Association of Municipalities of Ontario

Re: Creating a Dedicated Fund for Dam Restoration

Dear Premier Ford,

On behalf of the City of Cambridge, we would like to thank you and the Government of Ontario for your continued support of municipalities through a range of funding programs that help address growth pressures while building stronger, more vibrant communities. These investments highlight the importance of ensuring that municipalities have access to the full range of infrastructure needed to support growth over the long term.

While provincial funding programs have helped communities unlock housing, strengthen local economies, and enhance quality of life, a significant funding gap remains for the replacement and modernization of aging dam infrastructure. Dams are foundational assets that protect existing and future housing, safeguard local businesses, support environmental stewardship, and improve community resilience to extreme weather events. They also play an important role in protecting transportation corridors and supporting the movement of goods across Ontario's integrated supply chain. As municipal and orphaned dams continue to age, communities are increasingly being asked to manage substantial infrastructure risks without access to dedicated provincial funding support.

To be clear and direct about our ask, we request that the Province establish a provincial dam revitalization fund for the repair, replacement, and long-term maintenance of critical dam infrastructure. Establishing this fund would strengthen the Province's investments in housing, economic growth, and resilient infrastructure. In turn, this fund would ensure that critical infrastructure remains safe and reliable for future generations.

The City of Cambridge's Riverside Dam exemplifies this challenge. This century-old structure on the Speed River requires replacement at an estimated cost of approximately $21.4 million, a scale of investment that is beyond the capacity of local taxpayers alone and requires provincial partnership. Moreover, restoration projects like this are true examples of nation-building. Premier, this is how you will continue to protect Ontario.

A failure of Riverside Dam could impact homes, local businesses, key transportation corridors, and significant housing development planned within the Preston Major Transit Station Area. It could also threaten the nearby CPKC rail bridge, a critical transportation link that supports the movement of goods to major employers such as Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. Given that this rail connection is essential to regional and provincial supply chains, inaction today could result in significant economic consequences for Cambridge and Ontario while increasing risks to public safety and environmental protection.

The City has already invested nearly $950,000 toward structural assessments, repairs, environmental studies, inspections, and detailed design work and is prepared to assume ownership of the reconstructed asset. A dedicated provincial dam revitalization fund would help communities like Cambridge address these challenges before they become emergencies, protecting residents, businesses, infrastructure, and economic growth.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss how a dedicated provincial dam revitalization fund could support municipalities and advance Ontario's housing, economic, and infrastructure goals.

Thank you for your consideration and for your continued commitment to supporting municipalities across Ontario.

Sincerely,
Jan Liggett
Mayor, City of Cambridge

Rob Axiak
City Manager, City of Cambridge

c. Cambridge City Council
Brian Riddell, Member of Provincial Parliament
Jess Dixon, Member of Provincial Parliament CPKC
Toyota Motor Manufacturing

Re: Request for a Provincial Encampment Response Framework

Dear Minister Flack,

On behalf of the City of Cambridge, congratulations on your continued appointment as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Thank you for considering our request for an AMO delegation regarding encampments, public safety, and the need for coordinated provincial support.

We appreciate the Province’s continued attention to these complex issues and its efforts to restore safety to parks and public spaces while helping vulnerable residents access safer accommodations, treatment, housing, and wraparound supports.

Cambridge is trying to move toward an encampment-free city where everyone who needs support is connected to appropriate services, safer accommodation, treatment, and long-term housing stability. To achieve this, municipalities need clear provincial direction, consistent implementation tools, and system capacity that goes beyond what property taxpayers can reasonably fund on their own.

We are requesting your continued help to establish a clear, province-wide regulatory and implementation framework for encampment response. The framework should help municipalities respond consistently and compassionately, particularly in high-risk locations, while ensuring people living in encampments have real pathways to safer accommodation and long-term stability. We recognize that encampments are not solely a housing issue and touch the responsibilities of several provincial ministries. Nevertheless, we believe you are uniquely positioned to serve as the provincial lead, champion this issue within government, and bring together the ministries, agencies, and municipal partners required to deliver a coordinated and lasting solution.

In Cambridge, encampments are creating significant public safety, service, environmental, operational, and financial impacts. These pressures are being felt by residents, businesses, City staff, first responders, outreach partners, and people living in encampments themselves. Without a clear and practical provincial framework, municipalities are left managing repeat risks and costs without the tools, authority, or service capacity needed to resolve the underlying issues.

We are increasingly witnessing criminal elements operating in plain view within and around certain encampments, contributing to concerns related to drug trafficking, violence, intimidation, and public disorder, while further complicating efforts to connect vulnerable individuals with appropriate supports and housing.

With provincial partnership, municipalities across Ontario would see fewer encampments, safer public spaces, and lower repeat cleanup and emergency costs, while people living in encampments gain real, sustained pathways to housing, treatment, and stability. This is not a choice between compassion and community safety — it is both, delivered through a practical, consistent framework. Your government has taken great strides to protect Ontario; this is how you continue to do that.

Given the importance of this issue to our community, we would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your staff to further discuss Cambridge’s local experience, the growing municipal pressures associated with encampments, and opportunities for provincial-municipal collaboration. We would also appreciate the opportunity to include the Waterloo Region Police Service in this discussion, given their important role as a key partner in public safety and encampment response.

Please let us know if there is a suitable time in the coming weeks to arrange a meeting. We have attached a briefing package that provides further detail and includes images demonstrating the community impacts of this issue. We would be pleased to provide any additional information that would assist the Province in advancing this work.

Yours truly,
Mayor Jan Liggett

Rob Axiak 
City Manager

c.
Cambridge City Council
Brian Riddell, Member of Provincial Parliament
Jess Dixon, Member of Provincial Parliament

Re: Request for Provincial Action on Scrap Metal Theft and Second-Hand Goods Transactions

Dear Minister Kerzner,

On behalf of the City of Cambridge, congratulations on your continued appointment as Solicitor General. We appreciate your consideration of our AMO delegation request this past August. As a follow up, we are writing to request provincial leadership to address the growing public safety, infrastructure, and financial impacts of scrap metal theft and the resale of stolen goods. This issue affects municipalities, utilities, businesses, service clubs, community organizations, and residents across Ontario, and cannot be addressed effectively through local action alone.

Cambridge’s local experience reflects a broader provincial challenge. Metal theft can damage essential infrastructure, interrupt utility and telecommunications services, create public safety risks, and impose significant repair, replacement, insurance, security, and operational costs on municipalities and local businesses. Commercial areas, construction sites, public assets, utilities, and community facilities are increasingly vulnerable when stolen materials can be sold through inconsistent reporting, identification, and compliance requirements across jurisdictions.

The City of Cambridge is asking the Province to take two practical steps to address this issue. First, establish a consistent, province-wide regulatory framework for scrap metal and second-hand goods transactions, including mandatory seller identification,transaction records, traceable payments, and enforceable compliance requirements.Second, convene municipalities, police services, utilities, telecommunications providers, recyclers, industry stakeholders, and privacy experts to design an implementation model that supports consistent reporting, cross-jurisdictional enforcement, privacy
protection, and practical compliance for legitimate businesses. Your government has taken great strides to protect Ontario; this is how you continue to do that.

We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and your staff to discuss this request, share Cambridge’s local experience, and support the development of a balanced provincial approach that deters theft while recognizing the important role of legitimate recyclers and second-hand goods businesses. A province-wide model would improve traceability, support law enforcement, reduce cross-jurisdictional resale of stolen materials, and provide communities with more consistent tools to protect public
assets and essential services.

Please let us know if there is a suitable time in the coming weeks to arrange a meeting. We have attached a briefing package that provides further detail and includes images demonstrating the community impacts of this issue. We would be pleased to provide any additional information that would assist the Province in advancing this work.

Yours truly,
Mayor Jan Liggett

Rob Axiak 
City Manager

c.
Cambridge City Council, Brian Riddell, Member of Provincial Parliament, Jess Dixon,
Member of Provincial Parliament, Waterloo Regional Police Service, Cambridge
Chamber of Commerce; Downtown Cambridge BIA; Hespeler Village BIA; Preston
Towne Centre BIA; Royal Canadian Legion - Preston Branch 126; Royal Canadian
Legion Galt Branch 121; Royal Canadian Legion Branch 272; South Waterloo Naval
Veterans Association (Cambridge Navy Club); Freedom Welding Company Inc; J & S
Property Management