One city councillor has returned from a Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference last week believing the federal government will help municipalities address the spiralling infrastructure deficit.
Coun. Len Bracko, who sits on the FCM’s board of directors, returned from the weeklong conference in Ottawa buoyed by news Stephen Harper’s government wants to advance the Building Canada Fund. Originally stemming from former prime minister Paul Martin’s New Deal for Cities, the program has provided funding in partnerships with municipalities to address crumbling infrastructure issues.
“It was a big step forward for the FCM and the federal government,” Bracko said.
In its current iteration, 40 per cent of the Building Canada Fund’s grants will run out by 2014. Over the next year, the Conservatives want to use a three-step approach to use the fund for long-term funding in a 15-to-20-year plan.
All three steps are scheduled to be completed in 2012. Working with municipalities and private industry, the government will first take stock of the current infrastructure picture nationwide, then identify the priorities before finally rolling out a long-term plan.
The FCM estimates the current infrastructure deficit at $123 billion. Other reports have placed the costs of replacing crumbling pipes and roads at more than $200 billion.
Edmonton-St. Albert member of Parliament Brent Rathgeber, who Bracko said has been very supportive of both the FCM and St. Albert, said the government understands municipalities, which are chiefly responsible for infrastructure maintenance and replacement, have limited funding options.
“Those hard infrastructure projects, municipalities have trouble funding them due to the small tax base,” Rathgeber said. “But from a national perspective, we certainly expect standards with respect to water treatment and the need to move goods, services and people.”
Rathgeber says the country will never be able to keep up with the rate at which infrastructure requires replacement, but acknowledges the federal government has a role to play.
“With respect to crumbling infrastructure, it’s always a moving target. You fix one bridge, then another requires fixing. It will always be that way.”
MPs are expected to wrap up budget consultations by Jan. 1, 2012 so the government can work on tabling the next budget for some time in March. While the Conservatives are working from a deficit position, there is strong support in the cabinet for Building Canada.
“Certainly with respect to infrastructure projects, like some we’ve funded in the area, I certainly see a need for that type of continuation,” said Rathgeber.
