As the election campaign heats up, there are now many issues on the table. This is why I suggested earlier that you should choose an issue that was important to you and focus on that issue. It makes it easier to cut through all the verbiage.
Last week I discussed climate change, which is now finding its way onto the main stage of the election campaign. This week I want to discuss another issue that I think is important—communities. (In the past, parties talked about having a policy for cities, but when they realized that this excluded a large number of people living in small and medium-size towns, townships, and so forth, the language was changed to communities.)
Communities were in need of support before the pandemic and their position has been made worse by the pandemic. They suffer from a significant infrastructure deficit associated with roads, bridges, water, and wastewater. Many of these services are forgotten because they are hidden from public view, but they are quietly ticking time bombs. The pandemic has created additional pressures from both declining revenues and increasing expenditures.
Communities also need some assistance because of their position on the front line in dealing with the climate crisis. The decisions that communities make in areas like land-use planning and development have a major impact of climate. As well, communities operate a fleet of vehicle and other public works like power plants, community centres, and parks that can be either a part of the problem or a part of the solution. Small and medium-size municipalities, like Pelham, can develop public transit systems to reduce the use of private cars. Every city needs to install electric charging stations to deal with the coming dominance of electric vehicles. These initiatives cost money that communities don’t have.
These local government issues have been largely absent from the federal campaign. The only issue that is presently in the forefront that has consequences for communities is affordable housing. This is a re-run of an issue that was handled badly in the 2019 campaign and generally parties have shown that they didn’t learn anything from that mess.
The affordable housing crisis has been with us for some time, but was exacerbated by the pandemic. The parties have again suggested ways of dealing with the issue that prove that there has been no consultation with local governments. Just like in 2019, one of the main suggestions has been to assist purchasers by putting more money in their hands and easing mortgage conditions. Putting more purchasers with more money into the existing market will drive up prices and worsen the existing affordability problem rather than reduce it.
This time there is also the idea of significantly increasing the housing stock. This is approaching the issue in the right way, but I have a funny feeling about how this movie will end. This could be a great opportunity to re-think housing generally and develop some interesting and innovative ideas involving complete communities with mid-rise, multi-use structures in bikeable and walkable environments. My funny feeling is that the pressure to act quickly will drive us to take the 1950s subdivision plans off the shelf and build a bunch of Beaver Cleaver suburbs. Not only will this do little to solve the affordability crisis, but it will also worsen the climate change situation.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the main national organization representing communities, has suggested an agenda for this election. I have drawn from this list and inserted some of my own thoughts.
New and improved infrastructure— sidewalks, roads, bridges, water purification and wastewater treatment.
Better bandwidth especially in rural areas. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of good wi-fi connections. We need to deal with the digital divide.
Energy retrofits of existing buildings to make them more energy-efficient.
Funding for the improvement of municipal operations such as moving toward zero-emission fleets.
Increase and improve the housing stock with special emphasis on developing complete communities that are bikeable, walkable and welcoming to public transit.
Innovative public transit options for small and medium size communities. Toronto needs billions for a new subway line; that’s fine, but it’s not scaleable to municipalities the size of Pelham. Smaller communities need innovative transit systems to meet the needs of people with accessibility issues and to eliminate the need for families to buy a second or third car.
An election campaign provides a great opportunity to get often- overlooked items on the national agenda. We should take this opportunity to press parties to take these community issues seriously. ◆
David Siegel is Brock University professor emeritus of Political Science.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
