Minutes
of the February 16, 2023
MANITOULIN-SUDBURY DSB BOARD MEETING
Present: Ryan Bignucolo, Kevin Burke, Jim Cahill, Rob Campbell, John Deforge, Ken Duplessis, Vern Gorham, Angela Kelly, Bruce Killah, Roger Landry, Al MacNevin, Denise Portelance-Godin, Ned Whynott, David Santi
Regrets: Jim Cahill
Staff: Donna Stewart, Lori Clark, Connie Morphet, Paul Myre
1.0 CALL TO ORDER
Bruce Killah called the meeting to order at 10:00 am.
2.0 Declarations of Conflict of Interest
There were no declarations of a conflict of interest.
3.0 Closed Session
Resolution 23-15
Moved by: Ryan Bignucolo
Seconded by: Kevin Burke
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board move into closed session at 10:01 a.m.
Carried
Resolution 23-16
Moved by: Ken Duplessis
Seconded by: Vern Gorham
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Board adjourn this closed session at 11:00 a.m. and move to the regular Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB Board meeting.
Carried
Minutes
of the February 16, 2023
MANITOULIN-SUDBURY DSB BOARD MEETING
Present: Ryan Bignucolo, Kevin Burke, Rob Campbell, John Deforge, Ken Duplessis, Vern Gorham, Angela Kelly, Bruce Killah, Roger Landry, Al MacNevin, Denise Portelance-Godin, Ned Whynott, David Santi
Regrets: Jim Cahill
Staff: Donna Stewart, Lori Clark, Connie Morphet, Paul Myre, Megan Brazeau and Joshua Parkinson, Sherry Frost
Media: N/A
1.0 Call to Order
Bruce Killah called the meeting to order at 11:00 am.
2.0 Land Acknowledgement
We begin this meeting by acknowledging that we are all on land that has been inhabited by Anishnawbek Nations for 10’s of thousands of years.
We’d like to acknowledge that we are here in the Robinson-Huron Treaty territory and the land on which we gather is the traditional territory of the Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and we would like to give thanks for sharing this land in order for us to continue in our work.
Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Anishnabek nations from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to unite, live, work and play on this land.
3.0 Business Arising from Closed Session
No business arising from the closed session.
4.0 Adoption of Agenda
Resolution No. 23-17
Moved by: Roger Landry
Seconded by: Al MacNevin
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Agenda be adopted.
Carried
5.0 Declarations of Conflict of Interest
There were no declarations of a conflict of interest.
6.0 Adoption of Minutes
Resolution No 23-18
Moved by: Denise Portelance-Godin
Seconded by: Ned Whynott
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Minutes of the January 19, 2023, board meeting be approved as presented.
Carried
7.0 Committee Meetings
7.1 Program Planning
The Program Planning Committee met February 15, 2023. Kevin Burke was elected as Chair of the Committee.
Kevin Burke gave the Board a brief update on what was discussed at the meeting.
7.1.1 CWELCC Access and Inclusion Framework and Notional Space Targets
Lori Clark, Director of Integrated Human Services walked the Board through the Access and Inclusion Framework and Notional Space Targets Issue Report.
The vision for the CWELCC system in Ontario is for more families have access to high quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive early learning, and child care.
Under the agreement with the Government of Canada, Ontario has been funded to support the creation of 86, 000 new licensed child care spaces by December 2026.Since 2019, 33,000 new spaces have become operational. This leaves 53, 000 new spaces to be created over the course of the agreement.
The Ministry of Education has prioritized creating affordable child care spaces in communities with populations who need them most andhas developed an Access and Inclusion Framework. Under this Framework, the Ministry has created a model to allocate funding for new spaces for children aged 0-5 years across the province.
Ontario’s Action Plan for implementing the CWELCC system includes providing capital start-up grants to support the creation of new spaces in targeted regions, and for underserviced communities and populations.
All licensed Service Providers enrolled in the CWELCC system will be eligible to apply for capital start-up grant funding.The ministry will allocate funding for the 2023-24 capital start-up grants to service system managers using the CWELCC child care allocation formula. Service System managers will distribute the grants to licensed Service Providers in accordance with funding guidelines.
The 5-year (2022-2026) space allocation for the Manitoulin Sudbury District is 183. The school-based allocation is 10 and community-based allocation is 173.
Staff have planned for 2023-2024, notionally planned for future years and will require additional opportunities to meet with our partners and communities in the district. Staff want to ensure that planned spaces meet the needs of communities and are viable into the future.
Resolution No. 23-19
Moved by: Rob Campbell
Seconded by: David Santi
WHEREAS the Program Planning Committee has reviewed the Access and Inclusion Framework and Notional Space Targets Issue Report and it is recommending approval to the board;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board accept the Program Planning Committees recommendation and approve the Access and Inclusion Framework and Notional Space Targets Issue Report and authorize staff to action the recommendations contained within the report.
Carried
7.1.2 Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury/Manitoulin
Lori Clark, Director of Integrated Human Services, walked the Board through the Canadian Mental Health Association Espanola and Area Situation Table/Sudbury East Mobilization Table 12 Month Report.
Community Mobilization is a partnership of agencies from various community sectors including health, children’s services, policing, education, mental health and addictions, housing and municipal services. Community Mobilization provides a venue for collaboration in the identification of situations of Acutely Elevated Risk and to support response planning and intervention implementation.
There are 2 Community Mobilization Tables in the District: 1 for the LaCloche area and 1 for the Sudbury East area.
The Espanola and Area Situation Table (EAST) launched in October 2018 and consists of 20 partner agencies. Since the launch, 21 referrals have been brought forward, 20 met the threshold for Acutely Elevated Risk (AER).
The Sudbury East Mobilization Table (SEMT) launched its table in October 2019 and consists of seventeen partner agencies. Since inception there have been a total of 6 referrals and 4 met the AER criteria
All new members of EAST and SEMT continue to receive an orientation session and related resources and the Situation Table and Risk Detection workshop will continue to be promoted and made available to all partner agencies.
Resolution No. 23-20
Moved by: Angela Kelly
Seconded by: Ryan Bignucolo
WHEREAS the Program Planning Committee has reviewed the Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury/Manitoulin 12 Month Report and it is recommending approval to the board;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board accept the Program Planning Committees recommendation and approve the Canadian Mental Health Association Sudbury/Manitoulin 12 Month Report and authorize staff to action the recommendations contained within the report.
Carried
7.1.3 Learn and Stay Grant
Paul Myre, Chief of Paramedic Services and Lori Clark, Director of Integrated Human Services, walked the Board through the Learn and Stay Grant Issue Report.
Health human resources shortages are being experienced in several sectors across Ontario most certainly amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Paramedic Services have been particularly impacted by the shortage in that the service has been experiencing a high number of unanticipated departures as well as a high number of leaves of absence.
The historic workforce shortages in licensed child care have become too large to ignore. Child care providers are struggling to employ enough educators to keep their programs running, let alone consider expanding to keep programs operational at current enrolment levels.
Staff have been working diligently on a robust recruitment and retention strategy that focuses on active recruitment of potential future candidates in our local high schools and even primary schools.
The Ford government announced in January 2023 that it was expanding the Learn and Stay Grant to include Paramedic Students who study at Northern Ontario colleges. The Grant was initially announced in March of 2022 for students enrolled in nursing programs as a measure to attract more nurses in underserved and growing communities. This Grant provides funding for students studying in priority programs and in priority communities in Ontario. In addition to providing free tuition, the funding will cover the cost of books, compulsory fees, and other direct educational costs such as supplies and equipment.
This approach could be expanded to include Early Childhood Education. There are programs available providing support to those pursuing a career in Early Childhood Education, however, they do not offer the same level of support nor ensure that educators remain in the north.
Staff believe that our active recruitment strategy along with the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant will translate into a long-term and sustainable staffing solution for Paramedic Services. Staff are also recommending that advocacy commence to expand the Ontario Learn and Stay grant to include Early Childhood Education to ensure the current and anticipated staffing needs are met.
Resolution No. 23-21
Moved by: Kevin Burke
Seconded by: John Deforge
WHEREAS the Program Planning Committee has reviewed the 2023 Learn and Stay Grant Issue Report and it is recommending approval to the board;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board accept the Program Planning Committees recommendation and approve the 2023 Learn and Stay Grant Issue Report and authorize staff to action the recommendations contained within the report.
Carried
7.1.4 Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Lori Clark, Director of Integrated Human Resources provided a verbal overview of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 Planned Funding Allocations for Provincially-Delivered Housing and Homelessness Prevention Programs.
Staff will review local needs for all programs and will continue to keep the Board updated as the investment plans progress.
7.1.5 Response Time Standards for 2022
Paul Myre, Chief of Paramedic Services walked the Board through the 2022 Response Time Standards Issue Report.
Paramedic Services across Ontario are required by law to establish a performance plan for the following calendar year regarding overall response times to calls for service. Response times are defined as a measure of time from when a Paramedic crew are notified of an emergency call to the time they arrived on scene.
The Ministry of Health sets the expectation for the highest acuity calls and the Paramedic Service establishes all other response time targets based on the Deployment Plan and response capacity. Paramedic Services must ensure that the established plan is continuously maintained, enforced, and evaluated.
A complete report of the previous year’s performance must be submitted to the Ministry by no later than March 31st. The process for assessing the service’s response time performance involves data mining from the Ministry of Health’s database (Ambulance Dispatch Reporting System aka ADRS) and filtering through over 10,000 calls for service responded to in 2022, excluding emergency standbys.
Paramedic Services has met all but 1 of the RTS targets which is a noticeable improvement and contrast from the 2021 performance.
What these results demonstrate is that the implemented countermeasures have been effective in closing response time gaps. These include the addition of a second transporting unit in Wiikwemkong, the addition of the PRU in Little Current, the Tiered Response agreement with the French River Fire Department and ceasing the practice of sending the Hagar crew to Noelville for Standby whenever the Noelville crew were called away from their service area.
Resolution No 23-22
Moved by: Denise Portelance-Godin
Seconded by: Ken Duplessis
WHEREAS the Program Planning Committee has reviewed the 2022 Response Time Standards - Issue Report and is recommending approval to the Board;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Board accept the Program Planning Committees recommendation and approve the 2022 Response Time Standards - Issue Report and direct staff to action the recommendations in the report.
Carried
8.0 New Business
ROMA Conference
Donna Stewart, CAO provided a verbal update to the Board on the ROMA Conference that was held on January 22 through to the 24, 2023.
The Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB had one delegation on January 23 with the Ministry of Education. Mayor Bignuccolo and Mayor MacNevin were present for the delegation on behalf of the DSB board. They spoke to them about the crisis that the child care sector is facing right now with recruitment and retention of education and other staff in licensed child care.
The ask to the Ministry was that the sector needs proper funding to support wages, decent work standards, strengthening program quality and pathways to acquireupgradedqualificationsespeciallyforthoseofrural,remoteandmarginalized communities.
In addition, the Ministry was asked to launch and financially support an accelerated Early Childhood Education Program, to be completed within 14-16 months, like the program launched in March 2022 for Personal Support Workers, where funding supported the costs of tuition, paid placement, books and other mandatory fees, to help address the shortage of RECE’s in Ontario. Mention was made of the Stay and Learn program that was just recently released by the province for the North regarding the recruitment and retention of Paramedics and Laboratory Medical Technicians.
FONOM
Donna Stewart, CAO also shared that the President of FONOM, Danny Whalen presented to multi-ministries on a few topics but one topic in particular that included the Manitoulin-Sudbury DSB’s New Little Current build. Advocacy continues for the north’s fair share of capital funding from the federal government to build in the north.
9.0 Other Business
10.0 Next Meeting – March 16, 2023
11.0 Adjourn
Resolution No. 23-23
Moved by: Al MacNevin
Seconded by: Ned Whynott
BE IT RESOLVED THAT we do now adjourn at 11:45 am until the next regular meeting to be held on March 16, 2023.
Carried
Original Approved by Board Chair -
Original Approved by CAO -
