Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus Chair Says This Year's AMO Conference In Ottawa Was The Largest Conference They've Ever Held
by Bob Montgomery
Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus Chair and Huron County Warden, Glen McNeil, says this year's AMO Conference in Ottawa was an amazing event.
McNeil says there were more than 3,300 participants there, making it the largest AMO Conference they've ever had, and that was because there is currently so much interest among the municipalities. McNeil says he was involved in two delegations on behalf of his municipality of A-C-W, a delegation with the town of Goderich regarding health care in Huron County, and seven delegations, not only on behalf of Huron County but also WOWC with different ministers. And he suggests that their position to address the need for more housing, infrastructure, workforce and homelessness and addictions and mental health were very well received, they were understood and with the respective ministries under AMO's advocacy efforts, we look forward to moving these files ahead.
McNeil adds we are currently going through a time when all municipalities and all governments are facing the same problems of housing, homelessness, infrastructure and workforce at the same time, and every one of those issues is urgent, and no municipalities, rural or urban, are immune from them. But he does believe that when everyone works together under AMO's umbrella they can work with the various levels of government and make progress in addressing those common issues.
McNeil also suggests that the solution has to start at the municipal level because the people who live in each community understand the needs in their community better than anyone, so it's up to the county and the municipalities to address the issues and then communicate with the Federal and Provincial governments about the need for funding to follow through with a solution. In the end, it's up to the municipalities to move the solutions forward with the collaboration of the Federal and Provincial government.
