More than 1,600 municipal leaders meet in Niagara Falls

NIAGARA FALLS, ON, Aug. 17, 2015 /CNW/ - The Association of Municipalities of Ontario's Annual Conference kicked off in Niagara Falls today.

The Honourable Ted McMeekin, Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, PC Leader Patrick Brown and NDP leader Andrea Horwath all spoke to their desire to have a strong working partnership between the Government of Ontario and Ontario's 444 municipal governments.

AMO President Gary McNamara appreciated that sincere sentiment, but stressed that what municipalities really want is a partnership that really works for Ontario's communities.

"Municipalities have been clear about the actions that we feel are needed to make Ontario communities more successful," said Gary McNamara, AMO President. "A strong partnership between provincial and municipal government should be a given. We serve the same public. The success of the partnership will be measured on what we can deliver."

Ontario's municipalities provide most of the services that most people use, most often, and they do it on about 9 cents of every household tax dollar. They also build and maintain the most infrastructure. To succeed, municipalities seek more sustainable and predictable fiscal relationships, greater flexibility to innovate, greater ability to control costs, and assistance with infrastructure investment.

President McNamara's complete remarks are available on at www.amo.on.ca.

Conference highlights for Tuesday, August 18 will include:

• 1:15 p.m. – Raymond Louie, President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities
• 1:30 p.m. – Dr. Katherine Loflin, world renowned leader in "place making"
• 2:30 p.m. – Presentation of the AMO Gas Tax Awards
• 2:45 p.m. – First Nations Leaders
• 3:30 p.m. – The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario
• 3:45 p.m. – Ontario Government Ministers and Parliamentary Assistants answer questions from municipal delegates in an open session

Reporters and delegates can build a personalized conference itinerary and access key conference information through AMOmobile – the Association's free mobile app.

AMO is a non-profit organization representing almost all of Ontario's 444 municipal governments. AMO supports and enhances strong and effective municipal government in Ontario and promotes the value of municipal government as a vital and essential component of Ontario and Canada's political system.

Follow AMO on Twitter: @AMOPolicy, #AMOCONF15

SOURCE Association of Municipalities of Ontario

Brian Lambie, AMO Media Contact, 416-729-5425, [email protected]