The time spent in Ottawa at the AMO Conference was time well spent.
That’s the message Mayor Paul Jenkins wants to get across after he’s returned to his post in Bancroft. He spent the weekend in Ottawa at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference in Ottawa. He was joined by Mayoral candidate Councillor Mary Kavanagh, Deputy Mayor Charles Mullet and Councillor Wayne Wiggins.
When Jenkins spoke with My Bancroft Now last week before heading off to the Conference, he said his main goals were looking into the inadequate funding model for urban hub communities like Bancroft, the potential acquisition of the public works yard and the water and sewer issues the Town faces. “While they’re individual issues they all relate to each other and the betterment of the municipality as a whole,” Jenkins says.
After meeting with Ministers like Todd Smith, the Minister of Government and Consumer Services and M.P.P. Jim McDonell, the Parliamentary Assistant for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Jenkins says he plan on following up with all of them. Jenkins echoed what Kavanagh to My Bancroft Now when she said she felt as though Todd Smith is a great person for Bancroft to have on their side. Jenkins noted how prepared Smith’s staffers were during their meeting with them.
Jenkins has said in the past he didn’t feel respected by the Liberals when the governed Ontario. He said that he doesn’t feel like they took Bancroft seriously. He said, though, that he felt good about the meeting he had with the Conservative Ministers. “I feel like they listened and were earnest in their listening,” Jenkins said.
