The financial and other concerns of Norfolk and Haldimand County have been aired provincially of late – on both the Finance Committee and at ROMA, (Rural Ontario Municipal Association).
At Finance, I explained to Doug Reycraft – the Chair of AMO, (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) – that Norfolk County has suffered a tobacco industry meltdown and has no money for water or sewer to accommodate new development. I also reported not hearing a power saw or a nail being pounded across Haldimand County over the past two years. As well, neither county is eligible for gas tax funding because there is no public transit.
During meetings at ROMA, including one with John Tory, local councillors and Mayors stressed the area economic situation is currently depressed and that action is required on County recovery plans.
In his speech to ROMA, Mr. Tory reiterated – first and foremost - that Rural Ontario deserves a real economic plan. Rushed announcements where the money needs to be spent as soon as possible are ridiculous. They are irresponsible and they discourage any semblance of long-term planning or accountability. No one is going to say no to the money, but no one says this is a good way to do things.
As Mr. Tory explained, some things have not changed from his speech the previous year:
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The lack of a long-term agreed-upon financial partnership forces too many municipalities to lean on property taxes in ways they never intended.
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Too many infrastructure projects remain funded by lottery – first COMRIF and now “infrastructure Ontario”.
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Too many of the provincial programs are one year and/or one size fits all and fail to acknowledge the difference between urban and rural, and even differences among rural municipalities.
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Too many decisions are being made from Queen’s Park and downtown Toronto – with the input and ideas of rural Ontarians themselves treated as little more than an afterthought.
Rural Ontarians deserve a long-term plan and a long-term fix for municipal funding.
Municipalities need a long-term arrangement so councillors can provide the type of government their constituents expect.
The Ontario government still doesn’t understand another basic reality - namely that the public transit of rural Ontario is roads and bridges. Without long-term planning and proper funding, those roads and bridges will continue to crumble.
There need to be real funding contracts – agreed upon contracts – where the investment fits the need. They should have a term of at least five years, preferably 10 years or longer. This should replace the lottery system that has been tried – and failed – so badly. You simply cannot plan when you have one time, one off, hit and miss funding schemes which may be here today if you are one of the lucky ones, and gone tomorrow, even for those same lucky ones.
We cannot accept that it is somehow okay for rural Ontario to slowly decline and that ultimately having everyone living in the big cities will be satisfactory. Our big cities must be healthy, but that health, indeed that very sustainability depends on a stable, healthy, rural Ontario.
In a world of competition and choice and environmental challenges and quality of life concerns, rural Ontario isn’t a problem, it’s a big part of the solution! |
