OTTAWA — A $31.5-million funding announcement on Wednesday is a taste of what municipalities could do with billions in promised green infrastructure money from the federal government, municipal leaders say.
The money, from the Green Municipal Fund, will be used to pay for capital projects and to support planning, field tests and studies related to future green projects.
Two projects on Vancouver Island received funding.
In Ladysmith, a $1 million grant and $10 million loan will be used to upgrade its wastewater treatment plant with technology used in Europe but that is new to Canada. It is expected to exceed federal and provincial requirements for wastewater treatment. The work will double treatment capacity.
North Cowichan is receiving a $60,300 grant to help guide development that takes the environment into account.
Municipal officials said the $20 billion in new green infrastructure money that the federal Liberals have promised is coming over the next 10 years will be more effective than the Green Municipal Fund in the current economic climate.
The fund annually provides about $50 million in loans and grants, drawing on a pool of funds set up with a $500 million federal investment 15 years ago.
The low-interest rates on loans through the program were designed to encourage cities to think green for projects that included wastewater treatment plants, turning solid waste facilities into energy producers and helping clean up and develop polluted lands.
But rock-bottom interest rates have made the fund’s work more difficult. Municipalities can turn to banks for competitive interest rates without having the money tied to requirements for innovative, green components.
Ben Henderson, chairman of the green fund, said cities are the “canaries in the mine shaft” on climate change, facing problems such as forest fires and flooding that have forced them to spend money to mitigate the effects of global warming.
Federal funding would help cover those costs and future costs to adapt to climate change. “Having that kind of federal government commitment to help us make it happen is the really pivotal piece of this,” said Henderson, an Edmonton city councillor.
On Wednesday, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna highlighted $31.5 million in grants and loans to 20 cities and towns across the country that would pay for projects to improve local standards for air, water and soil quality.
In a speech to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, McKenna said cities have direct control over 40 per cent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. To reduce emissions, she said, local governments need specific, achievable and measurable strategies.
Speaking to reporters after her speech, McKenna said reducing emissions will be part of the government’s green infrastructure program.
“Some projects are going to help make cities more sustainable, so they may not have as great an impact on emissions reductions,” she said. “There are a whole variety of ways that we can reduce emissions through our green infrastructure fund.”
The upcoming federal budget will outline how much cities can expect from the government’s green infrastructure program, which the Liberal election platform promised would be $1.7 billion in the next fiscal year.
