Item - 2023.RM8.1

CALL TO ORDER: 9:45 a.m.

Speaker Nunziata took the Chair and called the Members to order.

The meeting opened with O Canada.

July 19, 2023

Members of Council observed a moment of silence and reflected on the announcement of the discovery of 88 potential graves at the at the former site of the St. Bruno's Indian Residential School in Joussard, Alberta.

Members of Council observed a moment of silence and remembered:

Helen Ainslie

Elizabeth Eayrs

Syd Gladstone

Phillip Gotlieb

Caroline Huebner-Makurat

Sue Johanson

Mira Koschitzky

Coreen Joan Lewis

Richard Morris

Beverley Salmon

Peter Thevarajan, and

Victims of the Dauphin, Manitoba Bus Accident.

Speaker Nunziata addressed Council as follows:

I would like to take a moment on behalf of Council to acknowledge the Indigenous Peoples of all the lands that we are on today.  We do this to reaffirm our commitment and responsibility in improving relationships between nations and to deepening our own understanding of Indigenous peoples and their cultures. It is a moment to reflect on the importance of this land, which we each call home.

Speaker Nunziata acknowledged that City Council was meeting on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Speaker Nunziata also acknowledged that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Speaker Nunziata advised Council of the following:

For the benefit of those who are connected to the internet, the City Clerk has posted all of the agenda materials for today's meeting at toronto.ca/council.

This meeting is being held as a hybrid meeting.  Members of Council, staff and the public are participating in today's meeting remotely and in person, and the meeting is being streamed live on YouTube. I'd like to welcome the public who are with us here today, and who are watching the meeting online.