Right in the centre - Starving the dogs
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- Published on Friday, November 27, 2015
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
The Winnipeg Free Press reported on Tuesday morning about some of the proceedings at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities.
They reported that Inter-governmental Affairs Minister Drew Caldwell, “announced a federally backed commitment to invest $14 million over five years to develop recreation facilities in rural municipalities, as well as plans to create a new community airports network program.
AMM president Chris Goertzen, however, called on the NDP government to address municipal infrastructure deficit and create new "long-term, predicable" sources of revenue for municipalities.
"The amount of money municipalities currently receive through property taxes, federal and provincial taxes is simply not sustainable to overcome (infrastructure) challenges," he said. Goertzen suggests a one per cent share of the PST and a PST rebate for municipalities would help close the gap.”
After observing governments in action (or should I say inaction) for over 40 years, I am still set back a little by how much is said and how little is done. A “new” fund for recreation facilities to be spread over five years and across dozens of municipalities would have to be a lot more than $14 million to be effective. It amounts to $2.8 million per year and less than $28,000 per year per municipality. Seeing as a relatively modest recreation facility like Neepawa’s Yellowhead Centre costs over $350,000 per year to run, one can see that $28,000 is a small amount of money. On the capital side, to replace the Yellowhead Centre would run in the range of $15-20 million so $28,000 a year isn’t likely to do much.
Municipal politicians are much better rooted in reality. Note that the AMM president Chris Goertzen, said they want long term, predictable sources of revenue, including one per cent of the PST and a rebate on PST paid by the municipalities.
Few will recall that I called for predictable municipal funding on many occasions over the past ten years. It should be per capita, per annum and in perpetuity or at least long term. A very simple approach. The province, like their federal counterparts, allocate way too little money to the most important level of government that we have, municipalities. They throw out little packages of money and make the municipalities compete and scramble with each other to get a morsel. This system always creates winners and losers and the higher levels of government get to choose the winners and losers. If governments, 50 years ago, had adopted a per capita, per annum, in perpetuity method of fairly and equally dividing funds to municipalities, we would have a much different landscape than we do today. Fewer towns would have died. All towns and municipalities would have been able to predict and plan their capital programs, knowing that dependable provincial and federal funding was coming. Untold thousands of hours of worrying and meeting and filling out forms could have been invested in constructive and relatively easy planning. If the annual grants had been predictable and dependable, the municipalities could have all benefited from steady growth.
A person wouldn’t think of feeding their children by throwing out a box of cereal and letting them fight over it. Sure, there might be enough for one or two meals but when they throw out the cereal box only once a year, it doesn’t work. As we all know, many towns have died and many are teetering on the brink of death. There are only about 20 viable, full service communities left in Manitoba. That number is dwindling. Want examples? An expectant mother can only have a baby in two hospitals in south-western Manitoba now, namely Brandon and Neepawa. How many ERs are still open? How many schools are left? How many high schools?
The federal and provincial governments, over the past 50 years, have treated communities like starving dogs. Worse than starving dogs, because it’s legal to starve communities. It’s illegal to starve dogs.
AMM had neither the courage nor the imagination to fight the province on amalgamation. They also didn’t have the foresight to encourage amalgamation long ago where and when it should have happened. Perhaps this time around the AMM will take a stand. They have no actual authority because municipalities are formed and function at the will of the province, actually the minister. However, maybe, with a provincial election coming up, the AMM can shape policies so as to get what the municipalities need. Let’s hope so.
