Fire halls now qualify for federal funds for fixes
Credit for a new policy that allows fire hall repairs to be paid for by a federal fund is being given to florist, firefighter and former West Hants municipal councillor Jennifer Daniels.
Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Iain Rankin told a couple of dozen supporters at the Uniacke and District Volunteer Fire Department on Sunday that the province is happy to accept more infrastructure money from the Canada Community-building Fund.
The fund has had 18 categories of projects that qualified for infrastructure funding, but until now, fire halls had not been eligible.
“Fire halls, especially in rural communities like this, are hubs for so many activities, and our volunteer firefighters protect us every single day,” Rankin said during an election campaign stop in Mount Uniacke with Sackville-uniacke Liberal candidate Donalda Macisaac and King-hants MP Kody Blois.
“By supporting this change, fire halls will be able to qualify for funding from this program, which was previously called the gas tax fund. Previously, it did not allow for spending on fire station infrastructure, such as roofs, new flooring or basic maintenance. Our volunteer firefighters often had to do fundraising to fund these very important repairs.”
Blois said he was at Daniels Flower Shop in downtown Windsor during the 2019 federal election campaign when he was buttonholed by Daniels.
“She came up to me and said ‘Kody, why the hell doesn't the government of Canada allow the gas tax fund to be used to support fire halls?,'” Blois said.
Daniels said she was frustrated that these buildings were excluded from the gas tax fund.
“Because I viewed them as a municipal asset, part of the services provided by municipalities that contribute to social and economic well-being of our communities,” she said. “The federal gas tax (fund) has always been a welcome boost to rural communities, allowing them to be more sustainable places to work and live, but as communities grow with the help of these investments, so does the need for public fire and life safety protection. I see this through a new lens as a firefighter.”
Blois said questions about why fire halls had been excluded when the fund pays for things like park benches should be directed to civil servants.
“In certain fire halls across the province, and across the country, there's a municipal tax base that helps support the brick and mortar that's needed,” he said. “But when you think about communities like Walton, like Mount Uniacke, Maitland, Halls Harbour, those are small communities where there's not always the opportunity for municipal dollars to help support key infrastructure.”
Blois said the Canada Community-building Fund directs $2.2-billion to provinces and territories each year to respond to municipal infrastructure needs.
“And our caucus, particularly many of the rural MPS in Nova Scotia, felt that it was important to ensure that there was an eligible spending category to support fire halls,” he said.
Last week, it was announced Nova Scotia will receive $55 million through the Canada Community-building Fund in addition to $58 million announced earlier this year.