine Outreach, both stressed the importance of public participation. Kamil also discussed the importance of gaining a wider perspective and understanding of the police’s increased budget requests.
The WRPS is the 12th largest police service in Canada and the 7th in Ontario. In 2023 the police budget was $214 million. Despite a surplus, the WRPS has asked their 2024 budget to be increased by $16 million, in large part to fund additional 18 new officers in 2024 and 2025. The reason, according to police, is because officer staffing in the region has fallen short of other major municipalities, noting that as the population has grown in size, staffing has not increased.
To bolster their request, the police pointed to the rise in crime from 2012 to 2021 has risen 34 percent.
