Thank you very much.
I’m Daniel Rubinstein. I'm the senior director of policy and government relations at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. We're the national voice of Canada's local governments, representing 90% of Canada's population, coast to coast to coast.
We are grateful for every opportunity to discuss how our two levels of government can work together and improve the quality of life for people.
I'm pleased to be here today to speak to budget 2022 and relevant provisions in Bill C-19.
Budget 2022 equips local leaders with tools that deliver concrete results in our communities—the places where people live, work and raise their families. First, it recognizes that municipalities are essential partners in solving our greatest national challenges, including housing affordability. We know that tackling our housing crisis means getting all orders of government working together better and faster. The federal budget makes major investments to tackle common goals, from growing housing supply to taking important steps to end chronic homelessness.
Municipalities, which best understand local supply needs, welcome the housing accelerator fund. It has transformative potential to help get housing built faster, through direct and flexible investments, if we work together to design it with speed and results in mind. The fund can help communities regardless of size. From cities to fast-growing rural towns, the potential is there for sure.
We were also glad to see the budget commit to improving the rental construction financing initiative and the national housing co-investment fund. The changes could mean more affordable rental supply for more Canadians. That's a direct call from local leaders and FCM and really is a critical component to expanding housing supply options for all. Municipalities have significant ambitions to tackle the housing crisis, and these investments—especially the accelerator fund—give municipalities the ability to take action and grow the right kind of affordable housing supply for Canadians.
The budget scales up the rapid housing initiative and extends the Reaching Home program. Both are critical to support the shared goal of ending chronic homelessness in Canada. The rapid housing initiative has been a genuine success story. It's working, and FCM will continue to advocate for growing the rapid housing initiative into a long-term tool to eradicate homelessness.
One critical outstanding need is for a robust urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy. We look forward to discussing this further.
Let me now turn to a second important issue for the public, namely climate action.
With the support of the federal government, municipalities are ready to take action on climate change.
Municipalities are on the front lines of new climate extremes. The new investments in this budget, from broadening electrical vehicle charging infrastructure to building retrofits and nature-based solutions, provide municipalities with the tools they need to take local action on climate change.
We welcome the federal government’s recognition, in the emissions reduction plan, that municipalities are critical to achieving Canada’s 2030 emission goals. We look forward to working with this Parliament on the implementation of that critical plan to ensure that municipalities have the direct funding tools they need.
That brings me to a third focus area for the budget, which is strong communities of all sizes. We know that Canada’s recovery needs to take root in our rural communities, which represent one-third of the economy. In particular, we welcome new investments in natural climate solutions and wildfire prevention and also the commitment to ensure that growing rural and smaller communities can access the housing accelerator fund.
When we look at the scale of need for rural climate adaptation and disaster mitigation, it's clear there's more to do through the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. The need for this is urgent, as we saw last year in B.C. and Atlantic Canada, and as we’re seeing right now with the flooding in Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.
Finally, many communities across the country are grappling with retroactive contract policing costs resulting from the new federally negotiated RCMP labour agreement, and rural communities will be particularly hard hit. This situation requires urgent federal attention and collaboration with FCM and affected municipalities.
The relationship between the federal and municipal governments is essential for the recovery Canadians deserve. Like never before, the past two years have exposed our most pressing national challenges. They have taught us that, when we work together across orders of government, we can face these challenges in a way that supports the economy, builds strong communities and ensures Canadians’ quality of life.
Local governments are ready to continue this vital work with Parliament, and the budget will help keep us moving in the right direction. That certainly includes the $750 million in emergency operating funding for transit that is included in Bill C-19.
Thank you.
I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.