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2009.01.29 – London Free Press, Opinion
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Now the work starts to get a piece of the pie
by Paul Berton
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We don't yet know what the federal budget will mean for cities such
as London, but we can read between the lines, and what we see is
hopeful.
We can expect, for example,
millions to be invested in improvements to waste recycling,
recreational facilities, social housing, roads and sewers.
It's also likely we'll see repairs to local federal buildings, and
for the University of Western Ontario and Fanshawe College to take
advantage of a $2-billion fund to repair campus infra-structure.
It's hard to imagine a city the size of London, with all these
existing facilities, won't be the recipient of tens of millions from
the federal government, some of which will be matched by the
province and city hall.
Indeed, Ed Holder, the
Conservative MP for London West, has promised as much: "Stay
tuned. You will, in the days to come, hear about good things for the
City of London."
Whether or not you think deficits are a good idea, necessary or
unnecessary, or whether municipalities have been ignored by Ottawa
in years past, or whether the funds will come soon enough to
actually create jobs and pull us out of an economic slump any time
soon, we can all agree that much of this work is needed sooner or
later, and we might as well fix it when we need to create jobs.
It would have been nice, of course, if municipalities had simply
received the money as part of an enhanced gas tax. That way they
wouldn't have to interpret and wade through the various approval
processes and decide the criteria before putting everyone to work.
It will now be a matter of testing Ottawa to decide what the federal
Conservative government has the stomach for, and which projects
match with its priorities.
City hall will also be considering whether, or (likely more
accurately) how much, money should be spent on more innovative
projects and partnerships with private and public organizations --
locally and regionally -- such as the London International Airport,
Fanshawe College and the Western to create long-term economy
benefits, and indeed grow the economy in London and Southwestern
Ontario.
There's no time to lose.
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