Regional Review Frustrations Continue for Oxford County Council

Friday, 12 April 2019 14:43

Oxford County Council is having a really difficult time in getting a meeting with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark as it relates to the Regional Review.

Members of Oxford County council are hoping to get a sit down meeting with the people conducting the Regional Review.

Several Councillors want to have a sit down meeting with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark. Councillor Marcus Ryan says the process can be frustrating.

"If we want to take the Ministry, the Minister at his word that they want to try and find a better way forward for Oxford and for Zorra and their area municipalities as well but at this point, we have are having difficultly getting a meeting to discuss that."

Warden Larry Martin says he is frustrated with the process.

"I am a little bit frustrated in that I can't seem to be able to get a response, which I don't think that is right, I think a response is just a common courtesy. I also don't think we need to act on a knee jerk reaction either, I think we need to sit down down and go through a formulated discussion and carry out the members here and where we want to go and where do we have to be."

County Councillors say they are happy to go to Toronto to have the meeting if the Minister does not want to come to Oxford. Martin says the issue with travelling is council would have to figure out a way to do that legally.

"The biggest problem with travelling to meet the Minister is if we have more than 6 people there, it is constituted as a Quorum and it is then considered a County council meeting and it has to be public. So it would be extremely difficult to meet in Toronto and my take on it is and I shouldn't say this but maybe the Minister doesn't want to meet in Woodstock, I understand he is as busy as everyone else is as well."

The CAO for Oxford Peter Crockett is trying to get Council a meeting with the Minister on the 16th and Martin will continue to ask for a meeting.