News release: March 24, 2016 – Kapuskasing, ON - The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) was pleased with several commitments in the 2016 federal budget which was announced by the Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau on March 22nd in the House of Commons.
The $120 billion over ten years committed to infrastructure such a public transit, social infrastructure and green infrastructure will consist of two phases. The first phase will immediately invest in urgent repairs and rehabilitation of public transit, water and wastewater systems, affordable housing and protecting infrastructure from the effects of climate change. The second phase will be a long-term plan that will be more broad in nature and focused on building a cleaner economy and integrated transportation networks.
“We have been calling on all levels of government to commit to addressing the infrastructure deficit across the country. The significant commitments that were made to both maintain and rehabilitate existing infrastructure as well as develop a long-term plan to build new infrastructure was welcomed by municipalities,” says Mayor Alan Spacek of Kapuskasing and President of FONOM.
The federal government also made commitments to supporting our First Nations neighbours, students, seniors, as well as addressing rail safety and climate change. Budget 2016 also proposed to extend Employment Insurance regular benefits to regions that have faced economic challenges, particularly resource based economies, which included Northern Ontario.
We look forward to the federal government fulfilling their commitments announced in Budget 2016.
