Newmarket mayor elected to prestigious AMO board of directors post

Yorkregion.com
Aug. 19, 2016
By Chris Simon

Newmarket’s mayor will help guide the policies of one of the leading advocacy voices for Ontario municipalities over the next two years.

Earlier this week, Mayor Tony Van Bynen was elected to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario’s 2016-2018 board of directors’ regional and single tier caucus. Though the position technically means Van Bynen will represent York Region around the caucus table, plenty of issues affecting Newmarket residents will be tackled over the next two years, he said.

“I scoped it out in advance,” Van Bynen, who has been preparing to take on the position for the last year, said. “AMO has been a very significant support for all municipalities across Ontario for many years. We’ll be advancing local issues at the regional level.”

Van Bynen plans to push for economic development and job creation strategies.

However, affordable housing, policing and growth planning will also be discussed. While those topics are largely handled at the regional level now, they have significant implications for Newmarket, he said.

AMO president and Innisfil Deputy Mayor Lynn Dollin says Van Bynen will become a key municipal leader in the province.

“AMO benefits from membership from across the province and a board that reflects the diversity of Ontario’s municipal governments,” she said in a press release.

The board will focus on fiscal sustainability for municipal governments, advancing federal and provincial partnerships for infrastructure and strengthening municipal legislative authority to advance local economic prosperity and environmental sustainability during its mandate, Dollin said.

AMO is a non-profit organization representing almost all of Ontario’s 444 municipal governments.

For more information, visit amo.on.ca.