Précis of delegation submission.

A complete document will be submitted to the Clerk on Tuesday, May 13th for further consideration by councilors and the public.

2025.05.12 PMP Delegation

Good evening, Council and all

The consultants have produced a voluminous 3-part report with recommendations for Council’s consideration. It reflects dozens of methods of getting public input from many hundreds of citizens, elders, experts from Wilmot and afar.  The sources list is apparently impressive. And tonight, you hear from only 9 more.

On the other hand, I suggest that the Report before Council tonight, CAO-2025-10, be considered in the context that it was prepared by, reviewed by, and submitted by 3 roles, but one person only.

 On page 2 of the Report, CAO-2025-10, Background section, the writer makes reference to an interim motion from a February 26, 2024 Council meeting but for some reason has omitted reference to the final direction given by Council on September 23, 2024. The writer’s rationale for that omission would be informative.

On page 2 of the cover report named CAO-2025-10, the writer opines that,

“The current report is in response to the removal of the statues in 2021,

But I suggest that is it supposed to be a staff report that introduces the Working Group’s and Consultants’ combined efforts to address the direction given by Council at its September 23, 2024 Council meeting?

3-part Motion: 1) RFP > hire LURA, 2) Terms of Reference, and 3)…

THAT the Terms of Reference comment on all options with respect to the future of the Prime Ministers Path Project, including asking the question Does the Township dispose of the statues and if so, how? or alternatively, does the Township continue to display the statues, and if so, how? and all other options considered.

Motion Carried Unanimously

After reading the 3-part report, I conclude that the product before us tonight attempts to address the 3^rd “THAT”. Councilor Cressman added the final part, “…and all other options considered”, which brought Council into unanimity, and it appears to me that the working group has addressed all three parts – as directed by Council.

Pages 2 and 3 of the CAO’s cover report, Staff Feedback section, outline some concerns that Council can address successfully. This Corporation is responsible for providing a safe workplace, and that can be assured with Council’s appropriate directives. However, the Corporation has already spent tens of thousands of dollars for security strategies since 2020.

The cover report also opines that the recommendations of the Working Group, “…is (sic) beyond the capacity of the current organization.” That may be true given the current organization of the corporation.  But it should be recognized that the Township has been able to compile between 2015 and 2019, over 700 PMP related documents (400 of which it finally released to me via an FOI appeal process) that include educational resources from places like Nipissing University, architectural landscape drawings of variations of a site plan and schedules of presentations involving well-known Canadians. (Margaret Trudeau?)

This project is do-able!

It should be noted that Report CAO-2024-03, February 26, 2024, CAO Chambers reported that, “The Manager of Communications and Strategic Initiatives position has been hired. The Manager of Communications and Strategic Initiatives has experience in community engagement, ….” That position has been restructured away, and I advocate that Council should direct staff to again reorganize, within existing FTE, to re-create that position, but with a new person.

This skilled professional may provide leadership, and coordination on tasks such as developing an in-house Strategic Plan and liaise with any structures Council may create to implement suggestions and recommendations in this 3-part report.

It appears to me that the working group has addressed all three options – as directed by Council – in this package, and the recommendations deserve close review and feedback from Wilmot’s citizens.

THE REPORTS

There is a lot of excellent material in these 3 documents. My comments/suggestions below are intended to build on them as Council deliberates.

I recommend that Council:

• Move forward toward a goal of providing a safe space where structured opportunities for listening, sharing, learning, and engagement in reflecting on history, identity and belonging may occur. (slide 1)
• Create a mutually binding legal relationship with Createscape Waterloo to facilitate a fundraising foundation with legal charitable opportunities. (Don Bourgeois, President)
• In coordination with Createscape Waterloo, consider establishing a Foundation Board of Directors, potentially at arms-length from the Corporation, but coordinating with it. (see FOI #351)
• Solicit Wilmot citizens to “name” the project.
• Solicit local individual and corporate donors for “naming” opportunities.

The following images were finally acquired, after a 9-month freedom of information request & appeal process, on April 15^th, the day before the working group’s report was publicly released.

• Acquire a suitably-sized parcel of land in Wilmot, preferably in Baden and close to Castle Kilbride and the museum. (Charitable donations, including from land owners, can leverage willingness to give by those with resources to donate – especially with a tax receipt.)

Set up financial accounts that allow donors to contribute to the project. This could be in the form of a “subscription” list where individuals and corporations make regular (monthly) donations of a fixed regular amount that is deposited automatically each month, such as for hydro, phone, taxes. This would flow through the Township Corporation’s accounts, and an annual tax receipt would be provided. Once the system is in place, it flows. [$10 a month from 500 people = $5,000 a month or $60,000 a year. Each donor gets an annual tax receipt.]

• Consider a funding alternative for site acquisition which might be D.C.s – development charges. At present developers provide park land as part of their developments or make payments ‘in lieu of’. Council could create a policy that provides for a designated portion of DCs to be directed toward the acquisition and maintenance of a “park-like” site for this project.
• In any future consultations, provide that consideration be given to contacting The Saugeen First Nation located in Southampton. Saugeen First Nation is a distinct Anishnaabek Nation comprised of the Three Fires Confederacy. The Three fires Confederacy is a long-standing alliance among the Ojibwe (or Chippewa), Odawa (or Ottawa), and Potawatomi tribes. When the Iroquois invaded southwestern Ontario prior to the arrival of settlers, the peoples living in the region that includes Wilmot Township were defeated, and forced to be absorbed into the Iroquois culture, or to move. Many moved into Michigan and south, or north into present Bruce Peninsula area – the Saugeen First Nation territory. The current Chief is Conrad Ritchie and one of the band councilors is Lester Anoquot who was the Indigenous representative on the school board, and with whom I worked when I was teaching in Southampton for 10 years. The Saugeen Nation has its own education office, and the counsel these people could provide would be valuable. 519-797-2781 ext. 1103 for the Council Clerk/Executive Assistant.
• Identify potential ways to expand the visitation ‘sites’ placed on the property:
• Construct a “cultural centre” of suitable size to accommodate tour groups of 30 – 40 tour bus riders. (FOI #048 – 2 concepts)
• Cultural centre could have audio-visual displays that rotate on a schedule or can be “booked” ahead of time by tour groups that make pre-paid reservations to visit.
• The A.V. ‘presentations’ scripts would be created by content experts such as universities, cultural ‘experts’ and converted to ‘professional grade’ product paid for through grants.
• Resource list ‘hand-outs’ with further reading suggestions.
• Create a communications strategy for promoting tourist visits to Wilmot’s project site. (Hire a Manager of Communications and Strategic Initiatives. / We have a “grants” specialist, I understand, in the last budget.)
• Contact the Stratford Festival for ideas how to market such this project, and for strategies how it coordinates with the City of Stratford and Perth County.
• Coordinate with the Board of Trade regarding long-term plans for provision of support services required by potential tourists:
• food;
• local transportation to Castle Kilbride and the museum (rickshaws pulled by university students in season?);
• local historical buildings and local figures of prominence;
• alternate bus tour spin-off to New Hamburg to view homes in Marie Voisin’s books’ list (with accompanying local guides on the bus?)
• Hire through re-organization, a Manager of Communications and Strategic Initiatives. Use your “grants” specialist.
• Access from the Clerk, (USB disc) and then post the PMP documents already in existence for the public’s information and historic context. Also access from the Clerk those documents they have deemed to be FOI protected from public view, but ALLthose docs. are accessible to councilors. (What staff knows, all councilors know!!!!)

This project, I believe, is not just a “settler” project. It is not just an “Indigenous” project. It is a Wilmot project, of many disparate voices all coming together, on the land we now call Canada.

I believe this project is not about ‘honouring’ specific figures from our past. It is about educating as many people as possible, through opportunities to hear the stories of others’ experiences, and developing mutual respect toward reconciliation of differing “truths”.

I wish Council well in its deliberations and look forward to dates and places when the public may provide feedback on this Draft report.

Respectfully submitted,

Barry Wolfe, Baden

FOR COUNCILORS:

The USB, like I received, can be sourced from the Clerk.

The data was acquired only after submitting FOI # 2024-09, then appealing to the information & privacy commissioner, #MA24-00829, and again to the i.p.c. for a “deemed refusal appeal” # MA25-00143.

(9 months from start to closure. Maybe the Township could improve its transparency and accountability procedures for providing access to public documents?)

Shortcut hints in searching the USB of docs:

Landscaping: architectural drawings – donated by GSP Group 048, 114,

Education Resources: a starter list – 091, 094, 116, 171, 257, 261, 312, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 076,

Positions: 056, 171, 308, 351, 352, 353, 133, 134,

Events: 121, 041, 059, 181,

Money: 057, 066, 069, 072, 092, 096, 164, 165, 175, 236, 237, 297

This is not exhaustive. I can’t re-find a letter from the Women’s Ecumenical Council supporting the project if an Indigenous Garden is included. Kris has a print copy of it, and the #

See images below.

NB: Educational Resources are cover pages only, not full documents as developed so far.

From LURA Report page 26