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In the run-up to the next election, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has drawn up a portrait of the mood of the state of the country that highlights Canadians’ top priorities at the local level. The organization is calling on all federal political parties to commit to giving local governments the means to intervene in these areas to ensure quality of life in their communities.
According to an Abacus Data survey conducted on behalf of FCM*, most of the population (76 per cent) believes the country is not moving in the right direction.
“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, 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 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.
During FCM’s Advocacy Days, which ran from Dec. 3 to Dec. 5 in Ottawa, the survey was presented to all political parties to ensure Canadians’ priorities were heard.
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.
The survey highlighted the fact that 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 orders of government negotiate a more equitable sharing of existing taxes. Working Canadians shouldn’t have to stretch their dollars beyond their means and that same logic should apply to municipalities.
The new agreement would enable 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. |
