The Deputy Mayor's Exchange - Should All York Region Employees Be Treated Equally?

November 28 2021

The Deputy Mayor's Exchange

Should All York Region Employees Be Treated Equally?

A resident brought to my attention that unvaccinated York Region employees are being treated differently than unvaccinated York Regional Police. Right now if you are an unvaccinated YR employee, you are placed on unpaid leave and are given a date by which you must be fully vaccinated or you will face dismissal. YRP however are permitted to continue working as long as they complete a Covid test every 72 hours. Those tests ($40 each) are paid for by York Region taxpayers. Is this different treatment fair? Click on the link to read the article- link

At tomorrow's General Committee meeting there will likely be lively discussion about the coyote situation, creation of a lobbyist registry and a vacant home tax. You are welcome to tune in! The meeting starts at 9:30am.

Today is the first day of Hanukkah. Wishing members of the Jewish community peace and light this Holiday season! Hanukkah Sameach!

Have a great week.

Email - dhamilton@markham.ca

In this issue

- Are You Eligible?

- Take the Survey

- Coyotes at Council

- Ward 4 eNewsletter

- No Open Fires

- How Would You Improve?

- Holiday Donation Drive

- Flato Re-Opening Special

- Help Protect the Urban Canopy

- New South York Greenway

- Track Crime Locally

- RIDE Festive Campaign

- Other Items

- Upcoming Meetings

- York Region Update

- Community Meetings and Events

Please forward this update to anyone that may find it of interest.

Looking for more information?

Any of the blue text, blue buttons and most of the graphics

have links to further detail.

Find Your Ward Councillor

Click here to read the previous edition of The Deputy Mayor's Exchange.

Are You Eligible for a COVID-19 Vaccine Dose?

With new eligible groups, here are a few reminders when booking vaccine appointments:

first appointments are now available for children 5 to 11
cancel any appointments you no longer need
pop-ups and new vaccine clinics along with additional availability are added regularly. Please check back often to find the best clinic and location for you and your family.

Check eligibility and find a clinic at york.ca/covid19vaccine.

Even if you are fully vaccinated, it’s still important to get tested as soon as possible if you have symptoms, as there's still a chance you can contract and spread COVID-19. Reducing community transmission is everyone's responsibility. Learn more at york.ca/COVID19.

Do you know your neighbourhood's vaccination rate and how your area compares to other areas in York Region? Not all neighbourhoods are seeing the same level of COVID-19 protection.

See the article from YorkRegion.com to see how your area is doing.

Take the Survey

The City needs your input. Now's your chance to join in on the discussion about diversity in Markham.

Get involved by completing the Community Survey before December 2nd.

Make your concerns, needs and vision for the City of Markham known. Learn more at markham.ca/DiversityActionPlan for information and further detail about how to participate.

The City of Markham is updating its Diversity Action Plan. They want to hear from residents, community leaders, community and service organizations, members of places of worship, business owners and entrepreneurs and individuals who work in Markham. The community consultations will provide an opportunity for you to share your experiences and recommendations for eliminating racism, discrimination and ensuring access for all within the City of Markham - have your say.

Coyotes at Council

On November 29th at the City's General Committee Meeting (9:30am start), there will be an update on the City's coyote response and co-existance strategy by Markham staff, along with Coyote Watch and a representative from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. More information about the meeting can be found here.

In light of this week's coyote shooting in a Toronto park, here's a friendly reminder to residents. Please be mindful of your food waste and garbage disposal. Garbage receptacles on City property or other public locations are not meant for household waste. Please keep your household garbage at your home and put it out according to the City's collection schedule. This also includes putting your Green bin out the morning of your collection day not the night before.

While coyotes prefer to catch their own food, they will become dependent and lose their fear of humans if food is left out or household kitchen waste is easily available. Please do your part to keep wildlife wild and don’t feed them. Learn more at markham.ca/wildlife.

Ward 4 Councillor Karen Rea has published the latest edition of her eNewsletter. It contains updates on a number of topics including several motions that are coming to Council before the Holiday break.

She has also included a survey about the proposed Vacant Home Tax and the Lobbyist Registry.

Her eNewsletter can be

found here.

A friendly reminder that all open air fires in Markham require a permit (by-law 85-97).

This includes the burning of leaves and other garden materials. Most properties in City are not designated "rural" and will not comply with the provisions of the permit. Learn more at markham.ca/openairfire.

How Would You Improve Kennedy Road and Warden Avenue?

York Region is seeking opinions and ideas on road improvements on the sections of Warden and Kennedy between Major Mackenzie Drive and Elgin Mills Road through an Environmental Assessment. This work will build on the recommendations from York Region's 2016 Transportation Master Plan.

Learn more about the study and how you can provide your input - details here.

Holiday Donation Drive

With the holidays quickly approaching, let’s help make sure no family goes hungry or without toys this holiday season!

If you can, please donate non-perishable, unexpired food (including unexpired pet food) and personal care items for this year's drive. Food donations will be collected for the Markham Food Bank.

New and unwrapped toys are also being collected for those in need in our community this holiday season. Toy donations will be collected until December 21st and will go to the Salvation Army and the Markham-Stouffville Hospital’s Children’s Centre.

All donations are being accepted at Markham Fire Stations. Learn more at markham.ca/HolidayDrive.

Santa and some of his hardworking elves will be collecting toys for Toy Mountain at the Pride of Canada Carousel in Downtown Markham (corner of Birchmount and Enterprise). The antique firetruck will be parked at the Carousel from December 4th to December 19th and you can drop off an unwrapped toy:

Saturday December 4th and Sunday December 5th
Saturday December 11th and Sunday December 12th
Saturday December 18th and Sunday December 19th

CTV News will feature a live report from the Carousel on their 6pm news on December 14.

Flato Re-Opening Special

As the Flato Markham Theatre will be re-opening in January, now is your chance to grab some tickets with their Cyber Monday special that will run tomorrow (November 29) using the promo code Monday50 - details.

The Theatre is currently hiring as they ramp up to their opening in the New Year. Have you ever been at the Theatre and thought it would be fun to work there? Now's your chance as they're hiring for multiple positions - have a look.

Help Protect Markham's Urban Canopy

LDD Moths or more commonly known as Gypsy Moths are now dormant but they will be back in the Spring. We all need to take action to help protect Markham's urban canopy.

This picture shows the moth's egg masses that can be seen on many trees throughout the City.

During the Winter months, Markham staff will be checking trees on local roads, in parks and around City facilities where there have been a high infestations of LDD moths. The staff will be removing egg masses on City trees in an effort to limit the infestation in 2022. Every egg mass can contain up to 1000 eggs and by removing these masses now it will reduce the number of hatched caterpillars in the Spring.

Please inspect your own trees and remove and dispose of the egg masses to help reduce the infestation in the Spring. Also, if you applied tape or wrapped you tree trunk with burlap please remove it now as it will be ineffective until caterpillar stage in the spring.

Learn more at markham.ca/LDDMoth.

Help Plan the New South York Greenway

The South York Greenway is looking to build an active transportation route that will connect connect York Region’s western and eastern borders. This route will be more than 50 kilometers long from the City of Vaughan at Highway 50, through the City of Richmond Hill and the City of Markham to the York-Durham Line.

Join an information session on December 2nd at 7pm and share your thoughts through a survey - learn more.

Learn How To Track Crime in Your Neighbourhood

Earlier in the month York Regional Police released their new Community Safety Data Portal. YRP is now offering information sessions on how to navigate the new online tool where you will learn how to view and track crime and road safety trends in your neighbourhood. You can register for one of the following hour long sessions that will take place on Zoom:

Tuesday November 30 from noon
Tuesday December 7 from 4pm
Thursday December 9 from 6pm
Wednesday December 15 from noon.

This brand new data reporting site allows you to track data along with road safety information, crime trends and important links to report crime and submit tips and more. Below are 2 examples for Markham from the new portal. Have a look for yourself at yrp.ca/communityportal.

RIDE Festive Campaign

This week was the rollout of YRP's festive season enhanced RIDE campaign which runs until the New Year.

Drivers can expect to see more RIDE spot checks both day and night. It shouldn't need to be said but apparently it does - always drive sober and call 9-1-1 to report suspected impaired drivers.

Other items

A quick reminder from Markham Fire as they have seen a number of household fires recently where the suspected cause has been a candle left unattended. Make sure to blow out all lit candles when you leave the room or go to bed.

As the Holiday season is upon us, keep candles away from decorations and other things that can burn. Better yet. to avoid the fire hazard, use battery operated candles and you'll avoid the mess of melted wax too.

The City of Markham's Recreation Service is now hiring.

Join the Markham team and get paid doing something you love. There are a variety of positions that are currently open including lifeguards, facility maintenance and various positions at the Flato Markham Theatre. Learn more at markham.ca/workhere.

The tradition continues at Heintzman House with their 2021 Family Carol Sing.

Come join the holiday fun on Sunday December 12th from 5pm - 6pm. The Upper Canada Chorus and musicians will be performing and leading the sing-a-long.

This year the event will take place outdoors so you will need to dress warmly. To keep us all toasty, hot chocolate, coffee and some holiday sweets will be served. Look for the Heintzman House Board volunteer elves who will be handing out candy canes!

The event is free. In the spirit of the holidays, donations of non-perishable food items and toys will be accepted for the City's Holiday Donation Drive.

Overnight Winter parking restrictions are now in effect until April 15.

During a Winter event, remember not to park on City streets.

Markham plows can’t easily move around parked cars, making it difficult to clear roads.

Learn more at markham.ca/winter.

Registration for Holiday and Winter programs offered through the City will open on December 7 at 6:30am including:

Holiday programs

In-person and virtual programs

Virtual fitness classes

Swimming lessons

Aquatic leadership programs

Public swimming and Aquafit classes

Sport-based pay-per-play

Return to Fit memberships

Learn more at markham.ca/recreation.

York University has recently released the November edition of The York University Brief.

It contains updates on the new Markham campus that is slated to open in the Fall of 2023, their recent announcement about advancing medical educational in our community along with other news about York University.

Flu shots are available to all Ontarians through health care providers and participating pharmacies at no cost to you. COVID-19 and the flu are different viruses and a different vaccine is required to protect you against each. Get your flu shot soon for the best protection this flu season.

Getting your flu shot is the best way that you can help to reduce additional burden on our health care systems. Learn more about protecting yourself from the flu at york.ca/flu.

Just a quick reminder that household hazardous waste such as light bulbs, paint and household cleaners (see the full list here) can be harmful to people, animals and the environment if disposed of incorrectly. These items can be dropped off for free at the Hazardous Waste Depot. They aren't accepted for curbside collection - learn more.

As we close out Fall Prevention Month, I just wanted to take the opportunity to highlight some additional resources that are available free of charge to the community.

Falls are the main reason that older adults lose their independence and I saw that first hand with my own Mom.

For prevention and group exercises, assessment, management, treatment and other resources available in York Region visit york.ca/healthyaging. There are also a number of resources for fall prevention on the Province's site too.

Did you know that York Regional Police have a security camera registry?

You can be a partner in community safety by letting YRP know that you have security cameras installed at your home or business which can assist officers if a crime is committed on or near your property. Learn more at yrp.ca/cameraregistry.