Essex County Representatives Elected to AMO Board

Essex County Warden Hilda MacDonald and Essex County Councillor Crystal Meloche have both been elected to the board of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario for the 2026-2028 term.

MacDonald, the Mayor of Leamington, was elected to the board representing the County Caucus. Meloche, the Mayor of LaSalle, was elected representing the Small Urban Caucus.

The elections were held this week at the 2026 Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference in Ottawa. More than 3,000 municipal leaders and delegates attended the conference, where more than 750 delegation meetings were held between municipal representatives and the provincial government.

As members of AMO’s board, MacDonald and Meloche will “help set AMO’s policy direction and advance the priorities of Ontario’s 444 municipalities,” said AMO in a news release.

“Hundreds of municipal governments from across Ontario benefit from their membership in AMO,” said AMO President Riley Brockington. “At the same time, their contribution and commitment to working together makes all communities stronger.”

Brockington added that “long-term, sustainable provincial funding is needed to ensure municipalities can continue to deliver the infrastructure and services Ontarians rely on.”

AMO called for provincial action on municipal priorities, including:

• Long-term, predictable infrastructure funding to support housing, economic growth and the infrastructure communities need;
• Full provincial funding for health and social services that are provincial responsibilities; and
• Coordinated action and investment from all orders of government to address Ontario’s growing homelessness crisis.

Learn more about AMO and its priorities on AMO’s website!