Emergency Support Services Union of the BC Municipalities (UBCM) Grant Application
Council has directed staff to apply for a UBCM grant worth up to $30,000 through the Community Emergency Preparedness Fund for Emergency Support Services (ESS) Modernization Project 2023.
Childcare in Victoria – Update on Short-Term Implementation Plan Actions
Council has directed staff to prepare amendments to the Zoning Regulation Bylaw and Land Use Procedures Bylaw to encourage childcare spaces throughout the City and streamline permit processes, and undertake focused consultation with Island Health, childcare providers, the Urban Development Institute and Community Association Land Use Committees (CALUCs) on the proposed bylaw amendments. The details of the feedback received will be brought back to Council when the bylaws are brought forward for introductory readings.
Council also approved advocacy motions and associated recommendations, and will write to the Provincial Ministry of Education and Childcare to advocate for the following:
- Funding for ‘Seamless Day’ childcare options for all elementary schools
- Increased capital funding for all new childcare projects including revised funding guidelines to align with that of affordable housing
- Introducing more focused resources for children and their families who have additional cultural, income or support needs to continue to address gaps in equity
- Encourage the urgent adoption and funding of an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) wage grid to retain and recruit qualified staff, and attract people to enter the field
Council Member Motion: Updating the Climate Leadership Plan
Council has asked staff to report back on potential resource implications of increasing the level of ambition of the Climate Leadership Plan (CLP) and increasing efforts to meet climate targets via the following proposed actions:
- Undertake natural asset assessments and enhanced climate emergency planning as part of expanded climate adaptation efforts
- Begin to track and set reduction targets for consumption-based emissions (i.e. embodied or lifecycle carbon emissions), with a short-term focus on the lifecycle emissions of the built environment
- Move up the phase-out date for oil tanks from 2030 to 2027
- Quantify the past and projected economic impacts on Victoria from climate change
- Create an annual declining carbon budget for both the City’s community and corporate emissions that includes mechanisms to automatically accelerate GHG reduction measures (e.g. changes to infrastructure, budgets, policies, or regulations) in any year in which the carbon budget is exceeded
- Commit to a fully circular economy by 2050 and adapt waste-reduction measures around this new target
- Begin annual report-backs on progress toward CLP goals. In addition, report back to Council within six months on efforts to incorporate the above actions into the plan
Council Member Motion: City of Victoria to Host the UBCM AGM in 2025
Council has approved the City as host of the UBCM AGM in 2025, and directed staff to submit a bid to accept the host community obligations. An in-kind contribution of up to $99,000 for room rental at the Victoria Conference Centre was also approved, and cost of $86,000 for the welcome reception and miscellaneous costs to be referred to the financial planning process for the appropriate year’s budget.
Single-Use Items Reduction Bylaw Approval and Implementation
Council has directed staff to forward a bylaw to reduce single-use items and encourage the use of reusable products by requiring that businesses:
- distribute single-use straws, utensils, stir sticks, and condiment packages (made of any material) only when requested (three months after bylaw adoption)
- use reusable products for food and beverages consumed on the premises of the business, with exemptions for businesses that cannot accommodate sanitization procedures for reusable products (nine months after bylaw adoption)
The City will seek Ministerial approval of the bylaw following initial readings. Staff will also report back on bold options for a more rapid shift to reuse and recyclability for takeout cups and containers, and consider potential compliance pathways for food service businesses that are carbon neutral and/or use exclusively verifiably compostable containers, dishware, and utensils.
2023 – 2027 Draft Financial Plan – Additional Motions
Council has directed staff to:
- allocate $150,000 grant to activate the Victoria Music Strategy funded from contingency
- implement paid on-street and parkade parking from 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. – 8 p.m., at rates to be determined by staff, with all funds to be re-invested in the downtown core towards beautification and maintenance, cultural opportunities, new public parks and amenities, and investigate programs to support downtown safety
- allocate funds to help a pilot project to mitigate the harm to housed and unhoused people living, or operating businesses, in and around outdoor sheltering. The suggested initial cost allocation of $50,000 would come from an application to the provincial government, or if unsuccessful, then from surplus and/or contingency funds
- look to remove $500,000 from the 2023 contributions to the Parking Reserve Fund and $1,000,000 from the 2023 contributions to the Debt Reduction Reserve, and that those monies be directed to reducing the property tax increase, and that Council direct staff to restore these funds for the 2024 draft budget
- allocate funds of $110,000 annually for 2023-27 to the Greater Victoria Community Social Planning Council to support the Greater Victoria Rent Bank from the Housing Reserve Fund, and that the Community Social Planning Council be requested to provide annual reports on the performance of the Rent Bank Program prior to the following year's annual City budget deliberations