Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
I am the mayor of the City of Barrie.
I'm also the chair of the Large Urban Mayors' Caucus, which comprises mayors of the 26 largest cities in Ontario, those with a population of over 100,000. We represent about 67% of Ontario's population.
I want to start today by saying that we're very encouraged by the federal government's focus on ensuring prosperous and secure communities and that investing in our cities is one of the surest ways we can strengthen our country's economy and ensure long-term prosperity.
Specifically, we'd like to speak to you today about the need for growth in job creation to grow and diversify that economy, investment in infrastructure to end gridlock and to adapt to the impacts of severe weather, and real commitment to affordable housing in Canada.
Ontario's big city mayors believe that although all levels of government are working to create jobs and stimulate the economy, too often we're doing this in isolation. We're in need of a diverse and robust jobs strategy, both in Ontario and in Canada as a whole.
As mayors, we're calling on our partners in the provincial and federal governments to work with city leaders to develop a comprehensive jobs strategy. This would include actions to address labour market reform through skills training and apprenticeship programs as well as immigration reform; a coordinated international trade agenda, shared by federal, provincial, and municipal governments; and infrastructure investment that targets the problems that hold our economy back. Specifically, those are gridlock and transportation infrastructure in Ontario's largest cities.
We, as mayors, are united on the need for new investment in both roads and transit, in both our largest urban areas and in our medium-sized cities. Gridlock is costing us jobs; it's costing investment; and it's putting us at an economic disadvantage.
We're very encouraged by the federal government's announcements of infrastructure plans. However, what remains unclear is whether the funding announced represents a drop in federal support for this critical priority, as the allocation of the funding is as yet undetermined.
We're concerned that the purpose of these funds may be diluted by making many more types of infrastructure eligible, such as pipelines. We really encourage the government, in the budget and in subsequent rollouts, to focus on infrastructure investment that has the best return on investment in the economy.
Another growing threat to the security of our cities and their infrastructure is the increasing number of severe weather events. Adapting and hardening our infrastructure to respond to the impacts of climate change is no longer the stuff of long-term planning or disaster movies; these are impacting us today.
The floods in Toronto and Calgary last summer cost each city tens of millions of dollars, not to mention the human costs of destroyed homes and disrupted lives. With damage of over $5 billion, the Calgary flood is Canada's costliest natural disaster ever. The cost to our economy is extensive, and the threat to the safety of our residents is very real.
We need a forward-looking approach that ensures that adaptation to climate change is incorporated into infrastructure planning and decision-making at all levels of government.
While we need to invest in the roads and pipes that keep our cities working, we also need to consider the basic needs of the people who live there. We're finding middle-income families in our cities are priced out of reasonable housing. Worse, lower-income Canadians cannot find housing at all and face long wait times for social housing.
Municipalities need the support of CMHC and associated funding to both maintain the existing stock of affordable housing and to begin to address the backlog and wait lists present across Ontario.
In addition, I would note there are innovative approaches to affordable home ownership that can be explored through federal tax policy and that can support lower-income families, giving them pride of ownership and building equity. But it's only through meaningful investment in capital projects in the affordable housing sector that we can begin to address the crisis overall.
In conclusion, I want to say that the challenges facing Ontario's big cities are the same ones facing Canadians in cities across the country. To move forward, we must put investment in infrastructure at the heart of our national economic strategy.
Our country is changing. When municipalities were formed, one-quarter of the population lived in cities. Today that is reversed; now three-quarters of Canadians call cities home.
My own city delivers 60 different services to people, but we are still governed and funded by a 19th century legislative framework. We simply don't have the tools we need to deal with the challenges we're facing.
I'll give you a specific example in investment. Changes to Canada's tax regime may be effective in stimulating pension fund investment or private investment in infrastructure. This is a major opportunity that the federal government can assist cities with to help reduce the infrastructure deficit.
I'd urge you to consider these investments and innovations in economic policy to ensure prosperous and secure communities for the benefit of all Canadians.
I thank you very much for your time, Mr. Chair.
