Mantha’s News from the Park : Municipalities Attend AMO Conference
Catherine Fife MPP Kitchener-Waterloo, Wawa Mayor Linda Nowicki and Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha. Submitted photo
Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha
This week the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) held their annual conference in London Ontario. Through AMO, Ontario’s 444 municipalities are able to work together on shared interests and concerns and enhance municipal government.
I had the opportunity to attend many of the briefings with several municipalities across Algoma-Manitoulin and government Ministers. While many communities have unique issues and concerns, there are some that remain common among many.
We listened to the concerns of many communities and my colleagues and I will hold the government to account at Queen’s Park and voice their concerns like fair funding for social services, the need for adequate infrastructure investment, and unfair downloading of provincial responsibilities.
We believe that municipalities should be treated as full partners in the economic prosperity of the province and recognize that a “one-size-fits-all” approach, especially one developed with large municipalities in mind, will not work for smaller, rural or northern municipalities.
The budget includes significant cuts to the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund and the Power Dam Special Payments Program which effect many communities in Northern Ontario.
One of the significant concerns raised was the downloading of OPP costs onto municipalities. The OPP are responsible for providing police services to municipalities that do not have a municipal police service or choose to contract with the OPP
The OPP currently provides policing services to 324 municipalities on a cost-recovery basis. On average, OPP costs are around $344 per household. The government downloaded some OPP policing costs onto rural municipalities in 1998. Ontario’s municipalities now pay roughly a third of the OPP’s $1 billion budget.
Between 2007 and 2011, OPP costs for municipalities with contracts increased an average of 7% per year, or three times the rate of inflation while costs for municipalities without contracts increased by 4% per year.
In 2012, the Auditor-General said the OPP’s contract terms and billing methodology were inconsistent and non-transparent. Some municipalities pay up to $805 a property, while other municipalities pay just $6 per property.
I have heard from many municipalities in Algoma-Manitoulin who are faced with extremely high costs per household which is hurting the municipality and burdening taxpayers in these smaller communities.
I will continue to work with municipalities across Algoma-Manitoulin and government ministries to try and find a solution that is fair and not disproportionately taxing rural and northern residents.
As always, please feel free to contact my office about this issue or any other provincial matters. You can reach my constituency office by email at mmantha-co@ndp.on.ca or by phone at 705-461-9710/1-800-831-1899.
MPP Michael Mantha, Algoma-Manitoulin
