Canadian cities are calling for a change to the way federal dollars are funneled down to the municipal level.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities wants the Liberal government to end application-based grants and put the money directly into annual payment programs — something City of Windsor CAO Onorio Colucci says could work quite well.
He says this is not a new idea.
"This has been a longstanding request of all municipalities and certainly Windsor fits within that group. In order to take care of our long-term assets, we need long-term plans and it is difficult to make those plans when you can't count on the money you may receive."
Colucci says it's difficult to plan for the future not knowing if you'll receive funding.
"All municipalities, and Windsor is no different, really would like some stable, predictable, long-term funding. That way you can plan the work to maintain your assets or to add assets to the municipality."
He says laying out a game plan is much easier with a stable funding stream.
"A perfect example of what we'd like to see is something like the federal gas tax. We get about $13-million a year. Applications where you have to apply and wait to see if you get it, that certainly doesn't help us in managing our assets."
The FCM brought forward the proposal in the hopes of landing easier and direct access to federal dollars in next year's budget.
Federation officials have said if Finance Minister Bill Morneau doesn't answer the request in his 2019 budget, they'll make it an election issue.
— with files from AM800's Patty Handysides