On February 2, 2017, the federal government of Canada announced new funding to help municipalities deal with rising flood waters, higher fuel costs and an increased risk of forest fires.
Split between two programs that will both be managed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), the $125 million is meant to help municipalities do flood mapping and mitigation and to find ways to reduce green house gas emissions in their fleets.
“By enabling municipalities to plan, build and maintain their infrastructure most strategically, communities will be better positioned to make their infrastructure dollars go further with a lighter environmental footprint,” Minister Amarjeet Sohi said in announcing the funding.
FCM has been the national voice of municipal government since 1901. Members include Canada’s largest cities, small urban and rural communities, and 20 provincial and territorial municipal associations. Municipal leaders from all parts of Canada assemble annually to establish FCM policy on key issues.
FCM celebrated its 76th anniversary in 2013, but it was in 1901 that the first national meeting of municipal leaders was held. The first political initiative of the Union of Canadian Municipalities (UCM) was to convince the federal government to create legislation that would give communities more control over the actions of utility companies within their boundaries.
Photo of 2016 Fort McMurray (Alberta) wildfire by DarrenRD via Wikipedia.