In this contract the Township was responsible for providing an educational component. In an FOI request which I submitted in July 2024 I requested the documents related to fulfilling this responsibility. After 2 appeals I received, on the Tuesday after Easter, and the day before the working group\u2019s recommendations were released to the public, about 400 of the 700 related documents. The release of these public documents 9 months later, after it would be too late to provide factual knowledgeable input to the working group, must surely be just a coincidence.<\/p>\n
I have included in the complete version of my delegation which will be submitted to the Clerk for attachment to the minutes, some of those documents which Councilors may find interesting in their deliberations.<\/p>\n
In spite of the absence of access to some critical sources of information the working group and consultants have produced a voluminous 3-part report with recommendations for Council\u2019s consideration. It reflects dozens of methods of getting public input from hundreds of citizens, elders, experts – the list is apparently impressive. The report describes the strategies used for distilling this vast input into a 3-part report to Council and the public. The question arises, \u201cHow much of this data was sourced via the 12 working group members, and how much was sourced and filtered by the consultants?<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
On page 2 of the Report, CAO-2025-10, Background section, the writer makes reference to an interim<\/strong> motion from a February 26, 2024 Council meeting but for some reason has omitted reference to the final<\/strong> direction given by Council on September 23, 2024. The writer\u2019s rationale for that omission would be informative.<\/p>\n The July 5, 2021 motion of Council was to create,<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026a working group comprised of a balanced representation of the individuals and communities within Wilmot to discuss, develop and suggest plans for the implementation of next steps centred in community cohesion and healing<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The March 25, 2024 Council meeting contained this counsel from the CAO at that time,<\/p>\n \u201cThrough you mayor, just to affirm, the working group would be option one. So that would create the working group and we could hire a consultant to help us develop the terms of reference for that working group and they could work with the working group to help the working group develop engagement plans<\/span>.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n The April 8, 2024 Council meeting saw an updated version of Report CAO-2024-03 presented to Council, but with the old date of February 26, 2024 still on it, which stated on page 8,<\/p>\n \u201cThe firm can provide <\/em>ongoing advice and support<\/span> to the working group throughout its operation. This might involve facilitating<\/span> meetings, addressing challenges, promoting<\/span> collaboration and assistin<\/span>g with research. Fostering inclusivity is crucial for successful community engagement. By involving experts experienced in this field, the Township can enhance the effectiveness of the Working Group and achieve better outcomes.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n This 3-part report indicates that the consultants were not limited to just helping<\/em>, providing advice, facilitating, promoting collaboration, assisting<\/em>. IT would appear that there may have been an operational change in the terms of the RFP contract as awarded so that the consultants were now not just operating independently of Council, but were also leading and directing operations of the entire process such that the Working Group was no longer a model to be replicated for \u201ctransforming community engagement and consultation processes in Wilmot\u201d, <\/em>nor was it now an initiative that \u201cembodied the Township\u2019s new commitment to transparency<\/em>\u201d, nor is it yet a \u201cstep towards collaborative decision-making in Wilmot Township<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n I am confident that interim versions of a report were shared with the 12-member working group along the way, but whether that review was done with all 12 present raises doubts. Consensus does not exist if any of the 12 was not present for all discussions and recording of conclusions.<\/p>\n An AI Google search turned up this: \u201cDecision-making in organizations often occurs across three levels: strategic, tactical, and operational<\/strong>. Strategic decisions involve long-term planning and resource allocation, while tactical decisions focus on implementing strategic plans, and operational decisions involve day-to-day activities. Hierarchical<\/strong> decision-making, where decisions are made based on authority levels, is also a common approach<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Which decision-making levels were used for which questions faced by the working group?<\/p>\n When making a decision, were the 12 members informed of which decision-making level was being used as the motivation for that decision?<\/p>\n How can one reach consensus on a hierarchical decision-making level?<\/p>\n Can the consultants produce the meeting minutes when the final \u201cvote\u201d tally was produced showing the page 10, Engagement Report, results? The \u201cPMP Outcome Positions<\/em>\u201d tally appears to coincide with the positions of the 12 at the start, and no one has changed over the duration. Are the 12 prepared to consult among themselves at this time and confirm that the record of 4, 4, and 4 is accurate?<\/p>\n Page 10 of the \u201cEngagement Report<\/em>\u201d, under the sub-heading, \u201cObjectives and Deliverables<\/em>\u201d states:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u201c\u2022 Draft recommendations for public review (March 2025), refine them based on feedback, and submit final recommendations to Township Council (April 2025).\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The CAO\u2019s report CAO-2025-10 does not include the opportunity for the Draft recommendations be reviewed by the public, nor provide strategies for how that public review will be undertaken (focus groups at community centres around the Township with the 12-member working group as facilitators), nor describe how public feedback will be gathered and collated for demographic analysis.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Therefore, this final<\/em> report package is not a final report. It is only a Draft report and must next go back to the public for analysis and feedback. The 12-member working group also needs to review this draft report for careful analysis before it goes out to the public for review and feedback.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n This final <\/em>version of the consultants\u2019 report is not a final report, and appears to just be a product of the consultants\u2019 creation. It does not appear to be something that was reviewed and edited \u2013 every word and fact confirmed – by the 12-member working group, before it was submitted, to the CAO.<\/p>\n On page 2 of CAO-2025-10, the writer opines that,<\/p>\n \u201cThe current report is in response to the removal of the statues in 2021, and aims to: \u201cFurther this option advances the work done by the First Peoples Group on behalf of the Township, using a collaborative approach to help to determine a path forward for the Prime ministers Path statues.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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