The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Andrew Parsons, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Environment:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the positive work of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador in recently bringing together over 276 municipalities across our province. Municipal leaders and volunteers are on the frontlines of our local governance and earlier this month, I was very pleased, along with Premier Ball, to attend the 68th annual MNL Conference, Trade show and Annual General Meeting in Gander. I would like to thank President Tony Keats and CEO Craig Pollett, and the organizers for planning a fantastic gathering. The meeting provided nearly 500 delegates with the opportunity to learn from each other, and collaborate on how we can all work together to make our province and our communities better places to live and work.

At the AGM elections, newly elected members included: Trina Appleby as the new Avalon Director; Amy Coady-Davis, re-elected as the Central Director; and Roger Barrett, re-elected as the Western Director. Elected by acclamation to their respective positions on the board were: Eastern Director Paul Pike; Labrador Director Didier Naulleau; and Northern Director Dale Colbourne. I would like to acknowledge the other members of the board for their work as well: Sheila Fitzgerald; Sheilagh O’Leary; Rob Anstey; and Andre Myers. I wish these members all the best of luck in their roles.

Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure to meet with MNL a number of times and we have worked together on issues of importance for our communities. Those meetings and cooperation are paying off as we saw recently with how we are prioritizing municipal infrastructure projects, and implementing new cost share ratios that will make it easier for communities to construct roads and build community centres via the Investing in Canada Plan. I thank MNL for their dedication and commitment to providing improved municipal services to residents.

Thank you.