Mayor Michelle Boileau was in Sault Ste. Marie today for a Northern Ontario Large Urban Mayors (NOLUM) meeting with the mayors and chief administrative officers from North Bay, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, and Sault Ste. Marie.

This was the first opportunity the NOLUM members have had to meet in person and discuss shared priorities and concerns.

Topics of discussion included doctor/nurse recruitment, mental health and addictions, homelessness, downtown development, and municipal finances. As well, the need to strengthen collaboration with both the provincial and federal governments.

NOLUM is calling for the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot (RNIP) to be made a permanent program to help with labour shortages and development.

NOLUM is asking that the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM U) receive its fair share of medical student spaces allocated for the province.

NOLUM is asking for more support from the provincial and federal governments for consumption and treatment services.

NOLUM is asking for more action from both the provincial and federal governments to address the housing and homelessness crisis being faced by communities across the north.

Mayor Boileau thanks Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Matthew Shoemaker for hosting the meeting and thanks her colleagues from across the north for the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with each other.

For more: https://saultstemarie.ca/Newsroom/April-1/Northern-Ontario-Large-Urban-Mayors-meet-in-Sault.aspx

Disponible en français.