LONDON — Today, Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, delivered the following remarks to delegates during the virtual Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference:

Good morning!

It’s a pleasure to be here with you today.

It’s great to be back at AMO and although we are meeting virtually again…

I am looking forward to important discussions over the next couple of days about how we can continue to recover through unity.

I know how challenging the last year has been as we have navigated through uncharted territory with COVID-19.

We have worked closely with all of you – our municipal leaders – and I want to thank you for your continued efforts.

Together we will get through this.

I’d like to start by thanking Graydon Smith for his leadership and advice as AMO president.

Graydon, I am proud to call you my friend. You have been an absolute champion for municipalities, and it is an honour to work with you.

I’d like to thank Brian Rosborough, the AMO board, and all the staff who have been moving mountains to organize this conference.

And finally, I’d like to thank Premier Ford.

For the past three years, and especially through the pandemic, he has worked tirelessly to ensure that all Ontarians, including our municipal counterparts, had the support they needed to get through these challenging times.

As many of you know, I’ve been involved with local government for most of my professional life.

I understand the challenges that municipalities face every day…

But nothing compares to the resilience and dedication that I’ve witnessed over the past year-and-a-half.

I want to thank you for your incredible work to keep our communities safe...

And through our ongoing partnership and collaboration, we will get Ontario back on track.

COVID-19 forced all of us to find innovative ways to address new challenges.

And for you, that meant shifting to electronic council meetings… redeploying staff to critical municipal services…

And working with your local public health units to support the extraordinary vaccine rollout…

You have been champions for your communities. Day in and day out.

That’s the true Ontario spirit.

Last year, we stood shoulder-to-shoulder with AMO and called on the federal government for emergency funding.

Through the strong advocacy of Premier Ford, we secured an historic $4 billion under the Safe Restart Agreement…

In March, our government announced close to $1 billion more in COVID-19 financial relief for municipalities…

Because we know the pandemic has put tremendous pressure on your municipalities.

All levels of government worked hard to respond to the pandemic and support housing for our most vulnerable citizens –

For example, our Social Services Relief Fund is providing immediate housing and homelessness program relief across Ontario.

But the fact unfortunately remains that we aren’t getting our fair share from the federal government…

We should be receiving $490 million more from the federal government based on our level of housing need…

And the $765 million in Social Services Relief Funding we delivered was not fully matched by our federal counterparts…

I want to thank you again for joining my call on the feds for more funding, and I want you to know that I will not stop advocating for additional support…

Because I know you need it to continue to effect positive outcomes for our most vulnerable.

Many of you are wondering about housing funding for next year…

I am pleased to announce that we plan to provide almost $1.1 billion in transfer payments for housing and homelessness programs in 2022-2023, including federal transfers.

I am also pleased to announce that all 47 service managers will be notified of their allocations under the Social Service Relief Fund.

Together we will continue to support our most vulnerable.

And as we develop the second Action Plan for the next three years of the National Housing Strategy, we will ensure that your interests are front and center.

This year we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Memorandum of Understanding between AMO and the province.

That agreement has helped create a stronger partnership…

And two decades later, it still stands out as a flagship agreement that we can all be proud of.

I remember in 2018, soon after I was sworn in as the new Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, I signed the MOU on behalf of our government…

It was a great moment, and three years later, we can all look back and be proud of what we’ve accomplished.

It is with deep gratitude that I reaffirm our partnership and renew our agreement together.

That agreement isn’t just words on a page. Our partnership at the MOU table is producing results.

We heard you when you said that blue box recycling needed updating and was a cost burden for municipalities.

We responded with changes to improve the framework and make producers fully responsible, saving municipalities an estimated $156 million a year.

We heard you when you shared that your communities need access to high-speed internet.

We responded with an historic investment of nearly $4 billion… to bring access to every city, town, township and village by the end of 2025.

I know firsthand that certainty and stability are critical for planning municipal budgets.

We responded by announcing allocations under the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund in the fall – well ahead of the municipal fiscal year.

And, we maintained the overall structure of the fund at $500 million this year.

We’re also working to help you modernize service delivery.

Over the lifespan of our Municipal Modernization Program and our Audit and Accountability Fund we are providing you with up to $350 million to identify and implement modern, efficient solutions…

These programs are successful because of your input and hard work.

That is the key to our strong partnership, and it is why I am happy to announce that I am allocating at least an additional $50 million to small and rural municipalities to allow you to identify more ways to modernize your service delivery.

In this same spirit I want to announce a third intake of the Audit and Accountability fund for the larger municipalities.

I look forward to continuing our dialogue as we bring forward projects that you believe will improve your communities and save money.

These investments will allow municipalities the flexibility and resources required to support our communities as we work towards recovering from the pandemic.

I am here for you.

And our government is here for you.

We will always work with you to build strong communities, and part of that is ensuring that we have strong and accountable councils.

Like AMO, our government wants to ensure that municipal councillors and heads of council carry out their duties ethically and responsibly.

We have been absolutely clear that we will not tolerate workplace harassment or discrimination of any kind.

That’s why we held consultations this spring – led by my colleagues, Minister Jill Dunlop, and Associate Minister Jane McKenna – on how to strengthen accountability for municipal council members.

I want to thank AMO for the recommendations that helped form the basis of our consultations.

We’ve heard from members of council, municipal associations and municipal staff across Ontario…

And we received over 2,600 submissions!

We’re reviewing all of the feedback, and I look forward to sharing an update very soon.

We’re also continuing to take action on housing affordability in Ontario.

Across the province, too many families worry that the dream of home ownership is out of reach.

We know that the best way to bring prices down and provide more choice is to increase the supply of housing.

That’s why we introduced More Homes, More Choice – our housing supply action plan – in 2019.

We promised to make it easier for municipalities, non-profits and private firms to build housing of all kinds.

And that’s what we’re doing.

We’re streamlining development approvals and cutting red tape to get shovels in the ground faster…

This is creating the jobs people need… and building housing that people can afford.

And I am very happy to report that after years of inaction by the previous government, we are making significant progress on boosting housing supply.

Despite COVID-19, more new homes started construction in 2020 than in any year of the past decade.

These are real results for real families.

Almost 11,500 units of rental housing were completed in Ontario in 2020 – the highest since 1992.

And these strong trends have continued this year.

So supply is picking up – despite the pandemic. But we need every single one of our partners to help.

We know that more new homes will be needed to meet population growth and ensure Ontarians can find a place to call home.

And that’s why it’s so important that our upper-and single-tier municipalities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe update their official plans on time…

And why we need everyone to support innovative housing in your communities, like laneway homes and modular or pre-fabricated housing.

By continuing to work together, I know we can give families more choices that they can afford, and make the dream of home ownership a reality.

Our government has implemented a balanced approach to planning for growth.

We know it’s possible to provide the supply and mix of housing we need…while also protecting our environment.

I want to thank each and every one of you who have worked with us collaboratively to help create more housing opportunities.

You understand the value of a Minister’s Zoning Order, used in partnership, to expedite getting shovels in the ground on priority local projects…

And I am happy to continue to support you where I can, and where the request is outside of the Greenbelt.

And to be clear, we are Growing the Greenbelt, to protect more farmlands, forests, wetlands and watersheds. For today, tomorrow and always.

In our consultations, we heard overwhelming support for adding Urban River Valleys and the Paris Galt Moraine.

We’re already delivering on our commitment …

In June, I announced that we will be enhancing the protection of 360 hectares of green space in Georgina by bringing the land into the stewardship of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority.

And to demonstrate how we are delivering on a balanced approach to growth I recently announced that for every acre where I have or where I will issue an MZO, I will be adding two acres of protected and enhanced green space.

Ontario has a balanced plan... to protect our beautiful and vital greenspaces, our rich agricultural land…

AND to speed up the delivery of projects that will help us support Ontario’s rapidly growing population.

This balanced and thoughtful strategy will ensure Ontario remains the best place in the world to live, work and prosper.

I’d like to thank you once again for your leadership and outstanding efforts on the frontlines.

The last year-and-a-half has been like no other.

And I am so proud of the role Ontario’s municipalities have played in keeping people safe.

As we turn the corner on the pandemic, Premier Ford and I will keep listening… asking for your advice…

And we will always have your back.

We are partners.

And it is truly through unity that we will recover together…

Thank you.