Mayor likes election focus on city issues

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This article was published 09/10/2015 (3639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brian Bowman said this federal election has seen a focus on big-city issues to a degree not seen in previous campaigns.

Each of the party leaders has made serious commitments to help repair crumbling infrastructure and boost spending on transit and housing, Bowman said, adding those commitments are a reflection of the influence and impact the country’s major urban centres have on the political scene.

“Increasingly, the keys to Sussex are through Canada’s big cities,” Bowman said. “We’ve seen greater attention to the needs of Canada’s big cities and that’s something all parties appear to have embraced.

“It is really encouraging to see the attention the cities are receiving.”

Bowman was asked to grade each of the four party’s campaign commitments to municipalities but declined. However, he noted of the three parties likely to form government — the Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats — all have made serious financial commitments to cities.

The Conservatives have a 10-year track record of working with provincial and municipal governments and have not made any new promises for additional spending — but have reminded voters of the programs and spending they have in place: the gas-tax fund for road renewals, the GST municipal rebate, the Building Canada fund and the P3 fund.

Bowman said while the Liberals have promised to spend the most on municipal infrastructure, transit and housing over the next 10 years, they and the NDP are short on details — an expected situation for an election campaign.

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“Ultimately, Winnipeggers will make up their own mind who deserves to serve as the next government and prime minister,” Bowman said. “We’re going to be prepared to work with whomever Canadians elect.”

Bowman said what municipalities need from the next federal government are clear rules on long-term funding that detail eligibility criteria. Ideally, Bowman said he would like to see a national model of one of his own campaign commitments, BUILD Winnipeg, where all three levels of government work collaboratively with stakeholders.

“The dollars are important, but the collaboration in how the program works is also important,” Bowman said. “For me, the big focus will be on the details. Whomever is elected, we want to make sure the way their respective programs are implemented is done in a way that is collaborative — things are clearly marked out so we can engage in better long-term planning than we’ve seen in the past.”

Winnipeg’s priority remains repairing its crumbling road network, Bowman said, but added programs and funding for transit and housing are also important.

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca