RRDSSAB Chair joins NOSDA Executive
Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board (RRDSSAB) Chair and Mayor of Rainy River, Debbie Ewald, was elected to the executive of the Northern Ontario Service Deliverers Association (NOSDA) at its Annual General Meeting held in Thunder Bay on June 20-22.
Ewald will serve as one of two vice-chairs, alongside reelected Mark King, North Bay Councillor and Chair of the Nipissing District Social Services Administration Board. Michelle Boileau, Mayor of Timmins and Chair of the Cochrane District Social Services Administration Board, will continue as NOSDA Chair.
Also in attendance at the meeting were RRDSSAB Vice Chair Andrew Hallikas, and Board members, Brendan Hyatt and Robert Burns. CAO Dan McCormick, along with Shelley Shute, Director of Integrated Services, Sandra Weir, Integrated Services Manager (Housing Lead), Tanis Fretter, Integrated Services Manager (Children’s Services Lead), and Chad Buist, Chief of Paramedic Services, also attended.
The event, with the theme “Stronger and Better Together,” featured a number of speakers presenting on a variety of topics, such as Social Assistance Modernization, the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement Funding Formula, and Homelessness, Addictions, and Mental Health in Northern Ontario. Speaker panels also highlighted Housing and Homelessness, as well as Community Paramedicine. Key priorities of NOSDA, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), and the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association (NOMA) were also presented.
The NOSDA membership approved 11 resolutions that will form the NOSDA priorities over the next year. NOSDA will also request delegations with various Provincial Ministers at the AMO and Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conferences to advocate for the northern priorities as articulated in the approved resolutions.
NOSDA brings together 11 Service Managers in Northern Ontario responsible for the local planning, coordination and delivery of Ontario Works, Children’s Services, Community Housing, and Homelessness Prevention programs. This year’s AGM, the first in-person meeting since the pandemic, saw over 150 participants and was hosted by the Kenora District Services Board, the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board, and RRDSSAB.
Contact:
Heather Latter, Communications Officer, Rainy River District Social Services Administration Board, 807-274-5349 ext. 243 or heather.latter@rrdssab.ca
