Bob Rae backs mayor’s quest for more mining revenue

BY BILL BRADLEY

Cities, like Greater Sudbury, are badly funded, said Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae in a recent interview with Northern Life.

Rae was reacting to the report, A Refined Argument: Report of the Advisory Panel on Municipal Mining Revenue.

That report, initiated by Mayor John Rodriguez and city council, was prepared by a blue ribbon panel of citizens. It reported that, between 2001 and 2005, while mining revenues to the federal government increased by 78 per cent and 109 per cent to the province, revenues to this city shrank by 4.5 per cent. Recently, while the city has experienced the second fastest growth in Canada, it lacks the money — $450 million — to fund basic infrastructure services over the next decades, according to Rodriguez. Rae agreed.

“We need to get cities a fair deal. We can no longer treat cities as orphans,” said Rae. He added that the mayor “buttoned” him on this issue when they met on the weekend.

“Mine revenue sharing was foremost on his mind when I met him. I told him, we Liberals, in Ottawa, are working on this issue from the federal level,” Rae said. The former premier of Ontario said Rodriguez was not the only mayor demanding a new deal in revenue sharing.

“The mayor of Toronto, David Miller, also is demanding a new deal because they cannot provide the services required out of property taxes revenue alone. Some of the fastest growth sectors in Toronto cannot be taxed by the municipality. We will campaign on this very issue,” he said. Rae added he was not surprised the Tories backed away from funding the Centre of Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI).

“This is one of the great ore bodies in the world. Innovation, such as making deep mining at sites like Creighton Mine commercially viable, is a role of CEMI. Prime Minister Harper does not get this basic fact regarding innovation.”

Rae said Liberals are ready for an election and he commended Louise Portelance, who will replace retiring Nickel Belt MP Ray Bonin next election.

“I spent the day with Louise. She is a good candidate and well-experienced in the community,” he said.