Brantford, Brant County leaders pitch needs to provincial officials at AMO conference

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Meetings with top provincial government officials at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference were productive, Brantford’s deputy mayor says

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Rose Sicoli said the Brantford delegation was able to bring some urgent matters to the attention of the Ontario government.

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“When we met with Ministry of Transportation (MTO) officials there were specific areas that we need to address to help us grow in the new boundary lands,” Sicoli said Thursday. “We need to be able to lay water and wastewater pipeline along Highway 24 to facilitate that growth.

“We also need to be able to put pipeline underneath Highway 403 at Oak Park Road.”

Both initiatives require the cooperation of Ontario’s transportation ministry and the city needs to move forward with them in a timely manner, she said

“We were facing some challenges with that so the meeting with MTO was an opportunity to raise the issues with their top officials,” Sicoli said. “We were able to sit down with the MTO and explain what needed to be done and why.”

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City officials presented solutions to MTO officials that will help Brantford with the servicing of 1,824 hectares the city acquired from County of Brant. The area includes lands north of Powerline Road to Governors Road East.

The Ward 1 councillor led the city delegation, which included Ward 5 Coun. Mandy Samwell, fire chief Todd Binkley and Sasha Hill-Smith, manager of government relations in the mayor’s office. Mayor Kevin Davis had planned to attend, but was forced to withdraw due to an aggravating a back injury.

The Brantford delegation met with MPP Hardeep Grewal, a parliamentary assistant with the Ministry of Transportation, and Brantford Brant MPP Will Bouma. The group also met with Associate Minister Graydon Smith of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and MPP Tyler Allsopp, parliamentary assistant in the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

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“We talked about how some of our businesses have 80 per cent of their product going to the United States and that the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Canada has listed Brantford as the fifth city in Canada to be most dependent on U.S. trade,” Sicoli said. “We also emphasized that there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution to the tariff threats and asked them to look at what our community needs in terms of support.”

Brant County Mayor David Bailey along with county councillors John MacAlpine and David Miller also attended the conference. They were supported by Alison Newton, the county’s CAO, and David Mellor, the county’s general manager of operations.

The Brant County delegation met with Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services officials to talk about Ontario Works. As well, county officials met with Ministry of Long-Term Care to discuss the John Noble Home, Bell Court project.

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The $30-million expansion project has run into several issues that have increased the cost by an estimated $1.6 million and almost a year to the completion timeline.

County officials also met with the Ministry of Infrastructure about the Paris Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion and the Ministry of Transportation to talk about the Highway 403 and Bishopsgate Road interchange.

“Advocating for our residents at AMO is an important opportunity to ensure Brant’s priorities are heard by provincial leaders,” said Bailey in a news release. “We are proud to represent our community and work toward solutions that improve quality of life for everyone in the County of Brant.”

A not-for-profit organization, AMO represents all 444 Ontario municipalities. Among other functions, the organization works to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of municipal governments.

It also advocates for changes to federal and provincial policies on behalf of municipalities.

Vball@postmedia.com

@EXPVBall

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