Led by Chair Peter Emon and Vice-Chair Bonnie Clark, the Wardens and Mayors of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (EOWC) will join more than 2,000 participants at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario's 2023 AMO Conference at RBC Place London and the DoubleTree by Hilton in London, Ontario, August 20 to 23.
The 2023 Conference will bring municipal leaders together with the Ontario Government following a year of important legislative changes, many intended to tackle the province’s housing crisis. Housing continues to be a top priority for all municipal governments. This year’s event features more than 60 speakers, sessions, and workshops reflecting the broad scope of municipal responsibilities.
Keynote presenters include Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his Government’s ministers, Marit Stiles, Leader of the Ontario NDP and Official Opposition, John Fraser, Interim Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Green Party of Ontario, and Colin Best, AMO President.
The annual conference is an opportunity for municipal officials to work together on solutions around today’s big challenges, to learn, and to create new opportunities that benefit our communities. In addition to the conference program, municipal staff and officials will take part in hundreds of municipal delegation meetings with provincial ministries. The EOWC’s Chair, Peter Emon, and Vice-Chair, Bonnie Clark, will be meeting with the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones, Minister of Long-Term Care, Paul Calandra, the Ontario NDP Caucus, and the Ontario Liberal Caucus. The EIOWC will discuss three strategic priorities including paramedic services, long-term care, and housing. The EOWC also looks forward to meeting with Members of Provincial Parliament as part of delegation meetings.
Sessions and speakers will cover a wide range of topics, including housing, women’s leadership, AMO’s partnership with Ontario’s public colleges, cyber security, electronic permitting, municipal risk and liability, infrastructure investment, energy innovation, healthcare transformation, broadband, and much more. On August 21, AMO and the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA) will sign a Memorandum of Understanding, signifying a first of its kind relationship between AMO and an Indigenous women’s organization. August 23 plenary programming will focus on homelessness.
The EOWC’s Vice-Chair, Bonnie Clark, will be speaking as part of the session ‘The Evolving Provincial Housing Framework’ as it relates to the EOWC’s housing priority. EOWC members will be attending other sessions of interest including those on health transformation, building age-friendly communities, and collaborating for better outcomes with Indigenous partners and other stakeholders, among others.