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Harper Still Doesn't "Get" Municipal Needs
From the CBC News:
Harper draws fire from big-city mayors
Last Updated Sat, 04 Jun 2005 20:22:13 EDT
CBC News
Tory Leader Stephen Harper pledged support for municipalities on Saturday, but that wasn't enough for some big-city mayors who demanded his party support the Liberal government's budget.
Stephen Harper speaks during the annual meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in St. John's, Saturday. Harper was the first of three federal leaders to speak at a Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in St. John's.
Harper told the crowd that his party would not only honour existing agreements such as a share of the federal gas tax for cities, but would do more to solve the problems that municipalities face.
"Our party not only recognizes there is a problem," Harper said.
"We are committed to finding long-term solutions. Not band-aid solutions, where the federal government shares part of its surplus with this province or that municipality for this or that project for one or two years."
But Harper stopped short of saying his party would support the Liberal budget, which would create a $5-billion gas-tax rebate for cities and spend billions more on housing and transportation.
The budget passed first reading in the House two weeks ago by a razor-thin margin and must survive two more votes before it becomes law.
The lack of a firm commitment angered mayors such as Vancouver's Larry Campbell, who said he and his colleagues have had it with political bickering in Ottawa.
"We're sick and tired of the foolishness that's going on," Campbell said after Harper's speech.
"It's not only embarrassing, it's needlessly holding up the movement of the country and the longer we wait, the further we get behind. I have people that are living on the streets in my city. I want that money and I want it now."
Prime Minister Paul Martin and NDP Leader Jack Layton are also scheduled to address the conference this weekend. They're all courting the big-city mayors in an attempt to grab votes when an election is eventually called.
The influential mayors met earlier in the week and said they want the budget passed before the summer. Many towns and cities counted on the promised federal funding when they made their 2005 budgets.
"We run cities and we need to be able to plan and we need the money to be passed: it's that simple," said Toronto Mayor David Miller.
Harper downplayed the comments, saying that the meeting was a success over all.
"Obviously there are some big-city mayors with some partisan affiliation, but I think we've said everything that the FCM was looking for," he said.
"I had a good meeting with the FCM executive and we're looking forward to working with them in the future."
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No offense, but last time I've checked, those big-city mayors are democratically elected to represent a significant portion of the Canadian population and were far less partisan than the forementioned speaker.
GB
From the CBC News:
Harper draws fire from big-city mayors
Last Updated Sat, 04 Jun 2005 20:22:13 EDT
CBC News
Tory Leader Stephen Harper pledged support for municipalities on Saturday, but that wasn't enough for some big-city mayors who demanded his party support the Liberal government's budget.
Stephen Harper speaks during the annual meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in St. John's, Saturday. Harper was the first of three federal leaders to speak at a Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in St. John's.
Harper told the crowd that his party would not only honour existing agreements such as a share of the federal gas tax for cities, but would do more to solve the problems that municipalities face.
"Our party not only recognizes there is a problem," Harper said.
"We are committed to finding long-term solutions. Not band-aid solutions, where the federal government shares part of its surplus with this province or that municipality for this or that project for one or two years."
But Harper stopped short of saying his party would support the Liberal budget, which would create a $5-billion gas-tax rebate for cities and spend billions more on housing and transportation.
The budget passed first reading in the House two weeks ago by a razor-thin margin and must survive two more votes before it becomes law.
The lack of a firm commitment angered mayors such as Vancouver's Larry Campbell, who said he and his colleagues have had it with political bickering in Ottawa.
"We're sick and tired of the foolishness that's going on," Campbell said after Harper's speech.
"It's not only embarrassing, it's needlessly holding up the movement of the country and the longer we wait, the further we get behind. I have people that are living on the streets in my city. I want that money and I want it now."
Prime Minister Paul Martin and NDP Leader Jack Layton are also scheduled to address the conference this weekend. They're all courting the big-city mayors in an attempt to grab votes when an election is eventually called.
The influential mayors met earlier in the week and said they want the budget passed before the summer. Many towns and cities counted on the promised federal funding when they made their 2005 budgets.
"We run cities and we need to be able to plan and we need the money to be passed: it's that simple," said Toronto Mayor David Miller.
Harper downplayed the comments, saying that the meeting was a success over all.
"Obviously there are some big-city mayors with some partisan affiliation, but I think we've said everything that the FCM was looking for," he said.
"I had a good meeting with the FCM executive and we're looking forward to working with them in the future."
_________________________________________________
No offense, but last time I've checked, those big-city mayors are democratically elected to represent a significant portion of the Canadian population and were far less partisan than the forementioned speaker.
GB
