<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">Good Day,</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">1) Bill 66 Standing Committee Presentations, Monday March 18th at Queen’s Park</b> - the Ford government has restricted Bill 66 hearings to just one day - tomorrow March 18th at Queen’s Park at the General Government Committee. A number of local groups applied to the Clerk to present but not surprisingly have been turned down. Hopefully, we will see Section 10 removed by the Committee and many other changes made to other parts of this sweeping omnibus Bill. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="">I strongly encourage your group to e-mail your concerns by tomorrow at 5:00pm about Bill 66 (it can simply be a reprint of earlier submissions or letters) to the standing committee clerk at <a href="mailto:comm-generalgov@ola.org" class="">comm-generalgov@ola.org</a></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">2) Paris-Galt Moraine Act, Bill 71 </b>- Kudos to Green Party MPP Mike Schreiner and all the community organizations helping to promote the Paris-Galt Moraine Act. Modelled after the Oak Ridges Moraine Act it received unanimous approval recently during its second reading at Queen’s Park! It is important that we continue to build support for this Act that would help to protect farmland, water, and nature.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">3) Regional Review Opens for Public Comments </b>- We have only a few weeks to submit comments in the Regional Review currently taking place that could amalgamate our Region, remove entire levels of local government, and change so much that has been important to the success of our local communities. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="">We should be very worried and concerned about the Regional Review because so much within our Region and across Ontario is at stake. The consequences to poorly thought out and hap-hazard changes could be very far reaching - particularly to rural areas overwhelmed and outvoted by urban areas. Community groups in Simcoe County, York Region, Niagara, Halton and other parts of the province are extremely concerned about this review too. Oakville Mayor Rob Burton is working to try to rally people to save the Town of Oakville and City of Burlington from being absorbed into Halton Region and we have seen numerous press releases from the Region of Waterloo, Township of Wilmot, City of Waterloo, City of Cambridge and others urging local residents to speak up and ensure our voices are heard.</div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">You can read the Region of Waterloo press release here: <a href="https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/Modules/News/index.aspx?newsId=5b3756e4-7959-499d-a665-3f840abd3b21" class="">https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/Modules/News/index.aspx?newsId=5b3756e4-7959-499d-a665-3f840abd3b21</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Please be sure to fill out the skewed survey and provide written submissions to the provincial government at:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/regional-government-review" class="">https://www.ontario.ca/page/regional-government-review</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Current rumours are that Premier Doug Ford is looking to act quickly and make dramatic announcements at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in June.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">4) Opening Aggregates for Business -</b> more than 20 community groups held a conference call this week to discuss the provincial announcement about changes to facilitate economic growth in the aggregate industry at the expense of local farmland, water aquifers and natural areas. So far all community groups are still being excluded from the March 29th provincial meetings though the Wellington Water Watchers, Gravelwatch Ontario and other groups are trying to spearhead a response.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">5) Waterloo Region Power of Many Activation Meeting, Wednesday March 20th 5:30pm -</b> please join the Ontario Federation of Labour and groups from across our community to figure out how a broad coalition of local groups can come together on common issues and concerns to stand up to the Ford government. More than 125 people/groups have already RSVP’d to this meeting on Wednesday from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the OFL Office, 610 Wabanaki Drive Kitchener. You can learn more and register to attend at:</div><div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://www.oflevents.ca/" class="">https://www.oflevents.ca</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">6) Waterloo Region Health Coalition Town Hall Meeting - Tuesday, March 26th, 7:00pm -</b> Recently announced changes to our Healthcare system in the radical Bill 74 are extremely concerning. Please attend this upcoming meeting at the Kitchener City Hall Rotunda to learn more. You can register for free on Eventbrite at:</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><a href="https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/health-care-town-hall-tickets-58170396221" class="">https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/health-care-town-hall-tickets-58170396221</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Additional information on Bill 74 and the Town Hall meeting are attached below.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class="">7) Green Drinks Follow-up -</b> It was fantastic to see such a large, diverse turnout of well over 100 people for the inaugural Green Drinks event held this past week in Waterloo. Please mark the second Wednesday of each month from 6:00pm to 9:00pm in your calendar and check out <a href="http://www.greendrinks.org/ON/Kitchener%20Waterloo%20Cambridge" class="">http://www.greendrinks.org/ON/Kitchener%20Waterloo%20Cambridge</a> for additional information.</div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""></div></body></html>