Kingston Council Meeting Article

Kingston council spent much of the meeting on two major issues: whether to rename Indian Road and whether to proceed with next steps toward a Municipal Services Corporation for water and wastewater. Council also approved a crossing guard motion for Highway 15, extended the timeline for the Crossroads Village cabin project, advanced a federal advocacy motion tied to defence growth, and nominated Councillor Don Amos to the AMO board.

Topics Discussed

1. INDIAN ROAD RENAMING

Council reconsidered the Indian Road renaming file in Report 56. Debate focused on both the consultation process and the impact of keeping or changing the name.

Councillor Gregory Ridge said, "I would say that of the people I spoke to approximately 65 percent of them were in favor of the name change." But opponents pointed to resident canvasses showing different results. A speaker identified as Mr. Ship told council that in spring 2026, after shortlisted Indigenous names were presented, "74 people responded across 44 households. The result was 85.1 percent of people rejected all four of the shortlisted names."

Several speakers argued the current name is harmful. One Indigenous resident told council, "Unless you are an Indigenous person, you can only hypothesize how it feels to have someone call you an Indian." Mayor Bryan Paterson said, "Changing the name of Indian Road won't undo this history. We know that. But keeping Indian Road asks Indigenous people in Kingston to continue seeing this history reflected on a public street name in an official capacity within the city of Kingston."

Council first passed an amendment to Option Two that would have renamed two parks while leaving the street name in place, but then rejected Option Two as amended, 5-8. Council then approved proceeding with the street renaming, 8-5. Discussion identified Aki Road as the new name. Support measures discussed for residents included goodwill payments, clinics to help with address changes, one year of mail forwarding, and a plaque on neighbourhood history.

2. WATER AND WASTEWATER MUNICIPAL SERVICES CORPORATION

Council debated Report 55, Clause 1, on a proposed Municipal Services Corporation for water and wastewater. Delegates and councillors questioned the business case, governance, borrowing costs and the effect on rates.

Councillor Gregory Ridge said, "At its core, this decision is presented as a financial one. Yet many of the most important financial assumptions are either unexplained, under-explained or framed in a way that favors the MSC model over the current utilities Kingston model." He also said, "The proposal is quite weak on the governance side," arguing that the structure described would move borrowing and investment decisions further from council.

Mayor Paterson defended the proposal's public ownership model, telling council, "the governing body of the corporation of the city of Kingston uniformly rejects privatization of our water and wastewater services. However, this goes forward, if it passes or fails, we are not going to privatize your water and wastewater." He also said Kingston Hydro "has pretty much exactly the same setup as an MSC" and borrows from private lenders.

The debate repeatedly returned to infrastructure costs. Councillor Brandon Tozzo said, "We have an asset management debt of 1.3 billion dollars. That's a lot of money. We require a hundred million dollars and we have to make sure that that infrastructure is up to code. We have to balance affordability. We have to balance debt. We have to balance user fees and we have to balance taxes."

Council adopted amendments adding governance conditions, including board composition requirements and quarterly public reporting. It also approved an amendment requiring a Q2 2027 report with a draft shareholder declaration and public consultation before a final council decision. A separate amendment to change the wording from "endorse" to "explore" failed 5-7.

3. CROSSING GUARD AT HIGHWAY 15

Council approved a motion responding to a petition about student safety at Highway 15 and Rose Abbey Drive/Waterside Way. The petition contained 483 signatures.

Councillor Ryan Boehme said, "We have crossing guards, uh, much more minor streets, uh, to ensure the safety of children. This is a major highway. That's only getting more and more busy." Another speaker said, "The safety of young children walking to school and crossing a highway must be a top priority."

Council approved an interim crossing guard for 2026, with up to $44,000 in the 2027 operating budget, and directed staff to investigate longer-term pedestrian safety measures along the corridor.

4. CROSSROADS VILLAGE CABIN PROJECT

Council approved an extension for the Crossroads Village sleeping cabin project. The motion extends the deadline for Livable Solutions/OLS to submit a funded proposal to July 31, 2027. The city is also to complete a joint inspection of the cabins by Q1 2027.

During debate, Councillor Ridge said the group had "secured over 700,000 dollars in a line of credit" and was "moving in the right direction," though he added that they would not meet the current deadline and should get "another a year to do that. But no, no more than a year."

5. FEDERAL ADVOCACY AND DEFENCE GROWTH

Council approved a motion directing staff to develop a federal advocacy strategy tied to Kingston's defence, research and transportation role.

Councillor Conny Glenn said, "We know that change is coming and we know that there's put on infrastructure." He added that one of the asks should be "a defence community infrastructure fund" so that if military construction proceeds, "they commit to investing in our community."

The motion calls for advocacy on housing, childcare, health services, infrastructure and rail service, and is to be sent to federal officials and Via Rail.

Motions

• Report 55, Clause 1 - Water and Wastewater Public Municipal Services Corporation — Carried as amended
• Amendment reaffirming 100% public ownership of water and wastewater assets and services — Carried
• Amendment adding governance conditions, including council representation, public members, and quarterly public reporting — Carried
• Amendment requiring a Q2 2027 report with draft shareholder declaration and public consultation before final council decision — Carried
• Amendment to change MSC wording from "endorse" to "explore" — Rejected (5-7)
• Clause 2 - Integrated Care Hub 2026-27 funding and CTS-related updates — Carried
• Amendment by Councillor McLaren on Direction 4 pilot project principles — Rejected (4-9)
• Clause 3 - Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board surplus sites — Carried
• Clause 4 - Municipal Act/Ontario legislated requirements item — Carried
• Clause 5 - April financial results — Carried
• Clause 6 - Canada-Ontario Development Charge Reduction Program application and financial analysis — Carried
• Report 56 - Option Two on Indian Road, as amended to rename parks instead of the street — Rejected (5-8)
• Amendment to Option Two adding park renamings — Carried (9-4)
• Indian Road street renaming motion — Carried (8-5)
• New Motion One - Crossing guard at Highway 15 and Rose Abbey Drive/Waterside Way — Carried
• Motion Two - Federal advocacy strategy related to defence growth and infrastructure — Carried
• Motion Three - Crossroads Village sleeping cabin project deadline extension to July 31, 2027 — Carried
• Motion Four - Nomination of Councillor Don Amos to the AMO Board — Carried unanimously
• Bylaws 1-4 — Passed
• Confirmation of June 2, 2026 council minutes — Passed

Attendees

Councillors listed for this council: - Bryan Paterson, Mayor - Don Amos - Jimmy Hassan - Gregory Ridge - Jeff McLaren - Gary Oosterhof - Vincent Cinanni - Conny Glenn - Brandon Tozzo - Paul Chaves - Lisa Osanic - Ryan Boehme - Wendy Stephen

Conflicts declared: - Councillor Ramos — conflict on the surplus school sites item - Councillor Boehme — pecuniary interest in Report 55