FCM calls on federal parties to focus on Canadians’ priorities and commit to give municipalities power to intervene

Municipalities are the most on the ground level of government that can effectively intervene in the issues of top importance to Canadians. A survey conducted by Abacus Data on behalf of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) found that municipalities are also the most trusted level of government. And yet they are bound by the fiscal regime of upper levels of government.

Of those surveyed, housing affordability was the biggest concern at 44 per cent, followed by the quality of roads and highways at 30 per cent, and traffic congestion at 29 per cent. Homelessness and crime in the community were tied at 27 per cent. Canadians were also concerned with crime, aging municipal infrastructure, and improving the quality of municipal services, like transit and recreation, as communities grow.

“Life is too hard for too many Canadians in too many communities,” FCM’s new president Rebecca Bligh, a Vancouver City Councillor, said in a press release. “Whether you live in a rural or urban community, the reality is the same: bills are harder to pay, feeling of insecurity is growing, transportation is inadequate, and homelessness is commonplace. It’s time to fix those issues for good.”

But measures taken by the federal and provincial governments aimed at making life easier for Canadians have done very little to support those struggling the most. In Ontario, Doug Ford’s Bill 23 and municipal housing targets have yet to spur any true growth of affordable homes for Ontarians. Conservative leaders in Nova Scotia and Alberta have also been targeted for a failure to address the growing housing crisis.

On the federal stage, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced a tax break for Canadians over the holiday period. But the FCM argues that short-term measures are not enough to support growing populations.

FCM is proposing the creation of a new Municipal Growth Framework that would see the three levels of government negotiate a more equitable sharing of existing taxes. The new agreement, the FCM states, would enable municipalities to make residents’ lives more affordable, infrastructure more reliable and your community safer.

It is asking the federal government to commit to this negotiation 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,” a press release from FCM states. “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.”