Ontario’s new Minister of Agriculture, Jeff Leal said he is coming to Kemptville. In an interview with ipolitics.ca published July 2, Leal said he wants to get to Kemptville as quickly as possible, and his scheduling people are looking at available dates. Also the minister of rural affairs, Leal was named agriculture minister on June 24. Leal said he has also spoken to the Hon. Lyle Vanclief, the provincial facilitator appointed to work with the Kemptville College Renewal Task Force on a local solution to the local U of Guelph campus closure. Despite repeated requests by the Task Force and other members of local and regional government following the March 12 closure announcement, Premier Kathleen Wynne has not visited the Kemptville campus.
The Municipality of North Grenville has offered to look at ways to operate the campus for a 3-year interim period following the U of G departure. A public town hall meeting to present options will be held on Wednesday, July 16th.