Kathleen Wynne pitches better co-operation with Ottawa to AMO

Premier tells Association of Municipalities of Ontario there will be better days ahead when there’s a new federal government that will work with the province.

Thestar.com
Aug. 18, 2015
By Richard J. Brennan

Premier Kathleen Wynne took her crusade for a change in federal government to Ontario’s municipal leaders Tuesday.

Speaking at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) annual conference, Wynne said there will be better days ahead when there’s a new government in Ottawa that will work with the province.

“We work best when we have all three levels of government working together ... the difference this year is that we are in the midst of a federal election campaign and that message is even more relevant because there is an opportunity to do something about that,” Wynne later told reporters.

Wynne, who has been actively campaigning for Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and against Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, said a better partnership with the federal government will benefit municipalities.

“That will mean municipal priorities are much more front and centre in the federal government’s plan, because we will all be sitting at the same table,” she told reporters.

AMO president Gary McNamara questioned if all municipal problems would be solved under a new federal government.

“We will wait to see what happens in October,” McNamara said, but he cautioned that the province has a responsibility to work with whatever party is elected.

“You can’t continue to be at odds with each other, because the third level of government (municipalities) is waiting for results,” he told reporters.

Wynne told the crowd that things work best between the province and municipalities when Ottawa is a full partner “but Ontario doesn’t have that in its federal relationship.”

“Universal health care, the CPP (Canada Pension Plan), housing solutions or the gas tax transfer to municipalities - all innovative solutions, all required a federal government with imagination, a willingness to listen, visions and an appreciation that government’s job is not just to govern day by day or seek re-election,” Wynne said, alluding to previous federal Liberal initiatives.

“So whether infrastructure or affordable housing or climate change or First Nations ... we need a federal partner who is willing to listen and work with us,” she said.

Earlier, AMO delegates loudly booed Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur during a so-called bear pit session for not bringing in legislation that would put a cap on municipal liability when it comes to lawsuits.

On Monday, Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown told the 444-member AMO conference the deck is stacked against municipalities for many reasons: lack of adequate infrastructure funding, too much red tape, the high cost of electricity and the proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. These drive away investment, he said.

“Ontario was once the economic engine of Canada and it is now a have-not province. We have to ask ourselves why. Why has Ontario fallen behind?” Brown told delegates.

“All of these things - new payroll tax, skyrocketing hydro rates, and red tape - hurt Ontario’s ability to retain business and create more uncertainty at a time when companies need stability in order to invest,” he said.

Delegates also heard from New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath, who said Wynne should spend more time “fixing the problems in her own backyard” rather than continually inserting herself in federal issues.

“It makes no sense that municipalities, urban and rural, are treated as something less than a full partner in our economic prosperity,” she said in her speech.

Horwath warned that among the many problems facing Ontario is the government’s decision to sell off 60 per cent of Hydro One. She suggested that putting Ontario’s large utility in private hands threatens to drive up electricity costs even higher.

“The sell-off of Hydro One is a bad decision,” she said.

Wynne defended the sale, saying the government needs the money.

“That value is better put towards new, productivity-enhancing infrastructure assets. So holding onto the entirety of Hydro One simply because we’ve always done it this way is simply not a good enough reason” she told the conference.