CANADA'S CITY INFRASTRUCTURE IN CRISIS WHILE FEDERAL SURPLUS GROWS, SAY BIG CITY MAYORS

OTTAWA, Oct. 11 – Meeting today in Ottawa to discuss the upcoming Speech from the Throne, FCM´s Big City Mayors Caucus (BCMC) reiterated their call that the equivalent of one cent of the GST go to Canada´s cities and communities. This would provide some $5 billion a year in additional funds to Canadian cities and communities.

“The $13.8-billion federal surplus announced two weeks ago shows the federal government has the money to invest in our cities and communities,” said BCMC Chair and Regina mayor Pat Fiacco. “It´s just not budgeting for it.”

“We understand the current surplus by law had to go toward the national debt, but the size of the surplus makes it obvious that the federal government collects more money than it needs, while Canada´s cities and communities go begging.”

The mayors emphasized that Canada´s municipal infrastructure is aging—most of it has reached 80 per cent of its service life—and this now threatens our economic growth and, with it, our quality of life. Earlier estimates place the municipal infrastructure deficit at $60 billion, but research to date indicates it is significantly bigger than previously thought. FCM will be releasing a study of this deficit later in the fall.

The BCMC is thankful that the Federal Government maintained the full rebate on municipal GST purchases and extended the gas tax fund to 2014. These are important steps, but, until municipalities receive the equivalent of one cent of the GST, property taxes will continue to increase, the infrastructure deficit will get even larger, and cities will fall behind.

“Cities are making do with just eight cents of every tax dollar collected in Canada, while the federal, provincial and territorial governments take in 92 cents between them,” said Toronto mayor David Miller. “The federal surplus underlines Ottawa's refusal to acknowledge we face a critical funding crisis and that it's time to share some of its enormous surplus with us."

The mayors urged the federal government to take the lead in meeting these challenges, because the federal government has a key role to play in building national prosperity and these challenges threaten our survival as a strong, competitive and prosperous country and hurt the quality of life of all Canadians.

“Canada´s municipal governments provide much more than basic services,” said Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay. “They create wealth and deal with a growing range of new responsibilities, such as the environment, affordable housing and immigrant-settlement. But these responsibilities come without adequate resources and fiscal tools. This creates a fiscal squeeze that is made worse by having to make much-needed investments in infrastructure. If we are to secure Canada´s competitiveness and protect our quality of life, cities must have access to revenues that are adequate, reliable and responsive to growth.”

FCM President Gord Steeves said “FCM will launch a national campaign this fall to mobilize Canadians in a coordinated effort to win the government´s attention for cities and communities. And when we do have a federal election, we will be making this an issue for all parties and all candidates.”

For more information: Maurice Gingues, 613-907-6395