MacEachern has productive meeting with Premier

By Maija Hoggett Alliston Herald September 5 2013
TORONTO – Reducing red tape, dependable funding and more were on the table when New Tecumseth Mayor Mike MacEachern sat down with Premier Kathleen Wynne and Minister of Rural Affairs Jeff Leal last week.
MacEachern and a handful of other rural mayors from across Ontario attended the meeting in Toronto.
“The meeting was an opportunity to have a frank, open conversation on creating the right conditions for our rural communities to succeed,” said Leal in a press release.
“It was a productive conversation with Mayor MacEachern. We discussed increasing economic opportunities for rural communities, helping them become investment ready and challenges municipalities face including red tape.”
One of the issues MacEachern said he was pushing was how development is financed in growing communities.
One of concerns with this is how right now the regular municipal debt and development charges debt (costs that are covered by developers building new subdivisions) are not separated.
“The issue being that the calculation doesn’t take into consideration that the development charge is guaranteed by it’s paid for by development, it’s not paid for by the ratepayer,” said MacEachern, adding it would be helpful if provincial regulations made that clear.
“The province could help by just separating out and treating it separately,” he said.
When it comes to funding infrastructure, having a dependable provincial funding source is also on MacEachern’s wish list.
Right now he said a lot of the provincial dollars are doled out in a lottery-type system.
“We need a predictable, stable source of funding from the province to help with infrastructure needs,” MacEachern said.
Giving municipalities more control was also discussed.
MacEachern used the Places to Grow act, which sets out future growth in Simcoe County, as an example.
Overall, he agrees with the principles and general idea, but he said there has to be “some flexibility built in.” That would allow local government to realize the province’s goal of preserving prime agricultural land, but carrying it out in a way that best suits the community.
“Every community is different, while we recognize need for some guidance from provincial government, we also need some flexibility at the local level,” he said. “The people running municipalities are capable so they (the province) need to step back and say the capacity is there, this is what we want you to achieve now go out and achieve it.”
In a press release from Leal, it outlined ways the provincial government has helped rural municipalities.
“In the 2013 Budget, we announced a new $100 million rural infrastructure fund. Details on how to apply for this funding will be released in the coming weeks. We also consulted on what a permanent program could look like in the 2014 Budget,” he said.
It was also noted that the Rural Economic Development (RED) program has been re-launched. Through the program, the government will be looking for partnerships to create new jobs and support economic development in rural Ontario.
“Premier Wynne has shown a clear focus on the issues and challenges facing rural Ontario communities since being sworn in,” Leal said. “We look forward to following up on our discussion with Mayor MacEachern in the near future and having more opportunities to meet with municipal representatives across Ontario.”