A bevy of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway-area mayors will be in town next year, seeing what Sarnia-Lambton has to offer as it hosts the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative’s annual meeting and conference.
The most important event of the year for the 112-municipal-member group, representing 17 million people on either side of the border, is an opportunity to showcase Sarnia-Lambton, said Beverley Horodyski with Tourism Sarnia-Lambton.
“It was fantastic news when we heard we were selected,” she said.
Provincial, state and federal representatives also usually attend, along with non-government and private sector delegates.
In all, up to 150 representatives are expected to stay at the Point Edward Holiday Inn during the June 17-19, 2015 conference, Horodyski said, praising the group for its work to protect, restore and promote the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region.
“From a tourism point of view that’s great news for us because we’re literally in the heart of the Great Lakes region,” she said.
A planning committee will be working over the next 16 months to develop activities and programs for the conference, she said.
It’s unclear exactly what the theme of next year’s meeting will be yet, said initiative executive director David Ullrich, noting this year’s — in Thunder Bay this June — will be focusing on climate change.
Using the Great Lakes to transport oil, especially near Sarnia where officials have been petitioning to play a greater role in upgrading oil sands bitumen, could be among the topics, he said.
“We don’t decide that until a little closer to it,” he said. “Because sometimes issues develop.”
Keynote speakers will also be selected closer to the date, he said.
Past host cities include Quebec City and Marquette Mich.
In making it’s decision, the initiative’s board of directors were impressed with Sarnia-Lambton’s proposal, and that it’s centrally located in the Great Lakes region, and somewhere the initiative hasn’t hosted an annual conference before, said Ullrich.
“And with the heavy industry in Sarnia, it makes for very interesting field trips that we can take as part of the tour,” he said.
The initiative celebrated its 10th anniversary last year and was created to give voice to municipalities on issues that concern Great Lakes and St. Lawrence-area waterways, Ullrich said.
Typically about 30 to 40 mayors attend annual conferences, he said.
“What we really try to do as an organization is integrate these things: the economy, the environment, and the society, into a much more liveable and sustainable Great Lakes,” he said. “Sarnia will be just a perfect example of that.”
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