NOMA President Wendy Landry speaks to representatives during the 2023 Thunder Bay District Municipal League meeting on March 24, 2023 (Adam Riley/Acadia Broadcasting)

Its not just cities and towns meeting with provincial cabinet ministers at the Association Of Municipalities of Ontario conference in London,

but also regional organizations, including the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association.

President Wendy Landry says a focus of some of the discussions was regarding ballooning healthcare costs in the region.

“A lot of our discussions were with regards to how our hospitals are using operating budgets to pay for locums to come to our communities and the high cost of agency nurses to come to our communities is putting some of our hospitals into a deficit.”

Landry notes while the NOMA delegation was unable to meet face to face with Health Minister Sylvia Jones, other municipalities were able to bring that issue to her during their meetings.

Other topics NOMA was able to speak with Ford Cabinet Ministers included housing, homelessness and mental health.