New Building Canada Fund Falls Short of the Mark
Prince George, BC – Although the Federal Government has come up with a new “Building Canada Fund”, it has some serious gaps says the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
Prince George City Councilor, Garth Frizzell, is a member of the FCM Board, and is joining his FCM colleagues in calling on the Federal Government to make some adjustments to the New Building Canada Fund before it comes into play on April 1st.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities estimates the infrastructure deficit in municipalities across the country to be in the $113 billion dollar range, but the New Building Canada fund (NBCF) promises Provincial –Territorial dollars of just $9 billion over ten years.
Councilor Frizzell says in addition to the value of the fund, there are no clear indications on how the dollars will be delivered or who will be allowed a piece of the funding pie. “It’s not just municipalities, it’s also potentially private groups as well, the University as there’s an innovation component so post secondary institutions may be able to access it.”
Frizzell says there are still major questions that need to be answered in the short weeks before the deal is to come into effect.
Frizzell says the new fund has some new rules, “Things like roads, which we used Building Canada funds for in the past, are no longer eligible. We have to put local roads funding through the gas tax funds.” Another change will mean that the City may have to dig deeper for its share of dollars for major projects as gas tax funds can no longer be used as part of the municipal share of the bill.
“Prince George welcomed the federal government’s investment in the New Building Canada Fund, the longest and largest infrastructure program in Canadian history,” said Frizzell. “But it is critical that these gaps be addressed so that the program can meet the needs of this community over the next decade and give our residents the best value for money.”
“It’s not too late for the federal government to work together with us to resolve these issues,” said Frizzell. “It is our joint responsibility to do so. This community counts on its federal representatives to work with local leaders to make informed decisions that serve the people of Prince George and get the most out of every tax dollar.”
Comments
And so the senior levels of government should be called out for their conspicuous absence when it comes to cities needing their funding to meet our infrastructure needs… especially here in PG where we don’t have a federal MP that lives withing a five hour drive of here.
Dick Harris lives in the Okanogan and never did give two hoots about finding funding for city infrastructure in Ottawa. Look at what he did for us with the Northern Sports Center, pulling the funding at the last minute after the city had committed to the project. Or what ever happened to the Billion dollar pine beetle economic mitigation fund… all advertising propaganda just like their Canada Action Plan.
The other guy as well up in Fort St John is turning out to be no different than the MIA Dick Harris.
Where do these guys stand on the PAC proposal and why can’t they make a decision that could inform PG council and citizens at election time? If its no, then come out and clearly say so, and then we can have City Hall focus on things that really matter.
So let’s build a PAC! At least that will be new!
“then we can have City Hall focus on things that really matter.”
You kidding me? Exactly when have they done that??
Frizzell says they used the Building Canada Funds for roads in the past. What roads would that be??? Perhaps the upgrade to River Road to the 200 year flood plain, or perhaps Boundry Road?? These roads have pavement, lights, water, drainage, etc; however very little use by the average taxpayers.
The Federal Government has been transferring money to the Province since 2006 from the export tax on lumber to the USA. This tax generates approx. $260 Million per year as long as the rate of lumber was below $300.00 per 1000 fbm. So I would suggest that the Province received approx. $2 Billion from the Feds since 2006. Could this be part of the Beetle Billions?? This export tax is not now in effect because of the high price of lumber. The money received by the Provinces went into General Revenue, and was never mentioned by our present Government.
Canada’s 12 year war in Afghanistan cost an estimated 20 billion, not counting additional future expenses to care for the 2,000 wounded veterans. Harper has promised Afghanistan another 300 millions per year for another 3 years – a cool billion.
Perhaps we could ask our Provincial Government to spend $400/500 million on upgrading Highway 16 West to Kitimat, Terrace, Prince Rupert BC.
Its time to spend some **BIG** money in the Northwest. We have everything in place politically ie; 3 MLA’S in this area. 2 MP’s. Plus Gung Ho Governments that seem to want to spend our money in the Southern climes.
Time for some serious changes to spending in the North. We are long overdue for this spending, and it behooves our elected representatives to take the lead, and make it happen. Sitting around contemplating their navels will not get the job done.
PALOPU you have got to give MORRIS time he is new at this sort of thing, well I mean hes been elected for a year now and besides MIKE just opened up his brand new office, go figure???
We are grateful for any money. Ultimately, it was the responsibility of the community to sustain their own infrastructure, the incompetency of managers and council has forced us to look for hand outs.
Who got us into the war in Afghanistan, Prince George? Wasn’t Harper, was it.
And when he promises Afghanistan another 300 million a year for three years, where do you think that money is going to be spent? In Afghanistan? What would ‘Canadian’ money buy there? (Just about the same as what Afghan money would buy here ~ nothing.)
That Canadian money will be spent right here in Canada. It’s only ‘effective demand’ here. In this case to purchase Canadian goods and services for export, free, to Afghanistan.
To create ‘jobs’, for Canadians, not Afghani’s. Or maintain them.
Which giving foreign aid is almost as good at for the donor country as having a good war.
We could do way more of it if we could only find a way to keep our exports from ruining the livelihoods of those receiving them in those countries we ship them to, and they didn’t vehemently protest. The ungrateful wretches.
And yes, we could spend that same amount of money here doing all the wonderful things that need doing right here in Canada. For our own benefit. But we can’t quite make the accounting work very well that way. ‘Cause all the stuff we spend it on has to be gone, instantly, outside of this country. Never to return. Has to do with the way the money system works.
Kind of like how we were broke for ten years in the 1930’s, with no money to do anything here at all, but as soon as we went to war against the Nazis in 1939 all our money problems vanished, just like that. Where’d all that long missing dough come from? Did we take it off the rich? Not hardly, they were all richer at the end of the war than they were at the beginning. The middle class? They were just hanging on by the skin of their eyelids all through the dirty Thirties, no dimes to spare there. And the poor? Well, what could you wring out of them? If they had any money they wouldn’t be poor.
No one ever heard any Minister of Finance who preached ‘fiscal prudence’ and the need for ‘austerity’ when times were tough and money so scarce ever wail about how we couldn’t ever possibly go to war because, “We just don’t have the money.”
The ‘facts’ don’t fit the ‘figures’, and as we all know, or should, it’s those ‘figures’ ~ the ones with the dollar signs in front of them ~ that we always make more important than the ‘facts’ they’re supposed to only be (accurately) ‘reflecting’. But aren’t, for now they’ve taken on a life of their own. So long as we allow that, good luck in getting any of the things needed here that are entirely and easily physically possible, but always financially forbidden for us to have, except on terms too expensive to bear.
Above: “you have got to give MORRIS time”
Ah, I think Mr. Morris is an MLA (provincial) not an MP (federal)
This is a federal story.
metalman.
Comments for this article are closed.