Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. It's a privilege to be here today to represent the City of Toronto and to share with you the views of Mayor David Miller and city council.
On October 5, FCM presented recommendations to you in P.E.I. The City of Toronto supports those views. Mayor David Miller is also an active member of the Big City Mayors' Caucus, and he strongly supports the recommendations in its 2006 report entitled “Our Cities, Our Future”. We've provided it for you today.
Since 2006, BCMC has requested that the federal government create a national transit strategy, realign roles and responsibilities with appropriate resources, and share revenues that grow with the economies of the cities.
As you know, the economic security of Canada is inextricably linked to the economic strength and stability of its cities. The success of local and regional economies positions Canada within an international marketplace. You'll hear throughout my presentation that all orders of Canadian governments must continue to work together to ensure that the country remains prosperous and provides a high quality of life. In particular, during these difficult economic times we must work together to provide Canadians with needed programs and services.
The recession in Toronto has hit very hard. The unemployment rate is up, with more people relying on EI. There are more people in vulnerable housing situations, and more families are without child care that would enable them to participate in the labour market. When the recession first hit, the City of Toronto quickly responded with an action plan to support the most vulnerable and to secure and create jobs. Now all governments are playing their part to boost the economy by investing in infrastructure.
Today the City of Toronto wants to thank the federal government for its commitment to improving Toronto's public infrastructure through its Building Canada plan and the economic action plan. Together we are addressing the negative effects of the recession and making a positive impact on the economy with leveraged stimulus spending.
We see three key areas where we could continue to work together to prepare Canada to lead in the new economy.
First is investing in our people and public infrastructure. We look to the federal government to help Torontonians with meaningful employment, obtaining the skills they require for the knowledge economy to come, and having equal access to income support programs such as EI until they gain access to the labour market.
Affordable housing and support for families to raise their children while working full time are essential programs that will help Canada remain competitive at this time. With this in mind, we recommend that the federal government enhance the employment insurance program to ensure equal access, create a national housing strategy with predictable and long-term funding for affordable housing and homelessness services, create that national transit strategy, and provide permanent support for early learning and child care systems.
The second key area we see is support for the green economy. The City of Toronto will begin implementing a sustainable energy strategy to help meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets, which includes a component to help accelerate the retrofit of buildings, transportation systems, and energy infrastructure throughout our city.
We estimate that 14.2 permanent jobs can be created for every $1 million spent on energy conservation, renewables, and the modernization of our energy distribution network. Federal support is needed for the green economy in areas such as labour market development and support programs for green building development and renewable energy sectors; building retrofits, such as support for multi-residential retrofit; and job creation initiatives, like the mayor's tower renewal program. Support is needed here to drive broad environmental, social, economic, and cultural change by improving Toronto's concrete apartment towers and the lands that surround them. It's a very innovative program, and we've provided materials on that. Under the green economy we also support an investment in the agricultural sector.
A third key area is a federal policy focus on entrepreneurship, self-employment, and small and medium enterprises. We think you know the statistics. This is a growing trend, and we need infrastructure and training support so this can be a key area of employment growth in the nation, particularly in Toronto.
In summary, I will reinforce for FCM and BCMC, and I think I speak for all of the GTA based on our votes, that a key component we need coming out of the recession is that one thing you have been asked for, for a very long time—all parties, because it's not about parties. It's about populations and turning points in cities. Revenues that grow with the economy allow us to get on with the growth as we come out of the recession, and your commitment will be to work on your deficits.
Thank you.