Saint-Ours is a small municipality. When we apply for federal programs, we often get stonewalled. The response is often unfavourable, for all sorts of reasons.
We applied to just about every conceivable program that was available, whether it was related to culture, communications, infrastructure or adaptation, and we rarely got a positive response.
One of the most obvious solutions to this problem would be for grants to be better balanced between large and small municipalities in Canada. That would give us a better chance of getting at least some grants. At the moment, it is a bit of a game that favours the municipalities that submit their projects the fastest, rather than the ones that are the most ready.
Funding is never enough to meet the needs, no matter which government is in power. The reality is that it's hard to get grants after you apply. These grants are often the lever that enables our small municipalities to get major projects under way.
The population of Saint-Ours is only 1,700, and I cannot always raise municipal taxes. That's where the support of the federal government and the provincial government plays a key role. It is a lever that enables us to comply with certain standards. We absolutely need it.