QUEEN’S PARK – PC Critics for Municipal Affairs and Housing, and Transportation say today’s announcement to have the Connecting Link program reinstated in 2016 is too late after having it slashed in 2013 for 77 municipalities with important highway corridors.
“One of the big concerns I’ve heard from municipalities is that the sudden cancellation of the Connecting Link program in 2013 left them unable to properly maintain the roads that connect their communities to provincial highways and border crossings,” said PC Municipal Affairs and Housing Critic Ernie Hardeman, MPP Oxford. “Two years after they cut the funding with no notice, the government says they are hoping to reinstate it a year from now leaving municipalities still waiting.”
The Connecting Link program, cancelled in 2013, was a provincial fund for municipalities to maintain and operate roads and bridges which connect provincial highways and corridors in their communities. The province has retained some planning authority over them even though they cut the funding two years.
“Today’s announcement proves that the Wynne-Liberal government refuses to plan ahead,” PC Transportation Critic Michael Harris, MPP Kitchener-Conestoga said. “This game of back-and-forth funding doesn’t help municipalities properly plan when they are required to maintain essential roads and bridges that transport our people, goods and services across Ontario.”
The Province of Ontario has a $10.9 billion dollar-a-year deficit which has resulted in the Liberal Government sell-off of our public assets, like Hydro One, and increased taxes on everyday products like gas and groceries.
“The Liberal government continues to mismanage the provincial budget leaving municipalities and taxpayers left to pick up the tab,” Harris said. “The Ontario PC Caucus will continue to hold this government to account on their commitments to municipalities and taxpayers to ensure they receive the support they need for essential local infrastructure projects.”
On Thursday, April 23 the Liberal Government will introduce their 2015 Ontario Budget that should outline more details of the Connecting Link program.
