Prince Edward County mayor Robert Quaiff. (Photo: Nicole Kleinsteuber / Quinte News)
Healthcare, infrastructure, flood relief and affordable housing are some of the big ticket items Prince Edward County mayor Robert Quaiff plans to speak about with provincial ministers this week.
Municipal leaders from around the province will descend upon Ottawa on August 13 for the three-day Association of Municipalities Conference.
Mayor Quaiff has five delegations in total including one with Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Eric Hoskins. Quaiff said he plans to talk about the municipal fundraising requirements as the County has pulled from reserves to fund several reports for the proposed hospital.
While municipal fundraising estimates between $9 million – $18 million have been suggested, Quinte Healthcare Vice President & Chief Financial Officer Brad Harrington told Quinte News nothing is finalized and the next report coming to the board in September will have a full construction cost estimate with municipal fundraising share, preliminary schematics and scope of services. Fundraising efforts have been underway for several years with the Prince Edward Auxiliary already committed to $1 million.
Mayor Quaiff also plans to address changes to emergency services that will allow paramedics on firetrucks.
The mayor said he is looking forward to a meeting with Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Jeff Leal to talk about the effects of flooding on local crops over the past two summers with the drought in 2016 and now flooding in 2017.
He explained he would like to see the province send officials to assess property damage and then potentially get added to an activation list.
Mayor Quaiff will also be sitting down with Bob Chiarelli, Minister of Infrastructure and Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transportation. Quaiff said he is looking to again discuss County Road 49 now that the municipality has signed off on an engineer’s report to study what is needed to potentially fix the road that is projected to need $22 million in repairs.
Another high item on the priority list for Quaiff is the need for affordable housing in the County. Quaiff said he will be meeting with Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Housing Nathanlie Des Rosiers.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference runs from August 13 to 16.
