Health and Social Services Advisory Committee

Comité consultatif sur la santé et les services sociaux

Minutes 4 / Procès-verbal 4

Tuesday, 27 March 2007, 7:00 p.m.

le mardi 27 mars 2007, 19 h

Colonel By Room, 110 Laurier Avenue West

Salle Colonel By, 110, avenue Laurier ouest

Present / Présents: B. Jonah (Chair / Président), M. Bulthuis (Vice-Chair / Vice-président)

A. Crawford, L. Larivière, F. Martin, A. Muldoon, C. Peloso, R. Thaker

Absent / Absent: S. Bird

J. Forrest, A. Gunter (regrets / excuses)

Declarations of Interest

DÉCLARATIONS D’INTÉRÊT

No declarations of interest were received.

Confirmation of Minutes

Ratification dU procÈs-verbaL

Minutes 3 of the Health and Social Services Advisory Committee meeting of 13 February 2007 were confirmed.

items of business

points À l’ordre du jour

1. REPORT: LABOUR MARKET INTEGRATION (IMMIGRATION OTTAWA INITIATIVE)

RAPPORT : INTÉGRATION DU MARCHÉ DU TRAVAIL (INITIATIVE IMMIGRATION OTTAWA)

Suzanne Gagnon, Manager, Labour Market Integration, Employment and Financial Assistance Branch, Community and Protective Services provided a presentation and overview of the staff report, a copy of which is held on file with the City Clerk. The report recommendation is that an Immigration Ottawa Initiative (IOI) be established to facilitate the development of a community-led, citywide labour market integration strategy for immigrants. If approved by Council, staff will report back to the HSSAC regarding the proposed governance structure and detailed Terms of Reference before it is brought to Standing Committee and Council for approval.

Action: Members of the Health and Service Delivery Sub-committee are to review the material presented and email comments to Ms. Gagnon by Tuesday, April 3.

2. HSSAC REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES COMMITTEE AND COUNCIL REGARDING THE CITY OF OTTAWA’S 2006 HEALTH STATUS REPORT – COMMITTEE DISCUSSION WITH STAFF FROM OTTAWA PUBLIC HEALTH

RAPPORT DU CCSSS AUX SERVICES COMMUNAUTAIRES ET DE PROTECTION ET AU CONSEIL CONCERNANT LE RAPPORT D’ÉTAPE DE 2006 SUR LA SANTÉ DE LA VILLE D’OTTAWA – DISCUSSION EN COMITÉ AVEC DES REPRÉSENTANTS DE SANTÉ PUBLIQUE OTTAWA

Dr. David Salisbury, Medical Officer of Health, and Dr. Isra Levy, Associate Medical Officer of Health and Manager, SEER Division, Ottawa Public Health were present to discuss concerns with the draft HSSAC report and its recommendations. Following substantial discussion on the nature, context and intent of the City’s Health Status Report, and the background and intent of the HSSAC’s report and recommendations, the committee agreed to temporarily hold its report from processing in order to allow for further dialogue with the Ottawa Public Health department and to enable clarification of the committee’s messaging and recommendations in the report.

Action 1: The Coordinator will advise appropriate City staff that the report is being temporarily withdrawn by the committee and a revised version will be submitted at a later date.

Action 2: Dr. Salisbury and / or Dr. Levy will submit written comments to the committee via the Coordinator, summarizing the points raised at this meeting and providing constructive suggestions for revisions to the report.

Action 3: The Health and Service Delivery Sub-committee will review the comments and work on revisions to the committee’s report, with possible involvement of Public Health staff, and bring it back to the entire committee for review at May meeting, at which time staff would also be invited to attend and comment on the revised report.

3. AIR QUALITY MONITORING REPORT

RAPPORT SUR LE CONTRÔLE DE LA QUALITÉ DE L’AIR

Dr. David Salisbury, Medical Officer of Health, Ottawa Public Health provided an overview of the report currently being prepared by the department regarding a concept plan for the possibilities of measuring air quality and proposals for reacting to declining air quality based on the origin of declining air quality conditions. A copy of the material presented is held on file with the City Clerk. The committee received the overview for information and asked questions, but had no official comment at this time.

4. HOUSING ISSUES – STAFF UPDATE

QUESTIONS LIÉES AU LOGEMENT – MISE À JOUR PAR LE PERSONNEL

Melissa Armstrong, Program Coordinator of Housing, Community and Protective Services provided the following updates:

§ the City Housing Strategy report is in preparation and advisory committees will be consulted before the report goes to Standing Committee and Council in June

§ the Neighbourhood Planning Initiative is well under way

§ Federal homelessness funding will be rolled out over the next couple of months; the City is expected to receive $10-12 million over two years and the provincial government has announced another $392 million for affordable housing, which is federal money that was earmarked a couple of years ago, of which the City is expected to receive about $7 million

§ A proposal was considered by the Planning and Environment Committee on 27 March to build 22 affordable houses at 260 Tompkins Rd. in Orléans, and the committee amended that number to 16; the report will go to Council in April and the Request For Proposals (RFP) for builders will go out in June if no appeals come in

§ The RFP has gone out for the affordable housing project at Catherine and Metcalfe

5. INVITATION TO ADVISORY COMMITTEES RE 2007 COMMUNITY PROJECT FUNDING ALLOCATIONS COMMITTEE

INVITATION AUX COMITÉS CONSULTATIFS CONCERNANT LE COMITÉ DES ATTRIBUTIONS POUR LE FINANCEMENT DE PROJETS COMMUNAUTAIRES EN 2007

The committee received an invitation from the Director of Cultural Services and Community Funding, Community and Protective Services to appoint a representative of the HSSAC to participate on the 2007 Community Funding Allocations Committee.

Moved by A. Muldoon:

That the Health and Social Services Advisory Committee appoint Cathryn Peloso as the committee representative to participate in the 2007 Community Funding Allocations Committee.

CARRIED

Action: The Coordinator will inform appropriate staff of the appointment.

6. DISCUSSION ON DATES AND LOCATIONS FOR THE TWO HSSAC COMMUNITY OUTREACH MEETINGS IN 2007

DISCUSSION SUR LA DATE ET LE LIEU DES DEUX RÉUNIONS D’INTERVENTION COMMUNAUTAIRE QUE LE CCSSS DOIT TENIR EN 2007

The committee decided to hold one of its two planned offsite meetings at the Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre (Kanata), tentatively on June 26. Local housing delivery groups, such as Blue Heron Co-operative could be invited to attend to address housing issues. Other groups and themes for this meeting will be decided once the availability of venue is determined. Members also raised the following as potential themes for the second offsite meeting, which will probably occur in the fall:

- meeting with agencies that assist persons with physical and mental disabilities

- meeting with agencies or groups that assist immigrants, such as OCISO

Action: Member Muldoon will inquire as to the availability of a room at the Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre in which the HSSAC could hold a meeting on June 26 and will provide the Coordinator with contact information for the Centre.

7. HSSAC COMMENTS ON COMMUNITY FUNDING – POSSIBILITY TO LINK THIS TO UPCOMING STAFF REPORT TO CPSC ON THE HEALTH AND SERVICE NEEDS OF RAPIDLY GROWING COMMUNITIES

COMMENTAIRES DU CCSSS SUR LE FINANCEMENT COMMUNAUTAIRE – POSSIBILITÉ D’ÉTABLIR UN LIEN AVEC LE PROCHAIN RAPPORT DU PERSONNEL AU CSCP SUR LES BESOINS DES COLLECTIVITÉS EN EXPANSION RAPIDE EN MATIÈRE DE SANTÉ ET DE SERVICES

The Coordinator informed the committee that staff are in the process of preparing a report to the Community and Protective Services Committee (CPSC) and Council regarding the health and service needs of rapidly growing communities, which is anticipated to go forward in the fall. Discussion ensued regarding whether it would be more desirable to link the comments in HSSAC’s draft report on community funding to the staff report, or to generate a stand-alone report from the HSSAC to the CPSC and Council.

Action 1: The Coordinator will email to members the most recent version of Member Bird’s draft report on community funding issues, which will be reviewed and revised if necessary by the Health and Service Delivery Sub-committee at its next meeting.

Action 2: The Coordinator will invite staff to attend the April HSSAC meeting to review and comment on the committee’s draft report, and to advise if and how it could be linked with the staff report, if the committee decides to move in that direction.

8. SUB-COMMITTEES UPDATE

MISE À JOUR DES SOUS COMITÉS

Health and Service Delivery Models

Sub-committee members provided updates on issues they have recently addressed, as follows:

§ a decision not to pursue a report at this time based on the HSSAC motion of 23 January 2007 regarding underused operating rooms, as more information is required; the CEO of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network will be invited to attend a future meeting of the HSSAC to provide further insight on the situation

§ attempts have been unsuccessful to contact the Environmental Advisory Committee representative on matters pertaining to the Carp landfill site; Member Muldoon will try again

§ ideas for the agenda of the HSSAC Strategy Session on May 26

§ discussion on the focus for the OCHC presentation to the HSSAC in April

§ Member Jonah has stepped down from the Sub-committee Chair position and Members Crawford and Peloso have been appointed as Co-Chairs

Housing

Sub-committee members provided updates on issues they have recently addressed, as follows:

§ the Housing Forum has been put on hold due to the recent resignations of members from the HSSAC who were involved with the project, and because of the determination that any forum would have to be held within the course of a regularly scheduled HSSAC meeting due to the absence of advisory committee workplan funding

§ the sub-committee Chair will liaise with the HSSAC’s staff liaison, Melissa Armstrong, on an on-going basis in order to stay informed of housing issues and developments

§ the OCHC presentation has been confirmed by Mr. David McCarron for the April HSSAC meeting; Member Bulthuis will follow-up with him regarding issues the committee has identified for the focus of his presentation

§ given the decreasing number of members on the HSSAC, the sub-committee may invite members of the community to join the sub-committee if they have expertise not found within the current complement of committee members

Early Childhood Development and Women’s Issues

No update was available for this sub-committee at the time.

Action 1: The Coordinator will email members an updated chart containing the status of motions passed to date by the HSSAC, for consideration at its strategy session on May 26.

Action 2: The Coordinator will invite staff to attend the April or May meeting to provide an update on Community and Protective Services departmental strategies and priorities, for consideration at its strategy session on May 26.

Action 3: Members Martin, Crawford and Peloso will collaborate on the agenda for the strategy session. Member Bird will be invited to participate as well in order to have participation from each sub-committee.

INFORMATION ITEMS

POINTS D’INFORMATION

9. COMMUNITY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES COMMITTEE DISPOSITION OF ITEMS, 15 FEBRUARY AND 1 MARCH 2007

COMITÉ DES SERVICES COMMUNAUTAIRES ET DE PROTECTION, RETRAITS DES POINTS DE LA RÉUNION DU 15 FÉVRIER ET 1 MARS 2007

The committee received the aforementioned documents for information.

OTHER BUSINESS

AUTRES QUESTIONS

Poverty Issues Advisory Committee (PIAC) Motion of 13 March 2007 re Request to Appeal for Provincial Funding to Address Subsidized Housing and Homelessness Issues in Ottawa

Chair Jonah and Member Crawford noted that the Coordinator had previously emailed the aforementioned motion to members for information. The PIAC had requested that the motion be distributed to the HSSAC for information and that any comments should be submitted to the PIAC Coordinator by March 28, 2007; they were not, however, seeking the endorsement of the HSSAC.

Recruitment of New Members and Request for Council Liaison

Members expressed great concerns about the declining membership of the HSSAC, now being down to 11 members (from 15), and about Council’s decision to eliminate the Council liaisons to advisory committees. The committee expressed intent to pass a motion asking Council to conduct recruitment for the committee now, as opposed to at the end of 2007 (as per the Council decision of 6 December 2006) and to designate a Council liaison for the HSSAC. The Coordinator informed this was out of order and that other advisory committees have attempted to make similar requests, but to no avail because a Council directive has already been passed on these issues. The committee decided that Chair Jonah would send an email to the Mayor and Members of Council on the committee’s behalf, expressing their considerable concern on these two issues.

ADJOURNMENT

LEVÉE DE LA SÉANCE

The meeting was adjourned at 9:38 p.m.

Original signed by Original signed by

M. Duffenais B. Jonah

________________________ _____________________________

Committee Coordinator Chair