The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is pressing the federal government to boost support for local infrastructure and public safety following meetings in Ottawa last week. FCM Manitoba board member and Portage la Prairie City councillor Joe Masi says the delegation met with nearly 100 members of Parliament, Ministers, and Senators to highlight key priorities ahead of the next federal budget.
Masi explains that municipal infrastructure must be strengthened if Canada hopes to meet national housing targets.
“If the government wants to build more than 500,000 homes a year for the next decade,” says Masi, “they have to invest in municipal infrastructure. It’s not going to happen without municipalities being able to access funds.”
He adds that Manitoba municipalities alone face a $1.6 billion infrastructure deficit in shovel-ready projects, including several in Portage la Prairie, such as the ongoing water treatment plant work and necessary wastewater upgrades.
The case for stronger funding partnerships
Masi notes that while municipalities are expected to deliver critical services, they receive only a small share of national tax revenue.
“People sometimes say municipalities have the money,” he says. “Municipalities like Portage own about 60 per cent of the infrastructure, but we only get eight to ten cents of every tax dollar raised in Canada, and you just can’t build these very expensive projects without help from the federal and provincial governments.”
He explains that FCM is requesting a doubling of the Community Building Fund, formerly the federal gas tax program, which provides municipalities with predictable infrastructure funding.
“In Portage, we get about $700,000 a year from the federal government for that,” Masi continues. “We’ve invested all of it into our municipal roads, and you can see how much more work was done this year. It’s a great program—you do not have to apply and its unconditional as long as it’s used for infrastructure.”
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New programs and safety priorities
In addition to doubling the Community Building Fund, FCM is calling for renewal of the current federal infrastructure program, which expires in 2028, and the creation of a new $1 billion per year fund dedicated to water and wastewater systems. Masi says this would directly help municipalities like Portage la Prairie complete vital upgrades.
He also points to the need for a $500 million annual federal recreation infrastructure fund, which would allow municipalities to upgrade or build arenas, community centres, and other recreational facilities that currently lack funding opportunities.
Public safety was another focus during FCM’s Ottawa meetings. Masi stresses the importance of addressing the RCMP staffing shortage in Manitoba, where vacancy rates are the highest in the country.
“If we’re going to have safe communities, we need to fill those vacancies,” says Masi. “We also want to work in partnership with the federal government on future RCMP contracts. Municipalities pay the majority of the cost but have very little say in negotiations. The federal government does the negotiations and uses the municipal wallet to pay the bills. It is not right.”
Bail reform and community impact
Another major topic was the federal government’s bail reform bill, C-14, which Masi says reflects the voices of Manitoba municipalities that have been advocating for change.
“We were very pleased to see the bill tabled,” he says. “It’s an important piece of legislation that we hope will pass. Manitoba voices were certainly heard through the Association of Manitoba Municipalities and especially the efforts of Mayor Sharilyn Knox, who chairs the AMM Cities Caucus, and Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham and Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett, who all pushed for bail reform.”
Joe Masi chairing roundtable with Hon. Buckley Belanger, Secretary of Rural DevelopmentHe adds that the legislation would also include legal protections for first responders, such as firefighters and paramedics, and is an encouraging step toward improving safety for those who serve to protect us.
Masi concludes that FCM’s meetings in Ottawa were productive and that the organization hopes to see progress reflected in the upcoming federal budget.
“We’re really pushing for progress on infrastructure and safer communities,” he notes. “These are priorities that will benefit every Manitoban.”