The mayor of Goderich says it was quite obvious at the recent Rural Ontario Municipalities Association conference that this is an election year.
Kevin Morrison says leaders of all of the major political parties were there, but not necessarily answering questions.
He says it was a good opportunity to talk with mayors and councillors from other municipalities about the problems they face and how they're dealing with them.
Morrison says in many cases the issues are the same from one municipality to the next, starting with health care, the economy and Bill 148 - the new Fair Work Place regulations.
Goderich Mayor Kevin Morrison (photo by Bob Montgomery)
"The strong message was that no one seems to have a problem with the increase in the minimum wage, it's all the other issues that came with it, with paid leave, with vacations," says Morrison. "It's not really as fair and what they've let on and of course they've cookie-cuttered every industry as being the same, so that was loud and clear."