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CBC
26-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Shouts of 'shame' disrupt Windsor council meeting after flag policy decision deferred
Social Sharing Shouts of 'shame' disrupted Monday's Windsor city council meeting after councillors deferred a decision on changing the city's flag policy. The proposed amendments to the policy would limit the types of flags that can be raised outside Windsor city hall to official government flags, and flags associated with formal delegations or events sponsored by the city. But 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy groups such as Windsor-Essex Pride Fest want clarity on whether the policy will allow them to raise the Pride flag at city hall — something the municipality has supported in the past. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens attempted to clear up those concerns during Monday's meeting. "Even if the council accepted the proposed amendments to the policy, it does not impact the flag-raisings that have already happened," Dilkens said. A list of delegates were scheduled to speak the meeting — some of whom shouted in protest. "We don't believe you," one member of the crowd yelled at Dilkens. Another person in the crowd accused councillors of homophobia. Council voted to defer a decision on the matter until more information could be received from staff. Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis defended councillors during the disruption, saying "No one's homophobic here," and explaining when the policy is expected to return to council. Delegates and their supporters left the chambers when council moved on to the next agenda item — but more than a dozen people stood outside the building in protest, continuing to wave Pride and transgender advocacy flags. The protesters did so at a window in direct view of councillors. Building security drew the window blinds, blocking council's view of the protest. One of the people who had signed up as a speaking delegation — Adam Bergamin, a.k.a. "Disco Jesus" — said council's deferral of the discussion felt like "deflection... which does not come off as wanting to actually talk about it." "We want a commitment," Bergamin said. "We do not know if we're allowed to fly a flag or not." Bergamin described himself as "Windsor's leading theatrical drag performance artist," but said his concerns about the proposed new policy aren't just regarding the Pride flag. "We want other flags to also be honoured," Bergamin said. "We are also fighting for other people's right to fly a flag." Windsor-Essex Pride Fest writes to council On May 21, CBC News sought clarity from city administration on what exactly the amended policy would allow — asking if the changes would affect raising of the Pride flag, the Detroit Lions flag, and the Pan-African flag. All three flags have flown at Windsor city hall in past years. A City of Windsor spokesperson did not directly answer the question. "Until such time as council provides direction, it would be premature to speculate on individual eligibility under the proposed framework," wrote Michael Janisse, the city's acting manager of communications. David Lenz, a member of Windsor-Essex Pride Fest's board of directors, was among those who wrote to city council urging that city hall continue to raise the Pride flag. "The City of Windsor, mayor, and council have been strong supporters of the local 2SLGBTQIA+ community in many ways," Lenz wrote. "With that in mind, we ask that Mayor Drew Dilkens and members of city council not eliminate the opportunity for our organization and our community to proudly raise the Pride flag, as we have done since the year 2000." The proposed revision to the flag policy is expected to return to council at a future date.
CBC
16-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
American-furniture purchase shows confusion over Windsor's council's 'buy Canadian' request
City staff will bring back new buy Canadian policy options for council to mull over after taxpayers criticized a $285,000 order of American-made outdoor furniture purchased last month. Days before that purchase was approved, council directed staff to buy Canadian goods and services when its financially and operationally reasonable to "support local and domestic businesses and workers." Councillor Kieran McKenzie, who introduced the motion, is worried that might still be left for interpretation. "All of it was with the intention of really trying to dig into: where can we buy Canadian wherever possible?" said McKenzie during Monday's council meeting. Senior administration seemed to agree, telling council they need more clear direction on when to prioritize Canadian goods and services. Windsor's Chief Administrative Officer Ray Mansour said staff need to know if they're looking for "what's the best deal financially for the taxpayer or do we want to buy Canadian at all cost when it's available?" Staff defend purchase of American-made furniture The discussion about buying Canadian was reignited after taxpayers questioned councillors about a CBC News report outlining city's staff purchase of American-made furniture for the outdoor ice rink at city hall. City engineer David Simpson told council that staff "fully followed council direction" by purchasing the furniture, adding that it came in under budget while highlighting the quality and superior warranty. Councillor Fred Francis had previously suggested cancelling the purchase because of the backlash and was told that would cost the city a penalty of $90,000. City staff have said that 10 suppliers were considered including Canadian companies. But the city has not said what the cost difference would have been between those suppliers. Windsor has not made any changes to its procurement policy while the trade war with the United States continues but is considering options. Ontario bans U.S. companies from procurement In March, the province restricted United States businesses from provincial procurements with certain exemptions. That flows down to places like hospitals, public school boards, and universities but it does not apply to cities like Windsor. "Ontario's Procurement Restriction Policy does not apply to municipalities," said a spokesperson for Ontario's minister of public and business service delivery. "Where possible we encourage all partners to support made-in-Ontario and made-in-Canada businesses. In doing so, they may wish to follow Ontario's guidance." Municipalities across Ontario like Vaughan, Toronto and Mississauga have adjusted their procurement polices follwoing the lead of the provincial government. Buy Canadian approach 'long overdue' It's a move that the head of Ontario's Public Buyers Association (OPBA) hopes continues long term. "I think it's long overdue," said Victoria Mirlocca, chair of the OPBA and manager of procurement for the City of Mississauga. "This entire movement is great for our economy and as public sector entities, it just opens up an entire new world and how we can focus our procurements and be more strategic." Typically, a city will accept bids on a project and award it to the lowest bidder that meets the criteria. But that's changed in cities like Mississauga. "If a low bidder comes in and they are a US supplier, but the second lowest bidder is non-us and is within 20%, we're gonna award to the non-us supplier," said Mirlocca. She said that requires clear definitions of what makes a company American. Provincially, that's a company that is headquartered in United States with fewer than 250 full-time employees in Canada. Mississauga is following a similar definition, said Mirlocca, while also opening up more projects to an invite-only style of procurement so staff can narrow in on Canadian businesses. "We're building programs around that so that our contract managers and our project managers understand, you know, we need to attract local businesses," she said. Those thresholds have to be below $353,300 for goods and services and $8.8-million for construction to meet the Canada Free Trade Agreement that applies to trade between Canada and European states. There's also language in both Mississauga's and Ontario's policy changes that allow for staff to purchase goods and services from the United States if there's no alternative. Mitigate tariffs or support local companies? Where those policy shits are aimed at building up Canadian procurement, Windsor's approach has been primarily about mitigating Canadian counter-tariffs while getting the best value. "If something's financial advantageous, we're sort of going with it, in accordance with the purchasing by-law," said the city's acting commissioner of human and health service Dana Paladino at Monday's council meeting. "But if council's direction is that it doesn't matter if its advantageous, this is something that we need to consider, than we need to bring that back." Mayor Drew Dilkens believes that the deal for the American-made outdoor furniture was "in the best interest of the taxpayer." He said council can tell staff to build conditions into tenders that require specific levels of Canadian content but that could lead to shifts in costs. "You don't know whether if you did that you're paying 20 per cent more, 10 per cent more, 5 per cent more? You don't know unless you actually put it in there and maybe do a comparison saying 'All Canadian goods and then next comparable price," said Dilkens. The rest of council supported councillor McKenzie's ask for staff to bring back alternative procurement policy options. "I think if it's a status quo sort of thing than I think we land back here in this discussion again. I don't know if we all want that," said McKenzie.
CBC
11-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Windsor councillors consider cancelling $285,000 purchase of American-made outdoor furniture for city park
Windsor city councillors are questioning city staff's recently approved purchase of American-made outdoor furniture for the new public outdoor space in front of city hall, amidst a trade war with the United States. Staff approved spending $285,957 on seasonal, outdoor metal tables, umbrellas and garbage cans days after council endorsed a call from upper levels of government to prioritize buying Canadian "wherever reasonably feasible both financially and operationally." The furniture deal was not brought to council for approval because it falls within the $15.4 million project budget council previously approved for the space. Instead, it was approved by the city's tariff task force, made up of senior administration, who were warned by the suppliers that some of the items could be subject to $71,000 in tariffs when they're imported to Canada. Coun. Fred Francis said he's heard complaints from taxpayers about the furniture deal and says staff should look at cancelling the purchase depending on any potential financial penalties. "If there's a way to get out of this purchase, I think they're probably looking at ways to do that and bring it to council. They're probably looking ways to fix this because the PR has been so bad," said Francis, who voted against the civic esplanade project where the furniture will go. The city's head of infrastructure, David Simpson, said that the tables, umbrellas and garbage cans were bought through Park Street Solutions, an Ontario-based company from which the city has purchased before. These are sole source purchases — which means the city did not ask for bids from other companies for the project or shop around to see what options were available. Simpson said that's because staff decided they wanted to continue buying these American-made products through the company because staff are familiar with the products, making them easier to maintain. He also said that purchasing these products from familiar suppliers would get them installed in a timely manner. "We already benefited from having that validated Canadian point of contact for procurement logistics and also anything having to do with after purchase services," Simpson previously told CBC News. "Not only do we feel we can save cost to the taxpayers when it comes to long-term maintenance but it just seemed to be the most time expedient process to acquire the products." Staff tell councillor American-made furniture is better able to handle the elements Earlier this week Coun. Kieran McKenzie, who brought the "buy Canadian" motion to council, asked staff if the purchase could be cancelled. But after meeting with staff on Thursday, he said this purchase is the best option. "One of the things that they said was that there wasn't a comparable Canadian comparator for the item that they wanted to purchase," said McKenzie. He said that staff told him the American-made furniture came with an unmatched warranty and unmatched quality. "It's their ability to withstand the elements outdoors for the next 20 to 25 years," McKenzie said. "And again a track record with our municipality of it being reliable equipment that's already in a number of our different parks." He also said that the procurement process started "quite some time" before the trade war with the United States started. "I think it's fair to say that the optics were unfortunate." Councillors weighing out the cost of buying Canadian Council will be briefed by city staff about the potential impact to Windsor's operation because of the trade war, which McKenzie said he hopes leads to shifts in procurement policies. "But at the end of the day the municipality just isn't going to on a dime change all of its procurement polices when that's going to have a deep and significant impact on project timelines and deliverables." Downtown councillor Renaldo Agostino is questioning how far the city should go when it comes to sourcing products from Canadian companies instead of their American counterparts. "I think that the idea of saying, 'listen, it's going to be Canadian or nothing,' that's a very interesting conversation to have because then that means you're going to turn to all your partners in this city that have American connections," said Agostino. He teased a possible event he's working on with the Detroit Lions as an example of the complex situation Windsor is navigating right now. "'I'm sorry, guys, we don't want to do an event here in Windsor, no drone show this year because we're not gonna do any business with Detroit.' That's ludicrous, right?" asked Agostino. But Francis said this is getting confusing for taxpayers, who have watched Canada's relationship with the United States influence decisions council has already made. He circled back to the debate over ending the city's tunnel bus service, which connected Windsor and Detroit. That service will end later this year, in part, because Mayor Drew Dilkens said he did not want to subsidize a public transit service that brings business to the United States during the trade war. "What you heard from some of the people around the council table was, we feel uncomfortable supporting a service that helps to bring more revenue and more tourists and more support to the American economy," said Francis. He said that has people confused about the city's stance on its relationship with the United States. "You turn around here and you're purchasing something from an American company supporting American workers in in the American economy." Company Windsor is buying items through is based in Ontario The city is purchasing these items through Park Street Solutions, a three-person company based out of Waterloo, Ont., that does not manufacture the products the company sells. "We work with various manufacturers from across North America and market and sell their products within the Canadian market," said company president Kevin Bettridge. He declined to answer questions about the financial details of the deal with the City of Windsor, but said the company has deals with the city going back to when the company was incorporated in 2013. "We've had a very long standing relationship with the City of Windsor, being a standard supplier since before Park Street Solutions was in existence. Victor Stanley has been a standard supplier in the city, has used these products successfully for many, many years," said Bettridge. He defended the city's purchase. "I would say that they're making a measured and calculated decision to buy high quality products that they know and trust," he said. "At the end of the day, Park Street Solutions is an Ontario-based company. We've built our business around working with these companies and having good relationships with our municipalities and landscape architects and the marketplace in general." The tables the city bought for the project outside city hall will be the same onces purchased and installed for the recently opened Legacy Beacon project on the riverfront. Staff initially hoped that the civic esplanade project where the outdoor furniture will be placed would be operating last winter, but now say it will be ready before the end of the year.
