Grey County is looking at which issues it will raise at this year’s conference with the provincial powers that be.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference is set for August 18th to 21st and provides an opportunity for local government representatives to speak with the provincial government and advocate for provincial support or for legislative change.
Well ahead of the conference, the County plans its delegations. Council’s Committee of the Whole heard a staff report outlining possible meetings Thursday.
CAO Kim Wingrove says one would be with the Ministry of Health regarding rural healthcare and hospitals.
Wingrove says it would highlight “The need for appropriate funding and system planning and consultation,” adding Bruce County will join them in that delegation. “Durham is a situation, Chesley is a situation,” says Wingrove. Both hospitals have faced ongoing closures of their emergency departments and the hospital corporation that runs them, the South Bruce Grey Health Centre, has decided to move the inpatient beds out of Durham next month. The County is already pushing for a meeting with the Ministry before that conference as well.
Wingrove says another meeting would be with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
She explained to Committee of the Whole Thursday, “OMAFRA holds the rural file and is to be concerned with representing the interests and the health and viability of rural communities and we need a rural voice at the cabinet table regarding those rural needs.” She says they would talk to OMAFRA about access to primary care, schools, childcare, and funding for infrastructure.
“All of those things go into making a rural community able to be successful to attract and retain investment, population,” says Wingrove, noting they want to bring some very specific Grey County examples to that table.
She says there’s also a goal to meet with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
“There’s a piece here as well to talk about the rural communities and where the planning legislation is supporting us and where we continue to be challenged either financially for matters related to housing and growth,” says Wingrove.
The County also wants to talk with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
She says, “Rural Ontario is where the land is. We’re seeing significant investments happening in rural Ontario. We continue to look for those investments, but what we hear from our colleagues at the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus and others is that again, that infrastructure that makes a community successful has to be there along with the investment by the individual companies. How can we attract and retain business investment without the basic infrastructure to support it?”
Wingrove says that relates to things like intercommunity transportation, labour force development and support for satellite campuses of community colleges among other things.
She added that a possible alternate route for highway 26 as it gets busier is still something the County would like to discuss, noting, “We’ve had a number of discussions with MTO over the years. There is still the need to make progress on finalizing what that alternate route is for Highway 26, where do we want to go with that?”
Wingrove says another delegation would be with the Ministry of Long-term Care to talk about rural healthcare and access to primary care as well as the need for long-term sustainable funding for community paramedicine. They also plan to give the ministry an update on the Rockwood Terrace redevelopment project in Durham.
Following Wingrove’s report about the possible delegations, Councillor Barbara Dobreen noted, “Building healthy communities is much more than just putting up sticks and building houses. All of these… points and these requests tie in to helping us to fulfill the province’s request to build more houses, but keeping our communities healthy at the same time, so I support this one hundred per cent.”