Chatham-Kent's mayor says he is giving the province's new leaders the benefit of the doubt and waiting to see what happens.
Mayor Randy Hope says he's not really concerned about Ontario's new premier Doug Ford, but wants to make sure that objectives like municipal funding and programs for local businesses are followed through with.
"If there's decisions that are made that are harmful to the residents or to the municipality, we'll speak up," says Hope. "But other than that, I think we should give everybody the benefit of the doubt and give them the opportunity to demonstrate themselves."
Hope says it is important that Chatham-Kent has government MPPs in the region. Both Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton and Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Rick Nicholls were reelected in Thursday's election.
He says McNaughton should hopefully end up with a cabinet post as well.
"I wish them well. The one thing that's always nice about government, it's always great to be in opposition. The hardest part is being in the governing body," says Hope. "You can blame somebody else now and now we have to be accountable."
Hope says the last thing he wants to see is cuts.
"We're gonna watch and see, but I'm giving them a chance to understand where they're at. Let's see what policies they come up with," explains Hope. "Let's see where the direction of how they're going to get their spending under control goes and the initiatives they're going to do."
The mayor says he's reached out to some key conservatives elected in the Toronto area to open up a conversation.
"I've reached out to them and said 'Look, we're willing and able to sit down and have conversations about rural Ontario and the communities that we represent,'" he says.