Guelph’s MP says a number of provisions in Tuesday's federal budget will counter some the cuts and inaction of the Ontario PC government since it came into power last summer.
The federal government will double the $2.2 billion in funding that municipalities receive for infrastructure spending through the Gas Tax Fund.
The $4.4 billion will now be distributed through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities instead of flowing through the provincial governments, said Lloyd Longfield in a phone interview Wednesday.
The one-time $2.2 billion bump will cover the cost of road construction, bridges, water systems and other local infrastructure needs.
The budget also calls for a $1 billion top-up for green infrastructure projects.
Longfield said both of those initiatives have been stalled lately by the Ontario government.
“Those are both things that are being blocked by the province. The Green Fund is going to go to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities that the city can apply into to get money,” said Longfield.
On Tuesday, federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau called out four provinces in explaining the Liberal's decision to use the gas-tax fund to kickstart more projects.
"What we've seen is we've not been able to get as many projects done in some places, places like Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, as we'd like, so we've put a municipal infrastructure top-up to make sure that more projects get done across our country," Morneau said.
When it came into power, the Ontario PC government cancelled its involvement in a number of green initiatives, including the cancelling of 758 renewable energy projects and the $377 million Green Ontario Fund which helped homeowner to reduce their energy costs by retrofitting their homes.
The Liberals were elected in 2015 on a promised to spend its way out of a downturn in the economy through infrastructure spending, with a plan to present a balanced budget by 2019.
Longfield defended his party’s decision to keep the spending going during this election year.
“If I had been telling people in September 2015 that we are going to create 950,000 jobs and take 825,000 people out of poverty I would have said, ‘you’re exaggerating’. I never would have thought we would have this much progress in three years,” he said.
Longfield noted that spending has been scaled back every year the Liberals have presented a budget since getting elected.
“The budget shows some scaling back over the coming years, as revenue continues to increase, but our focus was on investing in Canada and Canadians and it’s beyond my wildest dream,” said Longfield.
“I would never have thought we would have this much progress. Unemployment in Guelph going from 5,900 people to 2,000 people—I wouldn’t have promised it, or if I had promised it, no one would have believed me,” he said.
Longfield said he knows there is a correction to the economy coming.
“We are in a low-interest economy, which is something I haven’t dealt with in 35 years. It’s a different economy than what our normal business cycle sees, so we are going to take it as far as it can go,” he said.
The provincial government also discontinued an incentive for Ontarians who wanted to purchase an electric vehicle. In the budget, the federal government will offer up to a $5,000 incentive for vehicles priced under $45,000.
Businesses buying vehicles for their fleet can take a 100 per cent write-down in the first year to encourage them to buy electric, said Longfield.
On Tuesday, Longfield held a conference call with 3,500 constituents to speak about the budget. He said the questions focused on seniors’ issues and a new media fund, among others.
“I didn’t have one SNC-Lavalin question, which was interesting,” said Longfield.
The Justice Committee recently completed its study on the SNC-Lavalin affair.
“It’s great to see the process has taken place. Laws haven’t been broken, but the processes need to be improved and that’s what we are working on,” said Longfield.
During Tuesday’s session of parliament, jeers from Conservative members drowned out Morneau’s attempt to speak about the budget. Eventually, all of the Conservative members got up and walked out of the session.
“The translators couldn’t hear Bill. When he switched to French I could pick it up, but on the English channel I couldn’t hear them. It was good when they finally left because my town hall was scheduled for 7 o’clock and they were still making noise at 5:30,” said Longfield.
The display was unparliamentary, said Longfield.
“It just wasn’t respectful of the institution. You can disagree, but you can disagree in a way that you can still hear the other side’s argument and they were blocking that,” he said.
Longfield said MPs could be in for a long session on Wednesday.
There could be 400 votes tonight, we could be here all night, he said. “Those are parliamentary stall tactics that are all totally legitimate, if that’s what you want to do, but stopping people from speaking is an attack on democracy.”
He said first-time home buyers in Guelph will benefit from new rules which will offer 5 per cent of the cost of a used home and 10 per cent of a new home through an interest-free loan, on a home priced $480,000 or less, to be repaid when the house is sold.
Some critics have said the initiative will do little for home buyers in more expensive markets like Toronto and Vancouver.
“Maybe the people in Toronto will think about coming to Guelph, but we need more housing in Guelph as it is,” said Longfield.
— with files from the Canadian Press
