MPP Paul Vickers At ROMA with Brockton Mayor Chris Peabody and Saugeen Shores Mayor Luke Charbonneau (Photo provided by Graham Taylor)
The MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound says he was kept busy at the annual ROMA conference with several delegations.
Paul Vickers joined Bruce and Grey Counties at the event in Toronto this week, which allows municipalities across Ontario to address the province on local issues.
“It went really well and I am really proud to say that I am from Bruce and Grey Counties because of the excellent job that the two counties have done. They were always well prepared, they were quick to the point, they were not there just to talk, they had their points, they had their information gathered,” says Vickers.
He participated in a number of delegations, the topics of which ranged from healthcare, conservation and energy.
“I can almost say for certain that every delegation that was brought forward was heard by the province and that is what the province does and we want to do, we want to listen to the concerns. You have got to learn from the people that are actually living the issues and the situations. We have got to make sure we listen to them to make sure we find out what the solutions could be and together we make better decisions when the two of us work together in collaboration,” says Vickers.
One of the key topics Grey County brought to ROMA was the amalgamation of conservation authorities proposed by Premier Doug Ford.
Vickers says he thinks the municipalities have some concerns surrounding the changes.
“It is sometimes hard to have big changes because people resist them, but really I think the important thing is, you have to remember we are doing this to make the conservation authorities better. We want them to be more aligned from one conservation authority to another. I think the days are gone where one conservation authority could interpret policy different than the other one. There is going to be a lot more continuity from one conservation authority in one area to the next,” says Vickers.
While the input period on the amalgamation of conservation authorities has ended, Vickers encourages people with concerns to reach out.