November 4, 2014

Parliamentary Assistant Lou Rinaldi
Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing
777 Bay Street, 17th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2E5

Dear Parliamentary Assistant Rinaldi:

It is an honour and a pleasure to have you as my Parliamentary Assistant. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and to outline some of the important work that lies ahead of us.

As you know, our government has a plan to invest in the talent and skills of our people, build modern infrastructure, support a dynamic and innovative business climate, and provide better retirement security to people across the province. At the heart of this plan are partnerships with businesses, people and communities, which will help our government grow the economy, create jobs and implement solutions that have a meaningful impact on people’s lives.

This balanced and comprehensive plan is underpinned by a focus on fiscal prudence. The mandate letter I received last month from Premier Wynne reinforced our government’s commitment to balance the budget by 2017-18 and to pursue increased openness, accountability and modernization.

Parliamentary Assistants play a key role in delivering these priorities and have a responsibility to put our government’s plan into action.

Together, we will work to strengthen and support communities across the province, improve affordable housing and land use planning, protect the environment and agricultural lands, strengthen partnerships with municipal governments, and ensure that Ontario’s communities are safe, connected and able to thrive.

As Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing your specific responsibilities include:

  • Strengthening municipal governance through a review of the Municipal Elections Act after the 2014 municipal elections. You will ensure that the act meets the needs of communities, and that it provides municipalities with the option of using ranked ballots in future elections, starting in 2018, as an alternative to first-past-the-post.
  • Participating jointly with me in helping to facilitate the strong relationship between the province and municipalities, including the ongoing implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), and bringing a particular focus on rural perspectives.
  • Ensuring an appropriate rural and agricultural focus in the co-ordinated review of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and the Greenbelt Plans.

I am confident that together, working in collaboration with our partners in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, we can deliver on our commitment to the people we are privileged to represent and serve. I look forward to working with you to deliver our ministry’s mandate, build Ontario up — and help achieve a brighter future for every person in this province.

Best regards,

Ted McMeekin signature

The Honourable Ted McMeekin
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing