Water Haller: Getting Infrastructure Funding for Water & Wastewater

A lot of pundits say that the turning point in the federal election was the day Mr. Trudeau announced he would run a deficit to invest in infrastructure. The other parties said he was crazy, but it put him at the centre of the conversation. It also proved the argument that taxpayers are not bought by tax cuts but are willing to pay reasonable rates IF they feel their money is being used wisely. The majority of Canadians recognized the need to reinvest in infrastructure and accept the cost to do so.

Now our mission is to get a fair portion of those funds dedicated to water and wastewater projects. Since the election, we have certainly heard a lot about transit and roads and bridges, but very little, if anything, about water systems.

As THE voice for the water & wastewater sector in Canada, we will be advocating for those funds to be directed to major water projects. We know that water, wastewater and stormwater systems are critical to the economy, health and safety of every community. We are getting support from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for investments in municipal infrastructure and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce recognizes the need to invest in the major systems that support the Canadian economy. 

CWWA is developing advocacy letters to go the appropriate ministers. Working with our AWWA sections, WEF member associations, provincial and regional associations, we hope to see a series of letters go to these ministers as well as to your local MPs.  We will be calling on all of our members to join this campaign and secure our portion of this infrastructure funding program, especially those requiring funding assistance to meet their WSER goals.