The Decision Document is for preliminary reference purposes only.  Please refer to the Board of Health’s Report to City Council or to the Minutes for the official record.

 

How to Read the Decision Document:

•           Recommendations of the Board of Health to City Council appear after the item heading.

•           Other action taken by the Board on its own authority, which does not require Council’s approval, is listed in the decision document under the heading “Decision Advice and Other Information ”.

•           Declarations of Interest, if any, appear at the end of an item.

 

Minutes Confirmed –  May 19, 2009

The Board of Health:

 

1.         asked the Minister of Children and Youth Services for sufficient and sustainable provincial funding to ensure that Toronto Public Health can achieve full compliance with provincial service standards; and

 

2.         forwarded this report to the Ontario Public Health Association, Association of Local Public Health Agencies, the Toronto Best Start Network, and the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth.

The Board of Health:

 

1.         wrote to the Premier and the Minister of Health Promotion expressing concern about the anticipated impact of funding reductions to Youth Action Alliances, High School Grants, and enforcement under the Smoke-Free Ontario Strategy and requesting that the Ministry of Health Promotion maintain the same level of financial investment in future programs for at-risk youth.

The Board of Health:

 

1.         endorsed a five year plan to extend municipal funding incrementally to all provincially designated school communities over 2010-14, including annual funding increases to address the cost of nutritious food;

 

2.         requested the Medical Officer of Health to initiate a program review of the Student Nutrition Program in collaboration with the City of Toronto Social Development, Finance and Administration Division, the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, the Ministry of Education, and other stakeholders, to recommend the most appropriate organization and funding model to support program growth and sustainability;

 

3.         reiterated its request to the federal government to provide core funding for a national universal student nutrition program;

 

4.         forwarded this report to the Budget Committee for consideration during the 2010 Operating Budget process;

 

5.         forwarded this report to the Community Development and Recreation Committee for its information;

 

6.         forwarded this report to the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, the Toronto District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, the Toronto Food Policy Council, Toronto Foundation for Student Success and the Angel Foundation for Learning; and

 

7.         requested that the City of Toronto and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services work together to coordinate funding to mutually agreed upon designated schools.

The Board of Health:

 

1.         requested Metrolinx to do the following as part of its assessment of the proposed Georgetown South Service Expansion and Union-Pearson Rail Link:

 

a.         make the following additions to the consultants’ risk assessment studies:

 

i.          estimate particulate deposition to soil, and evaluate skin contact and ingestion exposures to these particulates;

 

ii.          evaluate diesel exhaust both as a whole and as a mixture of individual components;

 

iii.         undertake an ultrafine particulate matter (PM0.1) monitoring program to characterize baseline concentrations and concentration gradients in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Office of Toronto Public Health and provide the assessment to the Medical Officer of Health that allows the public sufficient time to comment before Metrolinx finalizes its Environmental Project Report;

 

b.         conduct a health impact assessment (HIA) study, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health, to examine the distribution in the community of risks and benefits from the proposed Georgetown South Service Expansion and Union-Pearson Rail Link;

 

c.         estimate the contribution of each train line operating on the Georgetown South Corridor to total, annual diesel exhaust emissions, and thereby predict the emissions reductions achievable through electrification of GO Georgetown services and the Union-Pearson Rail Link; and

 

d.         make the above information available in a way that allows the public sufficient time to review and comment before Metrolinx finalizes its Environmental Project Report;

 

2.         requested the Medical Officer of Health to review the risk assessment reports, air quality impact mitigation strategy and health impact assessment when they are released by Metrolinx, and provide input to Metrolinx and the public through the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry;

 

3.         requested Metrolinx to:

 

a.         electrify the Georgetown South Service Expansion and the Union-Pearson Rail Link prior to implementing expanded service;

 

b.         apply the following good practices for the protection of public health to the Georgetown South Service Expansion and the Union-Pearson Rail Link until such time as electrification is in place:

 

i.          select hybrid locomotives with on-board rechargeable energy storage systems and regenerative braking;

 

ii.          select new locomotives and remanufacture systems of the best available technology, which may be more advanced than that required by the current US EPA emissions standards for line-haul locomotives;

 

iii.         use ultra low-sulphur diesel (ULSD, 15 ppm);

 

iv.         ensure that idle control systems are in place, and develop and implement idling reduction policies;

 

v.         regularly assess and maintain tracks and locomotives to maintain emissions performance at or above the relevant emissions standards; and

 

vi.         develop a detailed mitigation strategy to manage the residual human health risks;

 

c.         collaborate with Toronto Public Health, City Planning, and Transportation Services to ensure that the stations on the Georgetown South Corridor are developed into connected “mobility hubs” where residents can live, shop, eat, work, play, and connect to active transportation and public transit;

 

d.         to apply the good practices for the protection of public health requested above to all non-electrified GO transit rail services that pass through residential neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto;

 

4.         recommended to Metrolinx that the Georgetown South Service Expansion and the Union-Pearson Rail Link not proceed until recommendations from the Board of Health have been addressed;

 

5.         requested Metrolinx to immediately release its consultants’ report on electrification of the Georgetown South Service Expansion and that upon the release of the consultants’ report, the Medical Officer of Health review it and provide input to Metrolinx and the public through the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry and the Environmental Project Review (EPR);

 

6.         forwarded this report to Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway and Via Rail Canada, and requested that they apply the good practices for the protection of public health requested above to their services that pass through residential neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto;

 

7.         forwarded this report to:

 

a.         the Clean Train Coalition, Environmental Health Association of Ontario, Mount Dennis Community Association and Weston Community Coalition;

 

b.         the Toronto District Catholic School Board and Toronto District School Board;

 

c.         the Medical Officers of Health for Halton and Peel Regions;

 

d.         the Ontario Minister of the Environment;

 

e.         the Federal Ministers of the Environment and Transportation;

 

f.          all local Members of Parliament and Members of Provincial Parliament; and

 

g.         the Premier of Ontario;

 

8.         forwarded a copy of this report to the Chief Medical Officer of Health for Ontario for review and with the request that she advise the Minister of the Environment on all adverse health impacts of the current Metrolinx proposal; and

 

9.         forwarded this report and the Board of Health’s decision to the Parks and Environment Committee for its June 16, 2009, meeting.

The Board of Health received, for information, the report (June 1, 2009) from the Medical Officer of Health and the presentation by Janice Etter, Community Co-Chair, Toronto Food Policy Council.

The Board of Health requested the Medical Officer of Health to meet with representatives from Toronto Community Health Centres to discuss the availability of provincial funding for AIDS prevention programs.

The Board of Health recommends that: 

 

1.         City Council approve the allocation of $827,730.00 to 42 projects as recommended by the 2009 DPCIP Review Panel in Appendix B and Appendix C to the report (June 2, 2009) from the Chair, Drug Prevention Community Investment Program Review Panel.

 

2.         City Council approve the listed applicants for multi-year assessment in Appendix D and E of this report.

 

3.         City Council grant authority to the Medical Officer of Health to execute Letters of Understanding on behalf of the City.

•           Minutes of the Scarborough Local Health Committee meeting held on February 2, 2009.

 

•           Minutes of the Scarborough Local Health Committee meeting held on April 14, 2009.

The Board of Health Sub-Committee to Conduct the 2008 Performance Appraisal for the Medical Officer of Health met on May 19, 2009, to consider the 2008 Performance Appraisal for the Medical Officer of Health, and forwarded its recommendations to the Board of Health, such matter to remain confidential as it relates to personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees.

Fiona Nelson requested, on behalf of the Toronto and East York Local Health Committee, that the Medical Officer of Health orally report to the Board of Health at this meeting on:

 

a.          the status of the City of Toronto’s actions related to lead pipe replacement, including communication strategies to the public; and

 

b.         whether children in houses with lead pipes should be tested and how Toronto Public Health could support this.