Whereas Section 2 of the Community Charter states that the Provincial government must not assign responsibilities to municipalities unless there is provision for resources required to fulfill the responsibilities; And whereas legislated changes have shifted responsibility for managing a wide range of complex issues, including but not limited to the significant impact of emergency response services onto local governments placing notable strain on local government resources: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the provincial government to ensure that adequate resources and funding are provided to local governments to fulfill the responsibilities that have been assigned to local governments.
Ministry of Municipal Affairs Housing Government recognizes the principle in section 2 of the Community Charter that the province not assign responsibilities to local governments unless there is provision for resources to fulfill the new responsibilities. How that principle is applied will look different depending on the circumstances. Government is interested in supporting local governments in improving and maintaining responsiveness to citizens during emergencies. The Ministry is advocating to the federal government that funding programs open to local governments consider emergency services infrastructure as eligible, including the Gas Tax Community Works Fund under the federal Gas Tax Agreement, which delivers to all local governments a direct annual allocation to support local priorities based on a per capita formula, and under tri-partite infrastructure funding programs, such as the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program or future programs. Government also recognizes the role local governments play in providing protective services such as policing and as such provides funding assistance to communities with populations greater than 5,000 through the Traffic Fine Revenue Sharing program; for communities less than 5,000 the Province provides an offset on the police tax.