News Release
Mayors Deliver Atlantic Canada Message to Ottawa
(Thursday, February 22/07) - The Atlantic Mayors’ Congress (AMC) deemed its whirlwind visit to Ottawa a success, as the group raised the profile of Atlantic Canada and brought municipal concerns to key decision makers.
"Meeting in person with several cabinet ministers and government officials really gave us the opportunity to put faces on Atlantic Canadian issues," said Halifax Regional Municipality Mayor Peter Kelly. "We’re looking forward to keeping these relationships going so Atlantic Canada stays on Ottawa’s radar."
As Chair of the AMC, Mayor Kelly led a delegation of 15 mayors from communities throughout Atlantic Canada to Ottawa for two days of face-to-face meetings on issues of concern to the region. Some key concerns discussed were infrastructure programs, the Trans-Canada and Trans-Labrador highways, Marine Atlantic, rail, wastewater, policing and crime, Nova Scotia pork production and the spruce longhorn beetle.
The Mayors also discussed issues relevant to all Canadian municipalities. In particular, the group asked that the federal government eliminate the sunset clause on the gas-tax transfer and continue the program indefinitely. The Mayors were also adamant that the federal government ensure there is a steady revenue stream for municipalities.
"There is a $60 billion deficiency in funding for municipalities and that grows by $2 billion every year," said Mayor Kelly. " We need long-term, sustainable, predictable, bankable funding for municipalities from the federal government. We hope the federal budget will deliver that so the fiscal imbalance is fixed for all municipalities-including Atlantic Canada’s."
Mayor Kelly added: "We’ll have to wait to see what happens in a few weeks with the federal budget, but I am very pleased that we got our two cents in beforehand."
The AMC is a consortium of mayors from throughout Atlantic Canada. In Ottawa they met with federal cabinet ministers Lawrence Cannon (Transport, Infrastructure and Communities), Peter MacKay (ACOA and Foreign Affairs), and Chuck Strahl (Agriculture and Agri-Food); NDP Leader Jack Layton; MPs from the Atlantic Conservative Caucus; Saint John MP Paul Zed (Opposition Critic for Cities and Communities); senior policy advisors from Transport, Infrastructure and Communities; and the CEO of the Conference Board of Canada.
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Mayor Peter Kelly
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