Chatham-Kent will host a delegation of 13 mayors from Ukraine July 4-5 as part of an international study tour organized by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) for the newly elected heads of Ukrainian amalgamated communities.
During their visit, the mayors will meet with municipal officials, tour Chatham-Kent and discuss items of interest including municipal amalgamation, government operations and economic issues.
Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff said he is looking forward to meeting with other mayors. “Getting perspective on how mayors in other nations perform their duties will be helpful,” he said, in a media release.
“It is an honour for Chatham-Kent to have been selected to host the delegation,” said John Norton, General Manager of Community Development for Chatham-Kent. “We’re delighted to be able to show off our community and provide insight into how Chatham-Kent has developed since we amalgamated in 1998.”
The mayors are in Canada as part of their participation in the third Ukraine Reform Conference in Toronto.
This conference supports the implementation of Ukraine’s Agenda 2017-2020, an ambitious medium-term road map for reform, as part of Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic vision.
Ukraine, with a population of 44.4 million people formally became a sovereign state in 1990. Canada was the first Western nation to recognize Ukraine’s independence and the two nations have enjoyed close bilateral relations.
The conference is organized through PLEDDG (the Partnership for Local Economic Development and Democratic Governance) an initiative funded by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada.
A second group of Ukrainian mayors will tour Prince Edward County in Eastern Ontario and the two groups will discuss their findings when they return to Toronto for the conclusion of the conference.
July 4 will be declared Ukraine Day in Chatham-Kent with a ceremony and raising of the Ukrainian flag at the Civic Centre at 11:45 a.m.
At 6:30 p.m. that day, the mayors will attend the ribbon cutting of the SOAR (Startup, Operate, Accelerate, Replicate) business accelerator facility on King Street in Chatham.
