Burlington Seniors' Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:	Monday, June 27, 2022
Time:	10:00 A.m. - 12:00 P.m.
Location:	Virtual

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1.

Members Present:

John Kalbfleisch (Chair), Nancy Gilbert, Peter Buckley, Margaret Doma, Ron Minaker, Deepak Sharma, Bob Chepyha

2.

Member Regrets:

Kerry McGregor, Sara Elkabany, Heather Westhaver

3.

Others Present:

Councillor Stolte, Aleksandra Hutchison (Elections Officer, City of Burlington), Kevin Arjoon (City Clerk), Emilie Cote (Manager of Recreation Services), Kristin Sprukulis (Clerk)

4.

Land Acknowledgement:

John read the Land Acknowledgement

5.

Declarations of Interest:

None.

6.

Approval of Minutes:

6.1

Approval of the minutes from the meeting held May 30, 2022

On motion, the minutes from the meeting held May 30, 2022, were approved as presented. 

7.

Delegation(s):

7.1

Aleksandra Hutchison, Elections Officer- City of Burlington

Aleksandra Hutichson, joined by City Clerk Kevin Arjoon for questions, provided the following information to the committee regarding the upcoming Municipal Election:

• The Office of the City Clerk is starting the process for hiring of election workers. Please visit this webpage for further information. 
• There are a few different ways to vote. These include: in person, online, by proxy, curb side voting. Online voting is offered over a ten day period, advanced polls are on October 15 and 18, and election day is October 24. The city is hoping to have staff available at certain locations (ie.libraries, seniors centre and rec centres) to assist with voting online. This information will be avaiilable at a future date. There will also be the ability to vote in long term care homes and retirement homes. For more information on how to vote please visit this webpage.
• An accessibility plan was developed to provide an overview for the upcoming election and is aimed at improving accessibility. For the full report please see report CL-29-22 on the Corporate Services, Strategy, Risk and Accountability Committee meeting of July 4, 2022.  A report after the election will also be written by the City Clerk to evaluate the accessibility throughout the election.
• This plan is organized into key areas including: consultation, voting locations, voting methods, communication and access to information.  
• Each voting location must be accessible to all electors. There are remediation plans if any accessibility concern arises and inspections are occurring to ensure all locations work well. 
• Information regarding the election will be available online at myvote.burlington.ca. Any updates will be available online as quickly as possible. On this page residents can find who is running for the election, how to vote, third party advertiser information and more.  There will also be printed information in the newspaper and city talk, and there will be enagagement events and information sessions within the city. Recreation centres and the Seniors' Centre will also have posters and white board notices. 
• To be eligible to vote, a residents' name must be on the voters list. Residents can go to voterlookup.ca or call to confirm information or update information to ensure they are on the list. Residents can also update information at the polls, but beforehand is encouraged. To vote residents will also need ID that has their name and Burlington address. It does not have to be photo ID, can also be a mortgage, lease, bill for hydro, etc. A Canadian passport is not an acceptable piece of ID. 
• For information not on the website, residents can also email [e-mail]. 
• Question: What is the verification process for online voters? When residents recieve their voter letter there will be a pin inside that is specific to them. Once that is registered online, residents will be able to vote immediately. 
• Question: Many residents have to take the bus to the polls, what is the accessibility plan? One of the information aspects, to be posted at a later date, will include the transit route to the polls for each of the voting locations.

8.

Regular Items:

8.1

Recreation, Community and Culture Update

Emilie shared the following information:

• Summer programming has begun and they are beginning to get ready for the fall season.
• There are Canada Day events going on at the City this week. Please visit this page for more information.
• The big ticket item right now is outdoor pickle ball courts. The future of more courts and exclusive pickle ball courts will be a thought for the future. Recreation is in the middle of doing a parks and recreation master plan about how to use assets moving forward. 
• There is a bit of a slower uptake to programs in the summer, and in the summer the seniors' centre tends to be quieter. Some of the online programs have a dropped enrollment as people are more comfortable meeting in person now. 

8.2

Approval of 2023 BSAC schedule

On motion, the 2023 Burlington Seniors' Advisory Committee schedule was approved as presented. 

8.3

Food for Feedback- September 17

Councillor Stolte shared the following information regarding Food for Feedback:

• This event is coming back on September 17. The last time this occured was in 2019. 
• It is a drop in information fair. City staff set up booths and ask residents to provide feedback and suggestions from their lived experience to the departments. When residents provide feedback they are given a food truck voucher and can use it at the number of food trucks set up in the park.
• More information about this event will be available at a later date. 

8.4

Roundtable Updates

a.

Burlington Public Library

No updates at this time. 

b.

Burlington Accessibility Advisory Committee (BAAC)

John shared the following information:

• At BAAC's last meeting Aleksandra Hutchison and Kevin Arjoon shared a presentation similar to today's regarding accessibility and the upcoming municipal election. 
• There was a delegation regarding the accessible parking design standards review, which will have it's final stakeholder meeting on June 28. 

c.

Burlington Inclusivity Advisory Committee (BIAC)

Deepak shared the following information:

• The last meeting for the year was on June 17.
• The committee was finishing up plans for their virtual panel on Dismantling Hate Crime on June 21. 
• The panel went well and a lot of good information was shared from Police Chief Stephen Tanner, MP Karina Gould and Brian Carwana from the University of Toronto. The Halton Regional Police are always keeping a look out for hate crimes in the community, however it is difficult to control these on social media. Discussed the responsibility to not be quiet regarding this matter and to speak up for the community around you.
• The video for this event can be accessed here.

d.

Burlington Integrated Transportation Advisory Committee (ITAC)

Peter shared the following information:

• Last meeting of the year is on June 27
• At the previous meeting Peter brought up the cycling without age that BSAC had discussed at the May 30th committee meeting. 
• The committee discussed how most people cycle for recreation purposes and do not cycle for transportation because of safety concerns.
• It was announced that Plains road is receiving protective siding in their refurbishment. This refurbishment will go along Plains Road from Spring Gardens Road to Waterdown Road. For more information please visit this webpage.

Councillor Stolte shared that Council agrees that the line of paint on the road is not a safe bike lane. It was an attempt years ago to acknowledge cyclists on the road. The challenge is that many of the roads are not wide enough to install a protective bike lane. Council is trying to have a conversation about having this lane on Maple Ave.

8.5

Thank you!

Kristin thanked the committee for their time and hard work this year, and reminded committee that due to the election there will be another recruitment process after the election in late fall/early winter. 

9.

Other Business:

None.

10.

Adjournment: 11:03 a.m.