Fort Frances last hosted NOMA's annual general meeting in 2014
The town of Fort Frances is expressing interest in hosting the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association annual meeting next year.
Some municipalities would rather see the annual meeting take place only in Thunder Bay.
Councillor Wendy Brunetta says it’s because of concerns with the smaller municipal groups representing the Thunder Bay and Kenora districts.
“They’re just finding that their members aren’t attending meetings. They’re having trouble finding agenda items. I that’s why they’re sort of looking toward saying ‘you know what, it makes more sense for Thunder Bay to just do it all the time,'” says Brunetta.
Brunetta says that’s not the case with the Rainy River District Municipal Association which remains the strongest of the three municipal groups.
Councillors are also united in having NOMA continue offering it to other communities who can host.
Councillor Andrew Hallikas says it gives communities an opportunity to showcase their region to others and the province.
“We want our provincial delegates, our provincial ministers, our Premier here. The last time we hosted, our Premier came up. We want those folks to come to northwestern Ontario and see that it doesn’t end at Thunder Bay,” says Hallikas.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for Fort Frances to show our northwestern Ontario communities what we have here and how hard we work here,” adds Mayor June Caul.
Councillor Doug Judson also sees an economic benefit to hosting the meeting.
“I think that other communities get to benefit from the economic upside of being that host to these large events so I would certainly like to see that continue,” says Judson.
Fort Frances last hosted the event in 2014, a meeting attended by then Premier Kathleen Wynne and a number of cabinet ministers.
