Statement by FCM President following delivery of Gas Tax Fund for municipal infrastructure
The following statement was released by Claude Dauphin, President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), following the announcement by the Government of Canada that it will deliver the second installment of the annual $2-billion Gas Tax Fund for municipal infrastructure:
"As the second installment of Gas Tax money is set to flow to local governments, it is a great opportunity to recognize its importance to Canada's cities and communities, as well as the national economy.
The federal Gas Tax Fund (GTF) is no ordinary infrastructure program. It is a permanent federal transfer that provides predictable, long-term funding for municipalities to build and revitalize public infrastructure - our roads and bridges as well as water, public transit and solid waste management systems that support our national economy.
In the last federal budget, the government took important steps to entrench the principle of long-term sustainable infrastructure funding.
- To protect its purchasing power, the federal government indexed the GTF at 2% annually which will translate into $9 billion over 20 years.
- The government also increased the flexibility of the Gas Tax Fund to enable cities and communities to use the fund to meet their unique infrastructure needs.
FCM commends Ministers Flaherty and Lebel and the federal government for continuing to recognize the important role that the Government of Canada must play, in delivering predictable and stable infrastructure funding through the Gas Tax Fund.
Today's announcement provides further proof that when all orders of government work together, they produce results. We must continue to work together to apply these same principles to the development of a new Building Canada Plan."
