Kevin Davis, Mayor for the City of Brantford, said he would be pressuring the provincial government to act on several issues that the city is facing during his appearance on CHCH Morning Live on Friday, August 16, 2024.
Homelessness, substance abuse, and infrastructure challenges were all topics that Davis, as well as several elected officials, would be bringing forward during the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference, which took place in Ottawa from Sunday, August 18 through Wednesday, August 21, 2024.
During his appearance, he praised the efforts of other Ontario mayors for their work in lobbying the province for dedicated revenue streams to address the issues, and called for a review of the responsibilities shared between the province and municipalities
“I give full credit to the Mayor of Burlington and the Mayor of Guelph for leading us on that,” he said. “The OBCM has put on a big lobbying push and as a result, we’re hoping the province will be announcing a dedicated revenue stream to deal with those two issues. It’s a crisis and every municipality is facing it, it’s a real struggle at the municipal level to deal with that.”
Davis also highlighted ongoing efforts to secure funding for a new hospital, saying that having the project on the 2025 provincial budget is the next step in getting underway.
“My Council colleagues and I have asked the Minister of Health to meet with us, and the hospital CEO is coming with us, and we’re going to be putting on a major push to make sure that our new hospital project is in the 2025 provincial budget,” he said. “That’s the next key step because once that happens, we’ll be on a road to a new hospital.”
Speaking of roads, Davis emphasized the need for a regional approach to address the traffic issues affecting both the City of Brantford and the County of Brant, underscoring the importance of collaboration with the province on these critical issues.
“It’s more than just a City of Brantford issue, there’s a major highway that goes through both the city and the County of Brant, Highway 24, and also there’s the provincial highways,” he said. “…Both the City and the County are working around a road system really designed for the 1990s and there has to be a major rework of our road system and traffic management, but the most effective way to do that is on a regional basis, with the full participation and partnership with the province.”
