Owen Sound Mayor Ruth Lovell Stanners shares the concerns of some of Canada’s big city mayors about the lack of infrastructure funding getting to municipalities.
The Mayors of Canada’s 22 biggest cities are frustrated there’s still no sign of the 12 billion dollar stimulus package promised by the Harper government.
At their meeting in Whistler, B-C, the mayors say the summer construction season is slowly slipping away and, they’re calling on the Harper government to get the cash flowing.
Mayor Lovell Stanners agrees saying that if they are going to get to work on the cities proposed projects, the cheques must be in the mail very soon.
The city is looking for money to build a new comprehensive recreation centre that would include a full sized swimming pool and two ice pads.
Lovell Stanners says she hopes approval for that project could come with in one week or so.
She says one major concern is that with approval of hundreds of municipal infrastructure projects across the province, there could be serious competition to try and get contractors to get the work done.
Lovell Stanners says if there is more work than contractors then the there could be few if any competing tenders for projects and that could see the cost go up.
The Mayor also says to avoid going over budget on projects they may have consider leaving some parts of the project unfinished.