Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee approve that the Rules of Procedure be waived subject to Subsection 83(4)(a) of the Procedure By-Law (being By-Law NO 2025-100) to receive a staff presentation on the Draft Economic Development Rural Plan. Robert Tremblay, Program Manager, Council and Committee Services, Office of the City Clerk and Debbie Stewart, General Manager, Strategic Initiatives (SI) Department, explained that a Motion to waive the Rules of Procedure was required because there was currently no report to provide an overview of the Plan. Following a 30-day consultation period, a report will return for the Committee’s consideration, at its meeting of 7 May 2026. The Committee then received a detailed slide presentation overview of the Draft Economic Development Rural Plan from Jamie Hurst, Program Manager, Economic Development, SI. A copy of this presentation is held on file with the Office of the City Clerk. She was accompanied by Ian Scott, Economic Development Officer, SI and file lead. General Manager Stewart, Sheilagh Doherty, Director, Economic Development, SI and Nichole Hoover-Bienasz, Director, Climate Change and Resiliency, SI, were also present to respond to questions. At the conclusion of questions to staff and with Committee discussions also having been concluded, the presentation was ‘Received’.