Funding Request - Conditions of Mount Royal Park, Montreal,

Quebec Following Ice Storm

 (City Council on April 16, 1998, struck out and referred this Clause back to the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee for further consideration.)

 The Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee recommends that:

 (1)a grant in the amount of $10,000.00 be provided to the City of Montreal to assist in repairing the damage to Mount Royal Park in Montreal caused by the ice storm;

 (2)the grant be deemed to be in the interests of the Municipality;

 (3)the necessary funds be provided in the 1998 Operating Budget; and

 (4)the Chief Administrative Officer report to the next meeting of the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee on a policy to guide City Council in responding to disaster situations and providing emergency relief to areas in Canada and/or around the world.

 The Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee submits the following communication (Undated) from Nancy Loewen, President and Director, Construction Volunteers Canada, Bénévoles Canadiens du Bâtiment:

 Mayor Mel Lastman, City Council, City Administration, members of the general public and media, Good Day. It is good to be back in Ontario after volunteering in Quebec 3 weeks. While I was in Quebec, I stayed in the home of the Mayor of St. Valentin, a community without power for 29 days. It is hard to imagine how these people coped. We are returning to Ontario with a gift from the Mayor of St. Valentin, maple sugar made in a sugar shack for Mayor Lastman. My name is Nancy Loewen, and I am President of a newly-formed charitable organization called Construction Volunteers Canada. I wear many hats including a construction hard hat. I would like to introduce to you one of our 250 construction volunteers, Mr. Al Miley of Al Miley and Associates, tree experts from Markham, Ontario. Mr. Miley and 17 volunteers volunteered in the ice storm in the outskirts of Ottawa. Mr. Miley and two of his climbers recently completed volunteer work in two townships in Quebec. They have seen first-hand the massive destruction not only in Ontario, but also in Quebec.

 Another tree arborist from Tree Specialists, Oakville, and myself toured Mount Royal Park in February of this year. Try to visualize oaks in the picnic area of the Park split right down the middle. Visualize the Park's cemetery trees smashed, flowers and dirt on the grave sites overturned, and the Park's wildlife bird sanctuary in ruins. The Tree Specialists was the second volunteer placement in the Park. Prior to them, we placed Juret Construction and an additional volunteer from Toronto in the Park. Our organization has offered assistance to the Salvation Army, E.M.O. (Emergency Measures Ontario), Army, O.P.P., Centre de Coordination de la Sécurité Civile du Québec and many churches throughout Quebec and Ontario. Note: Attachment letter from FCM, their quote "its restoration is a cause warranting support".

 We are requesting as a token of unity, generosity, compassion and environmental concern, that the newly amalgamated City of Toronto, as the largest City in Canada and one of the leaders in innovative environmental projects, assist our historical City of Montreal by:

 (a)Contributing a donation in the amount of $10,000.00. Because of the implications relative to tax hikes in the new City of Toronto, Construction Volunteers Canada will make every effort to contribute towards the $10,000.00, with Mount Royal Park fundraisers in the New City of Toronto. Our combined donation can be forwarded to the City of Montreal (Ville de Montreal) attention Pierre Bourque, Mayor. The Mayor is an ex officio member of a charity called "Friends of the Mountain, Montreal". This charitable group, whose goal is to protect Mount Royal Park, is trying to raise one quarter of $20 million. The Park is visited by approximately four million people yearly.

 Our organization Construction Volunteers Canada has high praise for "Friends of the Mountain". Their high goals are to be commended. However, as with any charity there is no certainty as to the collection of the full proceeds. Because the senior levels of government are involved in several ice storm related matters in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, and the City of Montreal does not have all the financial resources expected, the private sector is trying to raise a significant amount of money. Mount Royal Park is viewed as a historical landmark by people from all over the world who visit it on a repetitive basis.

 Note: Because I will be out of province again for approximately one and a half months, volunteering in the aftermath of the ice storm, we are asking the request for a donation be earmarked for budget consideration.

 (b)Carefully reviewing funding for ice storm relief in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes and if the funding is deemed insufficient or slow forthcoming, that the City of Toronto show leadership and expedite funding by lobbying senior levels of government, especially with respect to the trees which have suffered trauma. (In order to ensure that the wounds created by the ice storm will not decay, it is vital that the correct pruning cuts are made to reduce the amount of decay and this be carried out quickly to ensure survival of our once spectacular trees).

 (c)When the City of Toronto reviews the issue of twinning in the amalgamation process, that if the City of Toronto is not twinned with Montreal, they consider twinning with the City of Montreal in their time of crisis, in an effort to promote good will and share resources.

 An example of good will and support was expressed during our stay in St. Valentin, Quebec, when St. Valentin's twin sister City from Japan sent delegates to St. Valentin during the ice storm.

 We have been told by Friends of the Mountain that Japan has recently made a donation for Mount Royal Park.

 In closing, our people worked two months during the ice storm of 1998 and are exhausted, but happy and fulfilled because they derive energy from the disaster victims who encourage and inspire them to promote good will. Because of the positive feedback, I intend to devote the rest of my life to this charity to support our fellow Canadians. I am very proud of our construction crews who never complained when the "going got tough" in complicated and dangerous surroundings.

 We are not finished working the ice storm project, and delaying the donation is agreeable to our organization, because we will be returning to help the Quebec farmers, and we are also offering assistance to western New Brunswick. As pointed our earlier in the report, I wear many hats including a construction hard hat, therefore, I will be out of province for approximately one a half months. This should give the Budget Committee plenty of time to review our financial request.

 Sincerely on behalf of our Directors and Membership.

 The Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee also submits the following communication (March 20, 1998) from Mr. James W. Knight, Executive Director, Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM):

 Nancy Loewen has asked me to write to you on the matter of the efforts of Construction Volunteers Canada to raise funds to repair damage to Mount Royal Park caused by the January ice storm.

 In the midst of the storm, FCM played an important role in communicating the severity of the situation to its members, and in providing them with information on how their resources could be deployed to the afflicted areas.

 The response from municipalities across the country was extraordinary. Fund raising campaigns were launched, hydro crews were dispatched and emergency supplies were shipped.

 In some cases, individual municipalities offered support to particular communities with which they had a prior partnership or twinning arrangement. In other cases, aid was provided for use in wherever deemed appropriate by local authorities.

 Nancy Loewen had asked that FCM might contact its members specifically urging support to Mount Royal Park. Clearly as a national organization with members throughout the affected area, we are not in a position to urge one particular project ahead of another. We can confirm, however, that Mount Royal Park, one of Canada's oldest urban parks, has suffered extreme damage and its restoration is a cause warranting support.

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 Ms. Nancy Loewen, President & Director, Construction Volunteers Canada, Bénévoles Canadiens du Batiment, appeared before the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee on April 7, 1998, in connection with the foregoing matter.

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 (A copy of background information and photographs, appended to the communication from Nancy Loewen, President and Director, Construction Volunteers Canada, Bénévoles Canadiens du Bâtiment are on file in the office of the City Clerk.)

 (City Council on April 16, 1998, had before it, during consideration of the foregoing Clause, a communication (April 13, 1998) from the President and Director, Construction Volunteers Canada, providing additional information concerning the request for a donation of $10,000.00 for Mt. Royal Park.)