MINTO – Meetings with provincial cabinet ministers at recent Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference provided little clarity on funding issues, according to Minto Mayor George Bridge.
“I’m liking the commitment from the cabinet ministers and those people,” Bridge told Minto council on Feb. 5.
“I’m just not sure of overall where we’re going as far as Mr. (Premier Doug) Ford goes, how he’s laying things out. But I think his team is saying the right things …
“Hopefully when we get to this next budget and we really hit hard on them and some of the issues of funding to the municipalities you’ll be able to take in some of the sessions.”
In an interview Bridge said he is hopeful the municipality will receive a fair share of Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF) money in 2019, but he did not learn anything new at the conference about the status of the funding, which is under review by the province.
“I hope that they realize … this isn’t money they just dole out because they’re being nice to us. This is money that was in the system to offset the fact that we only get 25 per cent of the farm taxes. This is our money … they just hold onto it and give it back to us,” said Bridge.
While bracing for a reduction in OMPF, Bridge said, “I’m hoping that maybe we get more because they said it would be going to those that need it most.”
Bridge said he was part of a delegation from the Western Warden’s Caucus that had a 45-minute meeting with the ministers of municipal affairs, agriculture and rural affairs and infrastructure at the Jan. 27 to 29 conference to discuss the Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology Inc. (SWIFT) initiative and other rural economic development strategies.
“Which is our rural development strategies, which they were really keen on because it kind of fits in with what they’re trying to do in this area, like workforce planning, affordable housing, those types of bigger issues,” said Bridge adding the wardens’ group is “working as a collaborative.
“With the 15 counties we have about three million people. We talk with a bigger voice,” he stated.
While ministers were supportive of the SWIFT concept, Bridge said he still can’t confirm the current Progressive Conservative government will follow through with a $90-million funding commitment made by the previous Liberal government in 2016.
Wellington County council agreed in 2015 to provide $1 million over five years to the SWIFT plan and the federal government also pledged $90 million for SWIFT in 2016.
Bridge, who reported at the Oct. 25 Wellington County council meeting that the provincial SWIFT funding was being held up as part of the province’s spending review, said further meetings were scheduled last week between the warden’s group and provincial officials and he anticipates a decision will be announced soon.
More encouraging, said Bridge, was a meeting involving the wardens and Minister Jane Philpott, who heads up a newly-created Ministry of Rural Economic Development.
“We got an hour with her Sunday night, which was really good,” said Bridge, noting the group was hoping to have further meetings with federal ministers at an upcoming economic strategy conference in Ottawa.
Bridge said the wardens plan to meet with four different ministries “on getting some money for rural economic development from the feds. We have a bigger opportunity there I think right now … until the province gets their budget done and figures out where they’re going,” said Bridge, adding he is pleased with the decision to appoint a federal minister for rural economic development.
“By having her there now and having those ministries involved, it makes a big difference. We’ve got a bigger rural voice. FCM’s (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) been working to try to get that voice – we were just trying to get a secretariat at one time, which was just showing some focus on the rural lens – but now we actually have the rural economic lens there with an actual minister, so we’ll see how much money they’re willing to pour into that, but there will certainly be broadband and other things that we need to look at.”
Bridge pointed out FCM is hoping for a further $400 million in federal funding for SWIFT, because the current federal and provincial funding commitments won’t be enough to fully service the entire project area.
“So we now have $330 million to do southwestern Ontario and fibre to everybody. It will be a $4 billion thing and it’s not happening like that but we’re hoping to get it closer.”
