The Paris Independent
5
November 4, 2023
COMMUNITY NEWS Council supports formation of new Government Relations Committee to strengthen provincial and federal relationships By Casandra Turnbull One councillor is spearheading a proactive approach to stronger governance across the board by strengthening municipal, provincial and federal relationships to better represent the residents of Brant County. At council last week, Ward 1 Councillor Jennifer Kyle presented a proposed resolution to form a Government Relations Committee with a primary goal of building a strategic approach to interacting with elected officials on all levels of government. Its purpose is warranted more than ever as Brantford-Brant’s growing federal electoral riding was subdivided into two last year to form Flamborough-Glanbrook-Brant North and Brantford-Brant South-Six Nations. Similar electoral changes will likely follow on the provincial level before 2026. With two sets of MPs and MPPs representing residents in Brant – a rapidly growing municipality of 40,000 now and projected to be 59,000 by 2051 – unified representation will be crucial. “We have grown a lot and there is a lot more growing to do. To ensure we have the resources, services and infrastructure to support our residents, it will be important for council to not only make wise decisions for the community, but we will also need to have strong partners at all levels of government,” said Kyle. As a newly elected councillor in 2022, Kyle said she’s spent the first year learning the ropes, attending conferences and observing. One thing that she’s really noticed is the lack of a coordinated approach to interacting with other elected officials, outside Brantford-Brant’s healthy relationship with MP Larry Brock and MPP Will Bouma. Continued on page 6
Ward 1 Councillor Jennifer Kyle presented the idea to form a new Government Relations Committee in an effort to provide a more unified voice for Brant residents.
