https://www.nugget.ca/news/local-news/crucial-face-to-face-weekend

North Bay city officials are in Ottawa this weekend for their first chance to sit down with provincial cabinet ministers from the new government.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario is holding its annual conference in the nation’s capital, starting Sunday and continuing until next Wednesday. Cabinet ministers will be present to meet many of their municipal colleagues for the first time.

It will be a crucial opportunity, city officials say, to forge connections with the new government.

Mayor Al McDonald will be present, representing the city in meetings with four ministers.

A key sit-down will be with Greg Rickford, minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, and Indigenous Affairs. McDonald said he will discuss the role the Ontario Northland Transit Commission — headquartered in North Bay — could play in the potential development of the Ring of Fire.

That development is a “once-in-a-generation find,” McDonald said in a statement, and noted the ONTC is an important driver of economic activity in North Bay.

“I would like to see the ONTC continue to expand and create even more good-paying jobs,” he says.

McDonald says he also will be asking about strengthening the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, support for the city’s film industry and developing partnerships with Indigenous communities.

The mayor also will meet with infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton to talk about North Bay’s participation in provincial infrastructure programs, and Environment Minister Rod Phillips to discuss urban development.

Finally, McDonald will sit down with local MPP and Finance Minister Vic Fedeli for an update on cannabis regulations.

Coun. Mark King also will attend and, as chair of the District of Nipissing Social Services Administration Board, he has a meeting set up with Lisa MacLeod, minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

“It’s an excellent opportunity to articulate some of the problems we’re facing,” King says. He hopes to discuss mental health and drug addiction issues with the minister.

King also says they will discuss a program already active in North Bay called the Nipissing Poverty Reduction through Education Program (N-PREP). King says he will promote that program as a model to be replicated throughout the province.

“We’ve been extremely successful in the way we’ve done it,” King says, noting the program was already in use Niagara Falls and one other community.

On top of that, King says he will be talking generally about securing funding from the provincial government for programs in the city.

“Places like North Bay never recovered from the 2008 recession,” King says. “It’s been over a decade, but we’re still mired in negative growth and population loss.”

Finally, King will deliver a letter to Housing Minister Steve Clark from the Near North Landlords Association asking the province to explore greater protections for landlords.

Tanya and Bill Vrebosch will attend representing North Bay and East Ferris.

Tanya Vrebosch is set to meet with the same ministers as McDonald, including a discussion with Rod Phillips about species at risk.

Bill Vrebosch will have a personal meeting with Transportation Minister John Yakabuski to discuss Corbeil Corners.

One of the most important events of the weekend will be a hospitality suite Monday featuring Northern Ontario businesses, says Mac Bain, who is on the AMO board.

The event will be a chance to talk with ministers about challenges facing North Bay and other Northern Ontario communities, Bain continues.