Grey County Heads to 2016 AMO Conference

Warden Alan Barfoot will join more than 1,700 participants at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario's (AMO) 2016 Conference in Windsor from August 14 to 17.

For 117 years, Ontario’s largest municipal conference has brought together municipal, provincial and federal officials to work collectively to overcome municipal challenges and plan for the future.

Ontario’s Premier, Minister of Municipal Affairs and both opposition leaders are featured speakers and several additional provincial ministers will participate in the conference.

The annual conference is a chance for municipal officials to discuss and move forward on shared challenges, to learn and to create new opportunities that can benefit their communities. In addition to the conference program, municipal staff and officials will take part in over 500 municipal delegation meetings with provincial and federal ministries.

On August 14, delegates from Grey County and the Municipality of Meaford will meet with the Honourable Kathryn McGarry, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. The meeting will focus on proposed changes to the Niagara Escarpment Plan that will impact landowners in Grey County.

Key session topics at AMO this year include the fiscal future of Ontario’s municipalities, infrastructure funding and planning, innovation and service sharing, climate change, marijuana legalization, rural economic development, disaster preparedness, policing modernization, pension sustainability and the sharing economy. Program information is available online at www.amo.on.ca. These province-wide matters have local implications for our community.

During the conference, interviews with Warden Barfoot can be accommodated by calling Rob Hatten, Communications Officer, at 519-372-0219 ext.1235.

Conference news releases, fact sheets and presentations from a number of key speakers will be posted on AMO’s website throughout the duration of the conference at www.amo.on.ca.

AMO is a non-profit organization representing almost all of Ontario’s 444 municipal governments. AMO supports strong and effective municipal government in Ontario and promotes the value of municipal government as a vital and essential component of Ontario and Canada’s political system.

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Follow the conference on Twitter: @AMOPolicy, Hashtag: #AMOConf16