Markham's next city council to be sworn in at Nov. 15 meeting

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 15, 2022

Markham council held the last meeting of the 2018-2022 term on Tuesday, Nov. 8 -- with one absence. Deputy mayor Don Hamilton did not attend his last council meeting. This is the last chance for him to participate in the council meeting after he failed to unseat Mayor Frank Scarpitti in the recent municipal election.

During the meeting, Mayor Scarpitti expressed his appreciation for the three members of council who are not going to continue the next term.

“Now for our last council meeting, I also want to say a big thank you to three members of council who won't be with us any longer as part of Team Markham, but they certainly won't be forgotten, and thank them for their contributions to the city of Markham.”

The departing members include Hamilton, who left his seat of deputy mayor but failed to win the mayoral race, as well as long-serving regional councillor Jack Heath and Ward 7 Councillor Khalid Usman, both of whom are going to retire.

Though the meeting was held online, with the mayor not present at the Civic Centre, Scarpitti virtually presented certificates to each departing member, except for Hamilton, who did not attend the meeting either physically or virtually.

He also congratulated and welcomed the new members for the next term, including regional councillor-elect Michael Chan and councillors-elect Ritch Lau, for Ward 2, and Juanita Nathan, for Ward 7.

The mayor then devoted a length of time to recapitulating the council’s accomplishments during the 2018-2022 term, with emphasis on the impacts of the pandemic. “I think it's fair to say that this tour was like no other. We've certainly had the destruction of a worldwide and hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic and certainly all the impacts that it had on society, in particular here in our little community of Markham.”

He said the new council should look forward to reviewing the strategic plan, with the next update to be provided in 2023.

The council held further discussion on the Age-Friendly Design Guidelines, which had been initiated in August 2021 with the aim of improving the quality of life for seniors and residents of Markham. Councillor Heath raised concerns about the timeline to follow up on the project and the continuing support of the new council for this item.

Members of the new council will be sworn in at the inaugural meeting held at Hilton Toronto/Markham Suites Conference Centre and Spa on next Tuesday, Nov. 15. The public is invited to watch the inaugural meeting live online on the City of Markham website or on the city’s Facebook or YouTube accounts.