Money for housing, homelessness and AI in federal budget a win for Waterloo region, local politicians say
But current property tax system 'doesn't meet the needs of municipalities today,' Waterloo mayor says
Investments in housing, homelessness and artificial intelligence announced in Tuesday's federal budget are being applauded by politicians and business leaders in Waterloo region.
Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic called it a "really critical budget" nationally and locally and pointed to $6 billion the federal government has pledged to invest in municipal infrastructure and housing.
Vrbanovic said he believes this will enable the municipality "to make further investments that are necessary to ensure that housing is getting built as quickly as possible."
Waterloo Mayor Dorothy McCabe said she thought the budget showed the federal government is "fully back with both feet in" when it comes to housing.
"They're back in on co-ops and rentals and working with non-profits, working with municipalities certainly, as well as with the private sectors," McCabe told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition host Craig Norris Thursday morning.
Regional Coun. Michael Harris, who also chairs the region's administration and finance committee, said he was pleased with the budget's take on housing, and more specifically, the infrastructure around it.
"Of course we have to have a strong federal partner and continue to invest in this to address the housing affordability crisis," Harris said Thursday.
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Investments in tech, AI
Communitech president and CEO Chris Albinson said it was pleased to see the government establish a working group to explore domestic investment opportunities, "especially in digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI), and venture capital."
This includes a government initiative to incentivize pension funds to invest in Canada, he said in a statement.
"For startup founders, securing Canadian funding can be one of the biggest challenges they face to build big in Canada. By tapping into pension fund money, early-stage startups gain access to much-needed capital without having to face the many challenges that come with traditional financing routes," Albinson said.
The budget pledged $2.4 billion for artificial intelligence-related investments, which McCabe said will help the universities and tech sector in her city.
"We're excited about that one as well," she said.
Vrbanovic also pointed to the investments in economic development as the city and region continue to grow the "start-up ecosystem" as being vital for this community.
Need for some changes
Both McCabe and Vrbanovic said city staff will review the budget over the coming days to fully understand the impact it will have on cities and the Region of Waterloo.
But they say going forward, they also want to have discussions with the provincial and federal governments about the funding model between the three levels of government. McCabe says the fiscal framework needs to change.
"We really need to re-think and re-do our long term social and fiscal funding strategy," she said.
"The property tax system that we have in place is a 19th century model that just doesn't meet the needs of municipalities today."
One of the big social issues municipalities are now funding more of is related to homelessness.
Vrbanovic said he was also happy to see the federal government will be investing $250 million into addressing homelessness and encampments and that the province will match it.
"Inevitably we'll provide some significant money for people who are really at the beginning end of that housing continuum," Vrbanovic said. "Trying to make sure that in fact there's shelter spaces and so on available to meet the needs of those segments of the community."
Harris, though, said he felt there was "more that could be done" to help municipalities address homelessness, but that the region will "work with [their] federal partners to ensure that that's not just born completely by the local taxpayer."
"We know folks are stretched thin as it is … If we can't rely on our federal partners to help fund these issues that the region can't solely fund itself, well then that'll further strain on our resources to deliver the core services that we provide," Harris said.
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With files from John Paul Tasker