Minden Hills mayor Bob Carter said attending the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Ottawa Aug. 17-20 was worthwhile.
His township had a large presence, with CAO Cynthia Fletcher and deputy mayor Lisa Schell also attending. Their colleague, coun. Pam Sayne, was also there on behalf of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association, as she sits on its board.
County of Haliburton CAO Gary Dyke was present, along with warden and Highlands East mayor Dave Burton, and County and Highlands East coun. Cec Ryall. No one was there on behalf of Algonquin Highlands and Dysart et al.
Carter said “it was busy. We had delegations from Minden, from the County, some joint ones with the County and City of Kawartha Lakes. There was lots going on.”
The Minden Hills mayor added he felt like the politicians were listening.
“Absolutely. Actually, we had a couple of delegations where the minister, especially new ministers, really weren’t aware of certain facts. And there’s some things that affect rural areas in a different way than they do the city. They were listening and in a lot of cases, they were getting back to us right away, so, hopefully we did some good.”
For example, a delegation from the County met with the Ministry of Emergency Preparedness and Response, addressing specific emergency preparedness needs for small rural communities. And, a joint delegation between the County and CKL met with the Ministry of Education, seeking support for investment in needed childcare spaces overall, as well as bringing attention to the need to create mechanisms to support additional in-home childcare opportunities to serve the rural community.
Carter said he felt more encouraged than some past conferences.
“It was very interesting actually. When premier Doug Ford spoke, he had lower energy than normal. But he did it in a different way. With this whole thing with U.S. president Donald Trump, he was almost statesmanlike.”
In his Aug. 18 speech, Ford spoke about the threat of Trump’s tariffs and the need to spend money on Ontario products.
“Ontario municipalities spend tens of billions of dollars every year on procurement,” he said. “And that money should be going back into our communities and our province.”
He further encouraged townships to have staff back in the office five days a week. “It will help bring the public service in municipalities closer to the people they serve and will revitalize our workplaces and downtowns across Ontario,” he said.
Ford announced an additional $1.6 billion to the Municipal Housing Infrastructure Program – one the Ontario government had already put $2.3 billion into – to boost housing.
Carter said having such a large contingent at AMO, “does more to bring the town forward in these conferences than we can at any other time.
“I was able to speak to seven to eight ministers. Even if we didn’t have a delegation, there is a reception and you get a chance to meet them and exchange cards. I’ve heard from a couple of them already.”
He added, “I got to speak to three or four mayors; just bouncing things off them; such as ‘how are you doing that? or how are you handling that problem’? It’s really helpful. You can get very isolated and very provincial in your thinking if you do not.”
