WHEREAS local governments are subject to additional reporting requirements and shorter deadlines for the provincial Towns for Tomorrow program as a result of an abrupt change to include the federal government as a funding partner; AND WHEREAS this abrupt inclusion of federal dollars results in additional reporting requirements, no additional funding, and a shorter deadline of March 2011: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM lobby the Province of BC and the federal government to reinstate the original reporting and deadline requirements for the Towns for Tomorrow program.
Ministry of Community, Sport Cultural Development The Province pursued a partnership with the federal government in 2009 with respect to Towns for Tomorrow the program to expand funding opportunities in the broader local government capital funding envelope, thus providing additional opportunities for local government to access funding for much needed capital projects. The Province recognizes and appreciates the efforts of program recipients to meet amended deadlines. The Province has always maintained that these amended deadlines were voluntary, but still necessary, in order to leverage the additional funding opportunities. Consistent with past years of the program, and consistent with the program guide, the province has continued to require quarterly progress reporting from successful recipients. Further, the program was subject to a broader funding program audit, performed by the Auditor General of British Columbia. Recommendations included maintaining, and in some cases, improving overall monitoring of approved projects. In order to address the recommendations of the Auditor General, and maintain the overall integrity of the program, it is felt that the current reporting requirements are a necessary component of the program.
Ministry of Finance As the global economy continues its fragile recovery from the worst recession since the Second World War, our Government is focused squarely on the economy and jobs. Canada was better prepared for and has better responded to the recent economic turmoil, compared to our peers. Prior to the onset of the global recession, we introduced significant personal and business tax relief, paid down nearly 40 billion in debt, made key investments to improve the countrys infrastructure, and much more. We built on our strong economic record with the introduction of a timely and effective response to the global recession, Canadas Economic Action Plan. The Plan was a 62-billion shot in the arm when our country needed it the most. Taxes were lowered; retraining was expanded for the unemployed; more than 23,000 job-creating infrastructure projects were launched; major investments were made in science and technology; vital support was extended to struggling sectors of the economy; extraordinary steps were taken to improve access to financing; and much more. Canadas Economic Action Plan worked, as Canada has weathered the global economic storm better than most in the industrialized world. The Canadian economy has seen five consecutive quarters of growth, more than 400,000 new jobs have been created in the last year and a half, and our financial system has been ranked the soundest in the world for the third straight year. Additionally, both the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development continue to project that Canada will have the strongest average growth of the G-7 in the years ahead. Going forward,d the Government will stay on this course and fully implement the initial phase of the Plan. While Canada is in a relatively strong position compared to our peers, theres more to do. As the economy continues to stabilize, we enter into the phase of Canadas Economic Action Plan. We are committed to helping secure our economic recovery by ensuring our economic polices reflect the values and principles of hardworking Canadians, such as living within our means, reducing waste and duplication, and keeping taxes low to help create job and sustain growth. We invested a lot of money to stimulate the economy and help create jobs during the worst of the recession when we needed it most. But running deficits cannot become a permanent solution to a temporary problem. We must balance the budget to secure our recovery, and our Government is determined to see that happen. That means staying steadfast in our plan to return to balanced budgets in the medium term by ending extraordinary stimulus spending as the economy recovers; limiting new government spending; restraining spending through targeted measures; and continuing comprehensive reviews of spending to eliminate waste and inefficiencies. As we prepare the upcoming federal budget, we have been clear that the Government will not make significant new spending commitments that would trigger bigger deficits and higher taxes. We cannot afford to risk the economic recovery and the future of our children and grandchildren by running deficits over the longer term.