On the topic of Cities needing a new funding model:
I don't have a link for it but I read an article the other day about city infrastructure that mentioned how Edmonton (and presumably Calgary) were concerned about the future of some of their projects under Kenny. The core problem is that I suppose Alberta's carbon tax wasn't wholly revenue neutral and there was some funds diverted to infrastructure projects that would lower emissions (eg. public transit). If Kenny ends the carbon tax then one presumes that the Fed government would step back in a carbon tax, but it would be revenue neutral, with money coming back to residents via rebate cheques. Any projects that relied on carbon tax revenue are in limbo.
Watching the Metro Vancouver Three phase '10 Year Mayors Transit Plan' slowly struggle to get started over the last 4 years has convinced me how badly we need to find a way to get cities more of a larger, stable revenue stream.
For phase one, the smallest portion, you gotta give the Fed Liberals credit for stepping in with 50% (!!) of a share to kick start that thing, which was such a good deal that even the transit skeptic BC Liberals
signed onto that.
With the much larger multi-billion phase two however, it struggled in limbo because the cities didn't have enough money to fund their side, because neither the feds or province would fund more. Only when the NDP got elected and raised their share from 33% to 40% did the
math work out.
What we really need is to find a way for cities to generate this money themselves instead of begging hat in hand to the provinces and feds. On housing it's the same thing. Vancouver has been in the midst of a housing crisis since the last federal election, and yet of course they can't simply build their own public housing even though they have the land. They don't in any way have the money. Instead their waiting hat in hand, hoping that the Liberals get elected again so perhaps that money will flow their way, and hoping that there's
also coincidentally a provincial government with the same ideals in place that doesn't obstruct things.
I don't know what it looks like. Gas tax, road pricing, sales tax? I know things need to change though.
In other news, the NDP look to be shoring up their green credit after the Green Party Byelection win by motioning for the government to
declare a climate emergency (Ireland just did this, and so has the City of Vancouver).
OTTAWA—NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will cut Canada's emissions almost in half over the next decade as he tries to stake out a claim to the climate change agenda in the looming federal election.
The pledge is one contained in an NDP motion expected today in the House of Commons that will lay out eight broad strokes of the NDP's climate change platform. The motion asks for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to declare "an environment and climate emergency" as well as pledge to cut emissions more deeply, eliminate government aid to the fossil fuel industry and cancel the planned expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
...
Asking for TMX to get cancelled means this is DOA, but I guess they'll use the rejection for rhetorical and fund raising purposes.
I do like the sound of we need to declare a "climate emergency" more than we need a "Green New Deal."