Every modern community relies heavily on the infrastructure which supports those residents in their everyday lives. Our Public Works is full of people dedicated to keeping our City’s operations functional, but we are in need of financial assistance.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities, (FCM) circulated a report recently detailing the imminent risks of the failing infrastructure in every Canadian municipality.  The FCM report, prepared by Dr. Mirza at McGill University, clearly identifies that the current municipal deficit has reached one hundred twenty-three billion dollars, and is currently growing at a rate of two billion dollars a year. Back in 1985 the infrastructure deficit was approximately twenty-five billion dollars.

The City of Hamilton’s infrastructure deficit is approximately 1.5 billion dollars. With downloading of other levels of government and inadequate funding, municipalities across the country find themselves in an untenable situation. The property tax system is a regressive method which is a poor tool to address this deficit without taxing people out of their homes.

The City of Hamilton contributes approximately 2.8 billion in taxes to the other two levels of government. Only 8 cents on the dollar comes back to the community. It is time for other levels of government to recognize this significant inequity in funding and provide a sustainable plan that will see this municipal infrastructure deficit eliminated over the next 20 years.

The current federal plan has budgeted thirty-three billion dollars for municipal infrastructure over the next five years. 17.5 billion dollars are allocated for old infrastructure, while the balance of the programme is a lottery system which really does not address the infrastructure deficit.
There’s only one taxpayer and all levels of government have a responsibility to ensure that Canadians maintain a high quality of life. These levels of government need to be a partner with us in addressing this significant financial burden that is crippling municipalities across this country. I encourage all residents to contact their MPs and MPPs to voice your concerns regarding the lack of commitment by those levels of government to address this acute need.

Hamilton Area MPP’s

Ted McMeekin, Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale
905.690.6552 | website

Andrea Horwath, Hamilton Centre
905.544.9644 | website

Paul Miller, Hamilton East-Stoney Creek
905.664.4200 | website

Sophia Aggelonitis, Hamilton Mountain
905.388.9734 | website

Tim Hudak, Niagara West-Glanbrook
905.563.1755 | website

Hamilton Area MP’s

David Sweet, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale
905.627.9169 | website

David Christopherson, Hamilton Centre
905.526.0770 | website

Wayne Marston, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek
905.662.4763 | website

Chris Charlton, Hamilton Mountain
905.574.3331 | website

Dean Allison, Niagara West—Glanbrook
905.563.7900 | website