Municipalities of Saskatchewan President Gordon Barnhart. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Aid for municipalities

Feds and provinces agree to $19 billion aid package

Jul 17, 2020 | 5:03 PM

The federal government is giving the province’s $19 billion to help restart their economies amidst the pandemic.

Saskatchewan is expected to get $500 million from the deal. In a media release, Premier Scott Moe said the province has a general idea about where to direct the funds.

“Our government plans to use these funds to ramp up testing and tracing capacity, as well as ensure public services can mitigate the impact of COVID-19,” he said.

Three per cent of the funds coming from the federal government is also slated to be shared with local municipalities. Municipalities of Saskatchewan President Gordon Barnhart said his organization is happy to hear the news despite the federal government not providing as much for municipalities as had originally been requested.

“Our reaction is obviously we’re very pleased with this, we’re glad to have the money. It will help very much in getting our municipalities going again,” he said.

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The Federation of Canadian Municipalities previously requested the federal government for between $10 to $15 billion in aid. Barnhart said the package announced this week is expected to provide $2 billion for municipalities across the country.

Barnhart explained the provincial government’s increased spending on capital projects through the Municipal Economic Enhancement Program (MEEP) have been helpful.

However, he added many larger centres which offer services like transit have been hurt as they are not collecting the same amount of user fees, which help cover operation costs.

When compared with other levels of government, Barnhart said city, towns and villages feel the financial effects of a downturn much more.

“We’re not allowed to run a deficit and we have a pretty restricted level of revenues and so when we have something like a pandemic it adds extra pressure to the municipalities,” he said.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn