The Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus recently met with MPPs from across Western Ontario to discuss the caucus's priorities for 2024-25.
Caucus Chair Glen McNeil says the number one priority for the caucus is housing.
"We need more housing for our residents in Western Ontario. I would suggest that in Canada, Ontario is the economic driver for Canada. And in Ontario, Western Ontario is a very significant economic driver for Ontario to move forward. So housing is number one," McNeil shared.
McNeil adds that the housing priority ties into two other priorities, which are workforce and infrastructure.
"It's closely related to the workforce and is interrelated. To have a workforce, they need to be housed, so housing, of course, is number one," McNeil continued. "To facilitate the housing, we require the infrastructure, from the provincial government, to enable us to do that. So that was the second priority. The workforce to support economic growth is intertwined with housing and infrastructure to enable the workforce to have access to contribute to being an economic driver."
The other main priority is continuing to address mental health, addictions, and homelessness.
"The Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus is addressing this, through different initiatives and we emphasized to the MPPs that we met with, the importance of supporting mental health, addictions and homelessness initiatives for the betterment of society everywhere and especially in Western Ontario," added McNeil.
The MPPs that the caucus met with were all very receptive, and McNeil says that is important in terms of working together to ensure the 1.5 million people the caucus represents are all being taken care of.
"There were no surprises or pushbacks. The MPPs agreed and realized the importance of these initiatives. One thing that was strongly encouraged of the caucus was to include the MPPs in any financial applications that are made for specific programs," McNeil stated.
On the topic of mental health, addictions and homelessness, McNeil says it's crucially important to maintain and enhance the Homelessness Prevention Program among other initiatives.
"This is key. Also, the Mobile Crisis Response Team funding. It has proven to be effective and we need continued support from our provincial government to fund this on behalf of all of the residents in our area," noted McNeil.
“The WOWC members agree wholeheartedly on the importance and urgency of collaborating together on these critical issues, and the necessity of speaking with one united voice with our MPPs on behalf of the 1.5 million residents we collectively represent,” explained WOWC Vice-Chair Andy Lennox.
The Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus (WOWC) is a not-for-profit organization representing 15 upper and single-tier municipalities in Southwestern Ontario, representing more than 1.5 million residents.
For more information, visit www.wowc.ca.