It was a successful few days for the Belleville delegation at the 2023 Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference in Toronto.
Mayor Neil Ellis attended the event, along with city councillors Chris Malette, Sean Kelly and Lisa Anne Chatten.
Ellis says they met with Health Minister Sylvia Jones to discuss not just doctor recruitment but also about bringing more nurse practitioners to the city.
“Our main topic was plans to house two nurse practitioners in Thurlow Ward. And it’s bricks and mortar so we put a proposal in to see if we can get some funding for that. You know we’ll have to follow up on it and keep lobbying but I think we, hopefully, are looking for success.”
Ellis says the minister was receptive to the idea and adds they’ll be applying for funding from the province when the application window opens however it will likely be a year before anything is announced.
There was also a meeting with Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney about the widening of Highway 401 and the Belleville East Arterial Road.
“The plans have started. They’ve done the EA (Environmental assessment) on that and they’re starting the design phase now. They have to do the bridges first and go from there and they’re probably looking, probably around four years and they’re gonna come back with a better timeline but that’s probably the construction start.”
He says meetings like these are what the conference is about.
“There’s 444 municipalities so we’re all vying for the same purse of money and you know, having similar issues with infrastructure, deficit and things like that. So, as a group we lobby the government and hopefully they listened over the last three days and the funds will start coming to the municipalities.”
The Belleville delegation also attended several seminars and workshops including one on homelessness and mental health.
Ellis says it’s clear these are issues all over the province including Belleville and solutions include providing better housing and offering more support for those dealing with mental illness.
The three-day conference wrapped up Tuesday.
