FREDERICTON - Municipal leaders across Canada presented a unified response today to the humanitarian crisis facing Syria. Board members of The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) unanimously passed an Emergency Recommendation to coordinate the efforts of cities and communities across the country to amplify the effectiveness of local initiatives already underway.
"Municipalities are critical to the success of Canada's response to this deeply troubling situation. Our cities and communities will play a key role in any effort to resettle families fleeing violence in Syria. Through our coordinated actions we can maximize the size and the speed of Canada's response," said FCM President Raymond Louie.
The recommendation establishes an FCM Task Force on Refugee Resettlement to coordinate an effective response from the local government perspective. The Task Force will enable municipalities to share information and best practices. It will also provide an efficient means of coordinating with our provincial, territorial and federal counterparts to meet immediate and urgent resettlement targets.
Board members also made great progress on FCM's federal election strategy. Federal parties are responding in an unprecedented fashion to the municipal offer of partnership on the biggest challenges facing the country. Parties are presenting historic commitments on infrastructure investment and proposing long-term, dedicated funding for public transit. FCM anticipates that upcoming announcements will focus on housing and other key local priorities.
During the week-long meeting, FCM's board of directors took steps to ensure municipal issues remain front and centre in the remaining five weeks of the campaign. Through a massive Thunder-tweet, board members took to social media to encourage local candidates to sign the #CDNmuni commitment. In a matter of minutes, more than a thousand tweets pushed the CDNmuni hashtag to Twitter's top trending positon.
Board members were equipped with new tools that will enable them to continue to pressure local candidates to explain how each party will partner with local governments to solve national challenges.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is the national voice of municipal government. In leading the municipal movement, FCM works to align federal and local priorities, recognizing that strong hometowns make for a strong Canada.
For more information:
Neil Morrison, Senior Media Relations Strategist
613-915-5654