Guiding municipalities through the Trade War

ROMA, AMO step up

Back from a Rural Ontario Municipal Association board meeting, Chair Christa Lowry had some news on how municipalities were dealing with the trade war between Canada and the US. 

A recent survey of municipal senior staff brought some interesting results.

She noted that a Canadian address didn't necessarily mean a Canadian company and stressed that accurate and accepted definitions of exactly what Canadian goods and services are, would be of great help to not only Ontario municipalities but to communities and residents across the country.

Municipal staff also reported on the top four procurement areas where they were having the most difficulty in finding Canadian suppliers.

And of course Christa admitted the challenge for municipalities trying to be as responsible as possible with tax dollars is to avoid overspending.

She reported that ROMA and its parent organization, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) is supporting Queen's Park in their continuing efforts to remove inter-provincial trade barriers.

Story by Brian Turner