COMMUNITY

So, we met with Minister Sarkaria to ask for our traffic impact studies to be approved so work can begin as soon as possible on the Rest Acres Road interchange, and well as to ask for a fair cost sharing agreement for the Bishopsgate interchange (due to an agreement from 2018, the County is paying the FULL cost of the Rest Acres Road Interchange upgrades) Both requests were met positively by the Minister and his staff, with the Minister directing his staff to follow up with us immediately after the conference to continue the discussion.

Our second topic was on the issue our agricultural producers in the County have had with crossing provincial highways to get their farm vehicles and farm products to where they need to go. As you know, agricultural vehicles are often slowmoving, and with the particular example of provincial Highway 24, it can be immensely challenging for farmers to safely cross the heavy traffic heading between Brant and the City of Cambridge or to the 401. We requested the Minister to help us create a controlled intersection along this highway to allow safe crossing (which unlike other roadways within the County, the County itself is unable to do without MTO approval). This request as well was met with enthusiasm, leading us to be hopeful for a rapid resolution to this issue as well.

Our third delegation was with Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Slyvia Jones on the topic of the new Hospital build for the County of Brant and City of Brantford. We were joined on this delegation by Hospital CEO Bonnie Camm, so that we could allow the expert to best communicate our needs to ensure the prompt movement of the hospital project

Our primary ask to the Minister was for assistance from her Ministry to finalize and move past Stage 1.2 Proposal, by selecting a final Facility Development Plan, getting the last of the funds needed to continue planning, and getting the province’s commitment to the hospital by including the hospital within the Government of Ontario’s budget in 2025 We also made it clear to the province that from the County perspective, we are happy to support this Hospital project regardless of what final facility development plan is chosen, because we recognize that minutia aside, we NEED a new hospital for the community of today and of tomorrow.

Lastly, we had a delegation with the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Logan Kanapathi. We wished to address the frozen (since 2018) base funding for Ontario Works program providers (of which the County of Brant is one in partnership with the City of Brantford). Whilst the Government did not indicate willingness to move on baseload funding, we did receive leads on various sources of grant funding opportunities coming down the pipeline We were pleased to be joined by two of our three MPPs in the County for this delegation as well, with both MPP Ernie Hardeman and MPP Brian Riddell participating. Though unrelated to the direct purpose of the delegation, both MPPs expressed their support of the County as a strong, relevant, and jurisdictionally independent partner to the province and City of Brantford in providing social services

Our ROMA 2025 conference was easily one of the most productive since my start on council in terms of actionable items and indication of provincial support out of our delegations I think it is a clear indicator that our shift in the past year to enhance and focus our government relations strategy is working as we had hoped. If you have followed our Government Relations Committee meetings, our next foray will be organizing a County of Brant Queen’s Park Day to get more time in front of ministers (conference delegations are restricted to a tight ten minutes a piece) to better advocate on behalf of our community. Stay tuned!

A delegation with Minister Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation, focused on Brant’s commitment to collaborating and providing meaningful engagement with our neighbours.