THUNDER BAY - The provincial government’s announcement that it will be providing $4 billion in funding to municipalities across Ontario in partnership with the federal government is welcome news for Thunder Bay Mauro Bill Mauro, who said it's something municipal associations have been lobbying for to senior levels of government for months.
“It was good news,” he said. “We were wondering as municipal associations and have been working on this for quite some time, I would say for two to three months, and lobbying for this. This is one part of what we are looking for, the operating supports, so this is good news. We are happy to have it.”
Premier Doug Ford made the announcement during his daily media briefing on Monday, saying 444 municipalities will benefit from the $4 billion in funding.
“By working together, we have united the country in the face of the immense challenges brought on by COVID-19 and secured a historic deal with the federal government to ensure a strong recovery for Ontario and for Canada," Ford said.
"I want to thank Ontario's 444 local leaders who supported us through our negotiations with the federal government and through each stage of reopening. We will continue to be a champion for our municipal partners as they safely reopen their communities and ensure people can get back to work."
The funding is in partnership with the federal government and is meant to assist municipalities facing significant shortfalls due to COVID-19 maintain critical services.
Of the funding, $2 billion will be allocated to public transit services across the province.
“Transit operators across Ontario have done an incredible job ensuring that people who need to get around, including our frontline workers, have safe and reliable transit service during the outbreak," said Minister of transportation Caroline Mulroney.
"This funding will help ensure transit services continue to be there so people can get where they need to go as our province reopens and people return to work."
According to Mauro, the city of Thunder Bay has seen more than a $400,000 shortfall in public transit revenue per month since March due to the impact of COVID-19 on transit services, including route changes and waiving fares.
“It’s important to remember that there are not that many cities in Ontario out of the 444 that do operate a public transit system,” Mauro said. “The number that are eligible is small.”
While larger urban centres in Southern Ontario like Ottawa and Toronto have much more substantial transit systems, Mauro is confident that the funding formula will equally distribute the funding across the province.
“I think there is an opportunity for Thunder Bay to be well served on this transit component piece on this out of the $2 billion,” he said.
And while the $4 billion announcement is welcome news and will assist with operations, Mauro said municipalities still need assistance with infrastructure projects, and he is hopeful additional funding will be announced for that as well.
“We are also looking for help on infrastructure,” he said. “Often times when there is a recession - and this is a different kind of recession, but it is an economic recession - one of the things you see senior levels of government do is invest in infrastructure projects.”
But the $4 billion in funding will hopefully help reduce the city’s projected $7 million deficit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s going to come down,” Mauro said. “We don’t know how much. Understanding this $7 million is projected. It could go up or could go down. If we take the $7 million as a starting point, with this assistance, it will go down.”
The province is expected to release further details on the allocation of funds to municipalities in the coming weeks.
