Perth-Wellington MP John Nater told township council on Nov. 24 he will make sure the new federal Liberal government is aware rural Ontario has different infrastructure needs than large cities.
Nater said that immediately after the election he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stating he is “looking forward to working co-operatively with the new government.” Nater stated that is still his intention.
“I do hope they carry through on some of their promises, especially where it comes to investment in infrastructure,” said Nater.
He noted the new government is proposing to spend money on “green” infrastructure, although he added, “we’re not sure what all’s going to be involved with that.”
However, Nater stated, “We’ll take them at their word.”
Noting the Liberals promised to spend billions on transit during the recent election campaign, Nater said, “I’m sure that Mapleton’s not planning to bring in any LRT or light rail transit projects … We have roads and bridges in rural Ontario. That’s our mass transit … we need to keep a balance.”
Concerns about funding for rural infrastructure are a recurring theme among local councils, said Nater.
“A lot of the time we seem to be disadvantaged as rural communities,” he said.
Mayor Neil Driscoll agreed finding infrastructure dollars is a challenge in rural communities.
“One of our biggest concerns is we have 10,000 people and two thirds of them don’t get taxed”
Driscoll explained that Mapleton has a population of 10,000 people and send out tax bills to 3,676 properties, including private residences, farms, businesses and vacant land.
“My concerns are all our grants are based on our population. Our asset management plan shows that for the next five years we need to spend $3 million per year on roads, $1.5 million per year on bridges and $1 million per year on facilities. This doesn’t include replacement of equipment, administration and the unexpected items that come along,” said Driscoll. “Those are the real numbers and they’re scary – and that’s not even touching our sewage capacity issues.”
Nater agreed, stating, “Municipalities have a significant amount of infrastructure investments that they are required to make but their investment tools are relatively limited.”
Driscoll told Nater the municipality is currently drafting a letter to both Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne asking for a meeting to discuss issues specific to rural municipalities.
Nater advised council he is setting up riding offices in both Stratford and Harriston and said “as a rule of thumb, if you run across constituents with concerns about federal matters … don’t ever hesitate to send them my way.”
