“Telephone and/or email polls of Members of Council shall be permitted only upon authorization by the Mayor or CAO, in emergency situations requiring Council direction where time does not permit holding a special meeting of Council and/or quorum of Council cannot physically convene to consider a matter. The results of a poll must be confirmed and ratified at the next public meeting of Council”.

Discussion:

The City of Windsor received a request for written submissions regarding an application for a Cannabis Retail Store Authorization at 7405 Tecumseh Road East, Unit 200 from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Submissions are provided to the Applicant for response and considered by the Registrar in the authorization decision.

Under the provisions of the Cannabis License Act, 2018, municipalities have 15 days to deliver written submissions. Administration gathered comments and compiled them in the attached administrative report dated July 3, 2020 with comments due to the AGCO by July 9, 2020.

Given the tight timelines, Mayor Dilkens authorized the Deputy City Clerk to conduct an email poll pursuant to Section 3.7 of the Procedure By-law 98-2011.

As a result of the poll, the recommended resolution was put and lost due to an equality of votes as follows:

In support of the administrative recommendation: Councillors Francis, Sleiman, Gignac, Kaschak and Mayor Dilkens.

In opposition of the administrative recommendation: Councillors Costante, Bortolin, Holt, McKenzie and Morrison.

As this motion was put and lost due to an equality of votes, no further motions were put forward for consideration.

Risk Analysis:

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the rapid rate at which the situation is changing, the attached administrative report was put forward for Council’s consideration via email poll as it was an emergency situation requiring Council direction given that time did not permit holding a special meeting of Council given the AGCO’s requirement for a response within 15 days.

Financial Matters:

Consultations:

See attached administrative report.