Canadian Union of Public Employees, including CUPE Local 798, is supporting the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’(FCM) call for a new municipal growth framework.
In a media release today on June 7, FCM stated that it "has been the national voice of municipal government since 1901.”
"Capital and operating costs are rising, and the challenges towns and cities are facing, including increased growth, housing and homelessness, climate change and crumbling core infrastructure, are unprecedented."
The analysis and recommendations contained in FCM’s paper found that the challenges are exacerbated because city and town councils are operating under an outdated municipal funding framework that was not designed to address the realities of Canada in the 21st century.
"Under the current framework, towns and cities are forced to rely too much on property taxes, and are not allowed to run deficit budgets. They receive money from federal and provincial governments, but these cash transfers are not a consistent, sustainable source of funding. This makes planning for future projects difficult, and hampers the ability to provide services and maintain staffing levels."
Currently, CUPE Local 798 is in contract talks with City of Powell River. The local, which represents municipal, regional, Powell River Public Library and inclusion Powell River employees, has been without a contract since December 2023.
CUPE supports FCM’s proposal to modernize the way towns and cities are funded, the media release stated.
“CUPE and the FCM have a shared interest in strong, successful municipalities,” stated CUPE national president Mark Hancock, who is attending FCM’s annual conference in Calgary this week. “Our members work and live in communities that depend on sustainable and adequate funding. The current fiscal model just doesn’t work. It leaves municipalities without enough funding to build and maintain important infrastructure and to strengthen much-needed services.”
FCM is calling on the federal government to commit by the next fall economic statement to convey a conversation with all orders of government to work together to negotiate a new municipal growth framework.
Some of the ideas put forward in the paper by FCM include: Allowing municipalities to use federal funding for both operating and capital costs, so they can prioritize local projects that foster population growth and economic development; develop a cohesive plan with all orders of government to end chronic homelessness; and increase the annual transfer to municipalities by $2.6 billion.
For more information about the FCM proposal, go to fcm.ca/en/resources/making-canadas-growth-a-success.
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