Officials from Grey County will meet with provincial ministers next week to discuss local challenges like ambulance and home care, court delays, and the Rockwood Terrace redevelopment.
The county has four meetings scheduled during next week's Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) 2023 Conference in London.
All four sessions will take place August 21, starting with a talk about ambulance costs, and community services with the Ministry of Health. Next, Grey and Bruce County officials will discuss concerns over court delays since local Justices of the Peace have not been appointed locally for several years. The local Provincial Offences Court is shared by the two counties, who are concerned that situation is impacting the effectiveness of the court and causing delays.
A meeting with the Ministry of Labour will focus on paramedics and occupational stress injuries, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. The delegation will be advocating the province to support new research around the problem so services across Ontario can help prevent these injuries and better treat paramedics who are suffering.
Then the county will ask for subsidies from the Ministry of Long-Term Care for the 128-bed Rockwood Terrace redevelopment project. Grey County will also be supporting a City of Owen Sound delegation with the Ministry of Health about physician recruitment.
Premier Doug Ford and a number of ministers from his cabinet will also be speaking at the event. Grey County Warden Warden Brian Milne will participate in additional meetings as a member of the Western Ontario Warden’s Caucus.
Outside of delegations, the 2,000 participants will be busy learning about key conference topics such as housing, homelessness, women’s leadership, infrastructure, and healthcare transformation.
