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Municipality of Mississippi Mills – Mississippi Mills Mayor Christa Lowry and Councillors Jane Torrance and Vicki Lowe join more than 1,600 participants from across the province at the 2023 Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) Conference. The conference is being held in-person, in downtown Toronto, from January 22 to 24, 2023.
The conference comes six months after the Ontario Government was re-elected. It will be the first time Premier will address municipal leaders since the fall legislative session. In response to the housing crisis, the Government of Ontario has made swift and significant changes that impact on land-use planning, public infrastructure financing, environmental protection, and municipal governance.
The conference theme, Breaking New Ground, focuses broadly on ROMA’s advocacy work completed over the past year, including ROMA’s action plan: Opportunities for Rural Ontario in a Post-COVID World. Additionally, ROMA’s Attainable Housing Task Force published an in-depth report in 2022 featuring practical steps to address Ontario’s rural housing crisis.
Key presenters for the 2023 conference include Ontario Premier Doug Ford, opposition leaders, and provincial and federal ministers. Keynote speakers include Jesse Wente, broadcaster and Indigenous advocate, speaking about the current state of truth and reconciliation in Canada and what can be done to further the process, and award-winning author Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon, who will discuss why our planet is in crisis, and the powers we possess to renew our imperiled world. Rural Ontario Municipalities Association Chair Robin Jones and Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) President Colin Best will also speak.
“It is a fantastic opportunity to learn, share, network and engage with others about critical rural municipal issues, with the goal to bring innovative solutions and ideas back home,” said Mayor Lowry. “Today Councillor Bev Holmes joined us in a very successful delegation with Parliamentary Assistant Rob Flack from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. I'd also like to thank MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston John Jordan for his support," she added.
During the conference, interviews with Mayor Lowry can be accommodated by calling Shannon Gutoskie, Communications Coordinator at 613-256-2064 ext. 208.
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.
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For more information about ROMA or the 2023 Conference, contact:
Brian Lambie, ROMA Media Contact, 416-729-5425, lambie@redbrick.ca
Follow the conference on Twitter: @ROMA_Ont, Hashtag: #ROMA2023
Feature photo left to right: Mississippi Mills Councillor Vicki Lowe, Mississippi Mills Councillor Bev Holmes, Parliamentary Assistant Rob Flack, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Mississippi Mills Mayor Christa Lowry, Mississippi Mills Councillor Jane Torrance, MPP John Jordan, Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston.
