Renfrew County Warden Jennifer Murphy (front, fourth from right) joins her fellow wardens and provincial leaders at Queen's Park (Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus photo)
Renfrew County Warden Jennifer Murphy and CAO Craig Kelley recently had a productive day at Queen’s Park.
Murphy was in Toronto for the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus advocacy day, where EOWC members representing 103 municipalities gathered for a full day of strategic meetings with provincial decision makers, including 16 meetings with ministers, parliamentary assistants, and members of provincial parliament.
The caucus used the day to advance key platform priorities with a focus on strengthening municipal capacity, modernizing infrastructure investment, and supporting sustainable growth, including the following:
- Reinvesting the 1.76% non-refundable municipal HST portion directly back into municipal infrastructure;
- Establishing a province-wide standardized asset management system to support smarter infrastructure planning and investment decisions;
- Advancing the Eastern Ontario Transformation Action Plan to drive economic competitiveness, workforce development, and regional growth;
- Returning Ontario to a regular property tax reassessment cycle;
- Making community paramedicine funding permanent; and
- Supporting the establishment of a regulated paramedic college in Ontario.
“Eastern Ontario is not waiting on the sidelines — our municipalities are ready to build, ready to grow, and ready to partner,” said EOWC chair Bonnie Clark. “Today’s conversations demonstrated that the Province recognizes the importance of working collaboratively with municipalities to deliver meaningful results for communities across Ontario.”
(written by Kasey Egan)
