Municipalities plead for emergency help for vital services

OTTAWA

The voice of Canadian municipalities says communities across the country are facing a financial crisis due to COVID-19 that puts people at further risk.

Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Bill Karsten told the House of Commons finance committee Friday that plummeting revenues are endangering essential services, from policing to garbage collection.

About 25,000 jobs have been lost at the municipal level as a result of the pandemic, with some 7,000 temporary positions going unfilled, Karsten said.

With few fiscal tools available and no legal ability to run deficits, municipal leaders are confronting challenges they’ve never seen before, he said.

The federation is asking for at least $10 billion in emergency operating money for local governments.

“Make no mistake, municipal leaders are working flat out to help Canadians through this,” Karsten said.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said this week the federal government was very aware of the urgency of the difficulties facing municipalities, signalling that money could be on the way.

Mike Hurley, mayor of Burnaby, B.C., cited an urgent need for federal support to sustain fire and police services, sewage systems, the water supply and trash collection.

“We are on the ground every day striving to meet the needs of the citizens and communities directly,” he told the MPs on the committee.

He rhymed off a list of federal programs to help businesses through the COVID-19 crisis, noting they do not apply to local governments.

“The vulnerable populations, specifically the homeless and seniors, are struggling in the community,” Hurley said.