A Fort Frances council delegation is in Toronto for meetings with four provincial cabinet ministers.
They are meeting with the Ministers of Infrastructure, Health, Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Solicitor General.
Mayor Andrew Hallikas, Councillor John McTaggart and Chief Administrative Officer Marcel Michaels are participating.
Hallikas says policing costs are top of mind in their meeting with the Solicitor General.
“In 2025 the average cost of policing, is it’s about $399 a household. But based on the invoice that we got, the cost of policing in the municipality of Fort Frances is $785 per household. That’s almost twice the provincial average and that’s just not sustainable,” says Hallikas.
The municipality did receive a one-time 10% reduction for this year, but Hallikas says the model used needs to change.
The town is also looking for increased funding for infrastructure projects in their talk with the Ministry of Infrastructure, Kinga Surma.
Hallikas says all communities are facing significant costs in repairing and maintaining aging infrastructure that cannot be simply borne by the taxpayer.
“We need government assistance to afford to do that, as do all the other municipalities in the province. So we’ll be making a plea for additional funding, additional streams of funding, so the property tax doesn’t bear the cost of that.”
Housing is also an issue being raised by the Fort Frances delegation when they meet with Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy.
“This is a problem that municipalities can’t solve. We need the senior levels of government, the provincial and federal government, to step up and help municipalities provide the housing that’s needed so that they can thrive economically”
Fort Frances is also lobbying for improvements to the recruitment of paramedics and other health professionals in its meeting with Health Minister Sylvia Jones.
The Rainy River District Services Board is operating its ambulance service with 25% less staff.
Hallikas, who sits on the board says the government needs to level the playing field when it comes to recruitment.
“Municipalities in Southern Ontario tend to snap up all of the paramedics as they graduate. So we need to be able to offer them incentives, whether it’s housing or higher wages or better benefits.”
Representatives with the Services Board are also at ROMA and making a similar pitch in their meetings with the Minister.
The conference ends on Tuesday.
