Mississauga Mayor and Council Asks Federal Government To Do The Right Thing for Cities

"We have no choice," said Mayor Hazel McCallion. "This great country is built on the success of cities like Mississauga; cities that are responsible for providing citizens with services that touch them every day like parks, transit, roadways and community centres. Yet, we receive less sustainable infrastructure funding from the federal government than other world-class cities. We cannot ignore our responsibility to maintain the quality of life for our citizens and businesses."

The resolution follows budget deliberations earlier in the week when City Council heard how the federal government had missed its opportunity to address the $60-$100 billion infrastructure deficit reported by municipalities across Canada. (source: Federation of Canadian Municipalities.)

In her presentation to Council, City Manager Janice Baker estimated Mississauga's infrastructure deficit to be $1.5 billion over the next 20 years. Baker noted that Mississauga requires an additional $75 million more per year to eliminate the infrastructure deficit.

"We are projecting our tax reserves to be exhausted by 2012," said City Manager Janice Baker. "And that's because we have more public infrastructure to maintain than ever before. The federal government can and should re-invest in City infrastructure by providing long-term sustainable infrastructure funding - that's really the only way we can continue to deliver to our residents and businesses the services they need."

Council also supported the City embarking on a public and media campaign called Cities NOW! to illustrate to residents and businesses how the federal government is ignoring its responsibility to support strong communities and provide long-term, sustainable funding for municipal infrastructure projects and keep the economy of Canada on a sound basis.

Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city with a population of more than 700,000. With well-established infrastructure and state of the art facilities, the City is considered to be an employer of choice, delivering quality municipal programs and services to its citizens. Mississauga is a dynamic, diverse, and progressive municipality, known for its economic strength and for being Canada's safest city.

Website: www.mississauga.ca