The County of Essex is calling on provincial candidates running for election to commit to addressing six priorities for the region.
Essex County Counts covers 6 key areas of priority that have been discussed online, and at County Council, that are crucial to quality of life and economic development in the region.
The papers cover areas such as provincial support for the new hospital system, increased funding for infrastructure maintenance, and reducing municipal liability and insurance costs.
Essex County Warden Gary McNamara tells AM800, another important priority is affordable housing.
“It’s a affordable housing, increasing the stock, and improving our social housing stock, bringing it up to standards. But most importantly, we still have a waiting list of over 5,000 families that are waiting.”
McNamara says bringing high speed internet to underserviced parts of the county should also be a priority.
“It’s hard to believe, but there are areas in the county where high-speed internet is not there, and the accessibility is very difficult. The pandemic really exposed the vulnerability,” he said.
One more area of priority includes making sure county-level climate change initiatives get the funding and attention they need.
“In order for us to be successful, to put a lot of those programs into place," began McNamara. "...we need a partner at the provincial level to help also finance some of those programs.”
The provincial election is on June 2, 2022. Advanced polling opened Thursday, May, 19.