You may not hear about the pros and cons of a potential heath unit merger at the Timmins council table.
At the April 16 meeting, a request to have the Porcupine Health Unit talk at a public meeting about the impending merger with Timiskaming Health Unit was denied. While it was Coun. Steve Black who tabled the resolution, the ensuing debate highlighted the ongoing disconnect between Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau and Coun. Bill Gvozdanovic.
“In my mind, there’s nothing controversial about this resolution," Black told council ahead of the vote.
"You can amend and say they don’t have to come present at council and they just have to do a public presentation, I’m OK with that if someone wants to make that amendment, they don’t have to sit here. I’m fine with them sitting in a gymnasium or an arena and doing a public presentation so the public gets to hear how our health unit services are changing and the reasons why they’re changing and the benefits to changing."
To reduce the number of public health units in Ontario in 2019 the Ford government announced plans to go from 35 health units across the province to 10. When COVID-19 hit, those plans were put onto the the backburner and resurfaced last summer when the province said it would offer cash and support for health units voluntarily merging.
In August, the Porcupine and Timiskaming health units said they're taking steps to voluntarily merge.
For Black, the merger is one of the most significant changes to public health in the district in decades.
Some of the specific questions for the health unit in the failed motion included the operating costs of each health unit now and the proposed cost under a merger, the transition costs, how many board members municipalities have before and after the merger, and more.
“Our councils have a right to be informed about what our representation on that health unit’s going to be and what the financial implications to our community are going to be so we can discuss it as a council and give feedback and direction on how the city would like to approach this merger. That has been the major point that is a concern is just the transparency and the diligence that goes into getting to the final conclusion of doing a merger,” said Black.
After the March council meeting, Boileau, who is the chair of the PHU board, said a letter was sent from the mayor's office asking the health unit to present to council. The response, she said, is that "the information being requested is not available at this time."
The health unit board has approved an intent to merge.
"That intent can be withdrawn at any time should the board of health feel like this is not going in the direction that the board of health would like it to go in,” she said.
Public engagement sessions are scheduled, which she said council was invited to and during which questions can be asked. While Black and other councillors talked about newly announced meetings with community leaders, the defeated resolution was for a public meeting for residents.
Boileau further said that a third-party consultant has identified pros and cons. The governance component is being worked through, and she noted that the cost is based on the number of residents in a municipality, not a weighted assessment like the Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board (CDSSAB).
Coun. Andrew Marks also sits on the health unit board. He said the potential merger is "absolutely" going to make public health better in the city.
“We know in amalgamations, costs are not always a saving and I’m not looking at this merger between the Porcupine Health Unit and the Timiskaming Health Unit as a cost-saving exercise. I’m looking at it that public health is going to be strengthened. That we’re going to be partners and we’re going to work together and should we not move forward with this as the two of us voluntarily looking at merging, then I think we start looking at issues where North Bay, Sudbury and Thunder Bay start then an amalgamation in the north and who is the smallest out of those partners? I wouldn’t want to be at that table doing those negotiations,” he said.
For transparency and diligence, Marks said he's asked for information to be made available and he'd bring the answers back to council.
In a recorded vote, Black, Gvozdanovic, and Coun. John Curley voted in favour of the health unit making a public presentation. Councillors Marks, Cory Robin and Rock Whissell, and Boileau were against it. Councillors Lorne Feldman and Kristin Murray were not at the meeting.
Growing disconnect
Near the end of the open discussion, the fractured relationship between Boileau and Gvozdanovic was notable.
During most council meetings, there is a disconnect between the two.
At the April 16 meeting, the discourse started about 15 minutes in when the mayor told the Schumacher councillor that his explanation about why he hadn't asked staff questions ahead of the meeting wasn't worth an interruption.
The two also disagreed during the correspondence section, when Gvozdanovic asked how items are chosen to be in the agenda. Boileau couldn't answer the question and said that discretion is used. The clerk was not at the meeting to explain, and she asked Gvozdanovic to address the questions "offline" and not at a public meeting.
Black, who is a veteran councillor and has previously served as mayor, explained that items on the agenda are typically ones that need resolutions or are asking for council support. Other letters sent may be distributed to council members in other ways.
The dispute carried on into the next item to adopt the minutes of the previous meeting. The mayor wouldn't allow Gvozdanovic to comment on the item unless it was specifically to approve or not approve the item. Again during this section, she told him to take the questions "offline".
When the mayor referenced the procedural bylaw as the reason why he couldn't speak, it led to a recess in the meeting for the procedural bylaw to be consulted. Boileau upheld her stance on not letting Gvozdanovic comment. He appealed, and it was defeated in a 4-3 vote.
While commenting on the health unit motion, Gvozdanovic, a self-proclaimed "stickler on procedure", noted that it had been taken out of one of the versions of the agenda that councillors get. In Timmins, council members are given the agenda the week before the meeting, whereas it's released to the public the day of or day before the meeting.
"If a member — and I don’t care and it doesn’t matter to me, when it comes to procedure, whether it’s the members that voted to suppress me from speaking — if there’s guidelines to put items on the agenda, no one has the right to take those items off the agenda unless they get approval from that member. So his item was taken off the agenda,” he said.
“Councillor you’re no longer on topic,” Boileau interjected, saying his comments were not relevant to the discussion.
When the mayor went to make comments on the resolution, Gvozdanovic called a point of order because the procedural bylaw says that the chair has to give up their seat if they want to participate in the debate.
Boileau ruled against the point of order, which Gvozdanovic appealed to make it go to a council members to vote on.
“The chair has the right to open and close the debate, that’s in the procedural bylaw, if the chair is actively participating in the debate, you’re supposed to relinquish the chair. So if your conversation is to open or close the debate, then it’s permitted in the procedural bylaw. If you want to make an argument toward the item on the agenda then you should relinquish the chair,” said Black.
The mayor argued that she wanted to close the debate and clarify some of the questions that had been asked.
“And so, I’ll refrain from making any further comment as it may be perceived as engaging in debate,” she said at the end of her comments.
