Advocating for Niagara-on-the-Lake at AMO 2025

This past week, I had the privilege of attending the 2025 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference in Ottawa alongside Deputy Lord Mayor Erwin Wiens, Councillor Niven, CAO Nick Ruller, EcDev Ashleigh Myers and Director of Planning Kirsten

McCauley.

We arrived Sunday evening and immediately sat down as a team to debrief and align on our priorities—the “asks” we would be taking forward to the Province on behalf of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Most municipalities secured just 2–4 delegations. Our small but mighty team was granted eight delegations, a testament to the credibility of our advocacy and the urgency of our community’s needs. Each delegation allowed us just 15 minutes with Ministers to present our case.

Monday: A Marathon of Delegations

We began bright and early with Minister Jones (Agriculture, Food & Agri-Business), where we expressed gratitude for the $41 million Provincial investment in Niagara’s irrigation system and called for a review of the 2016 “Guidelines on Permitted Uses in Ontario’s Prime Agricultural Areas.” Our message was clear: we must support on-farm diversification while protecting the integrity of Ontario’s farmland from extreme commercialization.

Next, we quickly crossed to meet Minister Cho (Tourism, Culture & Gaming). We discussed aligning with the Province’s “Destination Niagara” initiative and requested funding for two key priorities:

• $350,000 to complete the Heritage Trail, a major multi-use path that will improve resident and visitor connectivity.

• Funding for a feasibility study for the planned Glendale Transit Hub, a critical piece of infrastructure to improve mobility, workforce access, and Regional connectivity.

Our third delegation was with Minister McGregor (Citizenship & Multiculturalism), where we asked for a tailored extension—or removal—of the 2027 deadline for heritage designations. With 183 listed properties, including 79 in the Queen-Picton Heritage Conservation District, we urged modernization of the Ontario Heritage Act to streamline designations and empower municipalities.

After a quick lunch, we met Minister Rickford (Indigenous Affairs & First Nations Economic Reconciliation) to request frameworks for culturally appropriate engagement and funding modernization for Friendship Centres like the one in NOTL. He committed to visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake to further discussions.

Finally, we met with Minister Fedeli (Economic Development, Job Creation & Trade) where we pushed for fair Ontario wine access across Canada—framing it as “Breaking Barriers, Not Bottles.” We also raised concerns over special economic zones (SEZs), environmental safeguards, and once again pressed the importance of the Glendale Transit Hub for regional job creation.

After seven hours of delegations and walking between venues, our team debriefed and called it an early night.

Tuesday: Building on Momentum

We began with Minister Thompson, advocating for the creation of a dedicated Provincial funding stream for feasibility studies. Without such support, municipalities like ours are forced to place undue burdens on taxpayers simply to make projects “shovel ready.” For example, Glendale Transit Hub feasibility studies alone cost $300,000—equivalent to a 2% tax levy increase.

Our next meeting was with Minister Kinga Surma (Infrastructure). We thanked the Province for irrigation investments, but pressed the urgent need to modernize stormwater design standards to reflect today’s severe weather realities. Outdated standards fail to account for flooding and damages caused by 100-year storms that are now happening more frequently.

The afternoon was spent exchanging ideas with other municipalities and attending speaker sessions. As first-term councillors, Councillor Niven and I also took every spare opportunity to listen and learn about Provincial policies shaping our residents’ lives.

Wrapping Up

Before heading back Wednesday morning, our team had the opportunity to tour Parliament Hill with MP Tony Baldinelli, who shared insights into his role as our Federal representative.

Reflecting on the week, I am proud of the strong advocacy Niagara-on-the-Lake brought forward. While many municipalities face similar infrastructure challenges, our message to the Province was clear: we have fallen behind on basic infrastructure, and with Provincial partnership we can bring our community up to the same level as others.

This was an incredible few days of listening, learning, and advocating. I left Ottawa confident that our asks were heard and that Niagara-on-the-Lake continues to punch above its weight when it comes to building relationships and driving results for our community.