Ontario Construction News staff writer
According to an Abacus Data survey conducted on behalf of the Federation of Canadian Municipalites (FCM), 76 per cent of Canadians believe the country is moving in the wrong direction.
And with a federal election expected in 2025, the FCM is urging federal politicians to give local governments the ability to address the top priorities identified in the survey which was presented in early December.
“Life is too hard for too many Canadians in too many communities,” said FCM’s new president Rebecca Bligh, a Vancouver City Councillor. “Whether you live in a rural or urban community, the reality is the same: bills are harder to pay, the feeling of insecurity is growing, transportation is inadequate and homelessness is commonplace.
“It’s time to fix those issues for good.”
Of those surveyed, housing affordability was the biggest concern at 44 percent, followed by the quality of roads and highways at 30 percent, and traffic congestion at 29 percent. Homelessness and crime in the community were tied at 27 percent.
According to the survey, Canadians were also concerned with:
- Renewing aging municipal infrastructure
- Improving the quality of municipal services, like transit and recreation services, as communities grow
- Addressing crime by increasing municipal police services
- Long-term solutions needed
The survey showed municipalities are the order of government most trusted by Canadians to take action on their priority issues.
“There’s no longer time for half measures. Municipalities are the order of government that can best intervene on local issues that Canadians care about. Unfortunately, our hands are tied by a fiscal regime that dates from another century,” added President Bligh.
FCM is proposing a new Municipal Growth Framework that would see the three levels of government negotiate a more equitable sharing of existing taxes, enabling municipalities to make residents’ lives more affordable, infrastructure more reliable and your community safer.
FCM is calling on the federal government to commit to negotiating a new Municipal Growth Framework within the 2024-25 budget cycle. Should Ottawa turn a deaf ear to this request, municipalities will be unable to fix today’s problems with the current toolset. In the lead up to the next federal election, all political parties must remember that municipalities are fighting for Canadians and that it is only through collaboration amongst all orders of government that we can achieve lasting benefits.
