"We have different requests, obviously around energy, the Thunder Bay Generating Station, Noront Resources and a lot of other issues we'll be bringing forward to ministers," he said"

http://www.kenoraonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7948%3Ameetings-focused-on-good-roads-canfield&catid=1%3Alocal-news&Itemid=158&device=desktop

Written by Brenden Harris on Thursday, 06 February 2014

Kenora Mayor Dave Canfield says recent meetings focused on the Good Roads conference. Municipalities across the province are preparing for the Ontario Good Roads Association conference at the end of the month. Mayor Dave Canfield has returned to Kenora, after the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association meeting in Thunder Bay, and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting in southern Ontario. He said a majority of time at the meetings focused on preparing for meetings with ministers at the end of the month."We were putting our package together at NOMA for the Good Roads conference at the end of the month, where we meet with ministers. We have different requests, obviously around energy, the Thunder Bay Generating Station, Noront Resources and a lot of other issues we'll be bringing forward to ministers," he said.While Canfield noted roads and bridges as a major issue at the previous conferences, he says the province has been very receptive in the last year."Obviously we fought for that for, as I've said before, 15 years. Finally, funding came across last year and there's more funding that's coming. We thank Minister Murray for that. It's nice to have a minister that understands Kenora and knows what's going on. We also have the premier, who has been very open to these issues," he said.However, he notes one ongoing topic will continue to come up at the annual conference. He says they're continuing to fight for more autonomy in the region,"We're still going to be dealing with issues around natural resources and more planning for northwestern Ontario. We need more of the decision making process decentralized into northwestern Ontario so we have more to say in our future of natural resources. The government seems to be listening to that, so we're looking forward to the future," he said.Canfield will now be heading to Pickle Lake for the Kenora District Municipal Association meeting this weekend. The Ontario Good Roads Association Conference takes place at the end of the month. -