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Municipal Naming
Notice given by: Councillor Joly
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BUDGET POSTPONED MOTION:
recommendation
That "Municipal Naming" be funded for $325,000 from the stabilization reserve.
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Administration’s Understanding of the Intent of the Motion:
There are two elements in the Municipal Naming postponed motion:
1. Provide Council with an updated draft policy for future naming recommendations. Target date: December 2022.
2. Conduct comprehensive stakeholder and public engagement to gather community input to help Council determine if neighbourhoods and streets currently named after controversial historical figures should be renamed. Target Date: December 2022.
Operational or Organizational Impacts if Motion is Approved:
If the motion is approved, a comprehensive community engagement strategy would be developed to ensure multiple opportunities for meaningful engagement. While a temporary position would be hired to manage this project, Administration would also seek the expert support of consultants specializing in both engagement and Indigenous work to help guide the process.
The process of community engagement and information gathered via the consultations on re-naming will help inform recommended changes to the City's naming policy. Should the PM be separated and only the updated policy for future naming recommendations be required, that would be undertaken by the Planning and Development Department within existing resources/capacity; public engagement and other project-related costs would be an estimated $35,000.
Financial Implications of Motions:
All associated costs are captured in the PM.
$100,000 - project management, educational material development, pre-engagement, stakeholder engagement, engagement support, etc.
$150,000 - distribution of educational materials, multiple city-wide engagements, required honoraria, report preparation, etc.
$75,000 - research, pulling of files, identification, etc.
These costs only capture expenses related to the public engagement and development of recommendations for Council consideration. Any possible implementation costs would be brought forward for Council's consideration as part of the recommendations.
The project would also be actively supported by a re-purposed Planner from the Planning and Development Department.
If Council chooses to proceed with only updating the policy for future naming recommendations, the total estimated cost would be $35,000.
Stakeholder Consultations:
Stakeholder consultations would be conducted should the motion pass. Pre-consultations are not required.
It should be noted that there has been significant community interest (both in support of and against) in the possible re-naming of neighbourhoods/roads.
Background:
For every call to request the City re-name the community of Grandin, there is another call requesting that the name remain the same. In order to provide Council with thorough recommendations for their consideration of any re-naming, and to ensure residents feel they were provided opportunity to provide input into decision-making, a robust awareness campaign and multiple opportunities to provide feedback would need to be developed. Meaningful stakeholder engagement would also be required to ensure valued community partners are consulted.
Projected timelines would be as follows:
Q1 - strategy and material development, research, and early stakeholder engagement
Q2 - stakeholder engagement and community consultations
Q3 - community consultations
Q4 - deliverables (a revised naming policy for future naming practices and recommendations for Council consideration regarding the renaming of any existing neighbourhoods, roads, and city-owned amenities)
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Report Date: December 2, 2021
Author: Cindy de Bruijn, Senior Manager Community Relations
Committee/Department: DCAO
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer: Kerry Hilts
Chief Administrative Officer: Kevin Scoble