Grey County Warden Selwyn Hicks is heading to the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s (AMO) 2019 Conference in Ottawa.
Around 2,000 participants will gather from August 18 to the 21, including guest speakers such as Ontario’s Premier, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, and the three-party leaders.
Grey County is participating in five meetings.
Grey County’s first meeting is on August 19 where delegates will ask the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to support Georgian College’s request to expand their programs in Owen Sound. The next meeting is with the Ministry of Long-Term Care to discuss operating funding and new long-term care beds. The third meeting is with the Ministry of Education to discuss the impacts of funding changes to children’s services.
On August 20, Grey County will meet with the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services to talk about changes to Ontario Works funding. Grey County’s final meeting is with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks to discuss the impacts of proposed changes to the Conservation Authorities Act.
When not in delegations, Grey County representatives will be busy learning more about key conference topics, including cybersecurity, cannabis legalization, local economies in transition, changes to the health care system, recycling and plastics, affordable housing, municipal policing, rural economic development, climate change, addressing social and health problems facing our communities and much more.
The annual conference is a chance for municipal officials to discuss and move forward on shared challenges, to learn, and to create new opportunities.