2007/08/27 - ProvincialCouncil Information
*for period ended August 27, 2007*
*Provincial/ Federal*
Water and Brownfield Funding Opportunities
2. Energy Conservation
3. MTO Hours of Service
4. Housing
5. Mayor Miller's One Cent Now Campaign
(8/27/2007) Dean lorfida - 070724fyi FCM GMF fund.pdf Page 1
200 University Ave, Suite 601
Toronto, ON M5H 3C6
`,~ Tel.: (416) 971-9856 ~ Fax: (416) 971-6191
A~~s~Aspoccciat~n(oAAnof MuCnicipppaliti~ of Ontario~/~ A' ~~++ A/ E-mail: amo@amo.on.ca
IitiGlYlBER 4~~~U0'Y'lrl'1T~®~ FYI N°: 07/015
To the attention of tha Clerk and Council FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
JUIy 24, 2007 Navid Koohi, AMO PdicyStudent
(416) 971-9656 ext 350
New Funding Opportunity Through FCM
for Water and Brownfield Projects
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Green Municipal Fund (GMF)
will offer new financing opportunities to municipalities undertaking specific water
quality and brownfield remediation capital projects.
Funding for both water quality and brownfield remediation projects is application
based. The deadlinefor municipalities to submit an Intent to Apply is September
19, 2007.
Municipalities with successful applications will receive financial support through
low-interestloans and grantsthat the GMF provides.
This initiative may be of interest to municipalities that have planned or are
planning capital projects dealing with water quality or brownfield remediation.
For more information, please visit:
http://sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca/GMF/GMF Request for Proposals.asp
This information is available in the Policy Issues section of the AMO website at
www, amo. on. ca.
Association of
1-1 Municipalities of Ontario r
-~ ONE. Funds A5
`-`Meet anal Greet" Information Ses ions
You are invited to attend a no-cost information session designed to
inform/educate municipal officials about the variety of new and
exciting investment options available through the ONE Funds municipal
investment program.
The ONE Funds program has been expanded to include options for all
municipal investment objectives. With two new investment products the
ONE Funds is perfectly positioned to provide a vehicle for municipal money
with an investment time-ine of anywhere from 1 month to 10+ years.
These free "meet and greet" sessions are a great opportunity for municipal
officials to learn about ONE Fund product enhancements and new offerings.
Also hear from our professional fund managers about how they manage
municipal risk exposure while ensuring strong rates of return for all program
members.
Learn about ONE Funds product enhancements, including:
- The exciting NEW Equity Fund and how it has provided exceptional
returns since inception;
- The NEW Corporate Bond Fund product and how it can help your
municipality reduce the cost of capital infrastructure projects 4+ years
into the future;
- Significant changes that have been made to the existing ONE Money
Market and Bond Fund to ensure enhanced fund performance going
forward.
Hear about the variety of benefits that participation in the ONE Funds can
provide your municipality:
- Low-cost access to professional fund management
- Regulatory/leg,al compliance
- Access to investment: products unavailable to individual municipalities
- Professional accounting of your investment activity
A free continental breakfast and light lunch will be provided at all sessions,
and for those wishing to play golf in the afternoon, tee times have been
made available. Those attendees wishing toaolf will be responsible for their
own Green fees.
Space is limited at each venue so please register early!
(8~ /27/2007) Dean lorfida - 070724a1t Energy Template.pdf Page 1 ~
'~' 200 University Ave, Suite 801
Toronto, ON M5H 3C6
~ Tel.: (416) 971-9656 ~ Fax: (416) 971-6191
Assaciatnnio~~nof Munlcipalftits ofnnOntarionn~A 1 ~ t~* E-mail: amo@amo.on.ca
EIYIgER ~V11i1V~\.r~T~®~ ALERTN°:07/042
TA the attentiCdl7 of the Clerk and Council FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
JUIy 24, 2007 Craig Reid, AMO Senior PdicyAdvisor
(416) 971-9856 ext 334
AMO Issues New Municipal Energy Conservation Template for
Municipalities
Issue: At its June meeting, the AMO Board ofDirectors adopted a Municipal Energy
Conservation Template intended to help municipalities assess energy consumption and
conservation initiatives.
Background:
Under the Energy Conservation and Leadership Act, 2006 (ECLA), the provincial
government may issue regulations to require wider public sector organizations, including
municipalities, to create energy plans that detail energy consumption in municipal
organizations and strategies to reduce energy demands. While regulations have not yet
been issued, the template will help municipalities to initiate energy management and
planning programs in anticipation of these regulatory requirements.
AMO's Energy Conservation Task Force created the Municipal Energy Conservation
Template to aid municipalities in assessing energy usage and conservation strategies that
could help municipal organiza tions to reduce energy demands .The template is intended to
aid municipalities that have not undertaken significant energy planning but would not
preclude more sophisticated strategies being adopted.
The template has been developed to phase energy planning and reporting requirements so
that:
E In year one, municipalities would report on global energy consumption, past
conservation measures and future conservation goals;
E In year two, municipalities would begin to establish more detailed energy reports and
objectives for conservation by major facility and technology (e.g. building and/or heating
and cooling system); and
E In year three, municipalities would build on the information provided in the first two years
to include opportunity assessments and action plans to reduce, conserve or use energy
more efficiently in municipal operations. It is the intention that these conservation
opportunities and strategies would later be measured and reported upon to assess the
actual energy conservation achieved.
Action:
Members are encouraged to download the Template from the AMO website for use in their
organizations.
This information is available in the Polic y Issues section of the AMO website at www, amo. on. ca .
Association of
1-1 MunicipalRies of Ontario „
r,'
p ~
'Y`
Association of Municipalities of Qntario
M~M~ER ~f3MMU~IfGATION
200 University Ave, Suite 801
Toronto, ON M5H 3C6
Tel.: (416) 971-9856 ~ Fax: (416) 971-6191
E-mail: amo@amo.on.ca
ALERT N°: 07/043
TC3 t{i€3 e~tt~/1t14~t? of the Clerk t~/1Clr Ci~U!'BC/l FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
AU Ust 2, 2007 Laurel McCosham, Policy Advisor
9 (416) 971-9856 ext 315
MTO Amends Hours of Service Regulation
Issue: Regulation 555/06 "Hours of Service" of the Highway Traffic Act has been amended in
response to concerns regarding municipal operations such as winter maintenance and important
repair work. The amendment has been made under Regulation 405/07 which provides an
exemption from hours of service provisions in the following situations:
1. "A vehicle engaged in providing relief in an emergency, being a situation or impending
situation that constitutes a danger of major proportions to life, property or the environment,
whether caused by forces of nature, an accident, an intentional act or otherwise," or
2. "A vehicle operated by or on behalf of a municipality, road authority or public utility while
responding to a situation or impending situation that constitutes an imminent danger,
though not one of major proportions, to life, property or the environment, whether caused
by forces of nature, an accident, an intentional act or otherwise."
Regulation 405/07 is available online. Its provisions are to be consolidated into Regulation 555/06
shortly.
Background:
Regulation 555/06 came into effect January 1, 2007. Intended to ensure that commercial drivers
enjoy adequate rest periods, the new regulation also had an impact on drivers of municipal
vehicles. Municipal snow removal activities were particularly affected by the regulation. AMO has
been actively pressing the Province to provide an exemption from Regulation 555/06 for
municipalities.
This amendment provides flexibility for each municipality (in a manner the municipality deems
appropriate) to determine whether a situation constitutes "an imminent danger...to life, property or
the environment". The Ministry of Transportation has agreed that this definition is sufficiently
broad to include conditions such as snowfall, icy roads or a fallen power line. Under these
circumstances, drivers are permitted to work as many hours as is necessary to resolve the
situation. However, once the danger has passed, compliance with the regulation must be
resumed and the driver must rest for a required period before operating a commercial vehicle.
The Ministry contact for additional information regarding this amendment and Hours of Service is
Alf Brown, Carrier Enforcement Liaison Head, MTO, Tel :905-704-2342, E-mail
Alf. Brown@ontario.ca
This information is available in the Policy Issues section of the AMO website at www.ama.on.ca.
Association of
1-1 Municipalities of Ontario ,~
(8/27/2007) Dean lorfida -Broadcast MNR Municipal_notice Rabies 2007Jul.pdf Page 1
Ministry of
Natural Resources
Ministere des
Richesses naturelles
0 Ontario
Rabies Resean;h& DevelopmentUnR
Tien[ Urtrversity,DNABtilding
2140 EastBartk Drive
F~terborouglt, OrrtarloK9J8N8
July 2007
Dear Colleague,
Fhone: (705)7551551
FAX (/05)755-1559
C,rteil: adammcallisteaLlx~ido.ca
This is a rerrinder that the province is continuing its annual wildlife rabies control operations for 2007. The trap-vaccinate-r elease programs have
been underway since the beginning oFJuly and aerial vaccine baiting will begin in mid-August.
This mtinistry is committed to the research, control and eradication of rabies in Onta rio, thereby protecting the health and safety of the public, their
pets and the wildlife of this province. Our programs are so successful that broad areas of southern Ontario are free of fox andraccoon rabies.
A person exposed to rabies shout d receive treatment without delay. If there is a delay in treatment and symptoms appear, the disease is fatal
We use a number of control measures in the tight against the rabies virus:
• control measures at the print of infection (may be implemented when a new case is confirmed),
• trap~vaccinate-r elease programs (beginning in July); and
• widespread aerial vaccine baiting (beginning in August) and limited ground baiting in urban areas (beginning in July)
Since 1989, we have been distributing oral rabies vaccine baits targeting foxes and raccoons (since 1999) on a large-scale in Ontario. Vvhen
ingested, these baits irrmunize the targeted species against rabies. Our efforts have focused mainly on foxes as foxes have been the main rabies
host in Ontario since the late 1950's. Our efforts have been so su ccessful that fox rabies cases have decreased by 98%; there were only 40 fox
strain rabies cases in 2006, down from an average of 1,500 annua Ily before contrd measures were implemented. Inmost areas, when rafrd foxes
have been elirrrnated by our baiting programs, a decrease oFrabid skunks soon fdlowed. This has not happened in certain areas ofsouth-western
Ontario where remnant pockets of rabid skunks carrying and transmitting the fox variant of rabies persist.
As part of our research and control efforts, wewill bedistributing anew oral rabies vaccine for skunks in selected regions of Grey, Dufferin and
Wellington counties beginning on August 13"'. This research is directed to eliminating the remaining pocket of rabid skunks insouth-western
Ontario.
We will also be distributing oral rabies vaccine baits for raccoons in southeastern Ontario on Wolfe Island. It is necessary to continue rabies
control programs when rabies incidence is low so that healthy wildlife populations are not iMected by the remaining rabid animals. In jurisdictions
such as neighbouring New York State, which did not have proactive, multi-partner programs, the number of raccoon rabies cases had climbed to
more than 8000 in the initial six-year period. Ontario's MNR-led program is so effective that, in the first seven years, only 132 cases of raccoon
rabies have been confirmed (as of July 11, 2007). The last confrmed raccoon rabies case in Ontario occurred in 2005 and our raccoon rabies
control program has adjusted appropriately.
One oFthe reasons for Ontario's success in controlling the spread oFraccoon rabies is attributable to the introduction ofa high-risk area in eastern
Ontario. The boundaries of the high-risk area were reduced by ap proximately 65% in 2005 due to our successful efforts to contr d raccoon rabies.
The boundaries are based on the location of cases for the previous iwo years and remain unchanged from 2006.
In the high-risk area, people are encouraged not to move or relocate raccoons, foxes or skunks. These animals may only be reloc ated to a
maximum of 1 kmfrom their point ofcaplure. This is intended to stop the spread oFthe disease.
Beginning on July 23rd, staff and vdunteers will be hand distributing vaccine baits throughout the river ravine systems in Toronto. This contrd
measure is occurring as a result of four rabid skunks in the Bolton area (north oFToronto) in the spring of 2006. The remainde r ofthe baits for this
area will be distributed by helicopter in late August. From mid•August to mid-September ,baits targeting foxes will be distributed throughout
southwestern Ontarlo.
The rabies control program is a jdnt effort that receives important input ftom a variety of partners across Ontario. Regional health units,
municipalities, wildlife rehabilitators, licensed trappers, wildlifecontrd agents and aboriginal communities are all key tot he continued success of
Ontario's world-renowned rabies control program.
Included in this information package is:
1) Map of rabies contrd operations for 2007
2) Map of Raccoon Rabies High Risk Area
3) Rabies Vaccine Bait Fact Sheet
4) Protect Your Family Fact Sheet
For further information about rabies prevention and control operations and to view updated maps, v'sitthe Rabies in Ontario web site at
httrtrtrahias.mn r.prrv.oara or call our rabies hotline at 1-888-574665 6.
Sincerely,
Adam McAllister
adam.mx'<~ster,(l ontariaca
Rabies Research and Development Unit
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Q Ontario
Ministry of Ministate des
Municipal Affairs Affaires municipales
And Housing et du Logement
For Immediate Release
August 10, 2007
MCCGi7INTY GOVERNMENT HELPING WORKING FAMILIES
WITH HOUSING COSTS
Launches $185-ll~lrllror~ Housing Allowance Prog~a~n
TORONTO -The McGuinty government is launching an innovative housing program that will
provide a monthly housing allowance to low-income working families struggling with housing
affordability in Ontario, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing John Gerretsen announced
today.
"Many of these families will be newly-arrived in Ontario, struggling to make their way forward in
our province, and we want to offer them a helping hand," said Gerretsen. "This initiative builds on
our successful affordable housing strategy aimed at ensuring every Ontario family has a safe,
healthy, affordable place to call home."
The $185-million Rental Opportunity for Ontario Families, known as ROOF, will provide a housing
allowance of up to $100 per month to more than 27,000 low-income working families in the
province, starting in January 2008. Eligible families must have at least one child under the age of
18, have an Adjusted Family Income below $20,000 per year, and pay more than 30 per cent of
their income on rent. Families must not be receiving rent subsidy or social assistance.
"Housing allowances are an effective way to help lower-income families with housing
affordability," said Mike Chopowick, Manager of Policy for the Federation of Rental-housing
Providers of Ontario. "VVe commend the government for taking this important first step."
"ROOF will go a long way in helping working families who are not receiving social assistance and
who are struggling to raise their children with a limited budget," said Gladys Wong, Executive
Director of Neighbourhood Information Post, the lead agency for Toronto's Rent Bank. "This is a
positive step forward by the McGuinty Government."
Families can obtain an application form for the ROOF program by calling toll-free 1-888-544-5101,
TTY line 1-800-263-7776, or by signing up online at www.ontario.caIROOF.
"ROOF takes an innovative ne~~ approach to providing housing assistance to low-income working
families struggling to find affordable housing," said Gerretsen. "This program will make a positive
difference in the lives of thousands of households that will directly benefit from receiving an extra
$100 per month."
...l2
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Release: 05422
News release via Canada Newswire, Toronto 416-863-9350
Attention News Editors:
Ontario communities get $173 million boost for affordable housing
LONDON, oN, Aug. 9 /CNW/ - Canada's New Government and the Government of
Ontario today announced more than $173 million in funding to create more than
2,700 new affordable housing units in 41 towns and cities across Ontario under
the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program Agreement.
The announcement was made by the Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of
Human Resources and Social Development Canada, and the Honourable john
Gerretsen, Ontario's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
"Canada's New Government is working to give Canadians access to safe and
affordable housing," said Minister Solberg. "We are pleased to work with our
partners in both the public and private sector to help individuals, seniors,
and families in Ontario who are working towards building a better and stronger
future."
"The McGuinty government is proud that we're making significant progress
in building new affordable housing across the province," said Minister
Gerretsen. "Providing affordable housing far Ontario's most vulnerable
families is an important part of our plan for building stronger communities."
Today's announcement was made at the London Innercity Faith Team (LIFT)
King Street Project, a future affordable housing apartment complex in London.
The $3.25 million project, which includes $1.93 million from the
Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program, will result in 30 apartment units
for low-income single people, including people with disabilities. With today's
announcement, the City of London will receive an additional $12 million in
funding under the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program.
"This funding is very important to all Londoners, as we continue to
combat homelessness in our community and beyond," says London Mayor Anne Marie
DeCicco-Best. "We know there is a critical need for more affordable housing,
not just here in London, but right across the country. And, this renewed
commitment to the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program is a pivotal step
toward realizing a national solution."
"LIFT is pleased that its partnership with member churches, individuals,
corporations and with all levels of government will create this permanently
affordable housing needed for our low income residents," said vic Morris,
Chair of LIFT Council.
The new Canada-ontaria Affordable Housing Agreement includes a commitment
of $301 million from each of the two levels of government. The agreement
brings the total amount invested in affordable housing in Ontario by federal,
provincial and municipal governments to at least $734 million over the life of
the program. This will mean assistance to some 20,000 households under the
Affordable Housing Agreement.
The attached backgrounder provides details of all the projects funded
under this announcement.
Disponible en fran~ais
For more information visit: http://www.cmhc.ca
http://www.mah.gov.on.ca
http://www.london.ca
Backgrounder
Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program Projects
Brantford
$550,000 for an 11-unit project at 163 Market Street in Brantford.
The project is sponsored by Meadows Court Properties, and the units
will be occupied by low-income families and individuals, including
people with disabilities.
$750,000 for a 15-unit project at 178 Market street in Brantford. The
project is sponsored by Freedom House, and the units will be occupied
by low-income families and individuals, including people with
Unlimited Inc., and the units will be occupied by low-income families
and individuals, including people with disabilities.
- $1.82 million for a 26-unit project at 1461 Huron Street in London.
The project is sponsored by Twin Pines village co-op Inc., and the
units will be occupied by low-income individuals.
- $1.4 million for a 20-unit project on Hamilton Street in Komoka. The
project is sponsored by Lobo Township Non-Profit Apartment
corporation, and the units will be occupied by low-income seniors.
Niagara Region
--------------
- $1.4 million for a 20-unit project sponsored by Keefer Developments
Ltd. The units will be occupied by seniors.
- $1.47 million for a Zl-unit project at 21 King street in
St. Catharines. The project is sponsored by 21 King Inc., and will be
occupied by low-income families and individuals, including people
with disabilities.
- $1.6 million for a 23 unit project at 290 Oakdale Avenue in
St. Catharines. The project is sponsored by 2077626 Ontario Ltd., and
the units will be occupied by low-income families and individuals,
including people with disabilities.
- $2.8 million for a 40-unit project at 3009 valley Way in Niagara
Falls. The project is sponsored by the Bethlehem Not for Profit
Housing Projects in Niagara, and the units will be occupied by low-
income families and individuals.
- $205,800 for a three-unit project at 100 Ormond street in Thorold.
The project is sponsored by Capital Pines Development Inc., and the
units will be occupied by low-incame individuals.
- $1.05 million for a 15-unit project at 755 Fielden Avenue in Port
Colborne. The project is sponsored by Community Living Port Colborne
Wainfleet, and the units will be occupied by low-income individuals,
including people with disabilities
- $1.4 million for a 14-unit project at 54 Oakdale Avenue in
st. Catharines. The project is sponsored by Oakdale Landing Inc., and
the units will be occupied by low-income individuals.
- $1.4 million for a 20-unit project at 321 Geneva Street in
St. Catharines. The project is sponsored by Senior Citizens Apartment
Ltd., and the units will be occupied by seniors.
- $630,000 for a nine-unit project at 160 Ontario Street in
st. Catharines. The project is sponsored by st. Catharines Mainstream
Non Profit Housing Project and Gateway Residential and Community
Support Services, and the units will be occupied by low-income
individuals, including people with disabilities.
Norfolk County
--------------
- $700,000 for a 10-unit project at 10-12 Norfolk Street and $80,000
for a 5-unit project at 18 Norfolk Street in Simcoe. The project is
sponsored by Haskett Holdings Inc., and the units will be occupied by
low-income families and individuals, including people with
disabilities.
- $240,000 far a six-unit project at 110 Market Street in Port Dover.
The project is sponsored by Port Dover Apartments Inc., and the units
will be occupied by low-income individuals.
- $210,000 for a six-unit project at 8-14 Alice Street in Waterford.
The project is sponsored by Alice Street Apartments Inc., and the
1(~..,; ~ ...-.
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Minister of Finance Ministre des Finances
Ottawa, Canada K1A OG5
.~~ ~ ~.~ ~~~1
2007FIN214398
IVIr. Dean Iorfida
City Clerk
The City of Niagara Falls
P.O. Box 1023
4310 Queen Street
Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6X5
Dear Mr. Iorfida:
Thank you for your correspondence of March 6, 2007, written on behalf of the Niagara Falls City
Council. The Council's support for Toronto Mayor David Miller's "One Cent Now" campaign,
which calls on Canada's new Government to provide Canadian municipalities with one cent out of
every six cents (approximately 17 percent) of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the federal
portion of the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) collected by the Government of Canada, has been
noted. Please excuse the delay in replying.
Under the Constitution, municipalities are aprovincial/territorial responsibility. The provinces and
territories have the authority to delegate taxing powers to municipalities to enable them to meet
their funding needs.
Our Government is already providing significant funding for municipalities. Revenues collected
from the GST/HST go into the Consolidated Revenue Fund and are used to fund government
priorities. One of these priorities is infrastructure. In Budget 2007, we outlined a new long-term
plan for infrastructure that will provide the provinces, territories and municipalities with a total of
$33 billion over the next seven years - an unprecedented level.
A key element of the long-term plan is base funding for municipalities. This consists of the
extended Gas Tax Fund ($11.8 billion) and funding resulting from the increase to 100 percent of the
rebate that municipalities receive on the GST, and federal portion of the HST, they pay ($5.8
billion). In total; base funding will provide municipalities with an estimated $17.6 billion over the
next seven years.
The long-term plan for infrastructure also includes:
• An $8.8-billion Building Canada Fund, with spending allocated among the provinces and
territories on an equal per capita basis. The Fund will support investments in the core national
highway system, large-scale projects such as public transit and sewage treatment infrastructure,
and small-scale municipal projects such as cultural and recreational facilities.
Canada
-2-
• A $2.1-billion national fund for gateways and border crossings, to be awarded on a merit basis.
In order to improve the flow of goods and people between Canada and the rest of the world, this
fund will help enhance infrastructure at key locations, such as major border crossings between
Canada and the United States.
• A $1.26-billion national fund for public-private partnerships, to be awarded among projects on a
merit basis. The fund will contribute up to 25 percent of the cost of innovative public-private
partnership projects.
• An enriched $1-billion Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative. The increased funding for
this initiative will be used to make additional infrastructure improvements at this important trade
gateway, such as roads, highways, and road-rail grade separations.
s $25 million per year for each province and territory which represents $2.275 billion over seven
years in equal per jurisdiction funding. This will be used to help support national priorities such
as trade-related infrastructure including gateways, roads, highways and other transportation
facilities.
Together with base funding, this will provide the provinces, territories and municipalities with long-
term, predictable funding to help them plan and fund their infrastructure investment needs.
Thank you for communicating the Council's concerns.
Sincerely,
t"
~ ,}
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James M. Flaherty