Transcript: Council Welcomes Sri Lankan Delegation - 2026-04-20 - Special Council | Summary 776

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the special council meeting on Monday, April the 20th, 2026. Individuals interested in participating in today's meeting were eligible to register online using the delegation registration form at www.kitchener.ca/delegation or via email at delegation@kitchener.ca. Any written comments received prior to the commencement of today's meeting have been circulated to members of council and will form part of the public record. The meeting live stream and archived videos are available at www.kitchener.ca/watch.now. Before we begin this afternoon's meeting, I'd like to acknowledge that today we're gathering on the traditional territory of the neutral Anesnabi and Hodnosoni peoples. We recognize our responsibility to serve as stewards for the land and honor the original caretakers who came before us. Our communities enriched by the enduring knowledge and deeprooted traditions of the diverse first nations matei and inuit in Kitchener today. Are there any disclosures of pecuniary interest? Seeing none, we'll move right into our presentations. Oh, sorry. And and there's also no delegations, by the way. Um we'll move right into our our presentations. And today indeed is a very special day here in uh the city of Kitchener uh council chambers. On behalf of our council staff and community, it's my pleasure to welcome our colleagues uh from Sri Lanka along with our partners from the federation of Canadian Municipalities to this special council meeting as part of the partnerships for municipal innovation women in local leadership initiative. Over the past several years, the city of Kitchener has been proud to partner with the town of Coberg and Sri Lankan Local Governments through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities with funding from Global Affairs Canada Development Branch on this important six-year program that strengthens women's leadership and supports inclusive, gender responsive municipal services. This partnership reflects our shared belief that local governments have a key role to play in advancing gender equality and strong leadership both locally and globally. Our involvement with this international program through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is one that builds on almost a little more than 40 years of involvement in FCM international programs. programs that started in Windok Namibia continued in Sebu Philippines then in Sri Lanka and Indonesia after the tsunami uh we've had people involved in uh in Haiti as well we've been part of this PMI will program uh in Sri Lanka we've had uh involvement in Kumasi Ghana and Morugoro Tanzania and we also have a team involved now in Tunisia working on storm water management In 2005 uh after the tsunami, city of Kitchener uh together with staff from the city and Kitchener public library uh worked with uh municipalities in Sri Lanka uh after the tsunami. uh and uh one of the delegates uh who is here as part of this um was involved in that program back in uh 2007 when FCM was involved in the creation of the uh Sri Lankan Local Government Association and I want to welcome Himanti Gunakera uh who is the CEO um of the association here at that time we were involved uh in Colbo which is the capital city of Sri Lanka as well as with the municipalities of Gaul uh Aara Batikloa and Trinko Mali in terms of this program now in year five of the program Kitchener staff and council have taken part in exchange visits to Sri Lanka learning together through dialogue community visits and shared problem solving we're pleased to return that welcome by hosting our guests here in Kitchener over the next two days. Today, council will hear a brief overview of the program through presentations from FCM, city staff, and our Sri Lankan partners. I want to thank all of them, FCM, Global Affairs Canada, the FSLGA, and our Sri Lankan local government partners for their leadership, collaboration, and trust. And on behalf of council, our staff, and our community, we hope your time in Kitchener is both meaningful and inspiring. And now, first to the podium, I'd like to invite Christine Eloy, the operations manager at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to provide an overview of the program and its impacts. Welcome, Christine. And I should point out that uh Christine also started at FCM uh in 2007 has uh been responsible uh for a number of of programs and uh her what part of her first task was working at our with our team at the time uh that was uh that traveled to Kumasi Ghana. So welcome Christine and I turn over the microphone to you. Thank you. Thank you very much. I want to start by uh really thanking all of you for the warm warm welcome to to our delegation and to FCM staff that are present here. So uh I will leave most of the space to our partners from the federation of Sri Lanka authorities and the people representing the local government in in Sri Lanka. But I and I want just to speak a little bit about FCM international project. So FM international work Christine can I just ask you to come a little closer to the microphone? Yeah. Thank so Fm international work as deep roots since uh 1987 we have partners with municipalities in over 50 country in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and in the Caribbean. Um we make what makes FCM's international project approach very unique is its peer-to-peer. So we have um yes it's local action and to over 50 countries worldwide. Local governments are working together to deliver inclusive services, promote gender equality and build more resilient communities. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has been implementing international projects since 1987. For nearly 40 years, FCM has supported peer-to-peer partnerships that strengthen local governance and empower communities from coast to coast to coast and across the globe. Canadian municipalities are building connections that change lives. These international programs tackle shared challenges from managing scarce resources to building trust in public institutions. Canadian municipalities are sharing their expertise in asset management, local economic development, service delivery, and climate adaptation while learning from global peers facing similar realities. Thank you. So our programs connect Canadian municipalities with international partners and enabling them to co-create innovative solution in different thematics of the project. So the federation of Canadian municipalities through its international programs currently works with global affairs Canada, local government partners abroad and FCM members. Our model is grounded in winto-win win-win approach that centers on long-term partnership, mutual learning and building the institutional system and mindset that enable municipalities to lead solution at the local level. We continue to deliver measurable impact by enabling peer learning strengthening institution supporting local solution and unlocking opportunities for trade and investment. Now talking about our in know our current international project we have the PMI will uh project that you will hear more about. We have a project that started last year in Vietnam on uh for climate resilient municipalities in Vietnam and a project in Tunisia that started in 2024. also uh focused on clim climate inclusing uh climate a climatic action done in the the Tunisian community. Sorry, you see that I'm Francohone and so I'm mixed now with our program in Tunisia and then the PMI will project but I will leave my my colleagues and partners to talk about that one. So the PM I will some some pictures taken from the the several year of implementation of uh that project in uh in Ghana, Bay uh Zambia, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. So the main goal the main goal of that project is enhance enjoyment of rights for women and girls particularly those from marginalizers group in Benai Cambodia, Ghana, Sri Lanka and Zambia and we have two main component one one wants to uh focus on increased participation of women in targeted countries particularly those from marginalized group as leaders and decision makers in local governance. The second component being the increased effectiveness of local government in targeted countries in delivering inclusive gender responsive public services. And that's really the the component where where we will be focusing uh this afternoon with the presentation of the service initiatives by by the local government um representative on that component. The only thing I would like to say is that the capacity development activities delivered to for the selected LGs were very successful. We just have some numbers there in terms of the number of local government staff that were trained in Sri Lanka on different type of uh topics like capacity assessment, capacity planned, uh support with the design of services, analysis tool, proposal writing, gender based violence training and data collection strategies. So that's all what I wanted to to present you and we'll now invite my colleague from the from the federation of Sri Lanka association Shadini who is the national program coordinator. Wonderful. Thank you very much uh Christine and I'll now turn it over to your colleague. Welcome Hello. Thank you. Uh Ian, welcome. Uh and good evening everyone. Um honorable mayor and honorable counselors and also the administrative officers of the uh Kishna municipality. Thank you very much at first uh for the warm welcome which was given to the Sri Lankan delegates uh on behalf of Federation of Sri Lankan local government authorities and also the partner municipalities I would like to thank for that at the beginning also um can I get the presentation Just one moment. Um, good afternoon everyone. Uh, the slides are in a different order, so you'll have to start with me and then I'll turn it over to Janini. Okay, that works. Or we can or I mean if you want to keep it in the order, we can just go down to the slide and then bounce back to yours. What's your preference? Do you want to go now? We can just go down to the slide. We can keep going. Don't look. There we go. We didn't see you. Okay, no worries. We have it figured out. It's all good. Thank you. Um, what I'll just say before you start, one of the things you learn when you do international development work is you flexibility is key because there's always unexpected surprises. And this was just to kind of make everyone feel like we're at home. So go ahead. Thank you honorable mayor. Okay. So uh partnerships for municipal innovation women in local leadership PMI will uh as Christine uh explained it's a six-year project starting from 2021 to 2026. uh so I will be focusing only on the uh component 2000 which is uh increased effectiveness in delivering inclusive gender responsive public services where uh Kitner and also town of Kberg is supporting us with the uh the uh the technical support and also the Canadian volunteer support for the uh partner council of Sri Lanka. So uh under the PMR wheel uh project we also have five municipalities. We had five actually we had five partner municipalities. Uh one is Natanandi Pradeshi Sabha uh Ratnapura Municipal Council, Korleatu Pradeshi Sabha uh Gampala urban council and Mascali Pradeshi Sabha in the beginning of the project. So it was selected based on uh the application process where we had about 80 plus applications uh for the partnership of this project and we had to uh shortlisted them for 10 and then we finally selected uh five these municipalities from all over the country with the support of FCM and also the support of high commission of Canada back in the day. Um so we had to remove Ratnapura Municipal Council um uh right in the middle of the project. It's mainly because there were a couple of uh administrative issues and also they had to get uh uh additional approvals from the central government where in terms of when they delivering their service initiative project which the partner municipalities will be explaining in later on and for them to get this uh approval uh it takes long time and PMI will is a six-year project so they had to get this approval in final year and in in case if they didn't get the approval they might have to stop in the middle and also they didn't have enough time to get the formal approval for those uh you know the funding support because they had a considerable portion of uh inind contribution from the council so for that of course they had to get the approval so it mainly because of the timeline so be uh with the consent of uh the Ratabura munipal council and also FCM and also the high commission of Canada in Sri Lanka uh we had to remove that council as one of these partner councils. So we only have four right now. Nathania, Kleatu, Gampala and Mascalier. So in terms of project uh PMF project monitoring frameworks we are in the uh final year which means the sixth year of the project. So by the end of this year uh uh up to this uh timeline we have achieved the project monitoring framework so far when it comes to the capacity development of the staff in terms of their service delivery and also capac number of participants who have been participated in those capacity development and also the activities that we have conducted and the number of organizations that have participated in the capacity development activities. ities apart from the local council which are the stakeholder organizations and also now right now we are in the process of implementing five service initiatives uh which are delivering under the PMI wheel funding support where each council would be getting uh $64,800 Canadian dollars as a grant for them to implement their service initiative project. So uh this is about the uh Canadian delegation support that we received uh under this project. We have the partnership with the city of Kishnner and town of Kberg. So under this 2100 component where which is increased capacity of selected local governments to deliver inclusive gender responsive and municipal services. We got uh starting from 2023 to 2025 which is last year we uh were able to get the technical support and a lot of experience from the uh Canadian delegates who visited Sri Lanka time to time to conduct the activities that I have explained in here. One is on uh training on gender equality and social and inclusive service delivery and training on project proposal writing. training on project management, training on marginalization and vulnerability and finally training on gender responsive gender and gender responsive budgeting which was concluded last year end of last year. Um so the contribution from the staff members and also from the counselors of both Kishna uh city of Kishner and town of Kberg were co-f facilitation and also they shared the uh tools that have been used in Canada in terms of municipal service delivery and good practices and they also shared their experiences and lessons learned. So couple of examples, a couple of photos uh of the training programs that they did. This is this was the very first training program which was uh on gender equality and social inclusive service delivery and training on project proposal writing which we did in year three and training on project management which was implemented in year four and also training on marginalization and vulnerability which was conducted in year uh also in year four. And then finally uh the training on gender and gender responsive budgeting in year five. So the specific uh so this particular training program is quite special because uh since the beginning of the project so from 2021 to 2020 uh2 we had elected local councils in Sri Lanka but we had a a period where we didn't have elections local government elections uh in 2020 uh starting from 2023 to 2025 we didn't have elected local counselors uh at the local municipalities ities in Sri Lanka. Uh therefore we had to work with the administrators and during that time the training programs were conducted uh mainly targeting the administrators who were in the council and this training program which was uh h uh conducted in last year which is 2025 where we were able to get the newly elected local counselors the elected representatives on board for the training programs which was the first time they were they got experience experience of working with the uh Canadian experts and then the uh Canadian u local counselors and ARBA mayors. Um so this was on gender and gender responsive budgeting. So all these training programs were compiled with the service initiative where they have to focus on more on uh gender gender and inclusive service delivery which they will be explaining on how they kind of focused on. So these training programs enhance the capacity of these uh council teams to deliver this service initiative project which is which has to be focused more on gender and social inclusivity. So this training program is one of the other programs uh kind of similar to the other programs where they had to be focused more on gender inclusivity and also as the additional component where they had to focus on gender responsive budgeting in Sri Lankan uh local government. So the success stories would be they were able uh to introduce new service analysis tools uh for the improved data tracking where we used the we use one of these Canadian municipality tools where they had to do the community consultation and which through that they were able to prioritize the project that they'll be doing uh under the funding grant of the uh PMI wheel project and they were able to mainstream gender responsive budgeting in all partner council ILS and uh formed their women's advisory committees in four partner councils and they were able to secure the gaset notification which is the provincial law uh in the in one of these provinces which is central province to uh make mandatory these women advisory committees in their province and also leverage the Canadian expertise for crossroad knowledge sharing and also enhance accessibility for marginalized and under represented groups in their communities. So this is all about the presentation which uh we were able to uh get the support from the Canadian municipalities the partner municipalities and hereafter my colleagues will be explaining on their service delivery service initiative projects that they have selected which they'll be implementing with the funding support of the uh PMI wheel project which is 64,800 Canadian dollars but before that I think it's Sue will be doing the presentation. A thank you very much. Wonderful. Thank you very much, Jadini. And you know what? Now that we now that I go back and and and look, it was uh I think I I didn't follow my instructions cuz you were next. So, apologies for that. Uh so with that I'll turn it over to Sue to speak on behalf of our staff group who has uh been involved in the Sri Lanka program. That's great. Thank you so much. Um so as you know now of course PMI will is an FCMled initiative supporting women's leadership and gender responsive local governance and Kitchener staff participated as a peer m municipal partner together with the town of Coberg. So today I'll focus on the impact of that participation and what our staff has gained as a result. So the city was invited and competitively selected by the FCM in 2021 reflecting our recognized strengths in inclusive governance and community engagement. And in 2022 council formally endorsed the city's participation. Kitchener staff as you've heard have now taken part in five targeted purpose-driven knowledge exchanges in Sri Lanka. Each one built on the last, exploring how our municipalities can improve service access and quality for women and girls. Uh strengthen capacity for sustainable initiatives, manage projects and resources effectively, remove participation barriers, and engage women and equity denied communities in municipal decision-making, including budgeting. The photos on this slide represent city staff's inkind contributions while in Sri Lanka. So throughout our focus was on offering applied knowledge and practical resources that might support local government's own capacity building. Uh we shared real world experiences and the tools and templates that we use every day and we emphasized what works in practice not in theory using approaches such as sharing case studies uh storytelling and offering pure feedback. There were some moments that where we observed our impact in real time. So for example, during the workshops, we shared tools such as different approaches for logic modeling or participant analysis. The local government participants didn't just hear about these tools, they applied them right away. And this showed us that the tools were immediately usable and could continue to be helpful beyond that particular exercise. And in one exchange, which you can see in the bottom left corner on the slide, Kitchener staff collaborated directly with the local governments on the near final development of their funding proposals. That placed us at a critical moment in their planning process where our insights and advice could be especially impactful. We heard later that the participants felt our feedback helped them to strengthen in particular the social impact lens within their proposals. The photos on this slide represent an important part of this story, that of the deeply mutual learning exchange that we collectively experienced. Through presentations, shared examples and site visits to their initiatives, our Sri Lankan colleagues introduced us to new ideas and they reinforced knowledge that has further enriched our work here at home. Working alongside Sri Lankan local governments strengthens staff's intercultural competency, adaptability, perhaps uncom uh comfortability with uh uncertainty and the ability to communicate complex municipal ideas clearly. These are all skills that transfer directly to engaging Kitchener's diverse communities. We were also frequently reminded during the exchanges about how to effectively communicate complex municipal comp concepts using clear, direct, and especially visually driven approaches is much more understandable across cultures. There is a reason why my slides are almost all photos and minimal text. Related to this, we learned from the Sri Lankans that meaningful engagement doesn't require complex or expensive tools. Often a clear purpose and a simple creative set of materials are enough to hear from people of all ages. For me personally, a memorable learning opportunity was during my last exchange to Sri Lanka when a colleague from Mascalia presented his knowledge and experience about social audit committees. This expanded our group's thinking about transparency, accountability, and trust building in public services, and overall how participatory approaches help to strengthen connections within communities. And importantly, we learned that municipalities face remarkably similar challenges regardless of their geography. It became clear to all staff who participated in this initiative that local governments in Sri Lanka and here in Kitchener are grappling with many of the same issues. So, for example, how to build public spaces that everybody can enjoy, how to ensure everyone has access to clean water and sanitation, and how to build trust and relationship with communities, particularly when resources are limited. Kitchener's participation in PMI will demonstrates how local municipal expertise can have a global impact while also strengthening service delivery and how we practice inclusive municipal leadership here at home. This was not a one-time or transactional process. The outcomes that we saw and experienced were the result of sustained and repeated engagement. Over multiple visits, strong trustbased relationships developed between Sri Lankan local governments, Canadian municipal partners and FSLGA facilitators which were strengthened through our sustained collaboration. Our partnership was reinforced not only through the work itself, but through symbolic moments like the one that you see represented in the lower left corner of this slide, where we were invited to officially open the Corali PU experience sharing corner. Moments like this demonstrated that Kitchener was seen as a valued and trusted peer partner and not just for our technical expertise. For city staff, our participation ultimately inspired in all of us a deeper commitment to the kind of public service that asks not just what should we build, but who are we building for, who has been left out until now, and how do we make it better. It's been a privilege to be a part of this journey and to learn alongside our global partners. Thank you to the FCM, to our Sri Lankan colleagues, from the FSLGA and from the municipalities for our ongoing partnership and all the wonderful hospitality that you've showed us in your home communities. Thank you so much. Thank you very much uh Sue. Um great to great to hear from a staff perspective. And now we'll hear from our Sri Lankan local government partners. We have four of them who will be presenting together with the help of a of a translator. And um we will begin uh hold on I want to make sure that the yes the the list is is correct. So first I would like to uh I would like to welcome Mr. Civaram Rajawiran the secretary of the council uh of Masakalia Praadeshia Sabah. Welcome. Thank you. Welcome. I bu um good evening to all all of you. I am Shivaram Raja Viran, Secretary of Masculi Praisaba. Uh first of all, I would like to uh our sincere thanks to select our Masculi Prahis Yusaba to this project. The initiative help us to uh to give a good service to our marginalized communities especially for estate sectors. We are grateful to Federation of Canadian Municipal Council, Municipalities and Global Affair of Canada, Federation of uh Sri Lanka Glo, Local Government Authority as well as our partner council uh the city of Kitna. Especially the thanks to the mayor and counselors. We also thanks Miss Christine and our FSLGA executive director Mrs. Hanti Gunara and our national coordinator Chel Raman. We express our heartful thanks to you all and uh sorry to say uh I'm not fluent in English. Uh so I explained in Tamil please be uh I request a translation. No problem. Your your English is much better than my Tamil. for um what you see here is the uh development project of a public ground in Mascalia Pradesh Sabha which actually uh supposed to serve about 55,000 population out of 10 electoral uh uh units and 11 is the local village service uh uh units and that's what you see now on the Sure. Now in this area particularly there are 78 schools uh which are going to use this playground and about 7 87 plantation workers their states uh who are actually uh considered as marginalized communities there which is really uh a useful project for them. That's why we actually select this uh renovation or uh development of this particular ground uh project for our Pradesh Saba or the local government Canadian even you can see the shape of this ground. It's it's not a it does not have a kind of a proper shape or a ground either. It's a complete circle or a square. It's planned for a ground. So even our Canadian representatives when they visited there, they actually uh saw the condition of the ground. for so the total value of the project as it's appearing there it's about 14 million Sri Lankan rupees out of that 13.95 million will be contributed by PM My will and.5 million Sri Lankan rupees will be contribution by the Pradeshia Sabha the local body Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. You may be wondering why such a small contribution from the Pradeshya Sabha which is the local body.5 million though it is being considered as with a population of 55,000 only just two small towns within this Pradeshi Sabha and the rest of the population they are living in the plantation sector uh the with the basic condition life. That's why we have a very low income for the Pradesh 2.8 million. So our annual tax revenue is just 28 million. That's all. Under this project when we consider the beneficiaries, women and girls, school student, differently aabled, school teachers and government officials, sports clubs and organizations and even people who wants to go and take a walk during the days or whenever they have time. So we are considering this project is helping u this all sectors of the community. So whenever uh who wants to go for a walk, take a run or a jogging If they don't have a as they don't have a proper uh uh ground facility, most of them take a walk or jogging by the side of the road. But our roads are not safe as here. You will see a lot of stray dogs and the roadsides of the the the walkways are not safe. So that's why we thought this is important uh to develop this uh ground for the beneficiaries. We mentioned for also for Women particularly women and girls when they go for a walk or jogging for doing some exercises they should have a safe place and it in the evenings they should the lighting facility should be properly installed. Also people for with differently aabled and there were the the in uh and exit entering points were not properly developed before uh for uh differently aabled persons to uh accessible. So we are including all that in this particular uh project development. for as you can see that photo photograph this was the original condition of that particular playground that we are planning to uh develop and even the Canadian representatives when they visited our area they actually uh uh saw the condition by themselves. So uh to identify uh the areas of concern uh we did it through consultation. So we went and met them uh by the side of the road wherever they were doing their walking and jogging and met them in person to get their suggestions to include in this uh development of this project. Most of the schools actually use this particular ground for their annual sports meet and any sport activity and they had been facing lot of difficulties as the the ground was in not a proper shape. So we had to go to every schools and got uh much suggestions and their concerns about this project before uh we uh do this development Google forms Facebook and also to get some suggestion from the community organizations and individuals we use Facebook such as uh social media such as Facebook and then uh gave some uh forms for them to put their suggestions in writing. So we use uh various methods to get their uh suggestions and concerns. Um foreign. So before uh we start that development project the Canadian delegates and the partnerships uh friends came there in person and uh did consultation with us. We have been sharing our thoughts and opinions and their suggestions also helped us lot to start this uh project as we were willing to do it. Um then as according to the procedures we put advertisements on newspaper for procurement updates for the Mascalia Pradesh Sabha and through the proper methodology we used to begin the project. for and that's the treasurer you see in the who have actually took special interest and put much effort in directly to begin this pro project in a proper manner. and the 16th of March this year. So with all the partners and all the municipal federation officers and uh uh with the participation of the local members then we initially uh we initiated the project uh on that particular day. Yeah, that's what you see on the pictures. In these pictures, you can see all the already the initiation of the project is ongoing. It started um in these pictures you can see all that. forch. for finally I would like to thank again for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian government and the staff and the city council who had gave us this great opportunity And the today's the welcoming and the warm uh welcome you all gave us also we understood the the the service to the clients and the client satisfaction or the customer satisfaction is has it has to come from our heart. Uh that's what we learn and thank you very much for this opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Far. Thank you. Uh thank you very much uh Sivam. Um we will it was very interesting to to hear about the work in in your community. We'll now move on to the the next presentation and I'd like to welcome uh Iuka Warat the honorable chairman mayor of the council of uh the Gampola urban council. Uh welcome you. And if I can just maybe ask each of the presentations to maybe try to keep them to about five minutes um because we have a council meeting still after this and and we want to make sure that we have enough time for all of you. Thank you. Good evening everyone. KitchenA municipal council mayor and uh other council members and administration officers and the uh federation of Sri Lankan local government authorities Mrs. Miss Hanti Guna, CEO and Chadini Ramanayaka, project national project coordinator. Uh and ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I have to thanks we we have warmly welcome from you all as Mr. Raj said and I am not getting time to explain that uh partnerships for municipality innovation women in local leaderships PMI wheel projects Gala urban council in Sri Lanka and we also like to thank selecting our urban council for this project and you can see this is the previous condition of the project side uh before we started and this is the situation. We are demonstration uh demolishing this uh area and we are targeting target beneficiaries is uh like this uh women and girls we are expected uh daily 270 they specialized needs uh specified needs and specialized requests needs safe spaces for sanitary napkin change disposal security uh secure resting area and lactating mothers. We are estimated daily 100 lactating mothers and they needs comfortable, clean and safe zone for nursing and expectance mothers. and and another side uh we are expected uh disabled people 25 and they are they requested full uh disability access and specialized uh infrastructure and also uh school children's We expected 100 school childrens. Uh they dedicated clean, toilet facilities and secure restroom areas and tourists. tourist 10 tourists we are expecting for daily uh daily and they need high standard clean restrooms and general relax relaxation space and LGBTQ 2 to5 and inclusive safe healthy and comfortable environment And this is uh our structural and uh architectural design information related to the construction of the urban restroom facility in central bus stand station in Gala city. For this one, we take information from uh all the community consultations and uh building plan created by incorporating unique features. Further identified through the community consult consilations and for this architectural design we take uh urban development authority and development structural design engineering service Department of Central Province and the proposed building comprises of the followings. There are twotory building ground floor two sections including fully equipped toilet system which are separated into male and female 82.4 48 square m. And first floor two sections include two restrooms which are separated into male and female 73.41 square m. Budget preparation BOQ1 project 3 million224,000 224,000 and BOQ2 construction of urban resting place at Gala 20,215 88240 cents this is in Sri Lankan rupees Direct construction cost 23,439,882.4 cents and uh VET 18% 4,219 178.83 83 and physical con conjunctions uh 372,141.12 and price conjunction 2% 400 468,797,000.65 65 all together 28,500,000 and this is the tender notice we have published uh related to the common seant of the project and this is will be meeting related to the project in October 1st of 2025 at council hall and this is uh tender opening October 14th 2025 also the whole whole council this is commencement of construction work on uh March 3rd of March 2026. Some photographs of this. Now current currently the construction is in progress. Uh we are expected to finish this one this construction on July 31st, 2026. This is the progress of uh progress as at uh March 10th of March. Some photographs then thank you for choosing us as a urban council. to the mayor and all the members. Thank you. Thank you. Uh thank you very much. Uh excellent presentation. Uh we'll now move on to uh a presentation from Thrun Navok Karasu Aruch Kelvan uh the technical officer of the council of uh Kalai Patu Pradesha Saba. Welcome. Good evening honorable mayor and councilors and the staff of city council of Kitina and also FCM staff and FSLA executive director of Handi Gunagara CEO and staff and chairman and my colleagues of Pradesh Sabha. My sincere thanks to PMI project team give this opportunity to participate in experience sharing mission and presenting on behalf of Koripatu Pradesh Sabha chairman and staff. It's sorry. Yes. We are selected upgrading of Kiran central market with the poor uh with proper sanitation facilities and mntra project durations is 8th April to 31st July 26. Our total value of projects 17.45 millions. The PMI will contribution is 14.78 millions. Our PS contribution is 2.86 million. Target groups are beneficiaries, communities, women headed families and women's societies and disabled groups, elder groups and consumers and indirect outs beneficiaries and procurement activities. There are already we are now contract was awarded the preparation and the review of approval tender advertisement bit uh application issuing and free bit meeting bit receiving and submission and openings bid openings and evaluation. Now we are contract already awarded. Uh this is some photographs of the bid openings and this is our plan grand market master plan. This is the master plan. Within this master plan, we are going to do the the uh pregnant and feeding for the resting place and the washroom facilities upgrading and some after that we are uh introducing the external uh engineer of our service initiative working committee of Koreatu Pradesh Sabha. And this some photograph is the contract awarding for the biders selected contractor. And last March 9th we are foundation laying stone. We did some photographs is traditionally we did this we start the work now. Now now work in progress. Thank you very much. My privilege to participate on this project. Thank you. Thank you very much uh Thiru Navu Karasu and uh wonderful to uh to see the work that happened in your community. And our last presentation is from Mr. Sagara uh Kumar which is uh sorry uh yes Mr. Mr. Saga Kumar uh chairman of the council of Natandia Pradesh Sabah. Just hold on. Let me turn on your mic. Honorable mayor of Kitchener City and the council members and the members of the staff. Uh, thank you very much for welcoming us. Uh, Sri Lanka Canadian Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan team who was responsible for Canadian Sri Lankan Municipal Federation and Federation of Canadian Municipal Council and also I would like to thank them as well. I will finish my uh presentation shortly as honorable mayor requested for in our Pradesh Sabah the village which was facing uh lack of uh clean drinking water issue which actually was an issue which actually we chose uh to Develop that service for those people. Fore from the Canadian funding we are getting 14 million and from the Pradesh Sabah we are putting 1 million and we have given uh the targeted families about 450 targeted families and the target line was given to us is June month of June of this year to complete this The first stage we are seeing the beneficiaries are about 150 families of this area and and the further projects we will be expanding this kind of pro development project for the rest of the community in our Pradesh. Pradesh, Mama and I would like to thank honorable mayor and the council members and the city staff and Chandi Ram Nayaka for giving us this great opportunity to come and share our thoughts. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much uh for uh for your presentation and all four of you uh along with uh the representative from the uh the local government association uh and our staff have made powerful presentations about the wonderful work that's been happening in uh supporting women in your communities from everything from basic needs such as clean water to uh ensuring that uh women had access to the facilities uh that they needed and in the ways they needed it in uh in each of your communities. Um do any of my colleagues have any questions or comments that you'd like to make? Uh yep. I've got a few. Councelor Ooneyi, can you hear me, Chair? Yes, we can. Thank you. Okay, wonderful. Well, I want to say a big thank you for the delegates that are here. Um, just interested, I know the initial presentation, I might have missed it, but the initial presentation talked about five different uh local governments. Um, do we see this project expanding to other local governments across uh the country? I'm not sure who will pick that up. Chair, I think Chadini from the association will answer that question. Thank you counselor for the question. So this project is just for a six-year project which means 2021 to 2026. So now we are in the last year of the project. So uh under the PMI will we only have these uh five municipalities that we have selected but if we in case get a phase two of this project probably we'll be able to expand it further more. Awesome. Uh my second question was just the reception of the community. Like I really like part of the presentation where I talked about uh getting feedback, data collection just to get an idea of what the community would like to see in some of those projects that were being worked on. Uh just interested in how do people receive, you know, um where things are now? Are they open to some of the projects being worked on and how it's being approached? any feedback at all from the community uh in reference to this counselor? You mean right now are they getting uh any responses in during the uh during the implementation stage? Yes. Yes. Uh so right now they have to do the baseline study which means right parallel to the implementation I mean the first phase of the implement uh the construction. So now they're doing the baseline study which means to uh you know uh and at the end of the project they'll be doing the endline interview. So now they're doing the baseline interview. Okay. And feedback from the community. Is this something people are happy about? Uh and when I'm talking about community people that live in the areas. Yeah. So uh right now they're kind of h because the the community consultation was happen before they choose this project uh because they had to prioritize uh two to three projects before they uh select this one as the final project which they have already selected. So which was based on the community consultation where they the community had to prioritize the project which they going to do with the funding support of the PMI. So, so far they are happy because the projects were selected based on the community consultation which was uh the the uh suggestions and recommendations from the community itself. Okay. Thank you. Thank you councelor Oduni. Councelor Stretch. Yes. Thank you. I just wanted to say um it's uh great to see some of the updates and the photos from the projects that I got to visit in person and um I just wish you all the best as you work towards completion and yeah I'm looking forward to seeing the final uh the final numbers and the final pictures of the completed projects. Wonderful. Thank you very much councelor stretch councelor Misho. Thank you. I just wanted to extend uh my thank you to all of you for coming um all this way and sharing the the remarkable work that you do in your home country. Um uh serving women and and children is is a wonderful thing on my other place of employment. That's what I do with the YW.CA. So I it's really close to my heart to see all the work that you're doing here. So congratulations. So, for those those of you who don't know, councelor Misho works with uh women who need housing and other supports um in social housing and other supports in our community. And so, she was very interested in uh in this presentation. Uh councelor Singh. Yeah, Mr. Mayor, for those that can understand and others hopefully, you know, can be translated, just want to once more welcome you and thank you for your participation in this program and obviously thank uh FCM as well. Um I think the the government and cultural interchange uh is a huge benefit to both the communities. We're enriched uh as much as anything that you might learn from our staff and from our community. So thank you so much for your participation. Thank you very much uh councelor Singh and thank you again to uh to all of you for uh for your presentations for your partnership in this uh in this program um for uh the time we've been able to spend together uh on yesterday and and today uh the the ceremonial portion of the day earlier and the lunch and then of course your continued learnings uh tomorrow. I know you had today the opportunity to visit our uh our uh service customer service center downstairs and tomorrow we'll visit Schlaggel Park and the Cowan Wreck Complex and and uh the Victoria Hills Community Center and other things. So, it should be a great day for you as well. Uh we would now like to uh take a moment to um present uh some small tokens of of appreciation uh to uh to each of you uh as a symbol of of friendship, appreciation, and the ongoing partnership um that uh we have. And so we will have members of council uh present these as a token of appreciation. So this morning um you had an opportunity to learn about um the the indigenous history of Canada and the traditions. And in that regard uh we um we had a a member from the indigenous community uh lead us through a ceremonial opening as well as a a smudging ceremony uh that each of you uh pre uh participated in. We'd now like to uh actually present you uh with some art from one of Kitchener's indigenous artists. And uh that artist is uh Luke Swinson. Um he uh he is an anesab artist uh and he has uh created various uh artworks. He's originally a member of the Missagas of Skugog Island First Nation. And uh his work is known for its clean contemporary styles and for the way uh it carries forward tradition traditional teachings through modern design. Um as a city we actually see his uh work in the community. Uh there's some of his art on at the GCO block. He's done a logo for the Toronto Raptors professional basketball team and so on. And um the the art often reflects themes of land, community, stewardship, and connection. All of which are values that we know resonate deeply with our city and with the partnerships we continue to build. And so each of you will have a different piece of uh art that we will uh that we will present to you. And um we hope that this will be a lasting memory. when you get home, you can put it in a frame so it's not too difficult to pack in the meantime. Um and um we hope that this will serve as a lasting memory of uh the friendship between uh our communities and our countries. So I will now um invite folks up, but just give me one sec to pull up my list. Uh, one second. Okay. So, uh, wrong list. No, not that one either. Hang on one second. And uh, on Friday, here we go. Okay. Oops. So, we'll start with uh Councelor Chapman and I would invite up uh to here um maybe I will move to my other spot um to do the names so I'm not in the way please. Oh, thank you. Um, I would like to invite up uh Matara Mahavidana Patabendage Mihiran Wira Ratne uh to get it presented from councelor Chapman. Okay. Next, I would like to uh invite councelor Schneider up and uh councelor Schneider will present to uh Kalanchia Priyanka Chandani. Yeah. Oh, next I would like to invite up councelor Stephanie stretch and councelor stretch will present to the sorry the uh the navuk karasu aruchelva. out of Kelvin. Sorry. Trying. Next, I would like to invite councelor Scott Davyy up and councelor Davyy will present to Morti Kavita. Next, I would like to invite councelor Singh up to present to WA Himali Duki. Okay, next up I'd like to invite uh councelor Jason Deno uh to present to Sagara Kumara Wija Sakara. Hello. Steph, Steph, Next, I'd like to invite up Civam Rajawiran and will be presented by councelor Margaret Johnson. Next, councelor Bill Ionitis will present to Thevada Santi Shiromani. Pretty good. Next up will be councelor Christine Misho. Uh, and Christine will present to Chadini Ramanayyaki. And last but not least, I'll ask councelor stretch to come up uh again and I will join her and we'll present to hima I would now like to uh invite all of the delegates um and the staff folks down for a um a group photo. So to our uh our friends uh from Sri Lanka once again thank you very much. Uh I know this has been for our staff and for counselor stretch a uh a life uh memory in terms of the experience that they've been and and I know for me my time in in Sri Lanka was uh was memorable and and a friendship that almost 20 years later continues uh which is uh which with Himanti which is absolutely wonderful and uh I'm hopeful that uh this will begin will be a similar situation Um, I know we still have some council business to do and you after a long day are probably ready to go and have some dinner and and relax. So, thank you to uh to all of you and uh wish you uh much success uh tonight and tomorrow uh during your stay and then as you move on to Coberg with a little sneak uh visit up in the sky at the CN Tower in between. So, uh thank you very much everyone. camera. So we will uh council if I can have a motion to go in camera please. Moved by councelor uh Deno second by councelor Johnson. All those in favor opposed that's carried. Motion to recess. Councelor Misho councelor Ionitis. All those in favor opposed that's carried. Uh we will break now for 30 minutes. Okay, we'll try. Okay, 30 minutes and we're back here. Yes, councelor Johnson. Yes. Um stop it. Go ahead. Yes. Thank you. I'm wondering if um if we can go out and make an announcement to The clerks has already done that. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. Thanks everyone. Good evening everyone and welcome to the resumption of the special council meeting for April 20th, 2026. Uh we have a number of items that we need still need to complete this evening. We'll begin with item 5.1 which is the appointment of Kong Rang Xi to the Anova Energy Corporation board uh as an independent director. Do I have a mover for that? Moved by councelor Davyy, second by councelor Johnson. Thank you. Any discussion? All those in favor? Any opposed? That is carried. Um Councelor Davey, uh the report from Finance and Corporate Services, please. Oh, sorry, wrong. Sure. Okay. Go ahead. It's been moved by by pardon me, moved by myself and seconded by councelor Ionitis that the item coming from Finance and Corporate Services Committee uh be approved. Okay. Thank you. Um the motion that's here right now reads um the the motion is as the the the original Marian Love motion as amended because that's what you approved. Correct. That's what you're moving. That's correct. Yes. Okay. Thank you. And now I'll go to councelor Misho. You have an amendment you'd like to make? Yes. Um coming out of U corporate finance and corporate services item 6.1. I want to make an amendment to the mayor's motion of the vote that I made. If I'm count if I'm wording this correctly. Um I believe that I voted um in favor of your motion. I would rather vote against it. Thank you. Okay. So what you need to do is make an amendment to the motion coming out of committee. Right. Um, if that's what you're looking to do. Um, mad am clerk, can you help provide some guidance, please? Thank you. I've lost my permissions. Yeah, I know. Uh it's my understanding councelor Misho would like to uh res bring back the recommendation for the council compensation to approve it as uh provided by the consultant rather than the 10.3% uh increase as amended earlier this afternoon. That's correct. But still include the uh other two amendments. The one that councelor Davey made and the one that I made about the report coming back before 2030. Yes. Okay. Um so I'll deal with your amendment first. Is there a seconder for councelor Micho's amendment? Second by councelor Davey. Okay. So the amendment has to do with the issue of um compensation for uh the mayor. I had an amendment for uh that I brought forward that did not carry um and that was to sorry it did carry sorry uh which was to see it um reduced to be in line with the proposal for members of council. Um, councelor Misho is suggesting that it should be in line with the report of the consultant and as such if you're inclined to vote for um the recommendation of the consultant then you would support councelor Misho's amendment and if you're not inclined to support that then you would vote against it and then we'll deal with the main motion. I it was but councelor Misho is bringing it at is bringing it at council as an amendment. Councelor Ooneyi. Uh thank you chair. I just needed a clarity because there are times when voting is happening. I raise my hand. I dance over here. Um but not sure if you ever see it. So, does there have to be like always a request for recorded votes or how would my vote counts on this end? Um, you would have to um if you're looking for a specific recorded vote, as normal, you would have to uh request that. Um, at this present time, you've requested to speak and um when you were in the queue, I acknowledged you and and and now you're speaking. No, what I'm saying is when it is time to vote, um, I guess it's up to you to turn on your screen and to to raise your hand and vote. Sorry. Okay. Just hang on. And uh councelor um odoney um when we click the vote button uh it does appear on our end as well on on the screen. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. So um councelor Misho's amendment has been moved. You have a question. Okay, go ahead. Do you councelor Singh? I I think I got this. So, councelor Mash is supporting the consultant's recommendation for the the increase, not what you wanted, which was a 10%. Well, right. The there was a a motion to amendment to to reduce it. That uh failed. Sorry, that passed. And so, the amended motion was then voted on by council and passed. Councelor Misho is is saying she wants to move an amendment um to the motion that passed at committee which is what she's doing right now. Okay. I'm glad she is because again I I had a second reflection. I think I didn't understand it the first time around and I may have voted incorrectly myself. So this will help okay towards making that change. Councelor Misho, you you're not looking to speak. Okay. I think I've got it right now. Okay. And I mean I'll just be clear. I'll still vote the way I voted before on that. So um so uh on councelor Misho's amendment all those in favor you want okay nobody asked for a recorded vote yet. Okay so all those in favor? Any opposed? Uh the amendment carries the motion to um the motion from committee as amended. All those in favor? Opposed? That's carried. Thank you. Uh we'll now move on to mayoral business. There is none no unfinished business. We'll move to notices of motion. Oh, sorry. That is unfinished business. Councelor Stretch, over to you. Localized traffic impacts at Victoria and Aaron Street. If you can turn on your mic, please. Okay. I'm uh I have two proposed motions um back to back here. They you they they're two I pulled them apart um as two separate motions. Um so they hopefully uh get the intended intention attention that they both need. So the first um motion that I have here before you is around the localized traffic impacts around Victoria Street and Aaron Street. And really um the therefore I'll read the therefore piece um that the city of Kitchener work with regional staff to review temporary and permanent modifications to the signalized intersection at Victoria Street North and Aaron Street West, including but not limited to potential left turn restrictions and a stop bar placement to improve traffic flow in intersection operations. and that the city of Kitchener staff work with regional staff to improve winter maintenance along the regional and metro links properties prior to winter 20 26. timing here is is key. Um because the region has also um has a detailed design currently um that would be proposing for construction in 2027 along Victoria Street would which would put even more pressure on this area. This means that re um reviewing the operations just upstream um is even more there's there's just even more importance on this this area. If you haven't been in this area, especially when a train arrives, I would encourage you to do so and just look at um look at all of the congestion and as well as the pedestrian traffic. It is a problem area and it does need to be reviewed um prior to this 2027 construction so it doesn't get worse. I'd also like to highlight um the winter maintenance around this area. This winter was very challenging trying to figure out what was city maintenance, what was metro lens, what was the region, and it took a very long time. So want to be preemptive going into next winter. Thank you for your consideration. Okay. Do I have a second or further motion? Councelor Johnson. Thank you. And I see you're in the queue. Go ahead. Yes. Uh, thank you. And I I want to thank counselor stretch so much for this motion. I pick my daughter up often um from the station there and it is like the Hunger Games trying to either trying to find a parking spot uh trying to get out uh anybody trying to cross the street. It is it is a nightmare. So, I thank you on behalf of the commuters, which we're trying to um trying to have more people do this, and it's so bad getting in and out of there. So, I just really want to thank you for this. I think it's a really, really important motion. So, good for you, and I 100% support you. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Johnson. Counceloritis. Yeah. Thank you, Mayor Verbanovic. Um I too want to commend uh councelor stretch. I've I've I drove drive by this for the last past couple months now on on a daily basis. Um and it's a disaster. So, I'm glad you're uh you're on the case and and helping out the community on this one because it really needs it. Thank you, councelor Singh. Yeah, councelor stretches share with my colleagues uh comments about just the overall concern for I think it's pedestrian safety, motor safety. Um who said it's like hunger games? Yeah, pretty much. It it is scary and I think it's even more so your motion is succinct because we uh reaffirmed a continuation of vision zero and if ever that we it could be a concerning node for pedestrian safety or you know collision or fatality it's the issues that's uh exasperated with the uh the uh with the MTO station there and I think uh additional look is uh necessary. So, good on you for thinking for your community, but more importantly, good on you for uh uh for understanding that there is a more eminent uh concern for safety and that we do need to address this and work with the region as well as MTO. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Singh, Councelor Deno. Thank you, um Mayor Verbanovich, and thank you councelor Stretch for bringing this forward. you know, often we're worried about or we look at the big pictures of across the city, but you know, I think it's important to recognize in our own wards um some of the deficiencies that we have whether it's at intersections um and and so it's it's great that you're bringing this forward, recognizing that there is an issue um and and trying to get ahead as opposed to being reactive like we are so often in the community or in in the world that we live in. And so thank you for bringing a proactive motion forward uh for your community. Thank you very much. And I too will just uh thank you councelor stretch for uh bringing this forward. I know this is an issue that uh you and I and others have been trying to uh trying to move forward. But the um the issue at at Victoria continues to be a major challenge for people. I know whenever I go to to north east Kitchener um or or I'm coming from you know waterlue or that direction um it is always uh it is always a challenge and and quite frankly I'll often find myself going to either Weber and Victoria or or um Duke and Victoria to turn instead and and quite frankly that may be one of the solutions that uh staff need to uh that you know our staff when they engage with regional staff need to need to look at. So, it has been moved and and seconded. Uh all those in favor? Any opposed? That is carried. Thank you. And we'll go back to you, councelor Stretch for your second motion, but you need to click yourself in. Thank you. Go ahead. Thank you. So the second motion here before you is um located around the same area and it's really for the residents of the area. Last spring and into summer, there was significant train horn issues and it was a mess to figure out with all levels of government government being involved and it really drove attention um for the need for there to be a comprehensive communication plan um for the residents around there. There's um new transit hub being planned and lots of changes and we you know as as our level of government I really want to make sure that the the neighborhoods and the surrounding area are involved and um not just an afterthought in some of the construction and and building that's going to happen. So I'll read the therefore pieces. Therefore, be it resolved that the city of Kitchener staff work with regional staff to remove temporary and permanent modifications to the signalized intersection. Oh, did am I reading the exact same thing? No. Review temporary and permanent modifications to the signalized intersection at Victoria Street North and Aaron Street West, including but not limited to um I'm reading the same therefore statement. Sorry. Oh, I printed off the same thing twice. Thanks, Thank you. Thanks. Okay. Thank you. It's late. It's late. Therefore, we resolve that staff be directed to coordinate with the region of Waterlue and Metro Links on a communications plan and to set up community meetings before 2027. All right. and ongoing to inform the and connect with residents, businesses, and neighborhood associations and elected officials throughout the multi-year construction prog uh progress process. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Stretch. Do I have a seconder? Councelor Initis, thank you. Um and you are the first one in the queue, so please go ahead. Yeah, again, Mayor Mick, I want to commend Councelor Stretch for another great piece of work. uh because this this uh area is a piece of work uh to be honest. Uh uh it's quite embarrassing that it's come to you to bring this to everyone's attention. Thank you, councelor Anitis. Councelor Deno. Thank you, uh Mayor Vanovich. And you know, it's often said that uh we're the most accessible accessible uh politicians um in a community and and this is a perfect example of that. that um while it's not necessarily your jurisdiction or my jurisdiction to deal with some of these these uh larger issues that fall under the upper two upper levels of government, um you know, we sometimes have to take upon ourselves to to fix the problems that nobody necessarily wants to do or or uh or hear. And so, um yeah, congratulations. Let's get this passed and uh and uh let's do what's best for the community. Okay. Thank you. Uh, councelor Singh, good job, councelor stretch. Two motions. You're definitely hearing the concerns of your your ward residents. Uh, you're leading by example. Uh, you're making effective change uh, in your community. So, good on you. Uh, you're bringing two motions. We're going to have to work hard and start bringing three motions each just to be able to keep up. But, uh, keep up the good work. You're doing a tremendous job for your representative, for your residents. Thank you very much, councelor Singh. And uh yeah, I'll just add my thanks as well. Councelor Stretch. I know that um Councelor Rodriguez brought forward a similar motion at the at the region and um this should hopefully help in terms of the the communication plan for what will be a a major project uh once it gets underway. Um, I I do think it it does speak to something that we may want to visit at a revisit at a future meeting in terms of a formal request to the region because there was a time when there were actually um regional project teams um that existed and local counselors were invited to sit on those. Um that uh that is a practice that was uh um discontinued at the uh at the region. uh and uh it's something that I think actually would be helpful to bring back. Um and so that is something that we may want to formally request as a council if that's a desire of uh of this council for uh for the future. Councelor Initis, I concur. Okay. Thank you for that. Um so it has been moved and seconded. All those in favor? Opposed? That is carried. Uh, we've dealt with nothing coming out of caucus. I just need to do the bylaws. Uh, are there any additional bylaws? M, clerk? Nope. Okay. Um, motion to for the bylaws. Moved by councelor Davyy. Seconded by councelor Johnson. All those in favor? Any opposed? That's carried. Motion to adjurnn. Councelor Misho. Councelor Schneider. All those in favor? Opposed. That's carried. Thank you everyone. Not

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