OTTAWA – Canada’s cities say the Harper government is severely underestimating the burden on Canadian taxpayers to be caused by new standards cracking down on pollution from waste-water facilities.
While the government has estimated the standards would cost about $5.9-billion over 30 years, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities says this may not even cover the bill for a handful of communities. As a result, the federation warns this could create an unexpected tax burden of about $1,000 per household in regions with major upgrades to deliver.
For example, the government estimated the cost of the standards would add up to about $338-million for the entire province of British Columbia, but municipal officials in the Vancouver region estimate that two local projects designed to meet the standards in the future would add up to $1.4-billion.
“If just those two projects in metro Vancouver alone are $1.4-billion, I can’t see how you would do the whole country with all its requirements for $5.9-billion,” said Malcolm Brodie, the mayor of Richmond, B.C. “The fact of the matter is, because of the regulations, there are very significant costs being imposed on local governments and it is imperative that we have senior levels of government that contribute.”
An analysis released last year estimated the cost of the regulations would be between $10-billion to $13-billion over 30 years, depending on inflation.
The cities have maintained that they support the goal of the standards, but they cannot deliver them without new funding from the provincial and federal governments.
In Regina, officials acknowledge their required upgrades are not as significant as coastal cities such as Victoria and Halifax, but they are convinced they will need a lot more help from the provincial and federal governments to avoid massive local tax increases or investments that leave them with less money to pay for other local services.
“We just can’t do that on property taxes alone,” said Regina city councillor Michael Fougere. “That’s not possible.”
In a recent appearance at a Senate committee hearing, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said the regulations were essential to crack down on the largest source of water pollution in the country.
He also said that some cities, such as Montreal and Victoria, had urgent needs for upgrades and investments in new infrastructure, but he said the standards would point them in the right direction over the next 10 to 30 years.
“We recognize that as capital stock turns over, people are going to need to make new investments,” Mr. Prentice said on April 15. “These will tell them what the standards are so they can make the appropriate investments.”
Mr. Prentice has maintained that cities already have access to federal funding through existing programs such as a transfer of gas tax revenues, and the Building Canada infrastructure fund.
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