Notes for an address by the Honourable Lawrence Cannon Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities

Check Against Delivery

Greetings.  President Kovach, Mayors, Councillors, Mr. Knight.  I would like to thank all of you for accepting my invitation and taking the time to meet with me here today, as we all prepare for our fall public commitments.  

I want to express my thanks to the FCM especially for assembling such a significant and representative delegation of municipal leaders from all across Canada for this consultation. 

You are all vital and valued partners for my portfolio and for this government.

It has been a great pleasure to have worked so extensively with the FCM in the past. I was honoured to speak at your annual general meeting in Montreal in June and to meet your Executive Committee and Rural Caucus.

I am pleased to see many familiar faces here today.

Let me now introduce the people sitting with me: Paul Terrien, my Chief of Staff; Louis Ranger, Deputy Minister, Transport Infrastructure and Communities; and André Juneau, Deputy Head, Infrastructure Canada. 

As I said at your meeting in June, no one level of government can solve all the problems of our cities and communities on its own.  Our success as a nation depends on forging solid and constructive partnerships which respect jurisdictional boundaries.

The need for investment in infrastructure is clear and beyond doubt.  I know that you have done a great deal of work on this issue, looking into infrastructure needs and priorities, and preparing for this meeting.  Even though needs vary, they are important and are of concern to us at the national level.

As you know, in Budget 2006, this Government made it clear that it is firmly committed to restoring the fiscal balance in Canada.  Budget 2006 proposed a principles-based framework to restore fiscal balance. This is based on five fundamental principles:

• Accountability through clearer roles and responsibilities;
• Fiscal responsibility;
• Predictable long-term fiscal arrangements;
• A competitive and efficient economic union; and
• Effective, collaborative management of the federation.

We in the Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Portfolio are actively engaged in supporting the Government’s fiscal balance agenda.

As we move forward on this issue, the Government has sought to consult widely with all partners and stakeholders and has worked to ensure that there is widespread participation in these discussions.

The Budget accurately noted that it was essential that the perspective and priorities of cities and communities be understood, which is why it is so important to be able to meet here today with the FCM.

Our consultations on infrastructure will inform the Government of Canada’s efforts to develop a new long-term framework for infrastructure funding and to define the new and renewed funding mechanisms announced in Budget 2006.

This means putting federal funding for infrastructure on a predictable, stable track, while also ensuring accountability to Canadians for infrastructure investments by all governments.

My officials and I have read the FCM’s report on “Restoring Municipal Fiscal Balance” with great interest, as an important contribution to this summer’s infrastructure consultation process.

We have also reviewed the final report of the External Advisory Committee of Cities and Communities which was presented to the Prime Minister in June.

As well, the Big City Mayors Caucus report  “Our Cities, Our Future” also makes an important contribution to the discussion.

In Budget 2006, a number of immediate actions were undertaken by the Government of Canada to move towards restoring fiscal balance, including substantial investments in infrastructure.

This budget committed $16.5 billion, over the next four years, in federal support for provincial, territorial and municipal infrastructure. This is an unprecedented level of support for infrastructure in Canada.

I look forward to hearing your views as we move forward to invest Budget 2006 monies, particularly our commitments to the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund, the Canadian Strategic Infrastructure Fund and the new Highways and Borders Infrastructure Fund.

I hope that we will be able to discuss both the long-term and immediate funding and accountability frameworks as well as the transition, as warranted, from one framework to the other.

All orders of government play a role, so I am interested in your views on what you think municipalities could do differently to better address infrastructure challenges.

In addition to today’s meeting with you, we have started consultations with the provinces and territories.  In certain cases, provincial governments have asked their respective municipal associations to participate.  I also intend to meet with various parties involved with infrastructure.

Moreover, the government has posted information for the Canadian public on the Internet and given citizens an opportunity to voice their opinions on the fiscal balance.

I can assure you that all this input will play a key role in the development of proposals dealing with these important issues.

I am here to listen.  My officials are here to listen.  That is why we have arranged for a facilitator, Denise Perrier, to help manage the discussion along the themes set out in the guidance document that I shared with you, President Kovach.

But before we turn the meeting over to the facilitator, may I please ask you, President Kovach to make some opening comments.