Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope and several municipal councillors joined more than 1,700 participants at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s (AMO) 2016 Conference in Windsor on Aug. 14-17.
For 117 years, Ontario’s largest municipal conference has brought together municipal, provincial and federal officials to work collectively to overcome municipal challenges and plan for the future.
Ontario’s Premier, Minister of Municipal Affairs and both opposition leaders were featured speakers and several additional provincial ministers participated in the conference.
The annual conference is a chance for municipal officials to discuss and move forward on shared challenges, to learn and to create new opportunities that can benefit their communities. In addition to the conference program, municipal staff and officials took part in over 500 municipal delegation meetings with provincial and federal ministries.
Chatham-Kent officials say AMO has played a critical role in advocating for issues related to Chatham-Kent residents. For example, in June, representatives from AMO, including AMO president Gary McNamara and Mayor Hope, joined together to address the Government of Ontario’s proposed changes to the use of natural gas outlined in the Climate Change Action Plan.
As well, the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) project, created by Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (WOWC) to connect the region to ultra-high-speed broadband, recently received $180 million in provincial and federal funding.
During the conference, Mayor Hope and Chief Administrative Officer Don Shropshire, along several administrative staff and municipal councillors, were to meet with Hon. Glenn Thibeault, Minister of Energy, to discuss matters that effect the residents of Chatham-Kent.
Other councillors expected to attend the conference included: Trevor Thompson, Brock McGregor, Carmen McGregor, Joe Faas, Jeff Wesley and Darrin Canniff.
Key conference session topics included the fiscal future of Ontario’s municipalities, infrastructure funding and planning, innovation and service sharing, climate change, marijuana legalization, rural economic development, disaster preparedness, policing modernization, pension sustainability and the sharing economy.
For more details visit www.amo.on.ca.
AMO is a non-profit organization representing almost all of Ontario’s 444 municipal governments.
AMO supports strong and effective municipal government in Ontario and promotes the value of municipal government as a vital and essential component of Ontario and Canada’s political system.
