A group of 28 big city mayors in Ontario, headed by Guelph’s Cam Guthrie, says it welcomes a decision by the province to defer funding cuts to municipalities that would have taken effect despite those city budgets having already been approved.
On Monday, Premier Doug Ford announced funding for public health, ambulance services and daycares will be maintained this year, which will offer municipalities more time to work with the province on future steps.
“There is no doubt that any provincial funding cuts will still cause municipal Councils to make some tough decisions. But at least now we have the time to come to the table with the Province and figure out how to do this in a way that best protects our local residents and the services they depend on,” said Guthrie in a statement from the Large Urban Mayor’s Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO), a group consisting of mayors from the 28 largest municipalities in the province.
“We have said all along that we support the Province’s efforts to gets its budget deficit and debt under control, but we need more runway and more details,” said Guthrie. “We look forward to working with the Province in the weeks and months ahead to continue to find efficiencies, without jeopardizing core municipal services.”
Ford was not in attendance for Friday’s meeting of the Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO) in Guelph, but he did send Steve Clark, Ontario’s minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
During the meeting, Clark was told that cities would be forced to increase taxes, cut services, raid reserves or defer infrastructure and capital projects in the face of absorbing millions of dollars in funding cuts from the province.
Unlike the provincial government, municipalities must balance their budgets annually — municipalities are not allowed to run a deficit, said Guthrie by phone after Friday’s meeting.
In the statement Monday, Guthrie thanked Clark and the premier for listening to LUMCO’s concerns.
“I also want to thank LUMCO mayors across Ontario for being a unified voice on this issue,” said Guthrie.
In Friday’s meeting, LUMCO also requested changes to Bill 108, proposed legislation that would change the process for provincial funding to municipalities for projects like providing parkland, community centres and other capital projects.
LUMCO mayors are also concerned the bill would restore the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), which was replaced by the previous Liberal government in 2018 with the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).
The OMB is considered by many to be more friendly to developers, often overturning decisions made by elected councils when it comes to developments in Ontario.
“Now cities are seeing a proposal under Bill 108 to go back very similar to the way it was before,” said Guthrie by phone on Friday. “We are concerned to not have a voice of duly elected councils on developments for our communities being changed through this new process.”
