Hon. Bill Mauro Minister Ministry of Municipal Affairs 17th Floor 777 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M5G 2E5 Minister Mauro: I recently met with representatives from the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) as part of their annual advocacy day. Part of our discussion focused on an important issue facing municipalities across the province: the lack of transparency surrounding the application process for infrastructure funding. Municipalities already face an onerous reporting burden and thus constantly applying for funding while being continuously rejected is a waste of their limited resources. I am writing to you in support of OGRA’s call to establish an expert working group comprised of municipal and provincial representatives to examine the application process for infrastructure funding in Ontario. I hope you will join me in supporting OGRA’s initiative. Sincerely, Member of Provincial Parliament Hon. Bob Chiarelli Minister Ministry of Infrastructure 5th Floor, Mowat Block 900 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M7A 2E1 Minister Chiarelli: I recently met with representatives from the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA) as part of their annual advocacy day. Part of our discussion focused on an important issue facing municipalities across the province: the lack of transparency surrounding the application process for infrastructure funding. Municipalities already face an onerous reporting burden and thus constantly applying for funding while being continuously rejected is a waste of their limited resources. I am writing to you in support of OGRA’s call to establish an expert working group comprised of municipal and provincial representatives to examine the application process for infrastructure funding in Ontario. I hope you will join me in supporting OGRA’s initiative. Sincerely, Member of Provincial Parliament Hon. Bill Mauro Minister Ministry of Municipal Affairs 17th Floor 777 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M5G 2E5 Minister Mauro: I recently met with representatives from the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA). OGRA representatives highlighted a glaring omission in Bill 68, Modernizing Ontario's Municipal Legislation Act, 2016. As you know, the majority of municipalities supported the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s (AMO) call to expand the revenue generating abilities included in the City of Toronto Act to all Ontario municipalities. Without these tools, municipalities will continue to rely on the property tax – a regressive tax that does not take into account a homeowner’s ability to pay – to fund capital infrastructure. OGRA representatives also pointed out that allowing Ontario municipalities to charge a hotel tax would put them in line with their counterparts in other provinces as well as municipalities around the world. I am writing to you in support of OGRA’s initiative that Bill 68, Modernizing Ontario's Municipal Legislation Act, 2016 be amended to allow the Municipal Act to incorporate the taxing authority that resides in the City of Toronto Act while also removing the hotel tax exclusion. I hope you will join me in supporting OGRA’s initiative. Sincerely, Member of Provincial Parliament Hon. Yasir Naqvi Attorney General Ministry of the Attorney General 11th Floor 720 Bay Street Toronto, Ontario M7A 2S9 Minister Naqvi: I recently met with representatives from the Ontario Good Roads Association (OGRA). OGRA’s representatives raised an important issue facing municipalities in the province: the need to modify joint and several liability as it applies to the municipal sector. In its current form, joint and several liability unfairly disadvantages municipalities by placing a burden of paying the majority of liability losses incurred by Ontario municipalities. OGRA is asking you to convene a working group – comprised of municipal, provincial and representatives in good standing with the Law Society of Upper Canada – to examine options for reforming joint and several liability as it applies to Ontario municipalities and to report back to the Attorney General in due course. I am writing to you in support of OGRA’s call for a working group. I hope you will join me in supporting this important initiative. Sincerely, Member of Provincial Parliament .