GTHA Mayors and Chairs renew call for emergency financial support from federal and provincial governments
HAMILTON, ON - Today, the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area Mayors and Chairs met again to renew their call for emergency financial support for municipalities from the federal and provincial governments.
The urgent call for action comes as more municipalities move towards Stage 2 of Ontario's reopening. The GTHA municipalities are all committed to a successful restart and recovery but continue to face unprecedented costs responding to COVID-19 and significant revenue losses due to the ongoing pandemic. Municipalities – big and small – across Canada are all facing this financial challenge.
We understand important meetings are taking place this week between provincial and federal officials on this topic and we urge the governments to come to an agreement as soon as possible on how to help municipalities.
“Municipalities across the GTHA have taken extraordinary measures to support residents through the pandemic by providing essential services. At the same we have experienced unprecedented declines in revenues. The GTHA is the economic powerhouse of Canada and municipalities will be absolutely crucial in leading our recovery. That’s why we are urging the provincial government to strike an agreement with the federal government to provide the emergency funding municipalities need to support the recovery of our economy.”
- Mayor Fred Eisenberger
The federal government has made a modest first move to help municipalities, we are very hopeful the Government of Ontario will put a proposal on the table in the coming days that is responsive to municipalities and can serve as a crucial next step forward to a successful resolution.
A federal-provincial funding agreement to support municipalities is needed to avoid destructive cuts to frontline services or unmanageable property tax increases. While bigger cities have had their voices heard on this issue, it is a crisis faced by every city and town in Ontario.
We continue to work towards a positive outcome with the federal and provincial governments so that we can focus on successfully restarting the economy.