The Federation of Canadian Municipalities remains focused on making sure the needs of municipal governments are well-understood by the current edition of the federal government.
That was part of what will be a quarterly report on FCM activities presented to Council by local Councillor and FCM Board member Randy Goulden Monday.
Goulden noted the FCM Board met with the government officials just prior to the opening of Parliament, taking the opportunity to release Building Better Lives Together—FCM’s call-to-action for the new government’s first 100 days.
The document is a ‘roadmap’ to working with municipalities to build better lives for Canadians in every part of this country.
The 43-page flagship document presents concrete municipal recommendations in 15 priority areas, including:
* Strengthening local infrastructure, from roads and bridges to water systems and arenas, by ensuring federal investments reach municipalities as intended.
* Making housing more affordable by building on the National Housing Strategy for lower-income households, while strengthening leadership on the wider housing crisis.
* Modernizing public transit for faster commutes and lower emissions, by implementing election platform commitments to launch a permanent, predictable federal transit funding mechanism.
* Supporting local climate action, both to protect our communities from extreme weather, and to unlock municipalities’ tremendous potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
* Championing rural communities by urgently tackling the rural Internet access gap, while continuing to build a rural lens into the heart of federal policies and investments.
In addition, each November FCM board meeting features an annual Advocacy Days event. This is where FCM marshal the full force of its board and committee members to influence decision-makers in Ottawa.
On the direct advocacy front, FCM President Bill Karsten led a roundtable with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
The FCM also engaged with nine other cabinet ministers, including Catherine McKenna (Infrastructure & Communities), Ahmed Hussen (Families, Children & Social Development), Maryam Monsef (Rural Economic Development; Women & Gender Equality) and Marie-Claude Bibeau (Agriculture & Agri-Food). We also met with opposition MPs -- from Conservative Agriculture Critic John Barlow to Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.
Upcoming, the FCM will hold a face-face session with the Western Economic Solutions Taskforce, said Goulden.
Too many western communities are struggling through an economic downturn fuelled by unstable commodity prices, turbulent trade markets and other forces. No order of government has been closer to the real-life impacts on Canadians than municipalities. And no order of government has a stronger track record of pulling together in the face of difficult challenges to drive solutions, noted material circulated to Council by Goulden.
WEST is chaired by Goulden, and the group is working on a plan to connect directly with members across the country in the weeks and months ahead.
