Ontario continues to talk to the federal government over the ten-dollar-a-day child care proposal.
It was one of the topics raised during a forum with provincial cabinet ministers held during the Rural Ontario Municipal Association’s virtual meeting on Monday.
Ontario remains the lone province without a deal after Nunavut officially signed on Monday.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce says they’re still committed to reaching a fair deal.
“The Premier and I, the Minister of Finance, our entire team is making the case in an aggressive way to the federal government to ensure we ultimately get a deal that we want that is fiscally sustainable long term and that ultimately brings these prices down once and for all,” says Lecce.
Lecce says negotiations are continuing this week.
Skilled trades were another topic of interest for the small and rural municipal leaders.
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton says they continue to promote the value of the skilled trades.
He says 320-thousand jobs are becoming vacant each day, and his Ministry is on a mission to fill those positions.
And his Ministry is on a mission to fill those positions.
“We’re working to end the stigma around the skilled trades to show the meaningful, lucrative careers that are available to young people,” says McNaughton
McNaughton says part of the strategy is sending recruiters into high schools to promote the trades.
Another round of funding to help municipalities find savings.
The province is providing 28-million dollars toward 322 projects in small and rural communities.
Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark says it’s a third round of funding under the Municipal Modernization Program.
“This funding has already enabled so much creativity and collaboration to improve local operations and service delivery,” says Clark
Clark says some of the initiatives include streamlining the housing approval processes.
