Some mayors upset after southwest N.B. left out of federal housing funding
'The federal government didn't seem to care about our part of the province,' says Eastern Charlotte mayor
Mayors across southwest New Brunswick say they are disappointed after the region was denied funding under the federal housing accelerator fund.
The government agency that distributed funding says there were simply too many applications to satisfy each proposal, but one mayor is disappointed that he didn't get any explanation for why his application was rejected.
"The federal government didn't seem to care about our part of the province," John Craig, mayor of Eastern Charlotte, told CBC's Information Morning Saint John. Eastern Charlotte includes St. George and numerous other communities.
Other municipalities, such as St. Stephen, McAdam, Grand Manan, Campobello, and Fundy Shores also applied and were denied.
"I think the first word that comes to mind would be anger, I think we were all very angry," Craig said.
The housing situation in Eastern Charlotte "is bad," he said, adding that several large employers "badly" need housing for workers.
Craig
cited large corporations in Eastern Charlotte, such as Cooke
Aquaculture, as a reason that the region needs more housing to
accommodate workers and residents. (Associated Press/Robert F. Bukaty)
The fund is run by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Spokesperson David Harris said not all applications could be funded. Demand was high and the evaluation process was highly competitive.
CMHC's website says municipalities must submit details of how many housing units could be built with and without federal funding, and data on building permits issued in recent years to determine how feasible goals are, and how the funding would be used.
Harris declined to speak about specific applications, but said CMHC received 544 applications, just 179 of which resulted in agreements.
CMHC received 544 applications for the housing accelerator fund, but was only able to approve 179, a spokesperson said. (Todd Korol/Reuters)
Cities and communities from across Canada could apply either through a large/urban stream or a small/rural/North/Indigenous stream.
Harris said three small or rural areas in New Brunswick did receive money from the housing accelerator: Grand-Bouctouche, Champdoré and Indian Island got a combined $7.1 million, Cap-Acadie received $2 million, and Bathurst, Caraquet, Shippagan and Tracadie got a total of $10.5 million.
He said the government balanced prioritizing the most ambitious proposals with ensuring municipalities of all sizes from across Canada were approved.
Larger cities were also picked, including Saint John with $9.2 million and Moncton with $15.5 million.
Craig said it's great that other places in New Brunswick got funding, but he's disappointed Eastern Charlotte didn't get any, especially since his municipality only applied for $1 million.
He said the municipality made a strong case, which is driven by major employers such as Cooke Aquaculture, Mowi, Connors Bros. Seafoods, and the J.D. Irving paper mill at Lake Utopia.
"It's not that hard to make a case when you have major companies down here wanting to expand and wanting to grow, and they have no place to put their workers, and that's very frustrating," Craig said.
John Williamson, MP for New Brunswick Southwest, called the lack of housing funding approval in the region disappointing. (CP121586490/The Canadian Press)
Cooke spokesperson Joel Richardson said in an email that "the largest gap with bringing more people and their families into the workforce in southwest New Brunswick is the availability and cost of housing" in communities where the company operates.
Craig said he and other mayors are trying for a meeting with CMHC to understand their decision. He added that there are a few housing projects in the municipality that could have used the money, but now these projects will have to be funded through local taxes.
Local MP calls funding snub political
Craig said he and other mayors asked New Brunswick Southwest MP John Williamson for help.
In an emailed statement to CBC News, Williamson, a Conservative, said it's disappointing to see many proposals from the region were not approved, adding he will speak with Housing Minister Sean Fraser next week when Parliament sits.
McAdam
Mayor Ken Stannix was also disappointed by the lack of explanation
given for why applications from communities like his were denied. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
"There is a growing housing crisis in my riding as well as other rural communities across the country," Williamson said.
"It doesn't make sense why southern New Brunswick is being overlooked when it's much more affordable to build housing here and rapidly approve permits through willing municipal governments."
He wondered whether political affiliations played any part, noting the southwestern New Brunswick rejections were in Conservative-held ridings.
McAdam mayor also disappointed
Mayor Ken Stannix of McAdam said he was disappointed not to receive the $2.2 million his community asked for.
He said he wished he got an explanation for what criteria CMHC used to judge applications, and what other successful communities had that McAdam did not.
Stannix said McAdam's proposal was put together by staff from the Southwest New Brunswick Service Commission, and included studies on the housing needs for the region done by the commission last year.
"If you are denied once, you should be told as to why are you were denied, so that when you next apply for the next funding envelope that comes available, that you're better equipped," Stannix said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Information Morning Saint John
Welcome to a day in the life of a western Canadian.
Cooke Aquaculture, Mowi, Connors Bros. Seafoods, and the J.D. Irving paper mill at Lake Utopia.
all want taxpayer subsidized profits and no public deficits or debts.
Pay your own way is corporate sacrilege
"Harris said three small or rural areas in New Brunswick did receive money from the housing accelerator: Grand-Bouctouche, Champdoré and Indian Island got a combined $7.1 million, Cap-Acadie received $2 million, and Bathurst, Caraquet, Shippagan and Tracadie got a total of $10.5 million
Larger cities were also picked, including Saint John with $9.2 million and Moncton with $15.5 million."
These areas are represented by Liberal MP's. Hmmmm......
I'm not feeling much sympathy here.
- - - -
Whatever happened to the concept of the 'company town'?
"...CMHC received 544 applications, just 179 of which resulted in agreements."
That's roughly a 1/3 shot for any application. I'd like more transparency from CMHC so we can actually see the data, especially if there are any trends based on the MP's political affiliations, but until such time it's speculation at best to assume it's because "they have a Conservative MP."
Reply to Daniel Henwell
Reply to Don Corey
New taxes on rich could prompt exodus of entrepreneurs
Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters say Finance Minister Roger Melanson should rethink new taxes on wealthy
The provincial government needs to reconsider its plan to impose higher taxes on the wealthiest New Brunswickers, according to a business group.
Joel
Richardson, the vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers and
Exporters in New Brunswick, said the New Brunswick government should
reverse its new tax rates for the richest taxpayers. (Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters)
The new taxes will raise $30 million for the cash-strapped provincial government.
Joel Richardson, the vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, said he hopes Melanson reconsiders the move.
"I know the provincial coffers need money, but if the finance minister says it is only going to generate about $30 million, it's a relatively small amount of money compared to the entire provincial budget," Richardson said.
"What could we do with that $30 million that we're not currently doing in terms of targeting new growth opportunities, new startups and reinvesting in our manufacturing and exporting companies?"
This is putting a significant amount of stress on high-level entrepreneurs, that quite frankly we need right now.
- Joel Richardson, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters
The higher taxes were a commitment in the Liberal Party's 2014 election platform.
New Brunswickers with a taxable income of between $150,000 and $250,000 will now see a new personal income tax rate of 21 per cent imposed. The rate for taxable incomes over $250,000 will be 25.75 per cent.
The previous rate was 17.84 per cent.
"We believe that asking our richest residents to contribute more is reasonable, fair and progressive," Melanson said in a statement on Thursday.
However, Richardson said these higher taxes could cost the province in terms of businesses or entrepreneurs who decide to pack up and leave for lower-tax jurisdictions.
Finance Minister Roger Melanson says the new tax rates on the wealthy will generate an extra $30 million. (CBC)
The business group official says these new rates would give New Brunswick the fourth highest top personal income tax level behind Denmark, Sweden and Portugal in the OECD.
"This is putting a significant amount of stress on high-level entrepreneurs, that quite frankly we need right now," Richardson said.
The business community's reaction to tax hikes in the Liberal budget is similar to the chorus of complaints from advocates for seniors, for-profit daycare operators and university students who saw cuts in the budget.
Other tax experts have said the higher rates will not generate the projected income.
Jack Mintz, an economist at the University of Calgary, said in April that federal studies have shown that raising rates on the rich just increases the use of shelters and other tax avoidance schemes.
Francine Landry pulls proposed binding arbitration changes
Opposition parties, unions applaud Liberal government's decision to back off proposed arbitration changes
Labour Minister Francine Landry has pulled amendments to the binding arbitration process and has promised to appoint a committee to examine the issue.
The labour minister announced on Friday the Liberal government would remove the contentious section from Bill 24.
"It has become clear through correspondence and meetings from stakeholders from both industry and labour that there are many divergent opinions on the proposed changes to binding arbitration," Landry told the legislature.
Green
Party Leader David Coon said public and private sector unions should be
applauded for standing up to the provincial government on the binding
arbitration changes. (CBC)
She said one of the first issues the committee will tackle is the rising labour costs through binding arbitration at universities and municipalities.
The move was applauded by politicians and unions.
"This is certainly welcome news on the floor of the legislature here today," said Progressive Conservative MLA Trevor Holder.
Green Party Leader David Coon said public and private sector unions should be congratulated for standing up to the provincial government.
"They made their case so clear and so effectively and so beyond reproach the evidence — they had clear arguments, they were relentless and it just showed the errors of the changes they were intending to make to our labour laws around arbitration," Coon said.
Joel
Richardson, the vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers and
Exporters division in New Brunswick, said the provincial government
didn't talk to private sector companies in advance of the changes. (CBC)
Union leaders had denounced the proposed reforms, saying they would give employers, including municipalities and universities, more leverage in contract talks.
Joel Richardson, the vice-president of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association in New Brunswick, said he supported the decision to rip up the section on binding arbitration.
"I think that overall the employers of New Brunswick were very concerned with this piece of legislation," said Richardson.
"The companies in New Brunswick were also not consulted. So we are very pleased to see the government reverse direction."
Municipal concerns
Municipalities had asked the provincial government for some of the changes, saying the current system leads to arbitrators granting large wage hikes.
Glenn
Sullivan, the president of Atlantic Firefighters Association, said the
binding arbitration system has "treated us fairly" since it was adopted. (CBC)
The City of Moncton said last month when it signed a new contract with firefighters that those employees will have seen a 50-per-cent pay increase over two contracts, increases the city felt it had to grant to avoid the risk of arbitration.
The Cities Association of New Brunswick issued a statement on Friday afternoon, criticizing the Liberal government for backtracking on the binding arbitration changes.
Denis Roussel, the association's executive director, said the escalation of police and fire wages is "increasingly unsustainable" for city governments.
He said these wage hikes are "resulting in an inequitable escalation of municipal protective service wages relative to other public sector workers."
Glenn Sullivan, the president of Atlantic Firefighters Association, applauded the Liberal government's climbdown on the arbitration amendments.
He said the binding arbitration system has "treated us fairly" since it was adopted.
"We had an agreement then that in order to eliminate strikes … it would be replaced by binding arbitration and that system has worked very well since then," he said.
"We feel that it is sort of disingenuous by municipalities [to say] it is an unfair system, that it tips the balance too much in favour of the unions, because it is just not accurate."
Liberals defend change of course
The arbitration changes were included in Bill 24, which contains several legislative reforms related to the Gallant government's strategic program review.
Opposition Leader Bruce Fitch said the small Liberal cabinet should be blamed for legislative mistakes. (CBC)
Liberal cabinet minister Donald Arseneault said he didn't think Friday's decision showed the government made a mistake.
"I think the process works. Democracy works," he said.
"The legislature is there when we introduce bills. The opposition has the role to play to ask the proper questions. If we think that there is more work can be done on some of these pieces of legislation … why not?"
The two opposition parties were divided on Arseneault's explanation.
Opposition Leader Bruce Fitch said the problems can be blamed on Premier Brian Gallant's decision to appoint a small cabinet and the cabinet ministers are too busy.
"They are overloaded. They are not taking the time to read the bills, to understand the bill, more importantly … I have never seen so many bills repealed or reversed," Fitch said.
Meanwhile, the Green party leader said governments should reverse course when it's evident that a policy isn't acceptable.
"There is no shame in correcting mistakes and doing the right thing on the part of the government," Coon said.
"Where we run into real trouble is when governments dig their heels in and refuse to do that. They did the right thing."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Board of Directors
NATIONAL
Patrick Oland
Chair
Chief Financial Officer
Moosehead Breweries Limited
Too Too Funny Deja Vu Anyone???
New taxes on rich could prompt exodus of entrepreneurs
Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters say Finance Minister Roger Melanson should rethink new taxes on wealthy
CBC News · Posted: May 15, 2015 9:42 AM ADT