I would like to take this opportunity today to update honourable members on the "New Deal for Communities" which has been proposed by the federal government. Up until recently, provincial governments did not have much information on this new initiative but I am pleased to say that has changed.

In mid-November, I attended a meeting in Toronto with my provincial and territorial counterparts at which the Honourable John Godfrey provided us with our first official briefing of the "new deal". Mr. Godfrey�s comments were very encouraging. Funding for the "new deal" will start in the fiscal year of 2005-06 with a total federal commitment over five years of five billion dollars. Funding will progressively be increased to an annual expenditure of two billion dollars per annum by year five.

This "new deal" is still very much in the early stages. Mr. Godfrey informed us that bi-lateral agreements will be negotiated however he was unable to provide us with draft templates to review. Also no final decision has been made yet on how funding will be allocated among the provinces and territories. I can assure honourable members that I will be pushing hard for a fair and equitable funding allocation for Newfoundland and Labrador.

The "new deal" will be an infrastructure program and not simply a new source of revenue which provinces or municipalities can use at their discretion. Funding will be targeted toward sustainable infrastructure projects in communities of all sizes.

In addition, I was very pleased that Mr. Godfrey supported the principles which the provinces and territories proposed to guide federal and provincial/territorial negotiations. In essence, we proposed that the federal government has to recognize provincial and territorial jurisdiction over municipal matters and our legislative authority in this realm.

As you can see there is still a great deal of work which needs to be done in order for our municipalities to get the best possible deal from the federal government. I have written to Mr. Godfrey expressing my high satisfaction with this meeting and requesting that we get started right away on formalizing some of these details in bi-lateral negotiations.

I will also be meeting with the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities to discuss how this province will allocate federal funding among municipalities.

2004 12 01                      1:45 p.m.