Submission to the

Standing Committee on Finance of the House of Commons

Submitted by:

Gilles Garon, Mayor of Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac

and

Éric Forest, Mayor of Rimouski

February 16, 2016

Since 2008, many Canadian municipalities have accelerated their infrastructure investments, contributing significantly to the country’s economic recovery.

The current rules of the programs available to our municipalities require us to invest massively and almost exclusively in our drinking water and wastewater systems. To illustrate the scale of these investments, the City of Rimouski has invested nearly $60 million in its waterworks and sewer systems over a period of 10 years.

These rules, imposed by both the provincial and federal governments, do not take the needs and priorities of local communities into consideration in any way.

In the province of Québec, over $30 billion has been invested in infrastructure between 2008 and 2014, an average of $4.3 billion per year. These investments have generated major economic benefits, including the creation of 220,000 jobs per year.

Under the terms of the Building Canada Fund, municipalities do not receive any fiscal benefits from their investments, whereas the governments in Ottawa and Quebec City recover 30 and 27 cents, respectively, for every dollar spent.

In the current context of globalization and in the face of challenges related to the demographics of our population, our communities need to provide much more than the basic services to be appealing. In order to attract the young families who will form the succession for our businesses

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and institutions, municipalities must provide cultural, sports and community facilities to create pleasant and stimulating environments for our residents.

Within the framework of the current tripartite programs, 75% of the funds are allocated to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. But the fact remains that the needs of municipalities are very diverse and, as I mentioned, we have already invested heavily in this sector in recent years.

Before presenting two projects that are essential – and I use the word advisedly – essential for our communities, I would like to mention three key elements for your consideration:

Since 2008, we have invested massively in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure; To encourage the next generation of local business leaders and workers, municipalities need to invest based on local needs and priorities; In practical terms, municipal projects are the easiest to start up and the fastest to break ground.

And if we want a strong and diversified economy, we need to invest in diverse economic sectors.

Now I would like to present two examples of virtually shovel-ready projects – above all, two projects that are critical for the future of our regions.

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Located on the shores of the St. Lawrence estuary, Rimouski is a major urban centre in the Bas-Saint-Laurent administrative region. The city’s population includes 49,281 year-round residents (nearly 90% of the population of the RCM of Rimouski-Neigette) as well as some 5,300 students who come each year seeking quality higher education.

Our project

Arena: Construction of two ice rinks (North American and international) with integrated energy-saving geothermal systems. Swimming pool: Construction of a 1,150-m2 pool with ten swimming lanes and a 675-m2 recreational pool, including a 131-m2 kinesiology clinic for UQAR. Total cost: $38 million

Bringing our sports facilities up to par

In July 2013, the City of Rimouski set up a committee composed of citizens and representatives of the sports, business and educational communities to help guide the City in the process of developing a cornerstone project for new sports facilities.

As the region’s largest city and business capital, the City of Rimouski must provide leadership for both local and regional community development at all levels. Rimouski is fortunate to be home to a network of high quality educational institutions, from primary schools to post-graduate programs. The presence of these institutions creates a wonderful synergy that adds to community’s vitality and supports healthy lifestyle initiatives. The City of Rimouski is also responsible for the Saines habitudes de vie (Healthy Lifestyle) and Avenir d’enfants (Children’s Future) programs for the RCM of Rimouski- Neigette. We have carried out many projects in these areas, providing significant and measurable benefits to our community.

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However, efforts to develop and expand sports programs in Rimouski are faced with several problems, in particular, the lack of available facilities which in turn limits the number of participants. This results in difficulty retaining talented athletes and coaches, who often must leave the region to continue their development. Inevitably, this situation has negative social and economic impacts on the community.

For the people of Rimouski, this state of affairs translates into inadequate facilities that do not meet the needs of our varied clientele. For example, the swimming pool water is kept cool for sports clubs, which is clearly inappropriate for families and seniors. Another example: the women’s hockey team at the Cégep has to play its home games at a rink 60 kilometres away due to the lack of available ice time in Rimouski.

A significant drawback for the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR)

The City is collaborating with UQAR on this project because the university’s sports facilities are extremely limited: a two-court gymnasium, a fitness centre and a large multi-use gym for group activities. Over a number of years, UQAR has taken steps to improve this situation, one in which it finds itself the poor relation of the Québec university network.

Despite all efforts, and in sharp contrast to other Québec universities, UQAR cannot currently offer the range of sports activities that university students are entitled to expect.

Due to the lack of adequate sports facilities, our schools and educational institutions are unable to become members of various student sports leagues in the province or offer sports-study programs worthy of the name to their students who constitute a substantial clientele in Rimouski.

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Healthy lifestyles: A concern for the City

Fostering healthy lifestyles by creating environments that encourage and facilitate healthy choices is a vital element in any municipal health-promotion strategy. In this regard, the proposed ice rink and pool complex is clearly a great example of an infrastructure improvement with very positive health effects.

According to a 2008 study by the World Health Organization, cities that invest in health-promoting facilities benefit in many ways; among others, by offering a more pleasant environment for residents, employers and visitors, they are able to attract more productive citizens and workers, thus strengthening the social fabric of their communities.

Rimouski has officially been a senior-friendly municipality (Municipalité Amie des Aînés) for over seven years and has adopted a policy and action plan for families and seniors. We know that the needs are great and, together with many partners in the healthcare and education sectors, the City is making every effort to meet the urgent needs of families and seniors in all areas that constitute a healthy living environment.

Ready to start tomorrow

If our ice rink/pool complex is admissible under the eligibility criteria for the New Building Canada Fund, we are ready to take action tomorrow morning to provide our region and the Université du Québec à Rimouski with a facility that is essential to our development.

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REGIONAL SPORTS AND COMMUNITY CENTRE

Municipality of Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac

The new Municipality of Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, created by decree in May 2010 following a citizen referendum, is well-known for its central location on Autoroute 85 (Trans-Canada Highway, Route 2) midway between Montréal and Moncton, N.B. It offers the population of the surrounding region a range of health, community and social services as well as business, industry and more.

The buildings owned by the Municipality include a regional sports centre, Aréna Jacques- Dubé, which was built in 1973 and expanded in 1979. No significant improvements have since been made to this facility apart from regular maintenance. However, numerous aspects and/or functions are no longer effectively up to the requirements of current codes and standards or have otherwise become significantly run-down.

In May 2012, municipal council undertook a commitment to bring this building entirely up to environmental guidelines and standards for R12 or R22 gas-based cooling systems in arenas by submitting an application for assistance for project phases I and II to the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et des Sports (MELS). We received confirmation in October 2012 from the minister that phase I had been approved to this end but that approval of phase II had been postponed due to a lack of financial resources under the program budget. The Municipality applied again to the MELS in August 2015; review of this application is ongoing, but we are aware that a large number of projects are under consideration in relation to the funding available under the program. The estimated total cost of our project is $8 million.

Sustainable Development In addition to this program, we applied and were approved for assistance on a 50/50 basis through the Green Municipal Fund (project #13015). From the viewpoint of optimal use and profitability, the Municipality seeks to take advantage of the opportunity to design and build, in a competitive context, a distinctive complex with various energy-efficient and eco-friendly characteristics and a minimal environmental footprint that showcases the advantages of sustainable construction (using engineered wood) and facilitates energy recovery through the refrigeration systems or produced via geothermics for the benefit of potential users.

Economic Development With its strategic location along the Trans-Canada Highway, the Municipality wants the sports and community centre to become a hub at the centre of a local, regional and interprovincial client base seeking opportunities to take part in sports, social and

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community activities as well as major cultural and commercial events. Offering a broad range of activities and events will surely help to foster a dynamic environment likely to attract private investors in the surrounding area willing to support facilities and activities that help to drive the new economy, create direct and indirect jobs, generate additional property tax and sales tax (GST/QST) revenue and open up new business development opportunities for existing commercial enterprises and services throughout the region.

As part of its ongoing focus on ensuring the compliance of its infrastructures with drinking water and wastewater standards, the Municipality is upholding its commitment to making activities in this area a priority by allocating huge amounts of money in extensive work on a year-over-year basis.

Responsible Municipality As the Municipality fulfils its far-reaching responsibilities relating to its various buildings and infrastructures, it is also obliged to ensure that all municipal buildings comply with standards governing environmental responsibility and quality, user safety and the quality of life of the entire community. However, like many other municipalities across the country, we do not have the financial means to cover the great majority of the costs of these initiatives on our own. The Municipality of Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac consequently asks the Government of Canada to include investment related to sports, culture and recreation in the categories eligible for funding under the Small Communities Fund component of the New Building Canada Fund. The council of the Municipality of Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac fully supports the movement among major cities across Canada to encourage the Canadian government to offer adequate financial aid in this regard by matching provincial government support and municipal funds dollar for dollar.

I would like to thank the Committee members for inviting the Municipality of Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac to share its opinion concerning the importance of and need for massive investment by the Government of Canada in the infrastructures of our municipalities. I am confident that we can all agree on the beneficial impact of the Small Communities Fund in terms of stimulating the Canadian economy by helping to drive investment in municipalities across the country based on the priorities they have identified. Sports, culture and recreation are part of this reality and a priority in making municipalities appealing in terms of attracting new families and maintaining dynamic offerings for current residents.

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