The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference is underway in Ottawa.
More than 3,000 municipal leaders from across the province are meeting to discuss issues including housing affordability, homelessness, infrastructure funding and public safety.
Windsor Ward 9 coun. and AMO board member Kieran McKenzie says the conference is an important opportunity to connect with other municipal leaders and senior levels of government.
He adds Windsor is expected to draw plenty of attention during discussions this year.
“I think there’ll be a lot of interest, particularly with the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, the bilateral relationship between Canada and the United States and the host of other issues that all brings forward,” McKenzie said.
He says the annual gathering creates opportunities for direct discussions with other levels of government.
“It’s a great opportunity to have those frank and and good conversations with senior levels of government, mostly the provincial government, but sometimes there are some federal members that are that are in attendance as well. Just to talk about what’s happening in our municipalities and the different ways that we can better partner to be able to to serve the people that we’re there to serve,” he said.
McKenzie is also seeking re-election to the AMO board, with results of the vote expected Tuesday.
He says having a seat at the table has helped advance local concerns.
“Early on in President Trump’s term when he started beating the tariff drums, this had very serious implications for municipalities. Through that, my colleagues agreed, and we started the work of really looking at what the impacts might be for municipalities as far as the bilateral trade relationship goes between Canada and the United States, and the procurement processes that we need to follow,” McKenzie said.
The conference includes more than 750 meetings between municipal leaders and provincial cabinet ministers, along with workshops, policy discussions and keynote addresses from political leaders across Ontario.