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Inclusive Cities Canada
Burlington: Community Voices, Perspectives And Priorities
Part 2 – Civic Panel Recommendations
PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION
- The Civic Panel recommends the continuation of its work through the
establishment of an Inclusive Burlington Civic Panel. Membership should include
the City of Burlington, Regional Municipality of Halton, human service agencies,
community groups and others which represent the various diversities of
Burlington. Its mandate is to monitor and evaluate the state of social inclusion
and to recommend and advocate policies and practices, to all levels of
government and to the public, that continue to ensure a socially inclusive
Burlington.
COMMUNICATION, AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE
- In order that the City of Burlington, local authorities, human service
agencies and the community develop an institutional capacity to embrace the
growing diversity of our community – an asset that enriches us all – the Civic
Panel recommends:
- that the City of Burlington commission a social profile of Burlington to
enhance awareness of the city’s growth and changing socio-demographic
characteristics. This will be available to businesses, human service agencies,
community groups, residents and local media as a tool for understanding and
change.
- that local authorities integrate or continue to integrate
diversity-competence training into existing continuing learning programs for
their staff in order to understand better how to include the various diversities
of the community.
- that the Ministry of Education review and revise the 1993 Ethno-cultural
Equity Policy to reflect the diverse Canadian community (class, sexual
orientation, as well as culture/faith) and that the Ministry create a department
to support diversity in education issues and initiatives and provide support and
funding to school boards specific to staff training in diversity competency.
- that the City of Burlington, in recognition that newcomers bring skills
and knowledge that enrich our community, work to establish ongoing partnerships
among local authorities, human service agencies and community groups to orient
and assist newcomers to Burlington.
Potential considerations of these partnerships are:
i. awareness of and access to settlement, housing, health care, education,
crisis services, social services and City services.
ii. access to information in various languages about local services, programs
and government functions and processes
iii. awareness of the roles and responsibilities of the various levels of
government, and how to contact them
iv. support in attaining recognition of foreign credentials
v. appropriate English language training and skills upgrading to enable
newcomers to work in their chosen field
vi. support for Investor Class immigrants in researching and finding appropriate
investment opportunities in the community
vii. support for newcomers in their job search
- The Civic Panel recommends that Citizenship and Immigration Canada review
and change current immigration policies and practices to ensure that immigrants
and refugees become part of our community by:
- providing appropriate and comprehensive information and contacts in all
Canadian diplomatic missions abroad and at all points of entry regarding
settlement and employment in Canada including, where possible, information
specific to individual communities.
- providing comprehensive information on its website and in printed matter
to fully inform immigrants about significant challenges to employment for
immigrants and the complexities of investment opportunities in Canada.
- pursuing a partnership with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to
acquire and provide information and contacts regarding settlement services for
individual municipalities.
- providing funding to human service agencies and other levels of government
to provide social supports for newcomers.
- In recognition that knowledge and understanding of the purpose, roles and
functions of all levels of government is one of the pillars of active
participation in civic affairs, the Civic Panel recommends:
- that the City of Burlington, local authorities and community organizations
partner to develop and disseminate educational materials and programs to enable
civic knowledge for action.
- that the Ministry of Education for Ontario in conjunction with Boards of
Education and the partners of Inclusive Cities Canada:
i. evaluate the level of student awareness of the functions of all levels of
government, and the processes by which young citizens can be engaged
ii. evaluate the civics curriculum and TAG (Teacher Advisory Group) programs as vehicles for enhancing student engagement in political, social and economic
processes
- In view of the common perception that available services are not well
understood or easy to access, the Civic Panel recommends
- that the City of Burlington, Regional Municipality of Halton and human
service agencies actively support the Halton 211 Steering Committee to implement
a 211 system for Halton.
- that the City of Burlington, working with the Regional Municipality of
Halton and human service agencies, explore the implementation of a 311 service.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE
- The Civic Panel recommends that the City of Burlington, Regional
Municipality of Halton and human service agencies endorse and advocate for the
following recommendations to reduce poverty, with its deep social and economic
consequences.
- that social, educational, recreational and transit programs and services
be strengthened, recognizing that these services have a redistributive effect
that narrows inequality.
- that the Government of Canada in partnership with the provincial
governments and nonprofit sector develop and support a high quality National
Early Learning and Child Care and Development Strategy which is co-ordinated,
universal, accessible and transparent.
- that the Province of Ontario, in partnership with Boards of Education and
Teachers Federations, determine and ensure the level of funding necessary to
provide adequate special education, arts, sports and physical education in the
school system.
- that the Province of Ontario reassess the funding of provincially funded
and mandated social services to ensure that all regions or municipalities in the GTA receive equal per capita funding.
- that the Government of Ontario maintain Social Assistance and Disability
Support payments at a level at least equal to the Low Income Cut Off for Halton
as defined by Statistics Canada.
- that the Government of Ontario review regularly and adjust the minimum
wage so that everyone working full-time will earn a living wage that at least
provides for their basic needs.
- The Civic Panel, in order to meet basic human needs that encompass
physical security (food, housing, clothing, protection against violence and
physical/sexual abuse), health, home care and education:
- endorses and supports the process of the Roundtable on Funding Matters
convened by the Regional Chair to “address and resolve the issues of inadequate
and diminishing infrastructure faced by Halton nonprofit and voluntary
organizations.”
and recommends:
- that the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, and the Regional
and Municipal Governments of Canada commit to developing a National Housing
Strategy to ensure the building of sufficient affordable and accessible housing
in Canada.
- that the City of Burlington and the Regional Municipality of Halton
partner with human service agencies and community groups to identify and fill
gaps in services to the population of Burlington, including, but not limited to:
i. the need for safe emergency housing for youth aged 16 to 18 years
ii. the need for a 24/7 mobile emergency crisis team to address the needs of
people with mental illness
iii. the need for a shelter capable of serving people with mental illness
iv. the shortage of options in supportive housing
v. the shortage of affordable accessible housing
vi. engaging the Province of Ontario in reviewing the current model of funding
for long term care facilities and in-home care, both acute and chronic, with a
view to increasing in-home supports, with greater flexibility to adapt to
individual needs, thus reducing the need for institutionalization
vii. engaging the Province of Ontario in developing a strategy to provide for
the long-range need for affordable, supportive housing for the seniors
population and those with disabilities, including a review of the Ontario
Building Code
- that Inclusive Cities Canada, with the support of all Civic Panels,
address our diminishing social infrastructure by recommending to the Federal and
Provincial governments that these two senior levels of government restore their
investment in human service programs, including their support of community based
nonprofit and voluntary organizations, and that these reinvestments be as
important a priority as reinvestment in Medicare.
- The Civic Panel recommends that the City of Burlington, Regional
Municipality of Halton, Provincial and Federal Governments
- promote participation in appropriate life and/or employment skills
training and participation in the labour market by ensuring access to high
quality affordable child care.
- continue to support economic development which creates employment
opportunities that provide adequate income and working conditions, enabling
community members to support themselves and their families with a sense of
security.
- The Civic Panel, in recognition that limitations to transportation
services compromise access to employment, health care and other services,
inhibit the participation of residents in cultural, recreational and civic
pursuits and constrain economic opportunity recommends:
- that Burlington Transit, community agencies and service providers consult
and partner to evaluate hours of service, routes and costs with reference to
providing adequate service to all those in the community, and that the City of
Burlington provide the financial and other support necessary to Burlington
Transit to accomplish the above task.
- that all levels of government view transportation as an essential social
and economic service and that public transit be affordable, accessible and
increasingly funded from the tax base.
- that the Province of Ontario and municipalities which provide transit in
the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH) adopt financial and regulatory policies that
will integrate land use and transportation planning. This should include both
local transit and transit across the GGH, so as to build a base for more
efficient, effective and accessible public transit services. In particular, this
should be accomplished through: intensification and compact mixed-use
development in key transportation corridors; and investing in transportation
infrastructure to allow easy access between and within urban centres.
- that the Province of Ontario, in recognition that transportation needs to
be integrated to be effective through the Region of Halton and the Greater
Toronto Area, move on the development of a Greater Toronto Transportation
Authority such that a continuous transportation web exists across the Greater
Toronto Area.
- The Civic Panel recommends that the City of Burlington, in partnership
with community agencies and the Inclusive Cities Canada Civic Panel for
Burlington review the recreational and arts programs and activities in
Burlington with reference to accommodating the diversities of the community to:
- ensure a vital recreation program and arts culture in which people of all
income levels and abilities participate
- ensure the development of recreational and arts programs and activities
that reflect and celebrate the diversity of Burlington.
- The Civic Panel recommends that the City of Burlington review its city
planning programs and procedures to ensure that they:
- meet evolving social needs
- provide full public access to planning decision making, and
- generally are consistent with the Inclusive Cities initiative
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY PROBLEM-SOLVING
- The Civic Panel recommends that Burlington residents and organizations,
in conjunction with the City of Burlington, actively engage in increasing their
community knowledge and strengthening community organizations, and engaging in
community problem-solving as follows:
- that the Civic Panel meet with representatives of the print, television
and radio media to develop strategies to ensure more and better media coverage
of civic life in Burlington.
- that the City of Burlington explore the development of an innovative
Internet-based Burlington news service that gives full coverage of civic life in
Burlington.
- that the City of Burlington regularly assess the degree of staff support,
resources, and regard provided to Council Advisory Committees to ensure they can
effectively formulate positions and influence public policy issues.
- that the City of Burlington develop a model for acquiring effective advice
on seniors’ issues.
- that the City of Burlington use an inclusion framework in the work of all
City committees and staff and as a lens in the development and implementation of
City policies and programs.
- that Inclusive Cities Canada research ways in which local municipalities
can implement and use community councils at the ward and neighbourhood levels to
enhance broad based engagement of residents in the life of their community.
- that Inclusive Cities Canada research and assist municipalities to pilot
participatory budgeting processes as an expression of resident concerns,
priority setting, and direct political participation in local democracy.
- that the Government of Ontario, in partnership with Boards of Education
and municipalities in Ontario, develop a model which fosters the use of schools
as community centres or hubs to promote community capacities and social
cohesion.
- that the Ministry of Education reassess the value of the compulsory 40
hours of community involvement for secondary students.
Our full report is available online at www.cdhalton.ca and those of other
partner cities at the website www.inclusivecities.ca.
PDF: 106k (Community Dispatch)
Full Report
Produced by Community Development Halton
860 Harrington Court
Burlington, Ontario L7N 3N4
(905) 632-1975, (905) 878-0955; Fax: (905) 632-0778; E-mail:
office@cdhalton.ca
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