At the annual Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) conference last week, Guelph-Eramosa Mayor Chris White, was elected 2010 chairman of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA).
“I am pleased to serve as 2010 Roma chair,” White said. “I look forward to working together on key issues facing Ontario’s rural communities. I believe that rural Ontario, needs to have a unified voice when dealing with the province.”
He added, “Representation on behalf of the County of Wellington will ensure that the county has a place at the table when dealing directly with provincial impacts in rural areas.”
In addition to his duties as mayor of Guelph-Eramosa and work with ROMA, White sits on the Association of Municipalities (AMO) Board of Directors representing the rural caucus, and he has also been a member of The Ontario Rural Council (TORC) and the OMAFRA panel on rural policy board.
“I congratulate Mayor White on his election to chair of the Rural Ontario Municipal Association,” said Warden Joanne Ross-Zuj, who announced White’s election at county council on Feb. 25. “He has served the community of Guelph-Eramosa and the county very well for many years.
She added, “His extensive rural political experience will be a real asset in his dealings with the government of Ontario.”
ROMA is the rural municipal voice of the province, and an integral part of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). Several ROMA board members also serve on the AMO board of directors. Policy and research activities are undertaken by ROMA through the staff at AMO.
For decades, ROMA has ensured that matters that affect rural communities are brought to the attention of the governments of Canada and Ontario. Such issues include, intensive livestock operations, nutrient management, rural schools, commodity prices, farm taxation, economic development, roads, bridges and infrastructure, a new Municipal Act, and ambulance services in rural Ontario.
