Mr. Speaker, on November 2 I asked the minister about infrastructure funding for the city of London. The minister did not answer my question and I would like to take this opportunity to ask again about the funding.
My question was in regard to a water main break causing a large sinkhole at the corner of Dundas and Wellington, a main intersection in downtown London.
In case the minister is not aware of the details, I will outline them now.
The hole in the heart of downtown London was over six metres. It eventually extended to a full city block. The hole left thousands of people unable to work, power was out for over 10 hours, hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue was lost, and for five weeks the main intersection was shut down and was only opened yesterday to limited traffic.
This should never have happened. With the federal surplus, we should be making investments in our cities, not cutting taxes for big businesses. Our crumbling infrastructure will have significant negative impacts on our communities and our economy. If our cities do not function, neither will businesses and no one will benefit.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities released a report last month, entitled “Danger Ahead: The Coming Collapse of Canada's Municipal Infrastructure”. This report outlines the problem. It states and I quote:
Yet for the past 20 years, municipalities have been caught in a fiscal squeeze caused by growing responsibilities and reduced revenues. As a result, they were forced to defer needed investment, and municipal infrastructure continued to deteriorate,--
It is clear from this statement from the FCM that we are in store for more catastrophes like we had in London. People are going to be left dodging holes all across this country.
While municipalities are ultimately responsible for maintaining their infrastructure, they do not have the funding to maintain everything. As more and more programs are downloaded from the federal government to the provincial government, and then from the province to municipalities, the capacity to repair and provide basic services becomes more and more challenging.
The federal government must have a financial role in maintaining our cities. Municipalities only take in 8% of tax revenue, with the federal government receiving 50% of Canadian tax dollars. We need federal investment in our cities, not the $190 billion cut in funding capacity created by the government's unbalanced mini-budget.
Most of Canada's public infrastructure was built between the 1950s and the 1970s, and nearly 80% is near the end of its service life. Today, after years of federal neglect, averting catastrophe failures will cost $123 billion; far more than municipalities have to spend.
What is at stake is the safety of our drinking water, our jobs, our roads and bridges, and our parks and arenas. What is at stake is the entire physical foundation of the communities where we live and raise our families. Our cities need funding now. Waiting for more catastrophes is not acceptable, as Londoners well know.
I want to know why the minister is not investing in our cities. Spending just $2.2 billion a year on municipal projects barely grazes the $123 billion funding gap. Will the minister tell me why the government refuses to invest in our cities?