Remarks for the Inaugural Council Meeting

On Wednesday, November 30, Regional Chair and CEO John Henry spoke at the Inaugural Council Meeting.

Greetings

Good morning, everyone.
It is my honour to welcome you all to Regional Council Chambers for our Inaugural Meeting.

Land Acknowledgement

I would like to begin by acknowledging that The Region of Durham is situated on treaty land that is steeped in rich Indigenous history, and is the present-day home to many First Nations, Métis and Inuit people.

Today, we acknowledge that we are gathering on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

Appreciation

I would like to thank Debbie Ellis, Indigenous Training Specialist in the Children's Services Division at the Region of Durham, and member of the Wahta Mohawk First Nation Reserve for her remarks.

We are honoured to have you with us today.

I would also like to thank CAO Elaine Baxter-Trahair, our Commissioners, the Regional Clerk and staff for their help during our transition.  We are very thankful for your work arranging this ceremony today.

A special thank you to Glenn Healy for piping us in today.

Today we have several special guests, family members and friends who have joined us to be a part of this day.

I would like to recognize former Regional Chairs Jim Witty and Gerri Lynn O'Connor for their past and current dedication to the Region.

I would also like to take a moment to remember our friend and Regional Chair Roger Anderson - Roger you were a champion for Durham Region.

Congratulations to our newly elected Councillors. I recognize the support of your family and friends during this election. They will continue to depend on your support and patience over the next 4 years.

On a personal note, I would like to thank my wife, Kathy. Our daughters Danielle, her partner Chris and Grandson CJ; Jessica, her husband Josh and Granddaughter Allison - for their continued love and support. We are nothing without our families.

A special thank you to Patricia Nokes who has kept me organized and on time over the past 11 years.

To Giulio and Rosa Roccio, thank you for treating me as a member of your family and for all you have taught me over the last 40 years.

To my Dad, who taught me great work ethics and to my Mom who taught me to be humble and the gifts of service.

To the other people who helped get me here today – my political family - Mark Sheriff, Robin, Judy, Lindsey, Tom, Jim, the other Mark, and my great team of supporters.

Thank you and your families for putting your lives on hold for the past several months so we can work to continue to build our community. I simply would not be here without you.

Regional Council Oath

This morning, our new Regional Council have taken an oath to exercise our offices truly, faithfully, and impartially, to the best of our knowledge and abilities.

In taking this oath, we have made a promise to Durham’s residents.

A promise to work on their behalf and to do what is best for our communities, our people, our businesses, and organizations.

And that is something I would like to emphasize to all new and returning Regional Councillors here today.

When we sit in these Chambers, we sit in service to all of Durham’s residents—not just one small group or a single municipality.

It is our duty to do what is best for the entire Region, and to always keep that at the heart of our decision-making.

It is our responsibility to uphold the public’s trust and ensure that we work together to respect and uphold that trust over the next four years.

Before we discuss the Region’s upcoming priorities, I’d like to acknowledge some key accomplishments in Durham Region over the course of the last year.

Key Accomplishments

I would be remiss not to begin with an update on the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 is the single biggest challenge we have ever faced, but we continue to meet the challenge head on.

While the past few years have been difficult, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, thanks to the hard work of our staff and community.

In March of this year, we officially ended the state of emergency and re-opened facilities to the public in April.

We have been implementing Durham’s recovery and restoration for some time and executing as many supports as we can for local businesses.

In the midst of the rapid change experienced during the pandemic, we have adapted as an organization to meet our community’s ever-changing needs.

We have modernized to create a more responsive municipal government, in the face of this new reality we live in.

Modernizations like purchasing garbage bag tags online, to enterprise projects such as myDurham 311—a transformational project aimed at improving the customer experience.

While we pushed for efficiencies, we also made efforts to preserve our current successful programs and services.

This balance of preserving strong services with prioritizing key advancements was recognized on a global scale.

The Region maintained its Triple A credit rating from Moody’s, as we continue to successfully manage tax dollars responsibly and support all the great work our departments do.

We are currently one of only eight Canadian municipalities to have been awarded the Triple A rating by this agency.

The Region was recognized as one of the top Smart21 Communities of the Year, for the second year in a row—a wonderful recognition of the important work being done to create the Durham of tomorrow.

We ranked in the top 15 of North American communities’ Most Open Cities via Open Data Initiative.

And most recently, we were recognized as one of the top seven Intelligent Communities in the world alongside cities from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Taiwan and Vietnam.

In partnership with technology provider Visual Defence, we won a Smart 50 Award for using Artificial Intelligence to optimize road maintenance—a first of its kind in Canada.

We worked with our partner to develop an app called ROVER, which can be installed on a smartphone that is mounted to the windshield of a Region’s road patrol vehicle, to automatically detect, identify and capture images of potholes using AI, so that we can fix them more efficiently.

It’s clear that we are both innovating to address the biggest challenges we face, and ensuring we remain successful in our current areas of strength.

We are proud to be recognized alongside other world-class municipalities, across many different sectors.

It’s this award-winning innovation and dedication to success that continues to drive our support for the community.

Like support for the local business community, through initiatives such as the award-winning Downtowns of Durham campaign, which saw 45,000 visits last year from community members wanting to learn more about the businesses in their communities. 

Much like supporting businesses, we continued our work to support the most vulnerable residents in Durham.

COVID-19 has had sweeping effects on the complex social issues that lead to homelessness.

Across Durham Region, we have seen some of our most vulnerable residents face hardship and challenges—struggles with mental health, addictions, and affordable housing.

We continue to work to implement At Home in Durham, the Durham Region Housing Plan, while responding to the community’s needs.

In recognition of this, we continued to advance housing initiatives such as the Oshawa Micro-Homes Pilot and Beaverton Supportive Housing projects.

The proposed design for the Beaverton Supportive Housing Project earned a 2021 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence in April of this year.

This is the first time a Region of Durham facility has received this honour.

Everyone deserves access to affordable housing and the care they need to live a happy and healthy life.

To that end, we will not stop working to realize our vision of ending homelessness in Durham Region.

Another major milestone for the organization was bringing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion into our very core, with the establishment of a Regional DEI Office.

Working across the organization and with the community, our DEI office provides a dedicated focus to our efforts to address systemic racism, promote community development and advocate for equity for all residents.

This push for equity is seen in many different areas of the Region, including Durham Region Transit through the Transit Assistance Program, or TAP.

TAP aims to improve transit access and affordability for customers currently receiving Social Assistance in Durham Region.

Through TAP, residents can pay as they go, or pay monthly, and have unlimited access to DRT services for the month.

Durham Region Transit has seen many improvements this year including new routes, overnight service, new connections and the award-winning Durham Transit OnDemand service, recognized with the P.J. Marshall Municipal Innovation Award this past summer.

It’s clear from this abbreviated list of accomplishments, that the Region continues to advocate and work to shape a better Durham Region—for everyone.

And beyond the accomplishments of this past year, we have our collective sights set firmly on the future to ensure a prosperous tomorrow for our great communities.

I’d like to go over some of those priorities with you now.

One of our top priorities continues to be managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

While we are in a much better place as time goes by, we must remain vigilant to ensure that we continue moving in the right direction.

In addition to COVID-19, the flu continues to circulate in the community.

The flu shot can help to reduce your chances of being infected with COVID-19 and the flu at the same time, which could lead to more serious complications.

By getting both the flu shot and COVID vaccine, individuals will help to protect themselves and others, including the community’s most vulnerable populations.

Another key priority continues to be ensuring economic prosperity for the Region, even in the face of these challenging times.

Just last week, we hosted the 2023 Budget Town Hall to listen to residents’ questions and feedback on the Region’s budget.

The 2023 Business Plans and Budgets are an important step in bringing critical investments forward and incorporating the excellent feedback we have received.

I look forward to continuing to work together, to realize our shared vision of an economically prosperous Durham.

With a continued focus on engagement, we are committed to service excellence for our communities in 2023 and beyond.

I can’t think of a better example of this commitment, than myDurham 311.

myDurham 311 will enhance the customer journey by creating a consistent, convenient and personalized experience, beginning with a clear point of contact–regardless of how customers choose to interact with the Region. Whether that be online, by phone or in person.

Durham Region annually processes over one million transactions through multiple channels, which has now been consolidated into one convenient number 3-1-1.

myDurham 311 will also provide more options to complete transactions and bring greater ease of access to services with extended hours and a self-service channel.

While we aim for improvements in community engagement, we also continue to be committed to improving community safety.

Each and every resident deserves to feel a sense of belonging.

The Community Safety and Well-Being Plan continues our work in ensuring that the needs of Durham Region residents are met.

By coming together and working with our community partners, we can share best practices, collaborate and continue our work on community safety and well-being.

We put this into practice this past June, when we came together with York Region, Halton Region, Peel Region, the City of Hamilton and the City of Toronto to host a Community Safety and Well-Being Symposium.

It was a chance to work collaboratively, to raise awareness about priority risk areas, share best practices, discuss the escalation of violence and gun violence across the GTHA, and identify action items.

These conversations will help inform the implementation of the Region’s Plan and make Durham Region a safer place for everyone.

With the world moving ever-further into the digital space, broadband access is vital infrastructure that is essential for communication, education, and economic competitiveness.

COVID-19 put a spotlight on the challenges faced by residents who don’t have access to adequate broadband.

Work is underway to expand broadband infrastructure in north Durham, and for the next four years and beyond, that work continues.

Like many Canadian municipalities, Durham’s connectivity is not equally shared.

In the region’s urban areas, internet service providers are keeping pace by deploying the latest fibre-optic broadband technologies.

We’re working to create the underground backbone infrastructure necessary to facilitate high-speed broadband to underserved areas.

In fact, we have now completed the first leg of this backbone, and will continue building this year and beyond, to bring the region in line with some of the best-connected communities in the world.

Speaking of connectivity, our work continues on making the GO Lakeshore East Extension a reality, after many years of planning.

We’ve worked closely with elected officials and staff from many different government agencies and organizations, to bring this convenient transit option to Durham Region.

As Durham Region focuses on recovery from the pandemic, this project has the potential for major economic impacts.

It will support the development of transit-oriented communities, increase housing supply, create jobs, and play a key role in investment attraction.

Residents and visitors will have access to frequent, reliable and accessible transit that will help them optimize their time, spending less time travelling and more time with family and friends.

It marks a significant milestone for the eastern municipalities in Durham—one that will help to transform the way we connect with each other for decades to come.

We also remain focused on a sustainable future.

Our climate action plan charts a path towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions over the next several decades.

Durham Regional Council has set a target for our organization to be net-zero by 2045, and for the Durham community to be net-zero by 2050.

We had several projects for 2022 to prioritize this goal, including the LEAF Backyard Tree Planting Program, which saw more than 1,500 trees and shrubs planted on both public and private lands in 2021, and we continued to add to that number over the past year.

We also worked to advance an innovative initiative in the Port of Whitby that will use heat from wastewater to reduce emissions by close to 90% at a proposed mixed-use development with 1,500 homes.

This is a great example of municipal infrastructure investment to reduce emissions in the community.

We’re continuing to advance low-carbon fleet transitions, including Durham Region Transit’s first battery electric buses and the development of a long-term fleet transition roadmap.

We continue to enact our plan that is focused on rebuilding ridership in a post-pandemic world.

We’ve also updated the Regional Cycling Plan to support the increased demand for trails and cycling infrastructure; and advanced several sustainability initiatives.

The Region remains committed to clean energy and has already taken important steps to accelerate the transition towards a low-carbon future.

We have been implementing a strategy for the Nuclear Energy Sector in the Durham Region, to grow understanding of the sector, attract innovation and strengthen the local economy, as well as protect and sustain our community.

This strategy aims to support economic prosperity, community safety and sustainability through collaboration, partnership and research and innovation.

Producing one-third of Ontario’s electricity, Durham Region plays a significant role in the Energy Sector in Ontario and in Canada.

As the Clean Energy Capital of Canada, our existing economic cluster of Nuclear Supply chain companies, and our post-secondaries institutions are continuing to drive advancements in energy innovation not just for Canada, but for the world.

Durham has been accelerating energy innovation through advancements in micro-grids, electric-vehicle infrastructure, geothermal energy, fuel cells and smart technology.

Electrification projects with Durham Region Transit and partners like Oshawa Power, Ontario Tech University, and OPG, are already underway.

They continue to demonstrate how Durham is a testbed for clean and smart technologies of the future.

Speaking of clean technologies, OPG is leading the way in the advancement of Small Modular Reactor technology right here in Durham Region.

We are excited about the technological and economic impacts of being the global centre for this emerging sector.

With innovations in energy and technology, we will continue to drive advancements in intellectual property and innovation, and we will stimulate new business growth adding jobs and new, global, economic opportunities.

2023 Ontario Parasport Games

Another direct and positive impact for our economic future comes with the announcement that Durham Region will the host the 2023 Ontario Parasport Games, which will attract approximately 550 participants and result in an anticipated local economic impact of between $500,000 and $1 million.

Along with a bolstered economy, it is equally important that our residents have access to affordable and accessible housing options.

As we look to the future of access to housing and affordability, we know there is much work to be done.

Better Homes Built Faster Act and Better Municipal Governance Act

While we share the provincial government’s goal of increasing housing supply and addressing affordability, we believe strongly that the Region has a critical role to play in growth management, including planning for major infrastructure on a regional basis.

We will continue to encourage the province to engage in further dialogue with municipalities on both the Better Homes Built Faster Act and Better Municipal Governance Act.

We are encouraging the province to let us continue to plan our communities based on what we need locally; and to do the work we were all elected to do.

While the Region supports a facilitated process, and we look forward to working with the province to eliminate any unnecessary duplication, there must be some preservation of services.

Effective Region-wide infrastructure and growth planning must continue.

The Region’s role as a strategic housing service system manager, for example, is critical.

We must be allowed to implement future housing with well-planned infrastructure and community services.

We know this because the Region previously participated in a provincial review of Regional government.

Initiated by the province, this process included interviews with Ontario’s appointed special advisors and input from various stakeholders.

During these meetings, the Region outlined how our partnerships offer a backbone to service delivery.

How our local two-tier structure ensures services are strategically planned, funded and delivered in a cost-effective manner, on a broad geographic scale.

And just as we did in 2019, we will continue to advocate now for the Region’s involvement in critical planning for growth in Durham Region.

Planning such as Envision Durham—our vision for growth to 2051.

Beyond working to secure a sustainable and economically prosperous future, we will continue to prioritize the everyday quality of life for residents, here and now.

We will continue with our maintenance, repair and expansion of our Regional Road network, and water and sewer systems to meet the demands of our rapidly growing communities.

We continue to be recognized for this world-class work.

The Region was recognized with the Project of the Year Award at the National Public Works Week event, for the Victoria Street Road Widening and Re-construction project.

This same project was also recognized by the Transportation Association of Canada, winning an Environmental Achievement Award.

We remain committed to making our roads a safer place for motorists and pedestrians through Vision Zero, a plan with an end goal of zero road fatalities in Durham Region across all modes of transportation.

Our immediate goal is a minimum 10 per cent reduction of fatal and injury collisions by the end of next year.

The Region is planning for the future growth and need for more innovative and expanded waste management solutions, with the 2022 to 2040 Long-term Waste Management Plan.

And finally, as our communities continue to grow, it’s important that the Region is supported by strong, responsive and sustainable services, and that is especially important for waste management services.

Our Waste Plan will help us reduce the amount of waste we create, and manage the generated waste as a resource, balancing financial needs and environmental sustainability.

We will build innovative systems in collaboration with our residents and stakeholders to achieve our waste goals and ensure a healthy, safe and happy community for all.

In Closing

I’d like to close by saying thank you for the opportunity to share some of our accomplishments and priorities with you today.

I think it’s clear that while we have done tremendous work this past year, there is much more vital work to be done.

I could not be prouder of the work our staff have accomplished and the dedication all employees have shown.

I am asking for that same dedication and drive from our newly elected Regional Council. 

When I look out at all of the new and returning faces here today, I know that Regional Council is prepared to embrace its duty in service of all Durham residents.

I am looking forward to the next four years of modernization, innovation, and excellent service, as we pull on this great chain together.

This is not just my story, or Durham Regional Council’s story.

This is the people of Durham Region’s story.

And I am excited for the next chapter.

Thank you.