This year’s Rural Ontario Municipal Association’s (ROMA) conference may have wrapped, but the discussions have left their mark.
That’s according to Karin Terziano, the Mayor of Huntsville. She and all of Muskoka’s mayors were in attendance.
Terziano says the talks of climate change and housing were some of the highlights.
“It’s applicable everywhere in Ontario, probably everywhere in Canada as well,” says Terziano. “Lots of the presentations were focused a little bit more on Northern Ontario than we are, but the ideas are all good for any area.”
The conference ran from Jan. 23rd to 25th, and featured speakers from all across the province, as well as Premier Doug Ford, and the other major party leaders.
It tackled major issues affecting rural communities including housing, poverty, climate change, and connectivity, as well as many others.
Terziano says attendees left the conference with plenty of information, much of it in the form of reports and other reading material.
“There were lots of presentations and innovative ideas that different communities have tried, and we got lots of takeaway papers to read, things like that,” says Terziano. “When we dig in a little bit more, [maybe] we’ll find things that will help us make future decisions.”