Rotary Club of Oshawa address

On October 26, 2021, Regional Chair and CEO John Henry spoke at the Annual Update to the Rotary Club of Oshawa-Parkwood.

Check against delivery.

Good evening. I appreciate the opportunity to provide you with an update from the Region.

It’s also a great time to hear from you and hopefully address any questions you may have.

Today I would like to give you an update from the Region—not just about the pandemic and this past year—but also about how we are executing our plan for recovery and prioritizing for the future.

It is no secret that this pandemic has been extremely hard on every person, business and organization in many different ways.

That being said, we are closer to the end of this pandemic than ever, thanks to the hard work of our staff and community.

Earlier this month we reached a major milestone in the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, with over 1 million doses now administered to people who live or work in Durham Region.

This would not be possible without the heroic health care and administrative professionals who have worked tirelessly, and to the Durham residents who have done their part to help put an end to this pandemic by getting vaccinated.

While this is an incredible achievement, it remains vital that those who aren’t yet vaccinated book their appointments or drop into a walk-in clinic as soon as possible, and that all of us continue to follow public health guidelines.

While we slowly turn the corner on the pandemic, we have been planning Durham’s recovery and restoration, and implementing as many supports as we can for local businesses throughout the past year.

This work wouldn’t have been possible without the joint efforts of our residents such as the fine Rotarians of Oshawa before me this evening.

Work such as the Economic Task Force who launched initiatives like the RitualONE free food ordering service; Digital Main Street program, the Downtowns of Durham website, and the central online portal at Invest Durham DOT C-A to share critical information with the Durham business community.

Nothing has inspired me more over the past year than the grit and passion of our small local businesses.

They have pivoted.

They have adapted.

And they have shown that they are the true heart and soul of our community.

Now, more than ever, it’s important to shop local.

Did you know that for every $100 spent locally, $70 is reinvested back into our local economy?

Further, 75 per cent of all new jobs being created in Canada are within the small business sector.

And that’s why the Shop Durham Region online marketplace is such an important pillar of our local economy.

At Shop Durham Region DOT COM, shoppers can buy local goods from Durham Region businesses offering contactless pick up.

By centralizing the shopping experience, with one easy-to-browse website, people are exposed to new local products and can buy them from various local businesses—all in one transaction.

Hundreds of local businesses, including RMG Shop from Oshawa, have joined Shop Durham Region and continue to add products for sale on the site every day.

If you are a local business, or know an owner who would be interested in listing goods on Shop Durham Region, be sure to check it out.

I would be remiss not to mention the heroic work done by our Health and Social Services staff during this time as well.

Their efforts to protect the health and safety of our community, from the least to most vulnerable, has been nothing short of extraordinary.

A perfect example comes from the Health Department’s Primary Care Outreach Program, which involves a duo of an advanced care paramedic and a social worker providing outreach services to vulnerable populations.

Last year, the program supported 3,284 vulnerable people.

Of those, 223 people were new to the program.

While these numbers are impressive on the surface, this is with one team of two, and one truck, and we know there is need for so much more.

The impacts of this program are seen in the broader system.

Every day there are success stories of meeting with someone and providing them care so they don’t have to call 911 and end up in the emergency room.

We mitigate the crisis, so the care needs don’t escalate.

In addition to the Primary Care Outreach Program, last year, the Health Department launched the High Intensity Supports at Home community paramedicine program.

They acted quickly and had an operational program ready in 3 weeks.

The program is focused on people with medical needs who are awaiting long-term care or alternate level of care supports.

In the last 6 months, the program has made a significant impact on the community.

The 8 dedicated paramedics have provided critical community supports including over 1,100 hours of direct support to the vaccine roll out.

We are currently supporting more than 100 clients with this program, and the need is growing.

There are a huge number of clients who are still waiting for service—proof that the expansion of this community paramedicine program is critical for the Region.

That is why we were thrilled about last week’s announcement from the Province of Ontario to expand funding to programs just like these.

They see the importance of supporting our vulnerable residents, just like we do.

From a Social Services perspective, they are diligently working to ensure the safety of unsheltered residents, with initiatives like the Oshawa Micro-Housing Project.

We have partnered with Lakeridge Health, Ontario Tech University and Durham College to build a 10-unit micro-home community in central Oshawa.

This micro-home community will offer temporary transitional housing with various supports, including financial assistance, employment services, mental health and addictions supports, life skills teaching and more.

Occupancy of the homes are expected soon.

 

As an organization, we have been applying lessons learned from the pandemic to modernize our services—such as the further development of myDurham 311—a service for Durham to modernize how we do business.

myDurham 311 aims to modernize the customer experience by consolidating our call centres into one contact centre experience—one that includes more online functionality and ensures a faster and more efficient experience.

myDurham311 is just another example of our organization striving for innovation and modernization in all of our practices.

Several major Durham Region Transit projects are underway with provincial and federal investment in order to modernize our operations.

This modernization includes several projects, such as the Bus Rapid Transit System that will connect Oshawa to Scarborough along Highway 2.

 

Oshawa will be an integral part of this BRT corridor, and many Oshawa residents will benefit from the improved access to the eastern threshold of Toronto.

The GO East Rail Extension will also have a positive impact on Oshawa—in particular the Thornton’s Corners and Ritson Road stations—which will offer even more transit options for Oshawa residents.

All of the new GO stations will drive economic revitalization in several key areas, while supporting active transportation within our communities.

This investment is expected to have a positive economic impact on our communities for the next 50 years.

Both the federal and provincial governments committed significant funding into broadband.

And we are looking forward to securing the funding necessary to achieve our vision of a fully connected Durham.

We know that many areas in Oshawa are in need of fast and reliable internet, and we look forward to seeing how this new funding can make that need a reality in the coming years.

Major infrastructure and roadway projects remain a top priority in Oshawa.

Several road extensions, widenings and reconstructions are either in design or construction phases, to continue to address the city’s growing traffic capacity.

We are continuing to promote Durham Region as a good place to invest and continued focus on job creation.

 

One of my top priorities is to ensure that Durham Region is the best place to live for everyone.

During the course of the pandemic, we have created a dedicated Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, or DEI division.

This team works across the organization to ensure that diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the core of everything the Region does.

In effect they are putting action behind our goal of identifying and addressing barriers within Regional programs and services.

This year alone the DEI team has assembled an Anti-Racism Taskforce, contributed to the Region’s Accessibility framework, delivered a series of educational “Let’s Talk” dialogue sessions for staff, and erected a flagpole to proudly fly the ‘Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation’ flag at Regional Headquarters.

The team is currently prioritizing the implementation of strategies to address anti-Black racism, and mitigating the ongoing effects of colonization on First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples.

This year has been one of reckoning and sober reflection when it comes to our shared history with Indigenous communities.

Much more work is needed and we are committed to playing our part in responding to the Truth and Reconciliation’s Commission of Canada Calls to Action, and we will continue our efforts to provide culturally safe spaces and processes at the Region.

We will not stop prioritizing this vital work.

Speaking of vital work, Durham Region is taking important steps to accelerate the transition towards a low-carbon, climate resilient community.

Investments in climate and environmental sustainability include:

• The development and implementation of a Corporate Climate Action Plan
• The innovative Durham Home Energy Savings program to help homeowners reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions
• Nature-based solutions such as the LEAF tree planting program
• A low carbon fleet strategy
• And a suite of deep energy retrofits.

Another significant investment is the new Mixed Waste Pre-Sort and Anaerobic Digestion—or AD—facility.

The Mixed Waste Pre-sort AD facility with an Energy from Waste plant, will be a first-of-its-kind fully integrated waste management initiative in North America.

This system will convert food scraps into renewable natural gas and will use the residuals to generate electrical energy that can be used in a variety of applications.

The proposed AD process will be odour and emissions free thanks to some remarkable technological advancements.

The new facility will be located next to the Durham York Energy Centre (DYEC) in the Energy Park and will only accept waste from Durham Region and will delay the need to expand the DYEC facility.

As Durham Region’s population is growing and expected to be more than 1 million people in the next decade, more residents will mean more garbage created for the Region to manage.

The Mixed Waste Pre-sort facility will remove non-combustible material and recyclables to further increase diversion from landfill and extend the life of the DYEC.

Many more projects of this scale and innovation will be needed in the future to combat climate change and ensure our environmental sustainability—and we are ready for that challenge.

Programs such as E-mission, in partnership with Oshawa Power and Elexicon Energy, funded by Natural Resources Canada.

E-mission includes a number of opportunities to learn more about electric vehicles.

This includes booking a free, private test drive with Plug n’ Drive at one of six locations across the region, hearing testimonials from other EV drivers, and test driving an EV at any of our participating local dealerships.

Currently, the transportation sector is the largest source of global warming pollution in Durham Region.

Projects like E-mission are a step in the right direction to making a change for not only our environment, but also our local economy.

Another top priority continues to be connecting our Region with broadband infrastructure.

All levels of government have a role to play to significantly improve broadband access in Durham.

Now, more than ever, we understand the importance of being and staying connected.

In fact, the Region began construction this summer on its first major fiberoptic broadband project from Pickering up to Uxbridge.

It is our first major step in bridging the digital divide and bringing higher speeds to our underserved communities.

We’re working in partnership with the OPUC – the Oshawa Power and Utilities Corporation – on this transformative project.

 

It will serve Durham’s rural and underserved communities; leveraging the existing fibre infrastructure of the Region and OPUC to extend broadband access across Durham.

It’s through these continued investments that we will be able to bring our vision of connecting our entire region with fast and reliable broadband to life.

We are also focused on ensuring a bright future for Durham Region, in every sense of the word.

 

This hard work is being noticed. The Intelligent Communities Forum has recognized Durham Region as one of the Smart21 Communities of the Year for 2021.

This program recognizes the world’s leading municipalities that are successfully leveraging data and digital assets to develop inclusive and prosperous communities.

This recognition builds on the Region’s Intelligent Communities Framework developed in 2020, and is a great motivator for expanding and growing this work in 2021.

In addition, Durham Region is within the top 15 of Communities ranking in North America’s Top 20 Most Open Cities in 2020 through it’s Open Data Initiative.

Recognizing the important balance between technology and nature, the Region will be implementing a strategy to expand tree planting across Durham.

This strategy will help us to meet the Region’s Official Plan woodland cover target of 30 per cent of total land area.

The strategy will target more than 100,000 trees planted in 2021-2022, and close to 750,000 trees by 2025.

As I mentioned briefly before, Durham has also expanded the availability of the LEAF backyard tree planting program to residents and increased the number of backyard trees planted by 50 per cent in comparison to 2020.

All the priorities and accomplishments I’ve outlined above underline our vision of Durham’s legacy as builders, economic drivers and shepherds of sustainability going forward.

That vision involves a new economy that features sustainable nuclear energy.

Durham Region is the Clean Energy Capital of Canada, producing about 30 per cent of Ontario's electricity, and is a recognized energy cluster with two nuclear generating stations.

We have unique nuclear post-secondary degree programs, and a highly specialized workforce.

 

Thanks to OPG, Durham has the potential be the clean energy capital of the world, by being the first grid-connected Small Modular Reactor (or SMR) in the world, and future home to a world-leading cluster of SMR technology companies.

This development complements the shift to a low-carbon economy and achievement of GHG emissions targets that I mentioned previously; and will provide carbon-free, affordable, reliable, and safe energy.

It’s an exciting opportunity and highlights the economic potential of new nuclear across the country.

With everything I’ve mentioned here today, it’s clear that Durham Region has built a well-deserved reputation as an innovative community.

It is no wonder we are so well-known for our ability to adapt and solve big problems.

Every day we get a little closer to the end of this pandemic.

We will continue to showcase these strengths, long after this situation is over, while we continue to grow to be the greatest region in Canada.

I’d like to close by saying thank you.

I want everyone here to know that the Region understands the importance of the work you do in supporting our communities.

While the world looks wildly different than it before this pandemic, your hard work remains unchanged.

Thank you for all that you do, thank you for listening, and I’d be pleased to take any questions.