An article in the Walrus talks about the financial decline of Canada's economic hub. Though Toronto remains a vibrant, diverse and exciting place to live, poor economic and structural decision making have left the city with a crumbling infrastructure, service cuts, and traffic congestion that is creating frustration for everyone. With the current Mayor's decision to cut several tax-based sources of revenue and to instead further slash programs and infrastructure the solutions to the City's woes are nowhere in sight.
144 Manitoba municipalities have passed a resolution urging provincial parties to commit to a 1% tax provincial sales tax transfer to municipalities. The call for investment is an urgent one as infrastructure, from roads to the provision of safe drinking water, is at risk. Providing these funds will likely produce a boon to the economy. "The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has found that every dollar invested in infrastructure grows the economy, giving us more back.
So far, 91 Manitoba municipalities have passed resolutions calling on provincial political parties to commit, if elected, a portion of the tax revenue the Manitoba government collects in communities to repairing and upgrading the infrastructure in those communities. Read more in the Red River Valley Echo.
A new website that builds upon open data allows users to rate Toronto neighbourhoods. Information provided on the Wellbeing Toronto website is exhaustive, ranging from the number of car crashes in an area, to income and education levels. While some view the ranking system as potentially damaging to communities, many others are happy to have such data readily available, including non-profits who will use the information to target their resources to communities most in need.
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Planning & Land Use | July 6, 2011
Hans Cunningham, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has released a statement acknowledging the NDP's solid understanding of the ever growing needs of Canadian municipalities and praised the policies developed to resolve these issues. "This NDP platform is the first in this election campaign to call for new, long-term investments in Canada´s cities and communities."Read more here.
The governing NDP in Manitoba is promising a 1% transfer of the PST to municipalities. This stable source of funding will provide municipalities an extra $33 million in next year's budget. Some say it's not enough. Read more at the CBC.
The Ontario Infrastrucure Fund aims to accelerate infrastructure investments to foster a competitive environment which attracts businesses and creates employment opportunities. Projects are jointly funded by the federal and Ontario provincial governments, and ensure that Ontarians will benefits from increased employment opportunities, enhanced protection and mangement of drinking water, improved transportation safety and efficiency, and renewed cultural centres and sport facilities.
A briefing note on recently leaked CETA documents shows that Canada and the provinces are failing to protect drinking water and wastewater services from trade rules that would encourage and lock in privatization. In contrast, the EU's CETA offer specifically protects it's own water and wastewater services.
To read the full report from the Council of Canadians and Canadian Union of Public Employees, click here.
New guidelines have been released by the province of BC to help coastal communities vulnerable to flooding adapt development plans to address rising sea levels. The Coastal Floodplain Mapping Guidelines report highlights a number of areas not currently prone to flooding that may become vulnerable as sea levels rise, including False Creek, parts of Kitsilano and a portion of North Vancouver near the Second Narrows bridge.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is proposing a one year $33 billion dollar economic stimulus package that would create 407,000 new jobs, boost the economy by 3% and protect those hardest hit by recession.
