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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSPAC 2007-12-05 Minutes.pdf-_) District of Maple Ridge SOCIAL PLANNING ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Social Planning Advisory Committee, held in the Blaney Room at Maple Ridge Municipal Hall, 11995 Haney Place, Road, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, on Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Mayor Gordon Robson Councillor Judy Dueck Councillor Linda King Paul Livingstone Ian Brooks .Kim Macey, Chair Ray Koob Ross Dunning Andy Libbiter Rick Butler Jim Wakely Gwen Champagne Candace Gordon STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Mike Murray Sue Wheeler Shawn Matthewson Christine DiGiamberardine Tracy Camire GUESTS Ernie Hilland Nathaniel Sabanski Devorah White REGRETS/ABSENTS Caroline Wilkins Vicki Kipps Lyn Taylor-Scott Connie Schmid Kathy Chiu Valerie Spurrell 1. Called to Order and Introductions Council Liaison Council Liaison Council Liaison Community at Large Community at Large Community at Large Ridge Meadows Seniors Society Community at Large Fraser Health School District No. 42, School Trustee RCMP Community Living BC Ridge Meadows Child, Youth & Family Network GM, Community Development Parks & Recreation Staff Liaison, Director, Community Services Staff Liaison , Parks & Leisure Services Recreation Coordinator, Neighbourhood Development Committee Clerk Make Poverty History Make Poverty History Ministry of Children and Family Development Ridge Meadows Child, Youth & Family Network Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living Ridge Meadows Seniors Society Mountain View Community Church and The Caring Place Fraser Health The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 1 of 5 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes December 5, 2007 2. Adoption of the Agenda R0S-71 Motion was moved and seconded That the Agenda for December 5, 2007 be adopted with the following changes; 5.1.1 Should read: Update Affordable Housing Presentation and Discussion 3. Minutes of the Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting R0S-72 Motion was moved and seconded CARRIED That the Minutes of the Social Planning Advisory Committee November 7, 2007 Regular Meeting be adopted with the following change; Christine DiGiamberardine should be noted as present CARRIED 4. Delegations and Presentations 4.1 Hanukkah -Lighting of the Menorah with Devorah White Devorah White gave a Hanukkah presentation including a demonstration of the lighting of the Menorah. Devorah commented on the appropriateness of the presentation to SPAC, as Hanukkah is related to good deeds and she thanked the Committee for the commitment to the community. The presentation was appreciated very much by the committee. 4.2 Fair Trade -Ernie Hilland, Make Poverty History Linda King introduced Ernie Hilland and Nathan Sabanski from Make Poverty History. Ernie Hilland gave a description of Make Poverty History organization along with the goals of Make Poverty History; • More and better aid • Reduction of debt • End child poverty in Canada • Promote Fair Trade Make Poverty History would like endorsement from the Social Planning Advisory Committee along with any feedback on how they can improve their initiative. Mr. Hilland also reviewed the definition of Fair Trade along with the outcomes for farmers and workers in developing countries. Nathan Sabanski reviewed the benefits that Fair Trade has had on the community, small- scale Farmers and workers, consumers, and the environment. The Committee discussed how to know if products are "fair trade" or not. Mr. Hilland advised the Committee that if products are certified as "fair trade" they would be labelled as "Certified Fair Trade" Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 2 of5 _J Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes December 5, 2007 Ernie Hilland explained the process for a product being declared "Fair Trade". The movement has been slow and is about 15 years old with it only becoming popular recently. Councillor King advised the Committee that the issue around fair trade has been fuelled by a considerable amount of research that has been done internationally. Councillor King also asked that Make Poverty History be added to a future agenda for further discussion. Kim Macey advised the Committee of two books that pertain to Fair Trade products; Better Chocolate that talks about Fair Trade and Black Chocolate. 5. Unfinished and New Business 5.1 Three year work plan Review Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that in the past each year the Social Planning Advisory Committee has built a one year plan and last year the Committee decided to build a three year plan. Ms. Wheeler reviewed the three year work plan and gave status updates on each project. R06-72 Motion was moved and seconded That the Social Planning Advisory Committee endorse the three year work plan CARRIED 5.1.1 Update Affordable Housing Presentation and Discussion Councillor Dueck advised the Committee that she chaired the Affordable Housing meeting and also advised the Committee that Sheila McLaughlin from the Alouette Home Start Society presented the Affordable Housing Presentation to Maple Ridge Council and Council was supportive of the presentation and wanted to see it come forward in January. Councillor King advised the Committee that Sheila came as a delegation to the Committee of Whole then the presentation was forwarded to Council Workshop. Mayor Robson joined the meeting at 8:13 p.m. Candace Gordon joined the meeting at 8:25 p.m. Mike Murray shared a discussion he had with Darren Froese from BC Housing in regards to affordable housing and advised the committee that there are many different levels of support when it comes to community housing. Mr. Murray also advised the Committee that BC Housing indicated that they are prepared to be supportive of community initiatives. A discussion took place in regards to the continuum of housing and the gaps in the continuum in our community as were outlined in the previous month's presentation by Alouette Home Start Society. The different models of transitional and supportive housing were discussed as were the potential funding sources for affordable housing in Maple Ridge. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 3 of5 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes December 5, 2007 5.2 Metro Vancouver -Affordable Housing Strategy -deferred to next meting 5.3 January Meeting date discussion The Committee agreed that the next Social Planning Advisory Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008. 5.4 Victoria Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness Meeting Results Jim Wakely advised the Committee that a group from Maple Ridge (representatives from Police, Social Planning, Alouette Home Start, and the BIA) attended a meeting with the Victoria Mayor's Task Force to review their recently published Homelessness Strategy. In attendance were the Victoria City Manager, a Council Member, a Police Office, the BIA Executive Director, and Senior staff. Inspector Wakely also advised the Committee that the city has developed a five year action plan for implementing the strategy. They are currently in the early stages of developing their implementation strategies with their first goal being to utilize the "housing first" model (take people for whatever their situation is and house people first with the very high level support to meet their needs) to house fifty individuals as a pilot project. The results will be evaluated to determine if this is the model that Victoria will use in the future. The strategy emphasizes that the research they conducted identified "support services" being key to the success of any housing model at any stage of the continuum of housing. Mayor Robson left the meeting at 8:50 p.m. The Committee requested that Sue Wheeler and Jim Wakely work on giving a more in depth presentation about the Victoria project in the New Year. 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Child, Youth and Family Network Updates --deferred School Community Connections Update --deferred School Neighbourhood Garden Update--deferred Building Community Solutions -deferred Committee Members -deferred Round Table Candace Gordon V. Kipps The Katzie Healthy Community Pilot project has seen a very positive outcome with a 28% reduction in prescription misuse and a smaller reduction in narcotics. Ray Koob Ray indicated that he was attending in Connie Schmidt's place this evening and that he was very please with the meeting discussion. Andy Libbiter Shepherd House -an excellent example of a partnership between the Canadian Mental Health Association, the municipality and the Fraser Health. Change at the Maple Ridge Treatment Centre; Karen Turner has left and Sherry Mumford is temporarily filling this role. Marika Sandrelli is now overseeing the Matrix Program and Mark Cohen is the Clinical support to the Core Program Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 4 of 5 -_) Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes December 5, 2007 Ross Dunning Ross advised the committee that he has been very involved in the high school community with the athletics programs. Rick Butler Rick had a question about the item on a previous agenda regarding the request from the Ministry for municipalities to pre-zone for supportive housing and treatment facilities. He was advised that the Planning department did a presentation on this request at the last meeting and that they have been asked to come back to the committee with more information on how other communities have responded. Paul Livingstone Paul advised the Committee that he has a lot of experience in dealing with people who are on recovery from substance misuse. There's a huge gap between coming out of treatment and becoming part of the community again. Gwen Champagne Gwen attended a successful workshop with Shawn Wilkshire who had statistics about how the population is declining especially in the service sectors. The need for people in these roles suggests that there is even more need to welcome people with disabilities into the workplace and to recognize the important contribution they can make to a community. Shawn Matthewson New Winter Guide came out a few weeks ago and is also available on line. There will be a Winter Market this Saturday, December 8th from 9:00-3:00 pm. The Laityview Good Neighbours will be doing their Christmas carolling. Kim Macey Attended the untapped talent event and recognized the wealth of talent in our community. 7. CORRESPONDENCE 7.1 Child Poverty Report Card -deferred 8. Next Meeting The next regular meeting of the Social Planning Advisory Committee is scheduled to be on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. in the Blaney Room, Maple Ridge Municipal Hall. Upon no further discussion coming from the Committee members, the meeting was adjourned. The Regular Meeting adjourned at 9:07 p.m. /tc Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 5 of5