Wastewater Strategy Concerns Municipalities

“Some municipalities have been incredibly responsible and placed a real priority on sewer and wastewater treatment,” said Minister John Baird in an interview with ReNew Canada’s Ottawa correspondent, Guy Félio, recently. “Some have let it slip.”

Proposed federal wastewater regulations are expected this autumn, but the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) is “deeply concerned” about their impact on taxpayers. Last week, FCM’s president Basil Stewart wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, calling on the government to commit to a national, cost-shared plan to implement the regulations.

The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) estimates that it will cost municipalities at least $10 to $13 billion over 30 years to fix sewage infrastructure. Not included in the initial estimated costs are those associated with managing combined sewer outflows and meeting the Effluent Discharge Objectives. To address the deficit, CCME points to funding from provincial and federal government, debt financing, public-private partnerships, and, of course, the seven-year Building Canada Fund. It also points to the Gas Tax Fund extension to $2 billion per year beyond 2013-2014 to become a permanent measure.

But the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association estimates that it will cost approximately $24 billion for upgrades to meet these new regulations. And so far, there’s no concrete timeline for implementation of CCME’s strategy.

“FCM supports the proposed new federal regulations for the treatment of wastewater,” writes Stewart. But, he says, “In the absence of a sustainable, national funding plan, paying for these regulations will fall on the backs of property tax payers. This is offloading, pure and simple.”

“Canadians have seen the destructive impact of offloading where they live and work—they don’t want to go back.”

Stewart’s solution? “This national challenge requires a national plan.”

“For its part, the federal government must put soon-to-expire, cost-shared infrastructure funding programs on a permanent footing. This will lay the foundation for the long-term investments that all orders of government will need to make to upgrade Canada’s wastewater infrastructure. Canadians understand that offloading is no way to protect our environment, build our communities, or strengthen our economy. We have been there before and it does not work. Let’s not go back.”