EOWC pivots to address American tariff threats

Brighton May and Northumberland County Warden Brian Ostrander. Courtesy of the Municipality of Brighton.

By Cecilia Nasmith

Northumberland County

While local issues are the strategic pillars of the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus, the group is coming on board for Fortress AmCan in the face of ruinous tariffs from the new president to the south.

The Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus meeting took place Jan. 9 and 10 with plans to address a policy framework paper focusing on its three strategic pillars of infrastructure, housing and health care – at least that was the plan, Warden Brian Ostrander told Wednesday's Northumberland County council meeting, until things started happening in the United States.

The group's immediate reaction to the new president's threats of 25% tariffs was to support Fortress AmCan, Ontario's plan for a renewed strategic alliance between the two nations.

“There was information around the value of exports to the US from all 13 counties in the EOWC,” Ostrander said – adding that these counties account for 103 lower-tier municipalities, or almost 25% of Ontario's municipalities.

Letters were sent to the New York State Association of Counties and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative – a coalition of more than 240 American and Canadian mayors and officials.

This latter organization is one he urged all member municipalities – and the upper-tier organization of Northumberland County – to join. Brighton and Cobourg are already members, he said, and the EOWC has just recently joined as as member.

“It's a valuable organization that talks about about conservation management of the Great Lakes basin but also has a significant push on how our economies can be grown through what they refer to as the Blue Green Economy,” the warden said.

More recently, EOWC had six delegations at ROMA that involved meeting with a number of ministers, and Ostrander participated in the ones dealing with health and rural affairs.

A key ask was to make Community Paramedicine move beyond being a pilot project to a program receiving consistent funding.

“The province recognizes its value to the community and its ability to remove costs from provincial coffers," Ostrander said.