By Tyler Marr

Battleford mayor hopeful after feds, province ink future funding agreement

Oct 5, 2018 | 5:00 PM

Nearly $900 million will be funnelled to infrastructure projects across Saskatchewan over the next 10 years after the provincial and federal governments inked a bilateral agreement this week.

Funded projects — which will see priority given to public transit, green, recreational, cultural and community infrastructure in northern and rural communities — will be cost-shared between the province, municipality and other partners. Projects can be applied for by the spring of 2019. Under the Investing in Canada plan, Ottawa is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, and trade and transportation routes.

The federal cost-share formula under the rural and northern infrastructure stream was increased from 50 per cent to 60 per cent on Feb. 16, 2018. With the increase, communities with fewer than 5,000 residents will be eligible to receive a higher proportion of federal funding to address their unique infrastructure needs. Indigenous communities in the provinces will be eligible for a federal cost share of up to 75 per cent.

Battleford Mayor Ames Leslie welcomed the announcement and is looking forward to the funding opportunities available in 2019, noting “many infrastructure projects we defiantly could use some support on.”

Asked his top priorities, Leslie pointed to an expansion and upgrade of the town’s lagoon system and sewer and water pipe work.

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“The ageing infrastructure underneath the ground is out of sight and out of mind,” he said. “But it is that time where investment needs to be put back into replacing those pipes.”

The joint funding announcement came the same day 13 municipal leaders from the west-central region were hosted by the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association (SUMA) in Cut Knife. This included members from a number of area towns, including Battleford, Rosetown, Denzil, Macklin, Unity and Wilkie.

Ames said conversations around asset management and revenue sharing took centre stage and discussions around how the hometowns can get their fair share of funding from the province. Also topping talk was the impending legalization of cannabis on Oct. 17. The mayor of Battleford said both the provincial and federal governments have been mum on details relating to what money from sales will trickle down to municipalities.

“We are sharing in the costs, and it can be argued we have a higher level of expenditures than the other levels of government, but today, we have no stream of funding,” Ames said.

This was a heightened concern, more so for those towns expecting retail outlets and production facilities, such as Battleford.

“There has been a lot of planning changes, zoning changes and a lot of policy and bylaw changes written,” Ames added, noting this has taken time from other municipal matters. “Municipalities are not asking for more than their share, they just want to be compensated in a way to make sure this legalization does not put the communities backwards.”

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr

by Tyler Marr

Battleford mayor hopeful after feds, province ink future funding agreement

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