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CITY OF VANCOUVER ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT |
Report Date: |
March 23, 2005 | |
Author: |
Wendy Au | |
Phone No.: |
604.871.6639 | |
RTS No.: |
5003 | |
CC File No.: |
3120-1 | |
Meeting Date: |
March 31, 2005 |
TO: |
Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets |
FROM: |
City Manager |
SUBJECT: |
World Peace Forum 2006 Funding Request |
CONSIDERATION
A. That Council welcome the World Peace Forum, to take place in Vancouver 2006.
B. That Council approve a one time grant funding of $150,000 to the World Peace Forum, source of funding to be the 2005 Contingency Reserve. That grant funding can only be released with Council approval upon confirmation of funding from other sources identified in the World Peace Forum budget.
C. That Council consider hosting a general assembly of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, and host a joint meeting of representatives from the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, Mayor for Peace and Cities for Peace in association with the World Urban Forum at a cost not to exceed $50,000, subject to further Council approval as part of 2006 budget considerations.
D. That Council instruct staff to work with the Mayor's office and report back on a comprehensive plan and budget needs in hosting the general assembly and joint meeting of the International Association of Peace Messengers Cities, Mayor for Peace and Cities for Peace.
E. That Council request the City's Banner Committee consider themes related to the World Urban Forum and Peace and Justice and report back to Council with recommendations on appropriate themes for City banners for 2006.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The City Manager submits this report for Council's CONSIDERATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
Approval of a grant requires eight (8) affirmative votes from Council.
On March 17, 2005, Council approved an additional increase of $400,000 to the 2005 contingency reserve for the purpose of providing funding to Women's Task Force, the World Peace Forum and a Feasibility Study of a community services centre for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) community, and that reports need to be submitted for Council's approval prior to the release of these funds; and further that for the World Peace Forum, other funding identified in their budget must be committed and secured to the City's satisfaction prior to the release of these funds.
PURPOSE
This report provides Council with the findings and analysis of the funding proposal submitted by the World Peace Forum. The City Manager was instructed by Council to contract a feasibility study on the City's involvement in holding a World Peace Forum in conjunction with the World Urban Forum in 2006. This report will provide an overview of the research and analysis from the feasibility study and other considerations by City staff.
BACKGROUND
On May 18, 2004, Council passed a resolution affirming the City of Vancouver as a City of Peace and confirming that it will continue to participate in the Mayors for Peace initiative and the United Nations Peace Messenger Cities initiative by endorsing in principle the holding of a World Peace Forum in 2006 in conjunction with the World Urban Forum. Since that time, Vancouver's Peace and Justice Committee has been working with the World Peace Forum Society to assess the feasibility of holding a World Peace Forum.
In July, 2004, the Peace and Justice Committee approved terms of reference for a feasibility study on the proposed Forum. Initial efforts by the Committee to retain a qualified convention or event organizer to prepare a feasibility report to the Committee for review by City Council were unsuccessful.
In October, 2004, The Simons Foundation made a donation of $65,000 to the City, for the purpose of supporting the City's peace initiatives.
On November 16, 2004 the Peace and Justice Committee recommended that Council create a reserve fund to hold the Simons Foundation money, instructed the City Manager to conduct a feasibility study on the World Peace Forum proposal, and provide a grant to the World Peace Forum Society to fund preparatory meetings for the Forum. This recommendation was unanimously approved by Council.
In late November, a consultant was retained to provide a feasibility report. The consultant was instructed to provide:
· An assessment of the interest at the national and international level in supporting and participating in such an event;
· An assessment of the feasibility of the proposed format, duration and theme as adopted at the preparatory conference being held November 26 and 27, 2004;
· An analysis of the budget necessary for the proposed event and identification of possible sources of sponsorship and partnership from the non-profit and private sectors to achieve the budget;
· Recommendations on whether the City should be involved in holding the Peace Forum, and if so, how the City should be involved and what are the necessary steps of engagement;
· Liaison with the Chair and Vice Chair of Peace and Justice Committee on the feasibility study.
The World Peace Forum Society held a three day planning session at UBC in November, and a further focused session in January, then developed a plan for the Forum.
The Society's plan has been reviewed by City staff and the consultant. The consultant has submitted a report on the feasibility of the proposed Forum (Appendix A: World Peace Forum feasibility study).
On February 1, 2005, Council voted unanimously to join the International Society of Peace Messenger Cities, a worldwide organization of cities focused on the issue of nuclear disarmament. At present, the Society has more than 650 member cities in 110 countries, including a number of Canadian cities. In this organization and in Mayors for Peace, the City representative is the Mayor.
DISCUSSION
The proposed format of the World Peace Forum and the associated request to the City has evolved over the last several months. It began as a proposal that the City co-host an eight day forum, with the proposed format of the forum being similar to other World Social Forums. World Social Forums are characterized by diffuse planning and organization, a focus on free and unrestricted expression of viewpoints and alternative and non-traditional approaches to societal issues and problems. Co-hosting an event of this type on a topic as challenging as peace can present some potentially significant financial, staffing and organizational issues and risks for a civic government. These issues were discussed with the co-chairs of the Peace and Justice Committee and staff associated with Forum planning.
The World Peace Forum proposal (Appendix B: World Peace Forum 2006 proposal: refer to accompanying Joint Steering Committee report appendix) includes the following requests to Council:
a) To endorse the World Peace Forum 2006;
b) To host the general assembly of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities and to host a joint meeting of representatives from the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, Mayor for Peace and Cities for Peace;
c) To commit $150,000 from its 2005 budget towards supporting the organizational costs of the World Peace Forum 2006;
d) To commit a further $50,000 from its 2006 budget towards the hosting of the joint meeting referred to in (b) above;
e) To designate City of Vancouver staff to work and liaise with World Peace Forum 2006 and the World Urban Forum, and to coordinate the hosting of the general assembly and joint meeting referred to in (b) above;
f) To adopt `peace and sustainability' as the theme for the City of Vancouver banners in the spring of 2006.
The feasibility report identified that the planning and organization of the World Peace Forum is at a very early stage. In reviewing the Forum proposal the following areas of concern have been raised:
· The planning and organizational structure of the Forum is in the early stages; limited preparatory work has been done to date; the planned advisory board and large pool of volunteers are not yet in place.
· Due to the Forum-style organizational plan proposed, it is not possible to identify facilities and venues to hold events at this time.
· The funding strategy identified eight general sources of funds with confirmation from only one source, the Simons Foundation, which itself is contingent on City of Vancouver participation.
· Expression of support from a variety of organizations has not included a commitment of financial contribution.
· The content of the Forum is unclear and speakers have not been confirmed.
· The time frame needed to mobilize a large number of volunteers and detailed planning and development of the forum is very tight, with only 14 months until the proposed Forum start date of June 23, 2006.
· Linkages to the World Urban Forum have not been officially established and participation from WUF participants at the proposed Peace Forum have not been confirmed.
· The proposed plan does not fully address the issue of security.
In response to the specific requests put forward to the City from the World Peace Forum 2006,
staff have formulated the following comments, based on the consultant's feasibility report and a review of the organizational issues by City staff. The order of requests have been changed to treat related requests together.
a) To endorse the World Peace Forum 2006
The request to endorse the Forum presents a number of complex issues. A decision by Council to endorse or host a Forum of this magnitude would expose the City to financial and organizational issues and risk which are unquantifiable and without any limits.
If Council decides to support the Forum, Council may consider its support in the form of only being one of the sponsors among many others contingent on the Joint Steering Committee for the Forum completing the key parts of their business plan.
c) To commit $150,000 from its 2005 budget towards supporting the organizational costs of the World Peace Forum 2006
The budget projection by the Forum organizer is $2,180,000. To date, the only clear funding commitment is $350,000 from the Simons Foundation, subject to endorsement from City Council. Other sources are pending approval, in-kind, secondary, or non-specific. This is a considerable issue, since at least $500,000 or more identified in the preliminary plan relies on "new" funding sources, ranging from individuals to businesses. The organizers have not yet implemented a fundraising plan, or obtained any additional money through informal fundraising. Governments risk being the last-resort funding source for projects where fundraising programs fail. The Forum organizing committee has not developed a sound infrastructure needed for undertaking a large international event of this nature. In performing due diligence on this funding proposal, staff have come across a number of concerns that were listed in this report.
However, on March 17, 2005, Council approved increased funding in the City's Contingency Reserve to provide funding for the World Peace Forum. Council also stated that a further staff report needs to be submitted for Council's approval. If approved, other funding identified in the World Peace Forum budget has to be fully committed and secured prior to the release of the City's grant. Therefore, staff will recommend approval of a one time grant funding of $150,000 to the World Peace Forum, subject to confirmation of other funding identified in their budget.
b) To host the general assembly of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities and to host a joint meeting of representatives from the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, Mayor for Peace and Cities for Peace; and
d) To commit a further $50,000 from its 2006 budget towards the hosting of the joint meeting referred to in (b) above
Together, these two requests ask the City to support and host a structured series of meetings with established groups linking civic issues to peace. Council passed a resolution in May of 2004, affirming the City of Vancouver as a City of Peace and confirming that it will continue to participate in the Mayors for Peace and the United Nations Peace Messenger Cities initiatives. This request is consistent with Council's objective. However, the proposal suggests a budget of $50,000 be allocated for this meeting, with no details to support this allocation. If Council wishes to host this event, staff will need to be assigned to work closely with the Mayor's office to develop a detailed plan, budget estimate and report to Council for funding approval.
e) To designate City of Vancouver staff to work and liaise with World Peace Forum 2006 and the World Urban Forum, and to coordinate the hosting of the general assembly and joint meeting referred to in (b) above
If Council supports hosting the General Assembly of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities and a joint meeting of representatives from the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, Mayor for Peace and Cities for Peace, Council can instruct staff to work with the Mayor's office to plan and organize this event. Liaison to the World Peace Forum could be achieved via the City's Peace and Justice Committee since the Committee is already participating in the planning and organization of the World Peace Forum.
f) To adopt `peace and sustainability' as the theme for the City of Vancouver banners for the spring of 2006
The theme of the World Urban Forum has not been publicly declared at this time. The City also has a process on the design and selection of banners. This request can be deferred and forwarded to the Street Banner Committee, in consultation with the City's working committee on the World Urban Forum and the Peace & Justice Committee, and reported back to Council in 2006.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
This report identified two funding requests from the World Peace Forum. The first request for $150,000 one time grant will be from the 2005 Contingency Reserve. This funding was approved by Council on March 17, 2005, pending a staff report back for Council's approval. In addition, Council has also directed that the release of this grant will be subject to confirmation of other funding identified in the World Peace Forum budget.
The second request to host the general assembly of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities and a joint meeting of representatives from the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, Mayor for Peace and Cities for Peace will have to be the subject of a further report to Council with specific agenda and budget details.
CONCLUSION
Much planning on the proposed World Peace Forum 2006 has been done since City Council's resolution of May, 2004. The feasibility study for the Forum has highlighted certain financial and organizational risks related to the endorsing the Forum. Staff also identified issues related to the funding request to the City for $150,000 for the Forum and an additional $50,000 for hosting the General Assembly of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities and a joint meeting of representatives from the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities, Mayor for Peace and Cities for Peace. This report outlines other areas of the Forum business and fundraising plans that the consultant identified as warranting further attention.
Further, the report notes that liaising with World Peace Forum 2006 and the World Urban Forum would require specific instruction from City Council, and outlines the process for pursuing the themes of `peace and sustainability' for the City of Vancouver street banners in 2006.
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