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http://www.timminspress.com/2016/08/03/mayor-lining-up-talks-with-ministers-at-amo

Timmins City Hall

TIMMINS - Timmins city council may be bucking a tradition next week as several members of council have decided to attend the annual meeting of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO).

The event is being held at Caesar’s Hotel and Casino complex in Windsor from Aug. 14 to 17.

They’re bucking tradition by the fact that several councillors are choosing to attend the conference when they have also attended the annual Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) conference, which was held in Toronto last February.

Both the OGRA and AMO conferences are seen as the key conferences for municipal councillors, where they might meet higher level government officials and get updated on essential municipal-provincial issues.

In previous years, the practice was established that if a council member attended one conference, he or she would not attend the other.

It was regarded as a way to keep council’s travel budget in line while at the same time allowing all council members a chance to travel and to learn the ropes.

Things are changing.

The Daily Press emailed Mayor Steve Black, who usually attends both conferences as he is regarded as the official representative of Timmins. The mayor was asked to provide a list of council members and their attendance.

The councillors who attended OGRA last winter were Pat Bamford, Joe Campbell, Rick Dubeau, Andrew Marks, Noella Rinaldo and Walter Wawrzaszek. The mayor noted that for Rinaldo, it was her first time travelling to the out-of-town conference in her six years on council. Including the mayor, it meant seven out of nine council members attended. Those who did not attend the Good Roads conference were Mike Doody and Andre Grzela.

So far, according to information from city hall, it appears seven council members have put in the request to attend AMO, despite some of them having also attended Good Roads.

This includes Bamford, Campbell, Dubeau, Doody, Rinaldo, Wawrzaszek and the mayor. It should be noted that Mike Doody is a member of the AMO board of directors and his travel costs are paid for by AMO. Those not attending include Grzela and Marks.

The mayor regards attendance at the AMO conference important from the perspective that he has arranged to meet with provincial cabinet ministers to discuss local issues, or at least arrange for later meetings on such issues.

Black said this includes a meeting with Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca to discuss future funding for the Connecting Link, and a meeting with Community and Social Services Minister Helena Jaczek to discuss CDSSAB funding.

In both cases, said Black, the meetings will also be attended by Northern Development and Mines Minister Michael Gravelle.

Black said he is still waiting to hear back on other meeting requests with Ontario ministers. The AMO event will also allow for a special ministers meeting with the mayors of the five large Northern Ontario cities — Timmins, North Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay, said Black.

Issues for discussion will include energy costs, transportation, the Ring Of Fire mining development and MPAC (Municipal Property Assessment Corporation), he said.

The mayor said he will also join a meeting with several Ontario ministers to discuss priorities with FONOM (Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities) and to present a united front from Northeastern Ontario.

“We also get requests from other groups to meet such as the Ontario Medical Association to discuss issues they have and want to bring to the attention of municipal leaders which we try to accommodate,” said Black.