Six South Georgian Bay municipalities are ready to collaborate, representatives from all six told the minister of municipal affairs and housing at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference this week.
On Aug. 19, Collingwood councillors and town staff met with Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra to introduce the minister to the South Georgian Bay Mayors’ and CAOs Forum, made up of the mayors and CAOs from Collingwood, the Town of the Blue Mountains, Clearview Township, Grey Highlands, Meaford and Wasaga Beach.
“We really wanted this to be on the radar of the ministry and to say that we don’t need amalgamation to get things done in our region,” Collingwood Mayor Yvonne Hamlin said following the delegation.
“We can work together to make our communities better,” she said.
The forum was first formed in 2021. The purpose of the forum is to serve as a platform for mayors and CAOs to discuss, prioritize and address local and regional challenges and co-ordinate actions.
Key issues discussed through the forum so far include transportation, health and safety, high-speed internet, tourism and regional economics.
The group meets quarterly and no decisions are made at their private meetings, however the group takes what they learn to their respective councils to take action if necessary.
“This way, the ministry knows who we are when we ask for delegations,” said Hamlin.
On Aug. 20, the forum jointly delegated to the deputy premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones on the topic of physician recruitment in South Georgian Bay, led by Hamlin.
“We re-iterated the top needs of our area for family physicians given retirements. We expect we’re going to be short a substantial number of doctors over the next few years,” she said.
As reported earlier this year, the South Georgian Bay Ontario Health Team estimates there are between 6,000 and 7,000 people in South Georgian Bay alone who currently do not have a local family doctor.
The Ontario College of Family Physicians estimates that by 2026, one in four residents throughout Ontario will be without a family doctor. According to the most recent Ontario auditor general’s report, one in five emergency visits across Ontario involved patients going to emergency for non-urgent issues because they didn’t have a family doctor or access to other services.
Hamlin said she also raised the concern over allowing municipalities to give financial incentives to doctors who locate to their towns.
“We just don’t think that’s right,” she said.
As part of the same delegation, Hamlin talked about the need for a new hospital serving all of South Georgian Bay.
“Our No. 1 priority: the hospital. So, fingers crossed,” she said.
