Windsor's mayor has met with the Premier of Ontario and the province's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
"I thought it was one of the best meetings that I've had with senior level government politicians in my time as mayor," says Mayor Drew Dilkens.
Dilkens was in Toronto on Monday and had a 30-minute meeting with Premier Doug Ford and Minister Steve Clark.
Welcomed Mayor @DrewDilkens to Queen's Park to discuss how we can grow Windsor's economy to create good jobs and opportunities. Our government is committed to making Ontario open for business, particularly for regions near our borders that rely heavily on trade. pic.twitter.com/ODD9tD3vzi
— Doug Ford (@fordnation) December 10, 2018
They discussed a number of items including the proposed mega hospital, crime, homelessness, mental health and addiction.
He says a lot was talked about in 30-minutes.
"It was a frank and open and just a real honest conversation," says Dilkens. "What I got back from both the minister and the premier was a spirit and a willingness to try get things done. It wasn't about just writing down in a book and look at it sometime later. It's like how can we make things better and so I appreciated that approach."
It was wonderful to meet with Premier @FordNation and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing @SteveClarkPC to discuss priorities that matter to the people of @CityWindsorON pic.twitter.com/7qE3u1MaRZ
— Drew Dilkens (@drewdilkens) December 10, 2018
Dilkens says the first item he brought up was the proposed hospital.
"I wanted him to know and I'm glad we had a conversation about it, was the understanding that we have done a lot of work to get to where we are today," says Dilkens. "That both the city and the county almost unanimously supported the proposal and have been collecting money to fund our share for the last two years. He didn't know all of those details so it was great as he moves forward and prepares their budget."
Dilkens says Ford gave him his cell phone number and told him to call anytime.
The mayor also brought up barriers dealing with species at risk legislation, wetlands and woodlots.
- with files from AM800's Paul McDonald