Burlington Mundialization Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:	Wednesday, June 02, 2021
Time:	7:00 P.m. - 9:00 P.m.
Location:	Virtual

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1.

Members Present:

Hassan Raza (Chair), Leanne Cecil, Rob Lyng, Anne Koopman, Marybeth Curtin, Brianna Jennings, Shadi Salehian, Ryan Martin, Eric Lim, Allan Dykstra, Joanna Sparrow, Chris VanDooren, Aysha Rizwan, Brett Huttman, Alex Maveal

2.

Member Regrets:

Christa Papavasiliou, Allison Tan

3.

Others Present:

Councillor Nisan, Suzanne Gillies (Clerk)

4.

Declarations of Interest:

None.

5.

Approval of Minutes:

5.1

Approve the minutes from the meeting held May 5, 2021.

The minutes from the meeting held May 5, 2021 were approved as amended.

6.

Delegation(s):

None.

7.

Regular Items:

7.1

Chair update:

Hassan provided the following updates:

• reminder that this is our last meeting as we break for the summer and reconvene in September
• over the summer work will continue on firming up policy documents and operating conditions for a two-tier relationship approach including framework for the different tiers

7.2

Subcommittee updates:

a.

Itabashi (Rob)

Rob provided the following updates:

• thank you to staff at the city for all their work to help execute the virtual Sakura Festival - the videos received over 4,500 views on Facebook and 500 on Youtube
• with the virtual festival being so successful we are thinking that in 2022 even if an in person event can take place, there should still be a virtual component as well
• Brianna is working on hosting a Haiku workshop with the library in July with Kimiko Horne as the leader for the workshop
• MOTION to provide $100 for an honourarium to Kimiko Horne for leading the Haiku workshop - CARRIED
• Pen pal program update - letters sent to Itabashi have been received, with the school year ending, not sure if we will receive letters back before the school year ends here, this program can be picked up again next year
• the artwork as part of the art exchange has been hung at City Hall, once the display comes down local art will be sent to Itabashi to be displayed there
• Foreign Minister Commendation Award is to be presented in person to the Mayor and committee, need to follow Covid restrictions but an award ceremony is being discussed, more details will be shared as they are confirmed

b.

United Nations (Shadi)

Shadi provided the following updates:

• the committee has been brainstorming what can be done during Covid and are welcome to any suggestions from this committee, then there will be a task force to prioritize options
• options so far include training for debates, mock debates, live sessions
• we need more members for this subcommittee, so please join or if you know of anyone that might be interested please give them my information
• we are planning on using the summer to create a video or live session to educate about what the UN subcommittee does to help with recruiting new members
• Hassan pointed out the continued constraints and restrictions with youth and the school board due to Covid

c.

Apeldoorn (Anne)

Anne provided the following updates:

• the committee will be working with their contact in Apeldoorn in September to recruit more schools to participate in the pen pal and art exchange programs, committee members will also look at recruiting more schools in Burlington
• there will be no exchange of high school students due to Covid restrictions this year
• there have been requests for the citizen exchange - if we can plan for Apeldoorn to come to Burlington - please note there are no commitments being made, this exchange would involve up to 20 people coming from Apeldoorn.  Next step is for the committee to survey potential host families in July, if survey is positive (people willing to host) we will communicate that with contacts in Apeldoorn
• Suzanne let the committee know that the Mayor of Burlington and the Mayor of Apeldoorn had a virtual meeting, and it was a huge success, they enjoyed meeting and discussing the valuable relationship that the two cities have formed
• Hassan asked about regular virtual meetings with the Mayors from Apeldoorn and Itabashi moving forward as a way to stay connected

7.3

Website working group:

Chris provided the following update:

• this working group hopes to do some work over the summer and map out next steps
• work out a way to streamline getting info to the city, not an approval process, just a way to streamline all the information coming from the committee

8.

Other Business:

• Hassan let the committee know that this would be the last meeting for Eric and Brianna and thanked them for their time and involvement with the committee.  Councillor Nisan thanked the members as well and the committee wished them well.
• Joanna provided a presentation on ways in which the city can strengthen relationships with the Indigenous people and communities. Councillor Nisan thanked Joanna for the very thoughtful presentation and informed the committee that work is being done by the city who has just hired a person to cultivate relationships with the Indigenous community, as well, there is a small city staff committee working on building relationships, council is very keen on developing relationships, this Mund committee may not the place for this initiative, it might be better suited for the Inclusivity Committee, but it is a priority.  Brianna provided her thoughts which included ways to incorporate and strengthen the connection to Indigenous communities, her ideas were to incorporate a land acknowledgement whenever possible and appropriate, incorporate Indigenous learnings into citizen visits and educate our twin cities on our Indigenous history.
• Alex provided an update on the Geoguesser app that was previously discussed by the committee, Alex has a trial account for 15 days and has created custom maps for Apeldoorn, Itabashi and Burlington.  Please go to the app and try what Alex has created and provide your feedback to him.  Terms and conditions for joining are pretty standard.
• The committee discussed the status of the relationship with Courseulles-sur-Mer, Covid has put a pause on the potential of pursuing another relationship, the committee needs to discuss and decide the most strategic way to move forward, and create draft framework on what it means to be a friendship city.  It was suggested that the Mayor of Burlington send a message to the Mayor of Courseulles-sur-Mer to spark a connection again.  Hassan to send a message to Mayor Meed Ward with the suggestion to reach out.
• Councillor Nisan provided an update on what the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is doing regarding international development programs which partner Canadian Municipalities with developing countries to form relationships.  If Halton or Burlington apply and are accepted for this program it is potential that Mund would manage the relationship.  Applications open in the fall.

9.

Adjournment:

Chair adjourned the meeting at 8:32 p.m.