Premier Ford to address municipal leaders in Ottawa

Premier Doug Ford will address municipal leaders in Ottawa this morning, on the first full day of events at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference.

Premier Doug Ford will address municipal leaders in Ottawa this morning, on the first full day of events at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference.

More than 1,700 officials representing municipalities and organizations from across the province are in Ottawa for the annual AMO conference, the first in-person gathering of municipal leaders in three years.

The premier is the first of several provincial and federal government officials scheduled to address delegates at the conference this week. Ford will speak at 10:10 a.m. at the Shaw Centre.

Ford's speech to municipal leaders comes six days after his Ontario government's new throne speech and the reintroduction of the budget, and 10 weeks before mayors and councillors face voters in the municipal election.

In June, Ontario's Big City Mayors requested an emergency meeting with Premier Ford and his cabinet to address, "the crises of chronic homelessness, mental health, safety and addictions issues" facing municipalities across Ontario.

"Municipal governments have stepped up to tackle the urgent need for shelter and healthcare services, but this is the responsibility of the provincial government," OBCM Chair Cam Guthrie, Mayor of Guelph, said. "The impacts of these issues are being faced by our downtown cores and communities, creating further devastating impacts on marginalized and vulnerable populations."

Last week, Ford and his newly elected Progressive Conservative government opened a new session at the Ontario Legislature with the throne speech and reintroduced the budget. The throne speech urged Ontarians to prepare for an economic slowdown due to rising inflation, a "growing sense of uncertainty" amid COVID-19 numbers and the war in Ukraine.