Provencher Member of Parliament Ted Falk says infrastructure, federal funding, and community growth were top concerns raised during meetings with municipal leaders at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference held in Ottawa from May 29 to June 1.
Falk met with numerous Reeves, mayors, and councillors from across the Provencher riding who were in the capital for the annual event. He said the gathering was a rare opportunity to meet with a wide range of local officials over just a few days.
“It doesn’t happen very often that, in a matter of two days, you can meet with people from La Broquerie, Piney, Ste. Anne, Steinbach, Tache, Ritchot, De Salaberry, Montcalm, St. Pierre and Hanover,” said Falk. “It was a really good experience.”
Infrastructure and application challenges dominate discussions
Falk says a major focus of the meetings was infrastructure funding for essential services such as wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities.
“Funding was a big one,” he said. “Many of them are smaller municipalities, and they said in applying for federal funding, there was a technical expertise that was required just to fill out the applications for funding that were sometimes overly complicated, and required the hiring of engineers and contractors to help them complete their applications successfully. So the municipalities request was, can't you simplify some of these applications so that we can have our existing staff complete these applications without having to spend money on outside expertise?”
Falk noted that his office can assist with research and letters of support, though not the application process itself.
Additional concerns raised by municipal leaders
Other topics included rural transportation and the difficulty of securing support for public transit in less-populated regions.
One specific issue came from the RM of Montcalm, where an American farmer is allegedly blocking water drainage from Canadian fields, creating challenges for local producers.
Francophone and bilingual municipalities also met with Falk as a group to share concerns unique to their communities. He described that meeting as productive and collaborative.
Support needed for wildfire-related expenses
Wildfire recovery was another area of discussion, especially from municipalities that have recently been impacted.
“There was just hope that there would be some funding assistance coming from the federal government for some of the wildfire damages and expenses that municipalities like La Broquerie and Piney have incurred,” Falk said.
Focus on listening and support
Falk said the meetings were primarily about listening to the needs of local governments and reaffirming his commitment to supporting them.
“They all had the opportunity to express the issues that were important to them as municipal leaders,” he said. “I wanted to let them know that I’m here to help them access federal funds.”
While some meetings were one-on-one, others were held with groups of municipalities sharing similar concerns.
-With files from Shannon Dueck.