WHEREAS, pursuant to section 8 of the Municipal Act, 2001, municipalities have been granted broad authority to govern their affairs as they consider appropriate and to enhance their ability to respond to municipal issues; and

WHEREAS subsection 10(1) of the Municipal Act, 2001 provides that single-tier municipalities may provide any service or thing that the municipality considers necessary or desirable for the public; and

WHEREAS subsection 10(2) of the Municipal Act, 2001 permits single-tier municipalities to pass by-laws to regulate, inter alia, the economic, social and environmental well-being of the municipality; the health, safety and well-being of persons; and the protection of persons and property; and

WHEREAS Council of The Corporation of the City of Brantford has invested a significant amount of time, effort and money into the revitalization of the City’s downtown core, including the establishment of the Downtown Brantford Business Improvement Area and strategic projects involving various post-secondary educational institutions in order to attract investment in the downtown core; and

WHEREAS the City of Brantford has been impacted by the national opioid crisis, as well as rising gun-related crime; and

WHEREAS Council is committed to balancing the public’s reasonable expectation of privacy with the necessity to protect the safety of the public and encourage the ongoing revitalization efforts in downtown Brantford; and

WHEREAS Council wishes to employ new strategies to deter and detect criminal and adverse behaviour in the City’s downtown core;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Staff BE DIRECTED to report back to Council with a plan to establish a municipal video surveillance system in the City of Brantford’s downtown core, and to include in the report back to Council all of the following: