In local media coverage by Derek Howard of MidlandToday.ca, he details the perspectives of the four North Simcoe municipalities about the value of attending this annual gathering open to all 444 municipalities across the province.
I have republished the “Midland” perspective below and encourage you to read the perspectives of our neighbours in Tay, Tiny and Penetanguishene – most of whom will join us for the three day event in Ottawa next week.
To review the entire article, please click here.
Midland
Of seven requested delegations, CAO Rhonda Bunn stated that five had received confirmation.
Those were in regards to: a $42-million grant application to the Housing-Enabling Water System Fund (Ministry of Infrastructure); support for the cruise industry (Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming); the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund and a change to Municipal Accommodation Tax legislation (both with the Ministry of Finance); and a shortage of qualified building inspectors within the province (Ministry of Colleges and Universities).
“Delegations hosted at AMO are an excellent opportunity for municipal staff and elected officials to meet face-to-face with provincial leaders and ministry staff,” said Bunn, adding that the delegation requests “highlight some of the challenges faced by small urban municipalities such as ours.”
Costwise, Bunn cited that Mayor Bill Gordon would be attending as a Simcoe County council member under their fee expense (which means taxpayers would be paying for his stay through the county rather than municipality), while the remaining six council members and two senior staff members also scheduled the full conference to attend; early bird registration and three nights of conference hotel accommodations for roughly $1,700 per person calculated to $13,600 total.
“The town takes advantage of ‘early bird’ rates by registering early in the year to keep our costs low,” Bunn shared.
Gordon said that out of all the conference opportunities available to municipal leaders and senior staff each year, if you only had the budget or desire to attend one, it would be the AMO.
“The costs are trivial when compared to the value received by networking with virtually every peer municipality in the Province over three days,” he said.
More focused events and conferences provided similar value, said Gordon, but not to the widespread opportunity of AMO.
“Participation in these yearly events, even if only at the AMO, keeps a municipality connected to their associations and their executive, their peers and provides valuable direction for the following years. It is also the forum to elect new members to the AMO board and opportunities to connect directly with every Provincial minister and their staff,” stated Gordon who, as per a recent council meeting, had received unanimous approval from Midland council to run for a position on the AMO board of directors.
“We are lucky to have such a close relationship with our MPP/Minister Dunlop in Simcoe North but that doesn’t replace the need to network and connect with other ministers at the conference,” Gordon added.
Regarding the Ministry of Infrastructure delegation, Gordon hoped that residents would wish him luck.
“I am up against 443 other municipalities,” said Gordon, “but we have a solid business case and an excellent presentation lined up for each of the delegations, especially this one. I will be selling our town hard to the ministers we meet with and looking for the help we need to help us support growth. Our water/wastewater system expansion is staggeringly expensive, and without winning some significant Provincial funding the costs will be borne by the local ratepayers.”
Folks, this is a HUGE ask for Midland from the Province and I am ready to sell the value proposition of this growth-enabling funding request to the Ministry. I am going to make the case that we need and deserve a grant of somewhere between 20 and 40 million dollars to help us prepare for the growth that we have already in the approval pipeline and the future growth that we know will come to our beautiful Georgian Bay community over the next couple decades. We have been busy this term planning for the short, mid and long term prosperity of Midland and working collaboratively with the upper tiers of government to identify funding opportunities that will support this growth without placing that burden on the backs of our existing ratepayers. I am ready. My team is ready. Wish us luck!
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I do agree that this is important for the town but I also disagree the money tax payers are paying and that some of the expense should come out of each of the delegates own pocket
I think more should be done with the shortage of Drs in our local hospital
As an ER patient two weeks ago I don’t think anyone should be made sit and wait four hours before being care for and another 3 hours on a stretcher in a cold dark hall before being told to come back in the morning and wait another five hours before being able to come home
This is not acceptable for someone you is almost 80 years old or anyone
Thanks for the feedback Sharon. Expenses relating to professional development, training and meetings within the role of Councillor or the staff of the municipality are work-related expenses and we could not ask them to pay out of pocket. This conference is all of those and the value brought from attending far outweighs the expense. Each councillor has a limited expense budget each year and this comes from that budget. They cannot exhaust that budget and must choose which (if any) conferences or training events they participate in.
As for the health care issues, I agree wholeheartedly, but that is a Provincial issue and we have no jurisdiction, funding nor control over how health care is delivered in Ontario. Consequently, we stick to topics that we do have jurisdiction over such as water, wastewater, public infrastructure, recreation, public works/roads, land use planning and development, policing, fire and bylaw and the like. As a county rep, I also work to lobby for enhanced funding for ambulance, solid waste management, local forestry, long term care, homelessness prevention, supporting housing/shelters and social service delivery such as Ontario Works etc. Sadly, hospital healthcare, doctors, nurses and the funding to build and expand hospitals is not within either the lower tier (Midland) or upper tier (County of Simcoe) jurisdiction. So we stay in our lane and to your point, ensure we don’t spend tax money unwisely. I hope this helps with some perspective.
Don’t forget affordable housing and the homeless situation here in Midland. Like it or not it is our responsibility too.
Yea indeed. There are sessions dedicated to these issues at every conference. It is a huge national issue impacting virtually every urban municipality.
Good luck!
Successful community growth can only happen with a strong foundation of infrastructure… bring it home!