By Pepper Parr
August 18th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
They will head for London Ontario to take part in the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference taking place from the 20th to the 23rd.
Council members from 422 of the 444 municipal councils in Ontario are expected to show up.
City Manager Tim Commisso.
The Mayor, along with Councillors Sharman, Galbraith and Bentivegna will be attending along with City Manager Tim Commisso. The Regional government pays for the councillors to attend AMO.
Brian Rosborough, Executive Director of AMO
Brian Rosborough, Executive Director of AMO, explains that people think of AMO as first and foremost an advocacy organization; advancing the interests of municipal council member; and for advancing the idea of good public policy where the sector is speaking with one voice.
This year, after the 2022 municipal elections, 42% of all Councillors are new to municipal council.
Burlington was not amongst that portion of the membership – every member of the current council was re-elected in 2022.
A feature of the AMO program has the entire provincial cabinet up on the stage for a question period in which AMO members are allowed to ask any questions they want. It’s an extraordinary moment of accountability for the province.
There are also delegation meetings; a local council can request a meeting with a cabinet minister, where they get to talk about local issues and priorities.
Elementary students get a look at what city’s use to keep their city operational.
Typically there are four or five hundred of those meetings that take place over the course of four days. It really is an opportunity for local councils to sit down with a cabinet minister and talk about the things that are really important to that municipality.
Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward
There is little doubt that Burlington has a lot of questions to ask – but there was nothing in the way of a media release setting out what the city wanted more information on – don’t expect the Mayor to tell you how things went with the Premier when he outed her on Burlington’s rate of new residential construction. Burlington was at the bottom of that list.
Burlington doesn’t include that kind of information as part of their transparency and accountability mandate.
“I can’t think of a venue where, like the entire government essentially shows up to answer questions outside of question period” said Brian Rosborough
“It’s a moderated discussion, but it is an opportunity for a pretty frank exchange.” Sometimes, he added, “we get a little announcement coming out of the Premier or a minister says something that that they want people to be aware of and we’re always eager for those.
Leader of the Opposition: Marit Stiles Photo courtesy NDP
Speeches are delivered from the official opposition the NDP, from the Liberal Party and from the Green Party. Each party has an opportunity to clearly articulate their commitments to the municipal sector to recognize that they understand the importance in the civil sector, and to give us a sense of what’s happening not just with the government, but with the opposition parties
Rosborough said that while there isn’t a general theme for this year’s conference there is an informal theme that we really want to explore and that is around optimism.
This government has three more years in its mandate and our view is that there’s a great deal we can accomplish together over the next three years.
We demonstrated a remarkable success in working together around COVID19; all three orders of government, provincial, federal and municipal governments with the municipal level doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
The big issue at the moment is around housing supply and affordable housing. It’s a top priority for the province, a top priority for the federal government and a top priority for municipal governments.
I think people are absolutely seized with the need to make some progress and municipalities are certainly eager to be part of that success.
Policy gets thrashed out at the plenary sessions. In addition there are about 15 workshops that occur throughout the course of the program, Outgoing Lieutenant Governor Dowdeswell is going to address the delegates.
Catherine McKenna will speak on climate change, social, cultural and environmental and economic impact.
Former federal Cabinet Minister, the Honorable Catherine McKenna, will speak on surrounding climate change social, cultural and environmental and economic impact. She is going to be one of three speakers for the Women’s Leadership Forum.
AMO has a partnership with the Council of Ontario Universities with three professors: from Wilfrid Laurier University, the Toronto based Metropolitan University and from McMaster talking about innovation related to housing.
Premier Doug Ford with Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark
The municipal level of government delivers most of the day to day services provided by government – the level of efficiency they achieve makes a big difference in the quality of life you live. Fixing the potholes, waste removal and the recreation service delivered are what keeps people content.
The elephant in the room didn’t get a word of mention from AMO – but the scathing report from the provincial Auditor General will be the hottest topic. As the delegates listen to the Minister of Municipal Affairs most will wonder how much longer he is going to have his job.
