AMO 2021 Virtual Conference: City of Burlington Delegation Meets with Ministers
The annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference is an opportunity for our City to meet with the Province’s ministers and speak to them about the issues particular to our municipality and seek assistance from the provincial government wherever possible.While for the second time the conference went virtual (running from Monday, Aug. 16-Wednesday, Aug. 18), with the host city being the City of London, we still had the opportunity to meet with ministers via Zoom — in addition to hearing from the Premier, ministers and political party leaders, as well as attending sessions and forums on a various of municipal issues (such as the Canada Community Building Fund - formerly the Federal Gas Tax Fund; Women's Leadership Forum; and Economy Growth and Recovery in Ontario, to name a few).Prior to the start of the conference, the AMO Board (of which I sit on Large Urban Caucus) met and released our key messages for this year's conference on various issues, including: COVID - Municipal Financial Sustainability; Broadband; Climate Change; Infrastructure; Public Health; Indigenous Relations; Paramedics; Long-Term Care; Policing; Insurance and Waste Diversion. Please click this link for more: AMO Board of Directors Meeting Supplemental - Board Key Messages 2021-08-15.Below is a high level summary of the Ministers’ meetings for the Burlington delegation at the AMO 2020 virtual conference that took place on Monday, Aug 16, 2021 and Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021.Those meetings will be followed up with a thank you letter to each minister outlining agreed upon actions, as well as the presentations that formed the basis of our discussion. The presentations are also available via links in this post.In addition, a full report on the conference, including meetings with the ministers and supporting materials, will be presented at the September committee cycle.Attendance:In attendance at all delegation meetings were Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, City Manager Tim Commisso, Government Relations Manager Helen Walihura, and Mayor’s Chief of Staff Victoria Langdon.Where noted, additional guests joined the meetings.Summary:
MPP Mike Schreiner, Leader of Green Party of Ontario (Additional participants: Burlington Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan) — Presentation: AMO 2021 City of Burlington Presentation - Mike Schreiner - Ontario Green Party
- Purpose of Meeting
- Share Burlington’s top priorities including managing growth, affordable housing, diversity and inclusion, the environment, and empowering municipalities through the Charter City initiative; and
- MPP Schreiner shared his party's support for affordable housing and the Charter City initiative.
MPP Jim McDonell, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing (Additional participants: Burlington MPP Jane McKenna; MPP staff Ken Audziss; and Burlington Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns) — Presentation: AMO 2021 City of Burlington Presentation -MPP Jim McDonell, MMAH
- Purpose of Meeting
- This session enabled us to directly update Parliamentary Secretary McDonnell on our work on our affordable housing strategy, climate change actions, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and managing growth in Burlington.
- ACTION:
- We requested speedy approval of Regional Official Plan Amendment 48 that includes the adjusted boundaries of the Urban Growth Centre to the Burlington GO station area, once the comment period closes Sept. 8.
MPP Vincent Ke, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries — Presentation: AMO 2021 City of Burlington Presentation -Minister MacLeod - Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries
- Purpose of Meeting
- We discussed the Skyway Community Centre project’s energy-efficiency and inclusivity.
- ACTION:
- Seeking funding for the Skyway, our top community funding priority; and
- Explained our desire to obtain additional funding from the provincial government as we look to begin construction in 2022.
Steven Del Duca, Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party (Additional participants: Burlington Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan) — Presentation: AMO 2021 City of Burlington Presentation - Steven Del Duca - Liberal Party of Ontario
- Purpose of Meeting
- Share Burlington’s top priorities including managing growth, affordable housing, diversity and inclusion, the environment, and empowering municipalities through the Charter City initiative; and
- Elimination of the Ontario Lands Tribunal as a way to save money and speed up delivery of affordable housing, in with the unanimous resolution passed by Halton Regional Council.
The Hon. Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure (Additional participants: Burlington's Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan & Ward 6 Councillor Angelo Bentivegna) — Presentation: AMO 2021 City of Burlington Presentation -Minister Surma - Infrastructure
- Purpose of Meeting/ACTION:
- improving rural broadband access and gaining more clarity around how recently announced funding will impact specific Burlington neighborhoods; and
- Provincial funding for Skyway Community Centre project.
*NOTE: On Oct. 25, 2021, we received a letter from Min. Surma updating us on the discussion we had at the conference about the Community, Culture, and Recreation (CCR) stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) and the need to improve high-speedinternet connectivity across your community. Please click this link to read a copy of the letter: AMO 2021 - Letter from Minister of Infrastructure - Oct 25_2021. 
MPP Andrea Horwath, Leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) of Ontario (Additional participants: Burlington Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan - acting as chair of the delegation) — Presentation: AMO 2021 City of Burlington Presentation - Andrea Horwath -NDP Party
- Purpose of Meeting
- Share Burlington’s top priorities including managing growth, affordable housing, diversity and inclusion, the environment, and empowering municipalities through the Charter City initiative;
- MPP Horwath also shared her priorities on issues such as housing affordability and environmental initiatives.
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