Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to serve as CSG East’s 2021 Chair and preside over the 60th Annual Meeting and Regional Policy Forum, August 16-20, 2021. The meeting will be presented online for this year only. Although we have had to postpone the live meeting in Toronto, Ontario until 2023, we fully expect the virtual meeting to be as thought-provoking and interesting as ever, with timely topics meaningful to the Eastern Region.

The theme of this year’s Annual Meeting is State of the Future: Mapping a regional path forward. The pandemic is presenting a new future, opportunities for meaningful change, and a new normal, but what will they be? How will the Eastern region respond? What can we learn from each other’s experiences to restore our economies, the health of our jurisdictions, and face the aftermath with real solutions? These questions will be explored across CSG East’s policy committees (Agriculture and Rural Development, Canada-U.S. Relations, Council on Communities of Color, Education, Energy and Environment, Fiscal, Health, Military and Veterans Affairs, Territorial Relations, and Transportation), as well as in the general sessions. Now more than ever, we need to come together as legislators, policy makers, and colleagues to work to improve the future for our constituents.

Please join us August 16-20, 2021. For more information on the Annual Meeting, please contact AR Braver. Registration is open through August 19, 2021, and is complimentary for state government officials and staff . We look forward to seeing you online next week.

Honourable Ted Arnott
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
2021 Chair, CSG East