City Councillors will only focus on urgent items and the provincial State of Emergency over the coming weeks.
Council approved a motion last night to let the City Clerk decide what items need urgent attention, until they revisit the matter on May 25th.
The Designated Truck Route by-law is among the list of items city staff will be evaluating based on whether they are time-sensitive, or required for compliance or legislative reasons. They will also consider whether there are enough staff resources to address it, and whether it needs public consultation that can’t be completed due to the pandemic.
Councillor Trevor Giertuga pointed out a meeting on the trucking by-law could be coordinated more easily now that most Councillors are attending meetings by teleconference. He said he understands the reasoning behind the motion, but was among those voting against it.
“I don’t want to see us stop doing business completely,” Giertuga said. “The world is still moving forward, we still need to make decisions.”
Northwood Councillor Shelby Ch’ng also disapproved of the idea, saying she wanted to bring forward issues like food security but feels they are being ignored.
“Now I feel like I have to be the squeaky wheel to bring things forward to get some interim planning, so it’s not just all crisis management,” Ch’ng told Council.
Councillor Mark Bentz countered that they are only doing this for the next month, adding it would be “distracting” if they don’t narrow down their discussions to the most urgent and achievable items.
“If we’ve learned anything in this crisis, it’s that we have to focus on the fundamentals right now, and it’s not business as usual,” Bentz noted.
