Advocacy on Archaeological Heritage Protection, Long Lead Time Electricity Procurement, Buy Ontario Act, and AMPs for Wildland Fire Safety

Top Insights

• AMO supports advocacy on archaeological assessments that upholds treaty rights, reconciliation, and promotes strong municipal-Indigenous relationships. 
• The IESO is consulting on the design of its upcoming "long-lead time electricity procurement" for hydro-electric projects.  AMO supports the proposed continued role for municipal approvals.
• Bill 72, the Buy Ontario Act will require municipalities to prioritize Ontario and Canadian companies during procurement. AMO calls for flexibility to keep municipal services on-time and on-budget. 
• AMO submission supports the use of administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) in wildland fire safety and calls for additional opportunities to move charges to an AMP system. 

Supporting Indigenous Advocacy on Archaeological Heritage Protection 

AMO’s letter to the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism supports Indigenous communities who are asking the province to protect treaty rights, archaeological heritage, and burial sites. The province is making changes to the archaeological heritage rules to exempt more projects from archaeological assessment. This could undermine the collaborative, meaningful relationships that municipalities and Indigenous communities are working hard to build. AMO calls on the province to balance heritage protection and reconciliation with faster development. 

Preparing for Long Lead Time Electricity Procurements 

The Independent Electricity System Operation (IESO) is consulting on the design of their upcoming long lead time electricity procurement (LLT) which will focus on hydroelectric generation projects. AMO’s feedback on program design: 

• Supports a requirement for projects to get a municipal support resolution; 
• Encourages the IESO to work with the province and municipalities to manage source water protection; 
• Recommends developers not seek municipal support resolutions during the “lame duck” period of the 2026 municipal elections. 

Buy Ontario Act and Municipal Auto Procurement 

The Buy Ontario Act (Bill 72) allows the province to require municipalities to prioritize procurement from Ontario and Canadian businesses. AMO has asked the province to make sure municipalities have the flexibility to buy from other vendors when needed to avoid significant construction delays and price increases. AMO facilitated municipal input on a new provincial fleet vehicle procurement policy setting new requirements for our sector. This involved hosting a joint webinar with the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement and circulating a survey to secure municipal staff expert input. 

Submission on Administrative Monetary Penalties for Wildland Fire Safety 

On December 10, AMO sent a letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of the Attorney General in support of the proposal to establish a framework for issuing administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) to encourage compliance with wildland fire safety requirements. Overall, AMO supports moving more charges to AMPs to help alleviate the already overburdened provincial offences court system. We encourage the Ministry of the Attorney General to work with AMO and our members to identify other charges that would be more appropriate in the AMP system to address backlogs in the system.