From the ROMA Conference, Sunday, January 19 - Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto
It’s been a very busy week since returning from the 2025 Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference and I apologize for not updating sooner.
I was excited to, once again, represent West Carleton-March and all of rural Ottawa at the ROMA conference this year. It is always interesting to see how much rural Ottawa has in common with the many smaller rural municipalities across the province and that we share many of the same challenges they do.
The conference provides a great opportunity for our city to learn from the many delegates and presenters at the conference on how they are dealing with the challenges of delivering services in rural Ontario.
The conference began with a meeting of all the Zone 8 representatives (Ottawa, Lanark and Prescott-Russell) where I was joined by rural Ottawa colleagues to get an update from our Zone representative, Christa Lowry, Mayor of Mississippi Mills. She provided a great update on the advocacy work she has been doing with ROMA including advocating that the IESO application process for energy and energy storage projects be more thorough and focused on public consultation.
This is something I have raised with Ms. Lowry in the past and Ward 5 is not the only rural area that has had negatives experiences through the last round procurements with the IESO. This process needs to improve greatly with more respect for the public if support from residents of rural Ottawa is expected.
While at the conference I delegated, alongside my rural colleagues, to the Minister of Environment Conservation and Parks, Todd McCarthy. The purpose of this delegation was a request for the province to do a review of the D 5-5 water regulations. Many rural landowners are unable to use their land due to the quality of the water based on these provincial standards. They have not been reviewed since the early 1990s.
Obviously, health and safety are paramount, but our request was that they review and reconsider their regulations around aesthetics of the water. The Minister assured us that he would review the issue and, if need be, discuss how these regulations are being interpreted by City of Ottawa staff to make it easier for rural landowners to use their land. This has been a long-time grievance among rural landowners and this last week we took a step in the right direction in addressing it.
Our second delegation was with the Associate Minister of Energy, Sam Oosterhoff. We discussed the IESO’s procurement process and the many concerns that rural residents have about this process. This was the second year in a row I delegated on this issue given the ongoing issues with BESS procurement in Ward 5, I wanted to continue this important conversation.
I requested that the IESO plays a larger role in ensuring that proper and meaningful consultation takes place. Given my delegation last year and discussions with the provinces that followed, I was very pleased to hear they took that to heart.
Delegating to Ontario’s Associate Minister of Energy, Sam Oosterhoff, pictured at far left
Moving forward, applicants will need to have their Municipal Support Resolution at or before the deadline for application. They will no longer be given 18 months to attain an MSR. This ensures that that local consultation will need to take place and a greater voice is given to residents. I think this is a big win for ward 5 and rural Ottawa.
I reinforced these points directly to leadership of the IESO in the concurrent session that they had. I was unimpressed by their response to my requests that they play a larger role but will continue to work with the provincial government to make these improvements.
Energy Delegation: The group discusses the IESO’s procurement process and the many concerns that rural residents have about this process.
Outside of official delegations and conversations with ministers, we attended sessions and presentations on Rural Responses to Mental Health and Addictions, Agricultural Economic Development, Navigating Approvals for Energy Procurement, Emergency Services, Navigating the Future of Waste Management, and Recent Changes in Land Use Planning.
I believe this was a successful trip and look forward to providing a more detailed report both to Council and rural residents.
It was a pleasure spending time with my colleagues and advocating for rural Ottawa together. Thank you to George Darouze, Catherine Kitts, David Brown. Also thank you to Councillor Brockington for joining us as at the conference as well.
The Ottawa crew with the mayor of North Grenville, Nancy Peckford
The Ottawa crew: (left to right) Riley Brockington, Clarke Kelly, Catherine Kitts, David Brown, and George Darouze
Councillor Kelly advocates directly to IESO leadership to play a more meaningful role in public consultation for energy projects.