Infrastructure top federal budget priority in Timmins

As of last week, the new Liberal federal government is now accepting submissions from the public, businesses and municipalities as part of the consultation process for their first budget since returning to power.

Suggestions and ideas for the new budget are now being accepted on the Facebook page “Your Money Matters - Government of Canada,” on Twitter by using the hashtag #PBC16, and through a online questionnaire on Department of Finance's website.

While the government may be turning to social media to modernize the budget consultation, organizations such as the Timmins Chamber of Commerce and the City of Timmins will be making a written submission to the government as always.

According to Mayor Steve Black, the municipality's priority when it comes to both the federal and provincial budgets will be infrastructure funding; something Prime Minister Trudeau promised to go into deficit in order to fund.

“We want to see investment in the Connecting Link program and in maintenance for northern roads and highways,” said Black. “On the federal level, most of that money will get funnelled through the province. But the federal government during the campaign promised massive infrastructure improvements and millions of dollars, so we feel most of that will cover our main infrastructure concerns. But on the provincial level, we will also be pushing for funding for recreation facilities and funding for economic development infrastructure such as rail.”

Despite being wary of the idea of going into deficit to fund spending promises, the Timmins Chamber of Commerce said now is the time for the federal government to be putting money into infrastructure to promote the mining industry to stem the problem the industry has been facing.

“We are big proponents of having the government extending the federal mineral exploration tax credit for the next four years. That's a 15% tax credit. And to create an enhanced credit of 25% for projects in northern areas and territories,” said Nick Stewart, the Timmins Chamber's manager of policy.

The federal government also needs to make a firm commitment to help fund the Ring of Fire development, said Stewart. While many details of that project still need to be worked out, the chamber believes that a funding commitment is necessary to get that project moving.

The last significant priority for the chamber is improved access to labour market information. While the restoration of the long-form census by the Liberals has helped in this regard, Stewart says there should be an effort to gather more detailed and region-specific data.

“Reliable data gives employers the information they need to make use of local labour markets to find the skills they need. When you talk to our businesses, they would argue that finding skilled workers is easily their number one concern,” said Stewart.

Timmins - James Bay MP Charlie Angus said the dramatic structural failure of the Nipigon Bridge outside of Thunder Bay on Sunday night perfectly sums up the infrastructure crisis Northern Ontario is facing, which the new Liberal government needs to address in their next budget.

“We certainly need to deal with infrastructure after what we saw happen to the Nipigon Bridge. When all traffic along the Transcanada Highway now needs to be rerouted throught the United States, we have a real problem,” said Angus. “We're dealing with third and second-rate standards at this point, so i hope the Nipigon Bridge will be a wake-up call for the federal government.”

Another issue for the new budget that has been flying under the radar, said Angus, is the state of Northern Ontario's airports, which have been going without any federal funding for renovations or upkeep.

“These airports play a vital role for medical ambulances, or companies that are coming in to do mining exploration. So if we're going to have a broader discussion about infrastructure and if the government is serious about putting in extra money, maybe we need to look at a special program for northern airports,” said the MP.