Mayor Elizabeth Roy Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy has expressed her disappointment with the provincial budget, highlighting that it overlooks the “significant challenges” like the delay in the new hospital and the funding issues the town is facing. “…while I recognize the complexity of the decisions before the provincial government, I am concerned that Whitby’s key priorities were not reflected,” the mayor stated. She noted that Whitby is among Canada’s fastest-growing municipalities, and “we are facing significant challenges that were not addressed in this budget.” She provided an example of recent legislative changes that have created a funding gap affecting Whitby’s capacity to deliver services and maintain infrastructure to support its expanding population. New Hospital She emphasized that access to facilities like a new hospital is vital for providing healthcare close to home as both Whitby and Durham continue to grow. “Nearly two years after the province announced the planning grant for a new hospital in Whitby, the town continues to do its part to work with partners to acquire the land. Lakeridge Health also continues to advocate for the capital commitment to move the project forward. We are asking the province to prioritize this project and move forward on next steps including project timeline and land, and capital commitments.” Funding Gap “Ontario municipalities face a $4 billion annual shortfall caused by provincial downloading, as well as a $1.5 billion annual burden from social housing costs being placed on municipalities. Council recently supported my motion calling on the province to address the broken provincial-municipal funding system. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario has also consistently called on the province to address this issue,” Mayor Roy mentioned. The mayor said she will keep pushing for solutions that ensure Whitby can provide a good quality of life for residents now and in years ahead. Earlier Story Prioritize new hospital in Ontario March 26 budget: Whitby You May Also Wish To Read Durham left behind in provincial budget: MPP Cerjanec Scugog to use reserve funds for road repair after harsh winter Draft Clarington Waterfront Strategy announced sans budget Durham teen representing Canada at world waterski games Blackstock residents asked to conserve water for a month (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d. get Elements By Tag Name(s)[0]; if (d. get Element By Id(id)) return; js = d. create Element(s); js. id = id; js. src=”https://connect. facebook. net/en_CA/sdk. js#xfbml=1& app Id=249643311490&version=v2.3″; fjs. parent Node. insert Before(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
Source link
