The province’s goal is to have fully accessible municipal facilities by 2025, and areas where customer services are provided will have to be compliant by next year.
Clerk Donna MacDougall says municipalities that don’t comply, could face “substantial fines.”
She says the group most needing accessible facilities in Kincardine is the elderly.
Mayor Larry Kraemer says municipalities across Ontario are suggesting the government go back to the drawing board when it comes to the regulations.
He says they’re getting warnings from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and the organization representing municipal Clerks and Treasurers that implementing the regulations could be extremely expensive.
Kraemer says the benefits of the regulations are “nebulous”— or still mostly unknown right now.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario is asking Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur to consider the financial impact of the regulations on property taxes and local economies.
