Federal budget’s transit investment disappointing: York Region transportation committee chairperson Vito Spatafora

Yorkregion.com
April 22, 2015
By Lisa Queen

As pleased as the chairperson of York Region’s transportation committee is to see Ottawa investing in a multi-year program for transit in Canadian cities, he calls it a delayed pittance.

“It’s a serious problem. We need (more) investment in transit infrastructure,” Richmond Hill Regional Councillor Vito Spatafora said yesterday.

In the federal budget delivered Tuesday afternoon, Finance Minister Joe Oliver announced the government will invest $750 million over two years starting in 2017-18 and $1 billion a year after that in a new public transit fund to be used to build infrastructure and fight gridlock in large cities.

That is a drop in the bucket when you look at the transit needs of cities across the country, Spatafora said.

“When you’re talking about the extension of one subway line being in the billions ... it’s disappointing, that amount,” he said.

“It’s not a lot of money. We’re going to need serious investment just to get the Yonge Street subway (extension from Toronto into York Region) going. It’s several billion dollars right there we’re looking at; $2.5 billion to $3 billion for that segment of the subway, let alone getting GO service electrified.”

The provincial government is putting millions of dollars into electrified rail service and could use more support from the federal government, Spatafora said.

Premier Kathleen Wynne indicated the provincial budget, which will be delivered Thursday, will focus heavily on transit investments.

“The days of underspending on infrastructure are over,” she said after stepping off the Union-Pearson Express train, which will go into service June 6.

Spatafora is also challenging Oliver’s explanation that the funding isn’t needed immediately because transit projects aren’t “shovel-ready.”

“Well, some projects are shovel-ready. We (also) need assurances the money is coming,” he said.

Even on projects not yet ready for construction, millions of dollars are needed for pre-construction work such as engineering studies, environmental assessments and planning requirements, Spatafora said.

“We have to go through a very costly exercise (before actual construction),” he said.

While Spatafora acknowledged Ottawa’s effort to balance the budget, he questioned spending money on extending the war in the Middle East when there are pressing needs among large urban centres in Canada.

“It just puzzles me,” he said, adding Canada has a history as a peacekeeping nation.

Meanwhile, the pre-election budget delivered some welcome news for seniors, Christina Bisanz, CEO of York Region’s Community and Home Assistance to Seniors (CHATS), said.

Seniors and people with an eligible disability can tap into a tax credit allowing them to make their homes more accessible with things such as wheelchair ramps and walk-in bathtubs.

A 15-per-cent, non-refundable tax credit would apply on eligible renovations of up to $10,000 and provide up to $1,500 in tax relief a year.

“That’s good news from our perspective. Anything that does provide additional support for seniors to live longer in their own homes safely is beneficial,” Bisanz said.

The budget also significantly boosted the amount of time caregivers can receive benefits to care for sick loved ones.

Compassionate care benefits through Employment Insurance are being extended to a maximum of six months, up from the current six weeks.

“Stress on family caregivers to provide support to their loved ones is becoming more of a concern, so this is something that acknowledges we need to provide caregivers with additional support to allow people to live longer in their own homes,” Bisanz said.

While many CHATS clients do not have money to put away for savings, there are some who will be able to take advantage of financial initiatives in the budget aimed at seniors, she said.

The government is relaxing rules around registered retirement income funds by reducing minimum withdrawals by 30 per cent.

It is also doubling maximum contributions to tax free savings accounts, which will help seniors older than 70 who are no longer able to contribute to RRSPs.

Chambers of commerce in the region are applauding the government’s decision to cut the small business tax rate to 9 per cent from 11 per cent, although some would prefer the measure be implemented sooner.

The tax cuts begin next year and won’t be completed until 2019.

“I think any reduction in the tax rate is great for small business, especially over the next couple of years ... Businesses need more money in their pockets,” Markham Board of Trade president Richard Cunningham said.

It’s a great way to kick start the Ontario economy following the recession, especially for the manufacturing sector, he said.

“It’s too bad it’s not more accelerated in the next year or two, then stretched to 2019,” Cunningham said.

With East Gwillimbury’s population and businesses set to balloon over the next 15 years, the tax cut for small businesses couldn’t come at a better time, East Gwillimbury Chamber of Commerce treasurer Lori Woodyatt said.

The tax cuts will improve competitiveness of small businesses, Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce CEO Leslie Whidden said.

“All of this will be after the election and contingent on the government remaining in power,” she added. “It’s not something you would write down in stone today. It’s something we have to look for and keep an eye on after the election.”