King asks 'Where does this end?' as Council buoys local YMCA

North Bay City Council unanimously supported requests for relief funding from the North Bay YMCA totalling nearly $200,000 but Coun. Mark King expressed concerns the move could be a slippery slope.

The funding is designed to mitigate the effects of lost revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the YMCA of Northeastern Ontario oversees both local and Sudbury operations, this request from the office of President and CEO Helen Francis was specific to North Bay.

See original story: YMCA seeks pandemic financial support from the City of North Bay

Coun. Johanne Brousseau, a past board member and treasurer of the North Bay YMCA, addressed her colleagues during Tuesday's regular meeting, touting the services and benefits the non-profit provides to the community and spoke passionately in favour of providing the funding, saying it "would help them survive in 2020." 

"Certainly, the Y is a great community partner and provides many important services, without question," noted King.

Despite ultimately supporting the motion, King then wondered, "Where does this end?" when it comes to the municipality fulfilling financial relief requests due to the pandemic. 

"Are we starting a precedent? Who else will come and ask for support?" he asked.

King cited the local Royal Canadian Legion branch as an organization that could be looking for assistance despite "the decades and decades of support they provided in the city."

King then said to his colleagues around the [virtual] table, "A number of you are probably thinking, who's next? What will the ask be and do we have the necessary funds in place to meet those needs? Just how difficult is it out there for these different organizations to actually survive?"

The North Bay YMCA, as was noted by several councillors, is a unique case due to its ties to the City of North Bay as far as the partnership in the City-owned aquatic centre. The YMCA handles staffing, programming, and operations.

Deputy Mayor Tanya Vrebosch said the pool agreement has been in place since 1967. The pool is "one of our assets, and we pay for this on an annual basis in our operating budget."

The financial assistance requested will be provided from the joint federal-provincial Municipal Phase I Safe Restart funding.

Coun. Scott Robertson observed it was a "perfect use for that money," adding, like the Jack Garland Airport, "The ratepayers of North Bay own that pool...if the YMCA shuts down permanently — as Councillor Brousseau pointed out has happened in several other municipalities — what happens when we want to restart this pool, what are the costs going to be associated with that?"

In her report to council, Chief Financial Officer Margaret Karpenko recommended approving the $173,725 requested for the North Bay YMCA to cover the financial deficit resulting from the lockdown period from March 17 to September 30. 

"The North Bay YMCA is requesting financial assistance for the 2020 fiscal year in order to ensure that it is able to sustain its day-to-day operations until a vaccine becomes available and current COVID-19 restrictions are lifted," wrote Karpenko.

Council also supported a request of up to $20,400 from the North Bay YMCA to assist with snow removal for the upcoming winter season. The snow plowing costs would be absorbed within the operating budget.