The leader of Ontario's opposition party says her meeting with Windsor's Mayor-Elect covered a wide range of local issues, including maintenance of the E.C. Row Expressway.
Marit Stiles had a sit-down on Thursday morning with Fred Francis and Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky.
Even as an opposition leader, Stiles said her party can back the city's bid.
"What's important for me when we are pushing the government or responding to, perhaps, legislation that the government puts forward, is that we can raise concerns and make sure the priorities of Windsor are included," she said.
Stiles said her party is willing to support Windsor if it pushes the province to upload responsibility for the Expressway.
"Some of the maintenance and servicing, that's really important, because that's a big toll that that takes on the municipality, but at the same time, the municipality still wants to have a say in what goes there," she said.
The conversation also touched on the possibility of having other social services uploaded to the provincial level too.
"A lot of our social services, housing, public health, that municipalities have had to bear the burden of funding are really areas where the provincial government should be funding those," she said.
The ongoing controversy at Stellantis came up too during the conversation.
Stellantis announced the sale of its Brampton Assembly Plant to Canadian armoured vehicle maker, Roshel. Industry Minister Melanie Joly has accused the company of not living up to its commitment to maintain the same Canadian footprint until 2035.
Stiles noted that many in Windsor are watching what happens in Ottawa, with one eye on any impacts on the Windsor Assembly Plant.
