(The following article is from the December 1-31, 2007 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St. Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.

PV Vancouver Bureau

The physical foundations of Canada's cities and communities are "near collapse," warns the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

     Released on Nov. 20, the FCM report "Danger Ahead: The Coming Collapse of Canada's Municipal Infrastructure" says that close to 80 per cent of Canada's infrastructure is past its service life. The report estimates that tackling the "municipal infrastructure deficit" will cost $123 billion.

     "It took a catastrophic bridge collapse in the United States and an overpass collapse in Quebec, both with tragic loss of life, to push infrastructure decay to the top of newscasts," said Winnipeg city councillor Gord Steeves, the current FCM president. "But even when the consequences are not catastrophic, the infrastructure decay we all see around us should not be taken for granted. It points to a looming crisis that. If unchecked, will reduce our standard of living, our safety and our quality of life."

     The study's cost estimates include $31 billion for waste and waste water systems, $21.7 billion for transportation, $22.8 billion for transit, $7.7 billion for solid-waste management, and $40.2 billion for community, recreational, cultural and social infrastructure.

     McGill University's Dr. Saeed Mirza, leader of the study's research team, warns that "the municipal infrastructure deficit is growing faster than previously thought... Most municipal infrastructure was built between the 1950s and 1970s, and much of it is due for replacement. As assets reach the end of their service life, repair and replacement costs skyrocket. Across Canada, municipal infrastructure has reached the breaking point."

     Steeves says the $33 billion earmarked by the federal government for infrastructure investments across Canada over the next seven years fall far short of the needs. As he notes, federal money is provided on an ad hoc basis to the provinces, which have different priorities than municipalities. The FCM is calling on Parliament for a national plan to fix the infrastructure deficit, and to provide direct federal funding to municipalities.

     "Danger Ahead" notes that "In 1961, during the initial phase of heavy investment in Canada's infrastructure, federal, provincial/territorial and municipal governments each controlled 23.9, 45.3 and 30.9 per cent of the national capital stock,

respectively. By 2002, the federal government's share had dropped from 23.9 per cent to 6.8 per cent, and the municipal share had grown from 30.9 to 52.4 per cent of all infrastructure."

     The report also points out that between 1955 and 1977, new investment in infrastructure grew by 4.8 per cent annually, falling to just 0.1 percent annually during 1978 to 2000. While capital spending by local governments has increased in recent years, this is still not sufficient to meet population growth or to rehabilitate existing capital stock.

     The analysis also notes that while assuming responsibility for much of Canada's capital stock, "this had to be financed mainly through the property tax... (as) a result, the average age of municipal infrastructure increased significantly over this period."

     The enormous scale of the problem calls for radical solutions, according to the Communist Party of Canada. The CPC's platform for the next federal election renews the party's historic call to give full constitutional status and wealth taxing powers to municipalities. The Communists also propose to return 50% of gas and road user taxes to cities, to provide federal funding for 25% of capital costs of municipal transit, and to re-establish low-interest loans to cities and towns. In total, the Communist platform would give municipalities the powers and funding desperately needed to tackle the growing infrastructure crisis.

Found at: https://peoplesvoice.ca/articleprint08/06__CANADIAN_CITIES_NEAR_COLLAPSE.html