Thank you for that question. We've shared similar concerns over this issue for some time.
Municipal revenues have been growing vastly more than is needed. I would argue that municipalities have been one of the most effective lobbying groups in Canada over the last decade. That eight-cent figure they claim—hey get eight cents of every tax dollar—does not factor into the fact that they get giant amounts of revenue shared with them by provincial, and now federal, governments. That needs to be taken into consideration.
Municipalities have access to growth forms of revenue. Those growth forms of revenue are the transfers they get from the federal and provincial governments. We're not suggesting the federal and provincial governments have zero role in municipal infrastructure, but we think they have gone far enough. Before additional dollars are dedicated, we want to make sure municipal spending is held to a higher account.
That started to happen at the federal level. Some provinces are getting on board. Much more needs to be done at the federal and provincial levels, but very few leaves have been overturned in terms of the gap that exists between levels of municipal wages and benefits and those for similar occupations in the private sector. Much more of their staffing is at the junior level where there are direct comparators that exist in the private sector, and the wage scales, benefit scales, and in particular, pension scales, are not even on the same planet.