Honourable senators, I rise to speak to the inquiry calling the attention of the Senate to the challenges and opportunities that Canadian municipalities face and to the importance of understanding and redefining relationships between Canada’s municipalities and the federal government.

I thank my colleague Senator Simons who introduced this inquiry, and, as I listened to her and others, I became more concerned about the issue. That is, the necessity of ensuring municipalities have the fiscal and political resources they need to lead Canada to a more prosperous, connected and innovative future.

Almost six years ago, as part of my installation as a senator I chose to represent the Region of Waterloo. This was a simple decision. I would represent seven municipalities and townships: They are connected and interrelated, and a regional approach was my best strategy. It also made me very accountable to quickly ensure I knew and understood the variety of needs across these townships. My understanding of these issues has certainly been put to the test several times.

I have made it a priority, like all of us, to know our community, the diversity of needs and the common issues, but, more importantly, the role and interconnection of each town and city. I have learned much from my meetings with seven mayors, along with well-known organizations large and small. My visits to 32 businesses and organizations during COVID were insightful beyond all measure.

The Region of Waterloo is comprised of three cities and four townships: The cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo, and the townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich. This mid-sized community is in the heart of southwestern Ontario’s greenbelt. What I love is that we have the amenities of a large urban centre while maintaining the charm and character of a smaller rural community.

Imagine this for a moment: I can walk out my front door and continue to walk or cycle for a few minutes before I reach several university campuses, trails that can take me all the way to Guelph in the west or to Brantford or Hamilton in the south and deep into farming communities to the north. This is encompassed in one beautiful scenic trail system resulting in a community of communities connected by high-quality transit, cycling and walking trails with the captivating Grand River running throughout.

In a few kilometres, I can visit tech innovation hubs boasting the best and brightest talent from around the world, think tanks like the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Centre for International Governance Innovation. If I cycle only a little further, I can travel back in time, moving quickly from award‑winning architecture to a peaceful rural landscape of dirt roads and the horse-and-buggy world of our Mennonites. I can even purchase fresh flowers, homemade sausages, maple syrup, apple butter, cheese and Mennonite furniture and quilts at the roadside or in the large markets.

The Grand River winds through most of the region, a total of 365 hectares. You can travel the Grand by canoe or by the Cambridge to Paris Rail Trail. Live theatre, museums and Canada’s longest continually operating farmers’ market can be found in this area.

Kitchener, in the central area, is the region’s largest city: industry, collaboration and entrepreneurship are at the heart of the city. Many festivals, including the buskers, line the streets during the summer.

The local museum, the Kitchener Museum and the Centre in the Square host top talent, artisans and performers from around the world. A few minutes down the road, Chicopee ski hill provides a great winter skiing, tubing and summer hiking experience.

I would like to highlight our four smaller townships as well. Natasha Salonen is the Mayor of Wilmot Township. She speaks very proudly of her community:

The people who live in Wilmot make me proudest of our township. It is not only a very small town feel with rural roots, but we are a community who comes together to support one another and make Wilmot such a wonderful place to live, work, play and raise a family.

She continues to describe the location along the Nith River beside larger cities. They provide the green space and agricultural industry to keep food on the table for those in Ontario. They are proud of their cultural events that draw people from afar, including the Mennonite Relief Sale, Moparfest and the New Hamburg Fall Fair.

We talked quite a bit about the relationship between municipal, provincial and federal governments. In Mayor Salonen’s words:

The relationship between municipalities and the federal government is foundational to ensure Canada remains such a wonderful country to live in. I would argue that the goals of all levels of government is to improve the lives and wellbeing of all Canadians. Having a close relationship is mutually beneficial as we can help each other. It is said that municipal is the level of government closest to the people and that as we fulfill our mandates, with strong federal ties, we can also provide unique insight into federal policy and programs that could be enhanced, are working or perhaps need to be created.

Moving along the Nith River, Sue Foxton is the Mayor of the Township of North Dumfries, known as the community of Ayr to many. The homes are unique. It is a peaceful area. Fireflies still flutter through the summer months. Ayr is one of the rare communities in Canada that still hosts a huge school fair every year, and 2024 will be the two hundredth year of this fair.

While they are a very proud hockey community, Mayor Foxton is most proud of the heart of her people. Regardless of hardship or success, this is a community that respects the space of everyone.

Recently, Ayr desperately needed a new arena. The goal was to raise $1 million. The community pulled together, became aware of how important this was to their kids and raised $2.5 million instead.

As the mayor puts it, “As we plan, as we prepare and respond, as we do, our children learn that they can do.”

When we look at the role that municipalities play, Mayor Foxton is very clear:

The strong, purposeful, and two-way connection with the federal government is essential to the forward building of our municipalities, but this is way more than monetary. We must see and know our leaders, our representatives — who are you? We have not had a senator in over 70 years. What does this mean for us? What could it mean? How does it amplify our communities and the important connections for our towns, our provinces and territories, our federal decision makers and back? Our elected officials must remember why they were elected, where they come from and remember the impact of every federal and provincial decision.

When I reached out to each community leader, I listened to them talk about trust, empathy, communication, consultation and the supreme importance of feeling connected and responsible to someone and something much bigger than themselves.

Some of this language is not new, but the stakes — the impact of poor decisions, of information and disinformation and of fatigue — have never been greater. Great sacrifice is made in leading municipalities, and this is something we can never forget.

Over the past month, I have had some very difficult conversations. Every mayor and municipal leader I spoke with was able to give very provocative examples of the impact of federal decisions that made their work difficult or outright impossible. I pushed this hard to make sure I understood what I heard. Overall, they observed better relationships with provincial and territorial premiers. The general belief is that this relationship really improved as an essential part of the pandemic and recovery. The concern, though, is whether the effort will be made to communicate, to have premiers meet and to have mayors and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities continue to be at the table. Or will we slow it down and revert to business as usual as time wears on?

For everyone one of us in the chamber, this inquiry reminds us of questions we may be asking ourselves over and over again: How are we making ourselves, as individuals and as a collective, accountable to and for our municipalities? How are we ensuring we are representing the needs of our communities and our municipalities? Are we consulting and inviting feedback that leads to a good bill review and follow-up process? Honestly, I believe we fall short on this promise to Canadians, but together we can really do something about this.

From my municipality discussions, housing, homelessness, treatment of seniors, end-of-life and long-term care, the welcoming of new Canadians, recent childcare announcements and services like food banks have all shared incredible stories of trying to patch together the best they can with limited resources and unanticipated announcements and legislation.

A few weeks ago, I visited the local Maison Sophia Reception House, a place that manages all the intake for hundreds of Afghan refugees, new Canadians and others. Something as simple as the facility, the hotel they stay in, the management and the facility not being able to get a commitment from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — IRCC — for more than four months puts their success in deep jeopardy.

An already-challenged health care system is pushed to the brink as we know the most vulnerable new Canadians arrive with many physical and emotional health needs. The promise to bring in hundreds of thousands of new Canadians without seamless, well-communicated federal support at times sets families and communities up for failure.

These are a few small examples that highlight what works well for communities and where things can fall apart quite quickly. At present, the challenges around housing can be a prime example of this.

This past weekend, over 1,500 municipal elected officials came together in Toronto for the national Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference. Following this, I was reminded of all our common municipal challenges that come with a rapidly growing Canada. One of the biggest common threads was the priority for a new road map for a better-working country. The fiscal framework must be re-examined. The shoe no longer fits.

Municipalities want to lead to find the right tools to unlock the right kind of housing supply, to tackle homelessness, core infrastructure and climate change. The strongest message of the weekend was the message to the federal and provincial orders of government to continue to engage with municipalities in a national conversation regarding a new fiscal framework for municipalities. Their fiscal tools are simply outdated and are not designed to meet our modern challenges.

As parliamentarians, we all work hard to make sure we value our communities. We are trying to communicate the important links, the work we do and why we do the work we do, but this inquiry is about our municipalities. They must have the fiscal and political support to thrive while being efficient and effective. No matter the size of the municipality or the size of each one of your communities, the solution is the same: all governments working together in a respectful manner.

Municipalities are truly our first responders and are at the front lines of our politics. They are where business is done in our country. They are the economic engines of innovation for our confederation. Let us never forget this. Let us demonstrate that we understand this and that we all play an important role in the successes and struggles that are occurring every day from coast to coast to coast.

Thank you, meegwetch.