Canada’s cities are continuing to appeal to Ottawa and the provinces for emergency funding to absorb mounting costs associated with COVID-19 — something mayors say is necessary to avoid taking drastic measures to make up for revenue shortfalls brought on by the crisis.
Canada’s cities are continuing to appeal to Ottawa and the provinces for emergency funding to absorb mounting costs associated with COVID-19 — a commitment some mayors say is necessary to avoid taking drastic measures to make up for revenue shortfalls brought on by the crisis.
Drops in transit ridership, mounting costs of purchasing new equipment to implement public health and safety protocols, and deferred property tax payments are just some of the financial drains municipalities across Canada are contending with amid the pandemic.
While cities are largely a provincial responsibility, federal and provincial governments have been slow to offer financial aid for municipalities, despite acknowledging that they need support.
Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson says he understands that there are jurisdictional issues at play, but said a lack of movement on the problem could lead to serious consequences.
“Sanitation, public transit and clean water, those things shouldn’t be up in the air right now,” Iveson said in an interview with CBC’s French-language service Radio-Canada. “Yet the uncertainty that the mayors are dealing with … is that we’re now having to start looking at potentially cutting back on infrastructure precisely at the time when other governments want to start moving into stimulus mode.”
Iveson said he’s had to lay off 4,200 people who work for the City of Edmonton and its agencies, adding that he doesn’t have the resources to hire them back.
“The biggest challenge we’ve seen directly is the loss of $10 million a month in revenue on our transit system,” he said. “I’m beginning to wonder if we may have to shut transit down over the summer and hope we can turn it back on in the fall, when it gets cold again.”
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