BC Risks Losing $1B in Federal Cash
Municipal leaders say B.C. communities are in danger of losing out on more than a billion dollars in much-needed infrastructure spending because the province is refusing to ante up its share of the funding.
The money — part of a federal stimulus package designed to jumpstart the national economy — has remained largely untouched in British Columbia, with less than 25 per cent of the estimated $1.04 billion in available matching federal-provincial funding committed to projects so far.
That means communities eager to repair the roof at the local hockey arena, patch up bumpy roads or improve the sewage system have been forced to sideline their requests, as thousands of potential jobs go unfilled, said Robert Hobson, a Kelowna councillor and president of the Union of British Columbian Municipalities.
"The ball is squarely in the province`s court at this point. We all know the situation," Hobson said.
Provincial officials, meanwhile, say they are working hard to find a way to match federal dollars in a year dominated by a dramatic economic decline.
"It`s a matter of trying to sort out the dollars we can invest in tough times and our intent to capitalize on as many (infrastructure projects) as possible and fit that within a framework of creating budget which, in fact, saw significant change from February," said Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Shirley Bond.
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