Queen's Park Observer

Queen's Park Observer

Ministers face the mayoral music at AMO

And fresh Greenbelt complaints

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Sabrina Nanji
Aug 21, 2023
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ABOVE THE FOLD

LONDON CALLING — Mayors, councillors, reeves and wardens from across the province are flocking to London for the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s annual conference — which comes at a time when civic relations with the Ford government are super volatile.

Photo: Getty

That’s thanks to the PCs Greenbelt land swap, aggressive housing targets and developer-fee-scrapping Bill 23. Cities, meanwhile, are cash-strapped and dealing with high homelessness, among other things.

Over the next three days, local politicians will have the chance to grill Premier DOUG FORD and his front bench on a laundry list of problems — with housing top of mind.

What mayors want: At an opening Sunday afternoon presser with Ontario’s Big City Mayors, chair and Burlington Mayor MARIANNE MEED WARD — who was singled out by Ford for relatively slow housing targets — said the key word is “collaboration.”

“The federal government has all the power, the province has all the money, and municipalities h…

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