Coun. Steve Peters delved into a bit of family history at Monday’s (Feb. 7) council meeting.
Specifically about his grandfather.
But, best we let Coun. Peters recount it in his own words.
“As someone who was born and raised in St. Thomas, and considers himself coming from an immigrant family.
“A lot of you don’t know, but my grandfather, who was born and raised in Canada, had to change his name from Dmytro Pidwerbeski to Dick Peters because he was a foreigner.
“And that has always stuck with me that my grandfather had to do that and he was born here but considered an immigrant.”
The glimpse into Peters’ family tree was a preamble to serious discussion related to discrimination in St. Thomas and Elgin county.
It stemmed from a survey undertaken by the St.Thomas-Elgin Local Immigration Partnership (STELIP) that was an item on Monday’s agenda.
Peters continued with another St. Thomas vignette.
“You know, 185 years ago we had an African Baptist Church here. We were part of the Underground Railroad route.”
He took these two snippets of information and wove them nicely into the survey report prepared by Petrusia Hontar, STELIP project manager.
“Some of these things that were raised in this report trouble me as a citizen of St. Thomas and a representative of St. Thomas.
“Some of the points, particularly the ones that were flagged in this study that relate to the city, I would like to ask that we send this report for staff to report back on those areas.”
Peters was referring to a reference in the report that “Discrimination is happening in locations that are managed by the City of St. Thomas and this reality needs to be addressed.”
Those areas of concern include municipal facilities like libraries, community centres and arenas and when using public transit.
“It is kind of disappointing that in 2022 we’re still seeing things that shouldn’t be happening. But, it’s also good to know we have an immigration partnership group that is doing such work.”
“Those are all things under our purview as a council,” stressed Peters.
“And if somebody is flagging that, I think we need to ask the question and have staff come back to us on this.”
Responding to Coun. Peters’ concerns, new city manager Sandra Datars-Bere advised, “We’ve had a discussion about this internally today (Monday) with our staff.
“We will review this report . . . and we can come back to you with some feedback with respect to those items that are identified as things that the city should be looking at. We’ll also come back with some recommendations at how best to support the initiatives.”
Coun. Gary Clarke added, “It is kind of disappointing that in 2022 we’re still seeing things that shouldn’t be happening.
“We’ve had discussions internally at a very preliminary level . . . both in hiring and service provision and how we operate within the community.”
“But, it’s also good to know we have an immigration partnership group that is doing such work.”
As Clarke noted, several members of city staff sit on the immigration partnership committee.
Datars-Bere closed out the discussion by pointing out, “Since arriving here as the new city manager and in support of the work that has been done previously by Wendell (Graves) and others, we have committed already to looking at that (equity, diversity and inclusion at city hall).
“We’ve had discussions internally at a very preliminary level . . . both in hiring and service provision and how we operate within the community.”
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A BLAST FROM THE PAST, MIGHT IT HAVE RELEVANCE TODAY?
Hands up all of you who remember or were visited by Welcome Wagon?
They had a presence in St. Thomas for many years and in the immigration discussion above, Coun. Steve Peters made a quick diversion to suggest, “Let’s resurrect what used to take place in St. Thomas called Welcome Wagon.”
For those of you unfamiliar with the operation, it was founded in 1930.
According to the Canadian website, “Welcome Wagon is a Canadian-owned, FREE service for families experiencing a lifestyle change. Whether you are moving to a new neighbourhood, planning a wedding or having a baby, we have exclusive deals, events and services catered to your needs. Sign up today and receive a personal visit.”
In its heyday, it operated in more than 500 communities across the country
Peters continued, “It was an amazing program that welcomed new citizens to St. Thomas.
“Is this something we could do in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce or Downtown Development Board, the Economic Development Corp. or other community partners?
“It’s a great way to promote our community because we all know the growth that’s taking place. The community is changing and we’re seeing new people and new families moving in.
“Let’s make sure this isn’t the way someone views our community.”
That last reference is to the STELIP study which noted, “The immigrants and visible minority survey participants who experienced discrimination gave the lowest rating when asked about their feelings of acceptance and belonging in St. Thomas and Elgin county, the experiences of this group are directly affecting their experience with the community.”
Unfortunately, Welcome Wagon – a for-profit entity – folded in 2020, a victim of the coronavirus.
But Peters is on to something here. Could this be revived on a local basis with social service groups and organizations, the city and area businesses?
Earl Taylor with the DDB and Paul Jenkins at the chamber, are we staring down an opportunity here?
It’s a great initiative to ensure newcomers to St. Thomas clearly experience that we are a welcoming community.
INCREASED FLEXIBILITY FOR DOWNTOWN PARKING
Subject to council approval Monday, changes are on the way at downtown city parking lots.
As proposed by Justin Lawrence, Director of Environmental Services, 32 of the two-hour parking spots would be converted to permit spots on a 24/7 basis.
Lawrence notes there are times when those who work or live downtown request permit parking spots.
He advises in his report, “Often an existing downtown property will have no parking spaces on site which creates a major barrier to developing these combined commercial/residential buildings.”
An example would have been the Sutherland Press building before the rot set in. A proposed conversion to lofts would have required the use of municipal parking to allow residents parking spots.
Lawrence is proposing to convert five spaces in the city hall parking lot, four in the midtown parking lot, 11 in the Curtis Street parking lot and 12 in the Hepburn parking lot to 24/7 permit parking.
All four lots already have some permit spots including 65 in the Hepburn lot along with permit parking in other lots throughout the downtown.
If you have a permit for an existing parking place, be prepared to pay more for the privilege as per the chart below.
An additional change would see overnight parking in a city lot.
Lawrence suggests these spots could be used for parking “by house guests, students returning home, or for drivers unable to safely drive home after being at a bar or restaurant.”
As for the cost of this convenient option Lawrence advises, “In every city lot, the first two hours are free followed by an existing charge of $4 to park up to midnight.
“It is suggested that a new charge of $4 be established to stay from midnight to 8 a.m.”
All of these permits and daily passes would be accessed online through the city’s new parking app.
The suggested implementation date for all of the changes is May 1 of this year.
RUNNING UP THE METER ON NEW TAXI BYLAW
A lengthy debate and some concerns and questions at the Feb. 7 council meeting regarding changes to the existing taxi bylaw.
Coun. Gary Clarke put it best, “It’s not what we asked for.”
The original intent of council was for the city to remove itself from the process of setting fees for the two taxi operators and leave that up to them.
“It seemed irresponsible to keep things in there that don’t exist anymore.”
Especially in light of the rapidly escalating cost of fuel.
Justin Lawrence, Director of Engineering, instead went through the existing bylaw and undertook some housecleaning.
“There are many things that have changed,” noted Lawrence, “and are no longer relevant.”
One rather quaint clause refers to police commandeering a taxi for official use.
“It seemed irresponsible to keep things in there that don’t exist anymore.”
At this point in the discussion, it was obvious council and staff had reached a stalemate.
Mayor Joe Preston advised, “We’ve got two taxi companies in our community being held up in raising fares because it was council’s responsibility to do so.
“We asked, not them (the taxi operators) could you remove the responsibility from us and give it to them?”
“I don’t it is that difficult for us to make an amendment to the bylaw to allow a price increase while we’re reviewing some of these other things.”
So according to Lawrence, “It’s not as simple as a one-clause change. Cost is buried dozens of times throughout here.”
Most of council felt changes made to the existing bylaw went beyond administrative housecleaning of words and phrases.
Coun. Peters cut to the chase, “To me, the immediate point is to help these companies as a result of COVID and their increased costs.”
Coun. Jeff Kohler agreed, “I don’t believe it is that difficult for us to make an amendment to the bylaw to allow a price increase while we’re reviewing some of these other things.”
A long, drawn-out dialogue on what, at first glance, seemed a simple request not that long ago degenerated into a procedural boondoggle.
After a circuitous cab ride, council approved the new bylaw allowing for an immediate fare increase, however council will give it “a quick massage” – a description offered by Mayor Preston – when it comes back to council on Feb. 22. Coun. Steve Peters was the lone dissenting voice.
No doubt that could likewise prove a time-consuming discussion.
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