Municipality of the County of Kings Request for Decision

TO Council

PREPARED BY Gordon Roussel, Policy Analyst

MEETING DATE October 6, 2020

SUBJECT Options for Accessibility Advisory Committee

ORIGIN • Accessibility Act, Chp 2, RSNS 2017 requires that all municipalities form an Accessibility Advisory Committee and complete an accessibility plan no later than April 1, 2021. • October 16, 2019 Village-Municipal Meeting Presentation ‘Accessibility Planning for Municipalities’.

RECOMMENDATION That Municipal Council approve entering into discussions with the seven Villages located in Kings County regarding the formation of a Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee consisting of: i. one member of Council who is also a member of the Authority Board of Directors, ii. one Commissioner from each of the seven Villages, and iii. eight members of the public who either have a disability or represent an organization that represents people with disabilities. At a minimum, that would include one member of the public who has a disability from each of the Western, Central, and Eastern areas of the Municipality, as shown on the map in Schedule A of the Planning Advisory Committee Policy (PLAN-09-003). Should no applications for citizen members be received from one of the three areas, an applicant from another part of the Municipality may be appointed to represent that area.

INTENT To form an Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) and prepare an Accessibility Plan as required by the Province of Nova Scotia Accessibility Act by April 1, 2021 or such later date as may be set by the Nova Scotia Accessibility Directorate as a result of the Provincial State of Emergency declared on March 22, 2020.

DISCUSSION On April 28, 2017, Bill 59, An Act Respecting Accessibility in Nova Scotia, received Royal Assent. Of particular relevance to the Municipality of the County of Kings (MOK) are the following sections of the Act: • 39(2) A municipality, university or organization shall prepare and make publicly available an accessibility plan within one year of being prescribed as a public sector body. • 43 Two or more public sector bodies may agree to have a joint accessibility plan. • 44(1) Every public sector body shall establish an accessibility advisory committee or continue any such committee that was established before the coming into force of this Act. • 44(2) At least one half of the members of an accessibility advisory committee must be persons with disabilities or representatives from organizations representing persons with disabilities. • 71(1) The Governor in Council may make regulations (a) prescribing municipalities, universities and organizations as public sector bodies;

On December 2, 2019, the Accessibility Act General Regulations came into effect. In the Regulations, the following organizations were among those prescribed as public sector bodies under the Act effective April 1, 2020: • a regional municipality, a county or , a town • a village continued under the Municipal Government Act Municipality of the County of Kings Request for Decision

Therefore the MOK and the Villages within the County must each (1) form an Accessibility Advisory Committee, and then (2) complete an Accessibility Plan no later than April 1, 2021.

Section 41 of the Act states that “A public sector body shall seek input from persons with disabilities and representatives of organizations representing persons with disabilities when preparing an accessibility plan”. This requires public consultation. Because it has not been practical to consult with the public as a result of the Provincial State of Emergency declared on March 22, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nova Scotia Accessibility Directorate has agreed to extend this deadline. The new date has not been determined as of the date of this report.

The role of the Accessibility Advisory Committee is to advise the Municipal Council on identifying, preventing, and eliminating accessibility barriers to municipal programs, services, and infrastructure. As previously noted, at least one half of the members of an AAC must be persons with disabilities or representatives from organizations representing persons with disabilities. Committee members may be staff, members of council, community members, partners, or others. The Town of AAC consists of eight voting members including the Mayor, one other member of Council, and six members at large. With the exception of the Mayor who is ex-officio, all members are appointed for two or three year terms. The CAO and Accessibility Coordinator are non-voting ex-officio members.

Appendix A shows the voting membership composition of AACs established by Nova Scotia municipalities as of July 30, 2020. In most cases, AACs consist of members of Council with an equal or greater number of members from the public. The members from the public are primarily persons with disabilities or representatives from organizations representing persons with disabilities.

In reviewing term appointments for other AACs, it was common to have a mix of two year and three year terms when the AAC was first established in order to stagger appointments. Once those initial terms expire, all new appointments would then be for three years.

The Act does not state a minimum or maximum number of committee members, although this is an important consideration. The smaller a committee is, the less representative it will be of persons with disabilities in the community. On the other hand, the larger a committee is, the more difficult it will be to come to a consensus when developing recommendations. Finding that balance may be one of the most challenging aspects of forming an AAC. Amongst the municipalities listed in Appendix A, AAC size ranges from three to eleven members, with six to eight members being typical.

In lieu of a prescribed public sector body forming its own AAC, it may choose to form a Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee (JAAC) with other prescribed public sector bodies that have common interests. In that case, each member must be approved separately by each municipality or public sector body represented on the committee.

Appendix B shows two examples of JAACs, both located on the South Shore. In both examples, each participating municipality appoints one member of its council to the committee. As with the regular AACs in Appendix A, the number of members from the public on the JAACs equals or exceeds the number of Council members. The terms of reference for both JAACs specify that all members from the public are to be appointed by all participating municipal units. There is no requirement that there be a member from the public from each participating municipal unit. One JAAC has nine members and the other ten members. Therefore, the minimum size of a JAAC would be double the number of municipal units participating in order for there to be one member from each council and at least one half of the members being persons with disabilities or representatives from organizations representing persons with disabilities.

Intermunicipal service corporations (IMSAs) such as the Kings Transit Authority (KTA) have not been designated as public sector bodies in the Regulations. The Directorate has suggested to MOK that if concerns regarding services provided by intermunicipal agencies are raised during public consultations, Municipality of the County of Kings Request for Decision

MOK is expected to address those in some manner in the plan. The Transportation section of the Town of Wolfville accessibility plan does refer to working with the KTA to address some issues that have been identified by their AAC. Because public transit is one of the largest public facing services provided through a corporate body, the majority of which is owned by the MOK, and Transit staff have training and background in accessibility, Municipal staff are recommending that this specific IMSA be asked to join a JAAC.

Staff therefore recommend that MOK form a JAAC with the Villages and the KTA. The joint approach would not only be a way of sharing resources and expertise, but also allow for a consistent approach in addressing accessibility issues throughout Kings County. Another important consideration is if there are eight separate AACs within the County, it may prove difficult for all of them to find adequate representation amongst individuals with disabilities or those who represent them. To ensure that MOK and all the Villages are represented, there would need to be one member of MOK Council and one Commissioner from each of the Villages. To ensure KTA is represented, the member of MOK Council would also be a member of the KTA Board of Directors. With an equal number of members from the community who have disabilities or represent those who do, the JAAC would have a total of sixteen voting members. Four elected officials and four community members would be appointed for three year terms, and the remainder for two year terms. After two years, all appointments would be for three year terms. The CAO, or designate, and the Accessibility Coordinator would be non-voting ex-officio members. A senior staff member of the KTA with accessibility expertise would be asked to join the Committee in an ex-officio non-voting advisory capacity.

To ensure all parts of the Municipality are represented, the JAAC would include at least one member of the public who has a disability from each of the Western, Central, and Eastern areas of the Municipality, as shown on the map which forms Schedule A of the Planning Advisory Committee Policy (PLAN-09- 003).1 This requirement would not apply to citizen members who represent organizations that represent people with disabilities. Should no applications for citizen members be received from one of the three areas, an applicant from another part of the Municipality could be appointed to represent that area. This is consistent with the Planning Advisory Committee Policy (PLAN-09-003), the Police Services Advisory Committee (By-Law 82), and the Fire Services Advisory Committee.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS • In accordance with Policy FIN-05-002 Council and Committee Remuneration, Committee members who are not members of Council are entitled to receive honoraria of $100 per meeting to a maximum of $1,300 per year plus mileage expenses based on the Province of Nova Scotia’s rate per kilometer. For eight citizen members, it is estimated that the annual cost of honoraria would be $10,400. • Based on the current Province of Nova Scotia mileage reimbursement rate of 45.85 cents per kilometer, an average of fifty kilometers round trip for each member and thirteen meetings per year, mileage reimbursement expenses are estimated to be $2,400 annually for the eight citizen members. • The Villages will be requested to share these expenses with MOK by reimbursing their respective Commissioners for mileage and any other expenses they may claim, and by covering the honoraria and mileage for citizen members on a pro-rated basis according to the size of their respective total assessment bases. The JAAC formed in Lunenburg County allocates its committee costs to each of its member municipal units in this manner. The following table provides an estimate for the allocation of costs by total assessment base using the estimated cost of honoraria and mileage for citizen members ($12,800).

1 The map in Schedule A of the Planning Advisory Committee Policy (PLAN-09-003) is currently under review. Municipality of the County of Kings Request for Decision

Expense Allocation based on Total Assessment Base

Total Expense Community % of Total Assessment Allocation

Municipality of the $3,714,514,500 73.20% $9,370 County of Kings * Canning $43,655,700 0.90% $115 $391,298,400 7.70% $986 Greenwood $176,445,800 3.50% $448 Kingston $230,352,100 4.50% $576 Aylesford $56,650,400 1.10% $141 Port Williams $170,595,600 3.40% $435 Cornwallis Square $289,315,400 5.70% $730 $5,072,827,900 100.00% $12,800 * Includes the assessment base of the seven Villages.

• Other costs such as the cost of consultants, training, or recruiting citizen members would be shared in the same manner. MOK would procure the services and invoice the Villages.

STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT Check Strategic Priority Description Applicable Vision Statement

Good Governance

Environmental Stewardship

Economic Development

Strong Communities

Financial Sustainability

Supports a Strategic Project

Supports a Core Program Enhancement

 Not Applicable Mandatory requirement under the Nova Scotia Accessibility Act

ALTERNATIVES Council may opt to form its own AAC without the Villages. The most common AAC size for single municipal units is seven. A committee that size should be large enough to be representative of persons with disabilities in the community, and still be small enough to develop consensus when developing recommendations.

An odd number of Committee members reduces the likelihood of a tied vote assuming all members are present. Representation of persons with disabilities could be further strengthened by having them make up more than a simple majority of AAC members. Therefore, if Council decides to proceed with its own AAC without the Villages, staff recommend that the MOK AAC consist of two members of Council (at least one of whom would also be a member of the KTA Board of Directors) and five members who are representative of persons with disabilities in the community. Municipality of the County of Kings Request for Decision

As with the JAAC structure being proposed, the AAC would include at least one member of the public who has a disability from each of the Western, Central, and Eastern areas of the Municipality. This requirement would not apply to citizen members who represent organizations that represent people with disabilities. Should Council not receive any applications for citizen members from one of the three areas, Council could appoint an applicant from another part of the Municipality to represent that area.

Terms could be staggered by having three members (including one Council member) for two year terms and four members (including the other Council member) for three year terms. After two years, all appointments would be for three year terms. The CAO, or designate, and the Accessibility Coordinator would be non-voting ex-officio members. A senior staff member of the KTA with accessibility expertise would be asked to join the Committee in an ex-officio non-voting advisory capacity.

Under this alternative, the Villages could each opt to form their own AAC, and/or some or all of the Villages could come together to form a JAAC without the participation of MOK.

IMPLEMENTATION • The next step would be for the CAO to meet with Commissioners from all Villages in Kings County to discuss the formation of a Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee (JAAC) and the basis for sharing costs associated with the Committee. • If the Villages agree to join with MOK to form a JAAC, staff will develop a costed plan for approval by Council to recruit members of the public who either have a disability or represent an organization that represents people with disabilities to participate on the Committee. • Once the recruitment is completed, the Nominating Committee will review those applications received and will recommend to Council individuals for the eight positions available. Council will also appoint a Member of Council to the JAAC. • Each Village must approve the same list of citizen members as well as appoint one Commissioner each. • The first task for the new JAAC will be to develop Terms of Reference for the operation of the Committee as required by Policy ADMIN-01-016 Administration of Standing and Advisory Committees of Council. Staff will then return to Council with a Request for Decision for the Terms of Reference and to provide an update on next steps.

ENGAGEMENT • At the Village-Municipal meeting held on October 16, 2019, the CAO made a presentation on the new requirements for municipalities under the Accessibility Act.

APPENDICES • Appendix A: Composition of Accessibility Advisory Committees established in Nova Scotia as of July 30, 2020 • Appendix B: Composition of Joint Accessibility Advisory Committees established in Nova Scotia as of July 30, 2020

APPROVALS Scott Conrod, Chief Administrative Officer September 29, 2020

Municipality of the County of Kings Request for Decision

Appendix A: Composition of Accessibility Advisory Committees established in Nova Scotia as of July 30, 2020 Number of Members from: Municipal Municipality type Council Staff Public Total

Halifax Regional 3 0 8 11 Queens Regional 2 0 5 7 3 2 6 11 Victoria County 2 0 4 6 Argyle District 1 3 4 8 Barrington District 3 0 3 6 East Hants District 2 0 5 7 West Hants District 1 0 6 7 Amherst Town 2 0 6 8 Town 1 0 4 5 Antigonish Town 3 0 4 7 Town 0 0 7 7 New Glasgow Town 0 0 3 3 Town 2 0 5 7 Wolfville Town 2 0 6 8 Yarmouth Town 3 0 8 11

Appendix B: Composition of Joint Accessibility Advisory Committees established in Nova Scotia as of July 30, 2020 Participating Number of Members from: Prescribed Public PPSBs if Council Staff Public Total Sector Bodies (PPSBs) Joint AAC

Town of Bridgewater Town of Mahone Bay Town of Lunenburg 5 5 0 5 10 District of Chester District of Lunenburg

District of Shelburne Town of Shelburne 3 3 0 6 9 Town of