Ajax Council Meeting Summary

Ajax council met virtually and heard a presentation from Lakeridge Health on hospital operations, staffing and expansion plans across Durham Region. Council also dealt with planning matters at Blowers Crescent, questions about the town's infrastructure levy and long-term finances, a council chambers retrofit after flood damage, a change to the town's flag raising policy, recreation fees for non-residents, and several bylaw and committee report approvals. Mayor Shaun Collier was absent while attending a police board meeting.

Topics Discussed

1. Lakeridge Health update

Cynthia Davis, president and CEO of Lakeridge Health, outlined hospital and regional healthcare initiatives, including equipment purchases funded through the Ajax Mayor's Gala, expanded care through the Jerry Coughlan Health and Wellness Centre, and a campaign titled "More Than a Hospital: This is Lakeridge Health."

She said the hospital has reduced emergency department wait times and staffing vacancies. Davis told council, "When I started at Lidge Health, about 70% of the staff working in our emergency department were agency. We actually have no vacancies within our emergency department right now because we've been able to hire our own staff." She also said, "We've been able to reduce the length of time within our emergency department by 36%," and that ambulance offload time is now 21 minutes, below the provincial benchmark of 30 minutes.

Council discussion also touched on hospital governance. Councillor Nancy Henry said council does not govern the hospital, telling staff, "We do not regulate or govern you," and "your MPP ... would be the governance, the province."

2. Blowers Crescent planning matters

Council discussed a temporary open-air vendors market at 10, 20 and 30 Blowers Crescent as an interim use while a larger residential project proceeds through site plan approval. Robert McQuillin, senior planner with Biglieri Group, said, "The proposed interim land use is an open air vendors market. The idea is that rather than just having vacant land here for the period that we work on site plan approval, a market be established to make use of the land for the Ajax community."

Councillors focused on whether the temporary use could delay redevelopment. Marilyn Crawford said, "My major concern is time. I want to make sure ... this is for a 2-year period. No longer. We are not looking to extend the development process at all." Council also discussed extension language that would allow a future council to consider a request if construction timelines slip.

Council separately debated a proposal for 60 Blowers Crescent, a mixed-use redevelopment with two 30-storey towers. Planner Dave Cherzenko said, "the proposal includes two mixed use towers with heights of 30 stories which will sit at top six story podiums." During debate over employment lands and housing, one councillor said, "I absolutely recognize that we do not have enough employment lands to meet our targets. But at the same time, air has value and we also have a housing crisis."

3. Financial sustainability plan and infrastructure levy

Resident delegations questioned the town's population forecasts, capital spending and the continued use of a 2 per cent infrastructure levy. Resident Doug Glass asked, "So, I ask why are we not using the province's lower stress tested model and has this town staff prepared a model using the province's 1.06 million forecast?" He also asked why residents were still seeing another 2 per cent levy after earlier messaging that it would drop.

Staff said the levy remains at 2 per cent because of lower revenues and updated asset management information. The director of finance said, "The additional impact is also due to having a better understanding of our asset management needs going forward," adding that the town had since completed its asset management plan and better identified long-term needs.

Council also discussed how the levy appears on tax bills. Regional Councillor Crawford said, "It is not broken out as a separate levy on the tax bill. It is part of the total tax increase that is communicated to residents and businesses." Staff said they could review whether the explanation in the tax insert should be made more prominent.

4. Council chambers retrofit

Council considered repairs and retrofit work for council chambers following flood damage. Staff said insurance would cover only a like-for-like replacement, while a redesigned chamber would require up to $175,000 beyond the insurance payout, funded from the building maintenance reserve.

Councillor Crawford said, "recommendation number two asks that council authorizes the allocation of necessary funds up to 175,000 beyond the value of insurance claim." Deputy CEO Cooper added, "So at that time we had estimated that a retrofit of the council chambers would be 265 ... And today we are requesting council to authorize 175,000 for this retrofit."

During debate, Councillor Lee argued for redesign rather than restoring the old layout, saying, "why would we put it back together broken if we could put it back together fixed?"

5. Flag raising policy and recreation fees

Council voted to change the town's flag raising policy effective Sept. 1, 2026. Councillor Sterling Lee's motion directed staff to amend the policy to exclude flags representing foreign nationals and coalitions of foreign nationals. Lee said, "Tomorrow is Asian Golden Ribbon Day," describing it as a Canadian grassroots campaign against anti-Asian racism, while debate on the broader policy focused on avoiding imported conflicts.

The mayor said, "We live in a world where we've got a lot of conflicts outside of Canada that we have no control over," and added that raising some flags "can be perceived that we are supporting certain groups over another in these world conflicts." Councillor Joanne Dies said, "We have to remove those flags and we have to ... focus on what goes on in our community."

Council also approved a 15 per cent fee increase for non-resident users of certain recreation memberships and passes effective Sept. 1, 2026. Crawford said Ajax residents should get the subsidized rate first, adding, "everyone else if you want to use facilities you are welcome to but you're going to pay kind of the cost recovery price for that."

Motions

• Community Affairs and Planning Committee recommendations adopted — passed
• Resolution CSD 202614: Council Chambers Retrofit Project — passed unanimously; authorized funding up to $175,000 above the insurance claim value from the building maintenance reserve
• Ajax Municipal Flag Raising Policy Review (Item 10.1) — passed unanimously; directs staff to amend the policy to exclude flags representing foreign nationals effective Sept. 1, 2026, and to report back after consultation
• Non-resident recreation membership and pass fee increase — passed; 15 per cent increase effective Sept. 1, 2026
• Support for Ajax Pickering Road Watch Community Safety Initiatives (Item 10.3) — passed 4-3
• Temporary use / Blowers Crescent 24-month development period with extension language — passed unanimously
• Amendment regarding the St. Francis cross — moved and seconded; final disposition not clear from the notes
• Police 10-year Durham Regional Police capital budget plan — deferred to the 2027 budget
• Bylaws 45-2026, 47-2026 and 51-2026 — approved
• Bylaws 48-2026 and 50-2026 — approved unanimously
• Bylaw 52-2026 — approved; confirmed the proceedings of the May 19, 2026 regular council meeting

Attendees

Present, based on the meeting notes: - Marilyn Crawford - Joanne Dies - Nancy Henry - Sterling Lee - Tyler Moore - Bower

Absent: - Mayor Shaun Collier

Other participants identified in the notes: - Cynthia Davis, President and CEO, Lakeridge Health - Robert McQuillin, Senior Planner, Biglieri Group - Dave Cherzenko - Moninder Nahar, Community Recreation Coordinator - Deputy CEO Cooper - Director Vita - Director of Finance