Whoever is chosen to lead the country during the upcoming federal election, Chatham-Kent’s mayor is hopeful the government will support the needs of Canada’s municipalities.
Mayor Darrin Canniff said municipalities like Chatham-Kent are in need of more federal funding to adequately address issues on a local level.
“We need infrastructure dollars, we need dollars to deal with homelessness, to [address] with the epidemics we’re dealing with as far as mental health and additions,” he said. “Those are some of the things we’re looking for that we need that have been continually downloaded to municipalities over the years.”
Canniff added that federal support is also needed to address a more regional issue — protecting the Great Lakes.
“That’s something that’s more unique to Chatham-Kent as far as dealing with keeping the water clean and [addressing] erosion,” he said.
With newly redrawn boundaries for the riding of Chatham-Kent-Leamington, the municipality will now have only one Member of Parliament.
“It’s kind of a disadvantage when you have just one person. Before we had two, so we had two voices in Ottawa,” he said. “Whoever the candidate is that is successful as our MP here in Chatham-Kent, we need to work with them.
“It’s important that we have a strong voice in Ottawa,” Canniff added.
Chatham-Kent will head to polls for the federal election on April 28.
