MINUTES — PUBLIC – GATINEAU, HEALTHY CITY COMMISSION (CGVS) – 2nd meeting – March 13, 2025 – 9:03 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Filing and follow-up of the minutes of the January 16, 2025 meeting

Validated by email, the minutes of the 1st meeting held on January 16, 2025, are filed. The chair indicates that he sent a letter to the Quebec Minister of Health to advocate for a medical clinic for people affected by chemical sensitivity syndrome. This action is in line with the fourth element of resolution CM-2023-301 adopted by the municipal council. A copy of the letter will be forwarded to the members of the CGVS.

Kathleen Barrette joins the meeting at 9:06 a.m.

Statutory item: Homelessness file

Winter measures are still in place; they have met the identified needs since no contingency plan had to be deployed. Planning for summer measures is underway with the CISSSO (Integrated Health and Social Services Centre of the Outaouais). The team dedicated to this file at the City is being set up. El Mustapha Bahri is hired as section chief and head of the teams assigned to the homelessness file. A full report will be presented at the next meeting.

The sustainable solution to the problem of homelessness is housing. The Office d’habitation de l’Outaouais (OHO) has four projects underway for the construction of affordable and subsidized housing. Concerted work must ensure the development of safe conditions for maintaining housing. The Direction de santé publique (DSP) is responsible for the application of the Cadre de référence de soutien communautaire au logement social et communautaire (Reference framework for community support in social and community housing). Funding is intended to support residential stability, and thus curb or prevent the development of conditions leading to situations of homelessness.

Youth Summit: Towards a 2nd action plan for the Municipal Youth Action Strategy — Consultation

The document titled 3e Sommet Jeunesse — Vers un nouveau plan d’action (3rd Youth Summit — Towards a new action plan) is presented. This document was sent to members before the meeting. The objective is to present the consultation components of the next Youth Summit and to identify social issues affecting youth. The third summit will take place on April 25, 2025. A brief context is the opportunity to note that the 2nd Youth Summit held in 2019 led to the development of a first Municipal Youth Action Strategy. 2025 is a transitional year serving for the renewal of the action plan. The Summit planned for April will resemble the second one. It will review the actions related to the Municipal Youth Action Strategy (77% of actions are completed) and will allow young people to identify new priorities.

Sylvie Lafontaine leaves the meeting at 9:38 a.m. The quorum is maintained.

Sylvie Lafontaine joins the meeting at 9:40 a.m. Members are invited to identify emerging issues or issues for which young people could play a key role over the coming years. The following comments stand out:

• Congratulations for this space of democratic participation created for young people. The issue of social media could be addressed to understand the points of view of young people on it. There is a lot of scientific data on the impacts of social media, but little on how young people perceive them.
• The impact of artificial intelligence on the lives of young people.
• A lot of work is being done on the issue of screen addiction. It would be interesting to hear from young people on this.
• It is important to be attentive to those who do not register and do not speak out in the context of such activities. Polarization and the segregation of youth groups are other elements that it would be interesting to address. Social inequalities are issues that also affect them.
• The points of view of young people are desired on the issues of mobility and the feeling of physical safety linked to both active and public transport.
• Given a certain effervescence regarding social changes, the idea is suggested to produce an action plan spread over three years that allows for occasional readjustments regarding the relevance of the objectives to be achieved.
• It would be good to obtain the opinions of young people on issues such as: a certain tension towards living together, actions taken towards gender, sexual, or visible minorities; the rejection of science and education as well as the disinformation accompanying artificial intelligence; sexual exploitation around and in schools, highlighting the fact that current capacities do not allow for responding to this problem. In this sense, it would be interesting for the organization Centre d’aide et de lutte contre les agressions sexuelles (CALAS) to be among the participants since young people face adult problems. A dialogue must be initiated on these questions to empower them and encourage interactions with them.
• Everything related to the equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) file is considered relevant to the programming of this Summit. It would be interesting for young people to be invited to take a position on the masculinist movement or the noted increase in homophobic acts in secondary schools.
• A link is shared with members leading to the report painting a portrait from the Quebec survey on the health of secondary school youth. It would be interesting to engage young people with it and obtain their points of view. It is specified that this report will be discussed in April with the members of the Youth Commission.
• The importance of healthy lifestyle habits, healthy eating, and moving.

Review of the 2023-2025 Action Plan of the Outaouais Public Health Department — Information

The document titled Bilan 2024-2025 de la Direction de santé publique du CISSS de l’Outaouais (2024-2025 Review of the Public Health Department of the CISSS of the Outaouais) is presented. This document was sent to members before the meeting. The objective is to present the achievements of the Public Health Department and their impacts on the population. The presentation of achievements is based on converging elements of the CGVS 2024-2025 Work Plan and the axes of the service offer of the Public Health Department of the CISSSO:

Axis — Surveillance — Continuous monitoring of the health status of the population and determinants

• Axis one — Global development of children and youth;
• Axis two — Adoption of healthy lifestyles and creation of healthy and safe environments;
• Axis three — Prevention of infectious diseases;
• Axis four — Management of risks and threats to health and preparation for health emergencies.

At the end of the presentation, the discussions highlight the following elements:

• The proportion of ticks carrying Lyme disease is not currently counted.
• This will be a first regarding the publication of the report on regional vulnerability to climate change (VRAC). Other regions will follow suit.
• Training on harm reduction offered in police techniques and nursing as well as STI screening refers to the Cégep. What about the UQO? If this does not apply at the police or paramedical level, work is still underway with the UQO.
• The special planning programs (PPU) for Aylmer and the downtown area in which the DSP collaborated will be adopted in the fall of 2025.
• The consumption support service is now transferred to the premises of BRAS Outaouais. A medical clinic separate from the BRAS location will soon be created.
• The projection and estimation tool for the Outaouais population will be available on the website in PowerBi format. Each person will be able to enter parameters and obtain data (maps, graphs, etc.).
• Initiatives are underway with the school environment touching on the files of healthy eating and active lifestyle: support for the development of the schoolyard and programming offered to get young people moving; active transport and securing school corridors with MOBI-O; collaborations notably with the Ministry of Education so that the food offer promotes healthy eating.

Break from 10:47 a.m. to 11:04 a.m.

Highlights of the implementation of the 211 Service in Gatineau and 2025 communication strategy — Information

The document titled Faits saillants de l’évolution de l’implantation du service 211 à Gatineau et stratégie de communication 2025 (Highlights of the evolution of the implementation of the 211 service in Gatineau and 2025 communication strategy) is presented. This document was sent to members before the meeting. The objective is to:

1. Present the highlights of the evolution of the implementation of the 211 service from the 2024 impact report, produced by the Centre de Référence du Grand Montréal;
2. Inform CGVS members of the communication strategy to promote this service during the year 2025.

A context is the opportunity to recall that 211 is a confidential and free information and referral service directing to local socio-community services based on the needs expressed by users (online directory of nearly 600 resources). The service is offered in more than two hundred languages by phone or chat, 7 days a week, and now 24 hours a day. This service is complementary to the 311 and 811 telephone lines. A first impact report was presented on March 14, 2024, to the CGVS. The current comparison of data obtained in the 2023 and 2024 impact reports mainly highlights:

• A slight increase in the use of the service. This increase is more marked on the referral side;
• The average waiting time has decreased;
• The profile of users reveals that more women than men use the service;
• The proportion of expressed needs is similar to that noted in 2023;
• Growth in use among English-speaking people;
• Growth of users in all age groups.

The communication strategy is based on the fact that the service is not well enough known and listed in the Outaouais. The 2025 promotion campaign provides for: billboards on STO buses; TV and Web advertising; development of graphic tools (posters, magnetic reminders, signature banners, etc.); improvement of Web pages.

In addition to specific messages, two general messages will be broadcast during the communication campaign:

• Because sooner or later, we all need a helping hand!
• In Gatineau, 211 is there to connect you to the service you need.

The activation strategy in the community includes:

• Posting in public places;
• Targeting organizations based on specific messages;
• Production and promotion of a video clip aimed at school support staff;
• Holding kiosks during public events. (Members are also invited to propose events where the presence of kiosks may be relevant).

At the end of the presentation, the following observations are expressed:

• The communication campaign will start earlier to include activities related to the Sac à dos programs.
• Clearly highlight that 211 is a phone number.
• The Centre de Référence du Grand Montréal is completely reviewing its website. Information on Gatineau should be better highlighted there.
• Data on the number of website consultations is not currently available. A request will be made to obtain this type of data.
• The message regarding food aid should focus on the idea of autonomy or food security rather than emergency food aid. This would allow including other organizations than food banks (collective kitchens, purchasing groups, community gardens, etc.).
• The presentation does not state all the data contained in the impact report. This could be forwarded to members.
• Data collection should not be only quantitative (number of referenced organizations). Follow-up after referral to organizations is desirable to establish the relevance of this or the steps that had to be taken by the organization to redirect people to the right service. A step allowing feedback from organizations should be able to be included quite easily.
• A referral is possible for people wishing to volunteer.