Thank you (for intro).

It’s a great pleasure to be here today on behalf of Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

The Minister couldn’t be here today and he asked me to bring greetings.

Your theme, “Just Imagine: the President’s Summit on Municipal Sustainability” is very much in line with what we are doing in Ottawa.

The new portfolio of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, which I am proud to represent, is bringing a more integrated approach to the way we work with our colleagues in government – not only at the national, provincial and territorial levels, but at the municipal level as well, through our partners such as the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.   

One of our goals is to ensure that Canada has the kind of infrastructure – transportation, transit, environmental, such as water and wastewater treatment facilities, recreational and cultural – that we need to keep our country competitive internationally and to provide a sustainable, high quality of life for our citizens and communities.

Together, we need to see infrastructure not as a capital expense, but instead as an investment that supports our goals – A means to an end.

As municipal leaders, you know that we are not simply paying to build facilities or to construct roads or to forge public transit routes.

These new facilities, these new roads, these better public transit systems are investments that deliver
better services, healthier communities, and better opportunities for our citizens.

And, if we look at the work you have been doing on Integrated Community Sustainability Plans – ICSPs as they are called – I think it’s safe to say that we share the same goals.

That’s why I’m very happy to be here today to talk to you about what we are doing in Ottawa and to talk about how, through our common work, we help ensure the long-term sustainability of communities.

Setting the course in Ottawa

Since taking office in Ottawa, the Prime Minister has set a clear course for our government. He has led a systematic effort to deliver on each of the five priorities we campaigned on and that the Canadian people expect us to fulfill.

A first order of business was to introduce a new federal Accountability Act.

We pledged to clean up government and we are determined to do just that.

We also pledged to: Lower taxes for working Canadians; starting by reducing the GST, which is happening July 1;

• Protect Canadian families and communities by strengthening the justice system. As part of this commitment, the Prime Minister recently announced the introduction of legislation to crack down on street racing;
• Support parents’ child care choices through direct assistance and by creating more daycare spaces – Budget 2006 contains clear and concrete measures, including a tax credit to parents of children under the age of six;
• See that Canadians receive the health care they need, when they need it, by addressing the fiscal imbalance and establishing a patient wait times guarantee with the provinces.
  

These issues are important to us as a national government.

They’re important to our colleagues at the provincial and territorial orders of government and they’re important to you in municipal government.

But most of all they’re important to all Canadians.  

Let’s face it, as elected politicians, we might have different constitutional mandates, but we are all serving the same citizens.

Their priorities are our priorities.

As those of us in public life are so often reminded – and I very much keep in mind every day – there’s only one taxpayer.

As the people on the front lines of government, you are the closest to those taxpayers.
You are the ones who usually get the calls when citizens don’t receive the services they expect.

Our government understands and recognizes the key role that municipalities play in the lives of our citizens.

In fact, we are benefiting from the first-hand experience of Minister Cannon, who, prior to stepping into the federal political arena,
was a municipal councillor in two Quebec communities and the president of a transit authority.

We also understand the fiscal pressures you face.


From the Prime Minister on down, we are committed to working with you so that we can all achieve the goals we share.


The Budget

The recent federal Budget is a good case in point.

It’s a good budget for municipalities. In fact, I would even say it’s a good budget for community sustainability. It includes:unprecedented funding for infrastructure; funding for immigrant settlement and support, because we know that municipalities, particularly larger ones, attract most of our immigrant population;funding to tackle crime, which will contribute to safe and secure communities; and funding for affordable housing and for the environment.  

We all know that communities that have high quality infrastructure, that are safer and that provide social and recreational infrastructure attract investments and businesses which generate jobs.

This budget shows that the Harper government is listening and working on providing stable, long-term funding for cities and communities.

Let’s look at some specifics.

The budget provides $16.5 billion for infrastructure investments over the next four years.

It provides $2.4 billion to the newly created Highways and Borders Infrastructure Fund.

Through this fund, we are currently providing up to $50 million to upgrade the Trans-Canada Highway between the Icefields Parkway Interchange and Lake Louise in Banff National Park, and a total of $150 million ($75 million each) for the Calgary and Edmonton ring roads.  

The current Canada-Alberta Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund – or CAMRIF – was launched in April.

With matching municipal contributions, the fund has a total potential value of $264 million.

And it is more good news for the future of Alberta’s communities.

That is more than $476 million over 5 years that Alberta communities can invest without matching the dollars!

But that’s not all our government is doing for Canadian communities.

So $161 million is now budgeted to hire 1,000 new RCMP officers and federal prosecutors.

Our government is also investing in affordable housing, another big sustainability issue for many Canadian cities and communities.

And up to $300 million is targeted specifically at improving housing for Aboriginal Canadians who live off-reserve.

An equal amount will go to meet the acute housing shortages of natives who live on reserves.

We’re reaching out so that all Canadians – urban or rural, aboriginal or non-aboriginal – can share in the benefits of federal investments.

Many of our larger cities in particular are concerned about growing traffic congestion and the impact of tail pipe emissions on our air quality.

That’s why we budgeted up to $1.3 billion in public transit projects through the Public Transit Fund and the Public Transit Capital.

Several cities, including Calgary and Edmonton, have said they will use a portion of gas tax funding for public transit.

These historic sums are intended to help reestablish fiscal balance.


Integrated Portfolio

So what does all this mean for you as the members of this Association - and for Canadians right across the country?

We also have to think through how we can most effectively coordinate all the tools at our disposal.  

This process will support the overall objective of the Prime Minister – fiscal balance.

For example, Canada Lands is behind the successful Garrison Woods project in Calgary.

In addition, dozens of shared governance organizations, such as port and airport authorities are also part of the portfolio.

I’m talking about investments, of course, but also about legislation, regulation, policies and programs.  

The benefits offered by the creation of this portfolio lie not only in the opportunity to gain an integrated understanding of transport, infrastructure and communities issues but, more importantly, in the opportunity to make integrated decisions in support of clear objectives.

The first element: identifying challenges.

The second element: strategies.

We can help to meet Canada’s challenges by ensuring our programs are focused on: Economic competitiveness; Quality of life; The environment; and Accountability to Canadians.

And the third element – the most important element – is, of course, action.

Integrated Community Sustainability Plans

We must work together, the federal government, the provinces, territories and the municipalities – while respecting individual areas of jurisdiction – if we are truly going to contribute to the sustainability of our communities.

And it certainly relates to social, recreational and cultural aspects as well.  

A clear example of the fruitful result of that collaboration is the guidebook and tools you have created and which your members can now use to develop ICSPs.

As the providers of  the most direct services to  Canadians, you certainly have a good sense of the things that matter where people live, work and raise their families.

And that is why the Minister and I value your input and why we will be consulting with partners and stakeholders to hear about how we can implement our new infrastructure programming, but also how we can all work together to link investments to priorities and principles, and how this process can result in more sustainable communities.

Canada is a great political and economic success story.

By continuing to work together, we can ensure that Canada remains a model for the world – especially for the quality of life it offers its citizens.

A vision we all can be proud to share.

And I assure you we look forward to continuing to work with this Association and its members to achieve our shared objectives.

Thank you.