SAINT-HYACINTHE, QC – The next federal budget is a key opportunity to improve Canadians’ daily lives with critical investments in clean public transit, housing affordability and infrastructure for communities of all sizes. That message is the heart of Building Better Lives with Budget 2020, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ (FCM) pre-budget recommendations.
“Whether it’s permanent transit funding, climate action, or access to adequate broadband, municipalities are ready to bring life to the commitments we’ve heard from this government,” said FCM President Bill Karsten. “This government’s first budget is an opportunity to show Canadians it can deliver. What FCM is offering is a clear path to results people can see in their daily lives.”
FCM’s submission lays out three paths to delivering for Canadians through Budget 2020:
- Local climate action that builds better lives: Cutting commutes and emissions with permanent transit funding, while accelerating transit electrification, making rental housing more energy efficient, investing in disaster mitigation and adaptation and strengthening tools for local climate resilience and natural infrastructure enhancement.
- New progress on housing affordability: Building on the National Housing Strategy by investing directly in supportive housing, along with social/affordable housing for Indigenous households—while opening a new front of leadership on the affordability of market rental housing.
- Strengthening communities of all sizes: Shoring up key funding tools for better local infrastructure, investing directly in Canada’s rural and northern communities, including rural mobility and transportation solutions and access to adequate broadband. The submission also calls on the federal government to drive immediate progress for struggling western communities by implementing immediate-term proposals from FCM’s Western Economic Solutions Taskforce.
“We know this government wants to drive climate progress, and we’re offering solutions everyone can get behind,” said Vicki-May Hamm, FCM Past-President and Mayor of Magog, QC. “Our public transit solutions mean faster commutes and lower emissions. Our disaster mitigation and climate adaptation solutions include protecting communities from the impacts of new weather extremes. This is climate action that builds better lives across the country.”
Shortly after last fall’s federal election, FCM released comprehensive recommendations for the new minority parliament in 15 policy areas. Today’s submission presents a shortlist of proposals that Budget 2020 can implement immediately to drive results for Canadians.
“When the federal and local orders of government work together, we deliver for Canadians,” said President Karsten. “We’re looking to Budget 2020 to deepen our municipal-federal partnership to get more done—in communities of all sizes, in every region of this country.”
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) unites nearly 2,000 local governments at the national level, representing more than 90 per cent of Canadians in every province and territory.
For more information: FCM Media Relations, (613) 907-6395, media@fcm.ca
Download: Building Better Lives with Budget 2020