Budget 2019 offers a boost to municipal infrastructure funds

PRINCE GEORGE- Local officials are speaking out about the federal government’s final budget before the fall election. It’s a positive one for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Second-Vice President, Garth Frizzell, says it’s clear federal officials have listened to their requests. One of the biggest successes is the promise of bringing high-speed internet to all Canadian homes and businesses by 2030. “For the better part of a decade, we’ve been advocating with two thousand other municipalities across Canada to get things like rural broadband. Here we saw the single largest investment into connectivity for the internet that we’ve ever seen,” said Frizzell, “to see 2.7 billion dollars invested is very exciting and gratifying.” Budget 2019 also provides a boost to municipalities through the Gas Tax Fund. The Liberal government promising a one-time 2.2 billion dollar increase for municipalities that will double the amount they receive for infrastructure projects. “In Prince George, out of our whole budget, we get 3.2 million dollars for infrastructure spending…that’s going to double,” said Frizzell, “we’ve had bad news galore on the number of infrastructure projects and the cost of those projects right now so to get some support at this critical time is so welcome.”