Warden talks takeaways from this year’s AMO conference

Oxford County was well represented at the recent AMO Conference in Toronto. CAO Ben Addley and Warden Marcus Ryan (left) sit across the table from Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra.

(Contributed photo).

By Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative

Marcus Ryan led the Oxford County contingent at this year’s Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s annual conference.

The event gives local politicians and senior staff from municipalities across the province an opportunity to rub elbows with their counterparts at the Ontario government to lobby predominantly, increased funding.

Ryan said the majority of his time at AMO in recent years has been spent delegating on behalf of the Township of Zorra, Oxford County, or the Western Ontario Warden’s Caucus.

“Most of my time is spent in meetings with ministers trying to realize opportunities or address issues. I think the main issues we are trying to prioritize or get traction on with ministers are around the Community Paramedicine Program we deliver through funding from the Ministry of Long-Term Care.”

The program is a proactive healthcare initiative developed by Oxford County Paramedic Services that extends care beyond 911 responses. Instead of focusing solely on emergencies, it emphasizes preventative care, chronic disease management, and in-home support for vulnerable populations.

“Our funding for it was always year by year; it was never stable. The province announced a couple of weeks ago it was going to be permanent, but there hasn’t been an increase for inflation in a couple of years. We had a constructive conversation with the minister about that.”

To no one’s surprise, Ryan admitted the number one issue in his conversations was around funding for the county’s homelessness prevention plan. Oxford has received just over $2.9 million for several years.

“It’s not indexed to inflation, so we’ve gotten the same amount for five years, and as everybody knows, the cost of everything has gone up over five years, so we are doing a little bit less every year. I struck up a conversation with the minister about what we would be doing with that money if we got more of it.”

Ryan said several pieces, including the upcoming HART Hub, are coming together to improve the homelessness situation in the county, but stable funding with inflationary increases would make a big difference in the battle to get more people off the streets.

He explained it is difficult for him to explore parts of the conference where pioneering ideas are presented. As a mayor and warden, he has more opportunities to try and advance issues on behalf of residents. He admitted he isn’t able to attend as many learning sessions where new ideas are floated.

“The parts of the conference where people go and hear from people present on new and innovative things they are doing, I just don’t get to go to those anymore. I have to rely on other councillors or staff telling me about them. I literally go with a binder of delegation packages, and I literally go from room to room, sitting down with different ministers and parliamentary assistants, telling them about policy and funding we need in Zorra and Oxford.”

Ryan and the rest of the county’s team had an opportunity to debrief on the drive home from Ottawa, and he has gone over notes from Oxford’s Sarah Hamulecki, Oxford’s Manager of Strategic Initiatives and Intergovernmental Relations.

“We will be having a sit-down meeting to discuss next steps, and we do have an advocacy strategy now. That’s fine if the mayor or the warden wants to talk to a minister, that’s great that I got some facetime and a photo, but all that matters to residents is did I get the policy change or the funding I wanted to get.”

He explained an extensive review is undertaken after conferences like AMO, done under the lens of what comes next to advance priorities important to residents.

The cost to attend AMO is approximately $1,000 per delegate, plus hotel, travel, and other expenses. Ryan said taxpayers have every right to ask the total cost of the convention and other lobbying efforts, but he is confident the expenses are justified. He provided an example of just how important government relations is, saying it is an investment.

“Oxford County made a delegation to Rob Flack, Minister of Municipal Affairs in January and said we need $722,000 from a funding envelope from a funding envelope we’ve never gotten money from before. It would allow us to build more affordable housing, do more community outreach to the homeless population, and start a seasonal emergency shelter in Tillsonburg. In March, we received that money to do all those things.”

Ryan said he is aware of other municipalities that didn’t receive money from that particular funding stream.

“Three-quarters of a million dollars compared to the cost of a few of us going to the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) in January is money well spent. The cost of a hotel and a few meals is a drop in the bucket if we can get funding and policy changes that structurally change the Oxford County budget.”

The AMO conference is Ontario’s largest annual gathering of municipal officials. It is a non-profit organization that represents Ontario’s 444 cities, towns, townships and counties. It attempts to further municipal interests to the Ontario and federal governments, researches and develops positions on issues like housing, transit, climate change, policing, and municipal finance. It also provides training, workshops, and conferences for municipal staff and elected officials.