Sudbury Mayor wants a bigger piece of the mining tax pie

A passionate presentation before North Bay city council, Sudbury mayor John Rodriguez explained how his city and many other northern communities are not getting their fair share of resource revenue sharing from the federal and provincial governments. He says it’s essential and urgent to get a funding framework in place so that more tax revenue from the mining sector flows back to municipalities such as Sudbury, Timmins and Kirkland Lake. He says in the last ten year Sudbury has seen a half a billion dollars of deficit in infrastructure. To put is simply says Rodriguez, “They’re not sharing in the wealth”.

He says communities provide these companies with essential services and infrastructure such as roads are used more often because of frequent usage by heavy trucks.

“We’re saying the province the feds we need partners, and will you be our dance partner, this is our waltz, we have to do it together, we cannot face this without your help and by helping us, you help all the municipalities in Northern Ontario.”

With 66 mining companies located in North Bay, Rodriguez was looking for support from North Bay Council in pressuring both levels of government to listen to the needs of the north.

North Bay mayor Vic Fedeli says he’s spoken to Sudbury council on three occasions in his time as mayor and always got the support he needed. He added Sudbury has a strong case and council unanimously voted in favour of joining Sudbury in its fight for a better deal.

“Their street gets worn out, their infrastructure gets deteriorated and the province gets all the tax and the municipality gets all the bills,” says Fedeli. Adding the more the government invests in this region, the more companies will want to set up shop here.