Frizzell says accelerated Gas Tax Money is a good start, more needs to be done

Prince George City Councillor Garth Frizzell is cautiously optimistic following Ottawa’s announcement to fast-track money from the Gas-Tax Fund.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today (Monday) the city’s 3.3-million dollar portion will be sent in one payment instead of two.

Frizzell is also the First Vice-President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

“I was more heartened by the fact that he said we need to do more and we will do more, that’s what we have to hold him too. It’s a very big issue, 3.3 million in capital funding that comes in but every month, we are losing a million dollars in operating money.”

The Gas Tax supports 36-hundred municipalities across Canada.

Frizzell adds the city has had to make some tough decisions.

“Right now, to make up for the losses that are occurring, one of the things that council did here was to defer 25-million dollars in infrastructure projects until next year at the earliest, this is a serious problem.”

“What we’ve been asking as a group of municipalities is for 10-15 billion dollars and that’s for the operating costs so the year-to-year stuff, today’s announcement is not new money it’s just accelerating the payment that we get every year.”

The BC Government will be hosting their Budget Consultations tomorrow (Tuesday) with the city via Zoom.

Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ President Bill Karsten issued the following statement regarding the Government of Canada’s announcement today on support for municipalities on the front lines the COVID-19 pandemic :

“Today’s announcement from the Prime Minister recognizes that the municipal financial crisis is a national crisis—and that solving it requires urgent national leadership and meaningful provincial collaboration.

This modest, preliminary measure may help some municipalities with immediate liquidity issues. But to be clear: this is not new money. This money has already been accounted for in municipal budgets and does not address our crisis of non-recoverable losses—or the stark choices cities and communities now face.

The Prime Minister today confirmed his readiness to engage with municipalities on solutions. We are encouraged by his commitment to come forward with additional federal support—and we urge provincial governments to do the same.

Municipalities are on the front lines of this pandemic—and we still face $10-15 billion in non-recoverable losses. That’s why we have appealed for emergency operating funding—to keep frontline services going strong and to be ready to drive Canada’s recovery.

The fact is: there will be no economic recovery without a solution to the municipal financial crisis. We need all governments working together on this—and that needs to happen now. Without emergency funding, cities and communities are out of time and options.”