Duane Hicks
Fort Frances delegates once again brought up local concerns with various provincial ministers at the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario late last month in London.
Mayor Roy Avis, Coun. Paul Ryan, and CAO Mark McCaig were at the conference, which included pre-scheduled meetings with four ministers.
And while the ministry reps couldn’t promise too much this close to a provincial election, Mayor Avis said in an interview two weeks ago it was important nonetheless to attend the conference and raise local issues with them.
“I don’t think there could be too many promises made, other than listening at this time, because the writ for the next election [was] going to be dropped [Sept. 7],” he noted.
“Therefore, there’s no use making any promises or direct commitment because we all have to wait until the election’s over.
“If you don’t go to these meetings, however, you get lost in the shuffle,” Mayor Avis added.
“You have to go and put your name front and centre, and continue to argue for your municipality,” he stressed.
The mayor did note the town normally sends himself, the CAO, and two councillors, but only sent one of the latter this time.
“Knowing the time of year, where we’re at and where we’re going [with the election], we felt that we could reduce our costs and just go with three people,” he reasoned.
Mayor Avis said the town delegates met with Northern Development, Mines and Forestry minister Michael Gravelle regarding the wood supply competitive process.
Advocating on behalf of the local mill for forestry, the delegates told Gravelle that it is crucial that Abitibi-Bowater’s operations in Fort Frances gets the woods it needs when wood allocation in finalized.
“We wanted to make sure that with our mill here, there is no jeopardy in receiving the wood supply that it needs to still operate,” the mayor remarked.
“We wanted to make it clear that we were supporting [Abitibi’s] application in the wood process.”
They also met with Community Safety and Correctional Services minister Jim Bradley regarding municipal/OPP relations.
“It’s public knowledge that we reduced our complement this year by 1.95 full-time equivalent people. And so, with that staffing reduction, we just wanted to discuss the policing aspect to make sure that we have adequate coverage in the community,” the mayor said.
As well, the local delegates met with Rick Johnson, parliamentary assistant to the minister of infrastructure, regarding the disposition of property owned by the province—namely the lot in between the clinic and old library.
“We’re in the process of entering an agreement with the Fort Frances Community Clinic regarding the library,” Mayor Avis noted. “There’s a parking lot between the old library and the clinic, and nobody’s allowed to park in it.
“We wanted to know if that’s available for sale because with the health team going to be working in the library, and also the clinic on the other side, it makes common sense that should be used as a parking lot,” he said.
“Being owned by the provincial government, we felt that it would be in our best interest to take this forward to the minister and get buy in on his part.”
Mayor Avis said the town is hoping to hear back about the parking lot in the future.
Finally, the local trio met with Community and Social Services minister Madeleine Meilleur.
“We met with her regarding [the] Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board voting structure,” the mayor explained, noting Fort Frances pays the biggest contribution to the DSSAB board and yet when it comes to voting, its vote is not weighted by a proportionate amount.
“We feel that there should be a restructuring of the voting process at the board level,” he remarked.
The delegates also expressed ongoing concerns about “uploaded” program costs and how much municipalities should be realizing from those savings, as reported earlier this year.
Mayor Avis said the town had received a letter from Municipal Affairs and Housing minister Rick Bartolucci stating the uploads “give upper- and lower-tiered municipalities the advantage of knowing what to expect, and enable councils and staff to think long-term and plan for local priorities.”
These priorities include building modern and efficient infrastructure, economic development, and job creation.
“We have talked to our DSSAB board regarding these matters to no avail,” Mayor Avis charged. “The Town of Fort Frances has not seen any direct benefit of the upload money, that’s why we took it forward to Minister Madeleine Meilleur.”
The conference also included speeches by the three provincial party leaders, Dalton McGuinty (Liberals), Tim Hudak (Progressive Conservatives) and Andrea Horwath (NDP), who outlined at least parts of their parties’ platforms for the Oct. 6 election.
The delegates then broke off to attend various workshops, covering topics ranging from “Advancing the Innovation Agenda: Economic Development in Rural Ontario” to arbitration and the ability to pay for emergency services, the latter of which is an issue facing municipalities across Ontario and elsewhere in Canada.
Delegates also attended a “bear-pit” session, where they fielded many questions to a total of 17 provincial ministers for more than an hour.
“Being in election mode, it had a very good temp to it,” noted Mayor Avis. “It was worthwhile attending.”
