Bruce County council has approved an updated list of advocacy priorities.
The main areas that county staff will be focusing on includes six priorities that the county will be taking to the upcoming ROMA conference in January: community paramedicine funding, court security funding, energy and community readiness, housing and homelessness, conservation authority governance, and regional transportation.
Strategic Initiatives and Engagement Manager Amy Rier also shared some changes to the list of priorities.
“This report also recommends maintaining our existing advocacy platform, while moving Natural Gas Infrastructure from active advocacy to monitoring, reflecting the progress made through the province’s Natural Gas Expansion Program.”
She adds that it does not mean that there is no further focus on natural gas development, it is less of a focus for the time being while other topics are emphasized.
Rier said that some changes may follow once the ROMA conference, which is scheduled from January 24-26, has wrapped up.
“Following ROMA, staff will look to update this advocacy platform. We anticipate increased provincial activity in the coming months, following slow movement during the municipal election period, and ROMA will provide valuable insight into the province’s direction on a number of files.”
After the initiatives were approved by council, outgoing Warden Luke Charbonneau gave his support.
“I think it’s a good list of priorities for the time being,” said Charbonneau. “Although I do think it will be worthwhile revisiting it following ROMA, and after we’ve had a little bit of time following the municipal election to hear what the government’s priorities are. But I think it’s a good encapsulation of what our priorities are for the time being.”