Duane Hicks
Delegates from across Rainy River District will gather at the Legion here Saturday for the 19th-annual general meeting of the Rainy River District Municipal Association.
And with an agenda covering topics from transportation and mining to public health and agriculture, they’ll have an information-packed day ahead of them.
The proceedings will get underway at 8:30 a.m. with registration, followed by invocation and introductory remarks from 9-9:15 a.m. and RRDMA business from 9:15-10:10 a.m. (the latter including the treasurer’s report, elections/appointments, resolutions, etc.)
RRDMA president Emily Watson said yesterday that during this business portion of agenda, Gerd O’Sullivan will make a presentation on behalf of the regional planning group for the district transportation committee.
“This is a committee from the Rainy River District that is looking into local transportation, or lack thereof,” noted Watson, adding the committee, which was identified as needed stemming from community round-table sessions held in recent years, has had several meetings to review the issue but now wants to get more municipal representation in its working group.
“They are looking for representation from the municipalities because right now it is a number of interested organizations, but not specifically from the municipal side of things,” Watson added.
“So [O’Sullivan] is going to be making a presentation on Saturday. That’s certainly something that affects everyone in the Rainy River District.”
Watson also said she will be bringing up the closing of the local Legal Aid office, which came about last week.
“Certainly that is going to play a huge role in the lives of anyone that is of low income and their access to Legal Aid,” she warned.
“I don’t agree that this change means clients can access more services than previously available,” added Watson. “I just heard about this [Monday], so this is something that is going to be brought forward.
“It is going to affect a number of ratepayers across the district,” she stressed.
The first of the conference’s speakers will be Jonathan Hall and Anthony Friedrich of the Township of Schreiber, who will speak on their experiences with a waste pelletization project.
After a coffee break, Raymond Threlkeld of Rainy River Resources will give an update on that company’s mining initiative from 11-11:30 a.m., followed by Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton from 11:35 a.m.-noon.
After lunch, Heather Brown of Municipal Affairs and Housing will speak from 1-1:30 p.m., followed by Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty from 1:35-2 p.m.
Dr. James Arthurs and Mark Perrault of the Northwestern Health Unit will speak to delegates from 2:05-2:30 p.m., after which Mildred Beck of the Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board will take the stage to give a report.
After a second coffee break, Amanda Turco of the Rainy River District Women’s Institute will speak from 3:15-3:35 p.m., followed by Grace Silander of the Rainy River Valley Safety Coalition.
Rounding out the lineup of presenters will be Geoff Gillon of the Rainy River Future Development Corp. from 4:05-4:30 p.m.., and then Linda Armstrong and Rick Neilson of the Rainy River Federation of Agriculture (4:30-4:55 p.m.)
Watson said Armstrong and Neilson will be bringing forward a resolution regarding the cost of production for district cattle producers.
“We see the cost of things like hamburger going up in the store, but the producer is not getting any more money than they were a number of years ago,” she noted.
“For a farming area like Rainy River District, that’s of concern.”
The programs will end with remarks from the incoming president (4:55-5 p.m.) Delegates then will enjoy a banquet afterwards at the Legion.
The RRDMA includes representatives from the municipalities of Alberton, Atikokan, Chapple, Dawson, Emo, Fort Frances, La Vallee, Lake of the Woods, Morley, and Rainy River.
