Rural municipal leaders head to Toronto for 2020 ROMA Conference

TORONTO, Jan. 13, 2020 /CNW/ - More than 1,000 rural municipal officials and other participants from across the province will attend the 2020 Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) Conference in Toronto from Sunday, January 19 to Tuesday, January 21 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, 123 Queen Street West, Toronto.

The annual conference allows municipal leaders to forge relationships and foster partnerships. The program features plenary sessions and workshops reflecting the broad scope of municipal responsibilities. Key session topics relate to rural health care including public health and paramedics, broadband expansion and social issues like the opioid crisis.

Keynote presenters include:

• Hon. Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario
• Hon. Steve Clark, Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
• Hon. Ernie Hardeman, Ontario's Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs
• Hon. Christine Elliott, Ontario's Minister of Health
• Andrea Horwath, Leader of the Ontario NDP
• John Fraser, Interim Leader, Ontario Liberal Party
• Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Green Party of Ontario
• Jamie McGarvey, AMO President

The conference will also host the Ministers' forum, a popular open question and answer period. Other speakers include Canadian broadcast personality and marketing guru Terry O'Reilly, and nationally syndicated political columnist Andrew Coyne.

In addition to the conference program, municipal elected officials will take part hundreds of delegation meetings with provincial ministries.

All media are required to register in the VIP Room on the Concourse Level at the Sheraton Centre.  Information is available online at www.roma.on.ca.

About ROMA
ROMA takes pride in promoting, supporting and enhancing strong and effective rural governments. About 270 of Ontario's 444 municipalities have populations of less than 10,000, while scores more are rural in character. The rural arm of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, ROMA advocates for policies and programs that will help build thriving rural Ontario communities.

Follow the conference on Twitter: @ROMA_Ont, Hashtag: #ROMA2020

SOURCE Rural Ontario Municipal Association

For more information about ROMA or the 2019 Conference, contact: Brian Lambie, ROMA Media Contact, 416-729-5425, [email protected]