Mayor joins other municipal leaders in meetings with federal counterparts
By Nelson Daily Staff
Earlier this month Mayor John Dooley joined more than a 100 other municipal leaders in Ottawa for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) annual meetings on Parliament Hill.
FCM met with more than 100 Members of Parliament, including party leaders and cabinet ministers, to build practical partnership and protect core investments in Nelson and municipalities across Canada.
“Here in Nelson we’ve seen major improvements to infrastructure, including $1.6 million invested in our water system, thanks to the kind of advocacy that the FCM does on the part of municipalities,” said Mayor Dooley, who is serving his fourth consecutive term on the FCM Board.
The week’s most significant achievement was the launch of the Government of Canada’s new infrastructure planning process.
The plan promises to stop the decline in municipal infrastructure and build the roads, bridges, water and transit systems needed to support families, businesses and economic growth.
In recent years, the federal government has worked with Nelson and other municipalities to repair aging infrastructure, but 40 per cent of federal-municipal funding is set to expire by 2014.
The new, long-term plan promised by the government will protect essential investments and reduce the burden on local property taxpayers in the years ahead.
The federal government laid out a clear timetable to take stock of recent investments in cities and communities, identify where investments need to be made in the future, and replace soon to expire programs with a new generation of long-term infrastructure investments.
“In the last few years, federal and municipal governments have worked more closely than ever to fight the economic crisis and rebuild Canada’s aging roads, bridges, and water systems,” said Berry Vrbanovic, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). “Together, we can tear down the silos that prevent us from serving taxpayers in the best way possible. Together, we can build a stronger, safer Canada.”
Municipal leaders also received a report about FCM’s meeting with the Prime Minister. FCM representatives talked with the Prime Minister about how federal and municipal governments have worked together to fight the recession and how they can continue working together to keep Canada’s economic foundations secure.
Municipal leaders also heard Liberal Leader Bob Rae and NDP leader Nycole Turmel discuss what their parties are doing to strengthen the economy, support communities, and protect property taxpayers from offloading by other governments.
