Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens has been in Toronto meeting with senior government ministers bringing the needs and wants of Windsor to Queen's Park.
While Wednesday was a busy day for the province as it announced new COVID-19 initiatives, Dilkens says Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney was able to carve out some time to discuss big ticket projects like the expansion of the E.C. Row Expressway and the development of lands around the site for the new mega hospital.
Dilkens says the one-on-one meeting was productive.
"Making sure that our priorities are put forward for their consideration and trying to see if there's opportunities to time these things out and get the job done. We know the community is in this great period of growth and we want to make sure that we continue to grow and that we're laying the foundations for our economic future."
He says, without a provincial Conservative representative, it's important to make sure Windsor isn't forgotten.
"We don't have a seat at the table. So it's incumbent upon me as mayor to try and advocate for the positions that are important for the community. So that's what I'm here to do. You can imagine with 444 municipalities in Ontario, every mayor has priorities for their own community as well. So we're competing against each other," Dilkens stated.
Dilkens says it's all about collaboration.
"For me, it's about trying to lay that out and how we can fit in to helping them achieve their goals, but at the same time, a little bit selfishly, making sure that Windsor wins not just in 2022, but thinking of 2025 and all the way to 2030. Are we setting the stage and getting our projects booked to make sure that we can move our interest forward as well?"
Dilkens was scheduled to take part in the province's Summit on Housing Affordability Thursday, but that's been postponed due to concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19.