A delegation from Fort Frances council has meetings in Ottawa with three provincial cabinet ministers.
The cost of OPP policing is among the discussion items on the agenda when they sit down with Solicitor General Michael Kerzner.
Mayor Andrew Hallikas says it follows up on previous talks.
“We’ve actually been meeting with a team from the Solicitor General’s (office) on revamping and reviewing the current way that they calculate the amount of municipalities’ pay. We wanted to follow up on that,” says Hallikas.
Fort Frances has one of the highest per capita costs for policing in Ontario.
Council members will discuss the need for housing programs that reflect the needs of small, rural and northern communities when they visit with Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Paul Calandra.
Hallikas says many of the current programs are suitable for large urban communities, but fail to recognize the unique challenges in smaller communities, especially in northern Ontario.
“A lot of the folks in southern Ontario don’t realize that up here it’s difficult getting contractors to come,” says Hallikas.
“They have to travel a great distance, getting building supplies. Also, the costs are high. Those are problems that we have here that they don’t have in urban areas. And so, the cost of constructing houses is greater.”
Hallikas says it is a bigger issue for non-profit housing groups with limited budgets.
In some cases, the grants are not big enough because they are designed around southern Ontario specifications.
Railway taxes are the third topic to be discussed with officials from the Ministry of Transportation.
Fort Frances has long called for railways to be based on tonnage, as is done in some western Canadian provinces.
The town now receives $110 per acre, totalling about $13,000 annually from CN.
Hallikas says it pales in comparison to the risk of having those lines run through town.
“The Rainier Bridge is the busiest rail crossing in North America. And the more trains that go through, the greater the risk and some of these trains carry hazardous materials. We feel that as more trains go through, just like an insurance company would charge you for greater risk, municipalities should be compensated to a greater degree.”
The council members have other meetings scheduled.
The AMO conference attracts many organizations that do business with municipalities across the province.
“AMO is such a big conference. My favourite conference of all the ones that we go to. And there’s all kinds of stuff going on,” says Halllikas.
Hallikas says they will have meetings with non-political entities such as Ontario’s Ombudsman, Enbridge and the Ministry of Emergency Procedures.
They will also speak with other municipal representatives to discuss mutual concerns and best practices.
The conference concludes on Wednesday.
