Municipal Affairs
December 17, 2009
Canada and Newfoundland and
Labrador Sign
$124 Million Gas Tax Fund Agreement Extension
The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National
Defense and Minister for the Atlantic Gateway, along
with the Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister of Municipal
Affairs (Acting), today announced that communities
across Newfoundland and Labrador can now plan for their
long-term infrastructure needs, thanks to more than $124
million from the federal Gas Tax Fund between 2010 and
2014. This funding is made possible by an extension to
the Gas Tax agreement announced today by the Governments
of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador.
�Our government, under the leadership of Stephen Harper,
is focused on strengthening local economies and creating
jobs. We are doing this by working with our provincial
colleagues to support municipalities directly in order
to upgrade local infrastructure such as roads, water
systems, municipal buildings and more,� said Minister
MacKay. �We are cutting red tape and accelerating our
Gas Tax transfers to get infrastructure projects
underway quickly for communities that need it most.�
�Gas Tax Funds have provided important infrastructure
investment to strengthen municipal services and support
community sustainability,� said Minister Hedderson.
�This extension provides additional funding to continue
investment in water, wastewater, the Provincial Waste
Management Strategy, community energy systems, and
transportation infrastructure. Beginning in 2010, a
modification to how gas tax funding can be used will
allow municipalities to direct funding for the municipal
share of cost-shared projects designed to improve the
quality of water provided by municipal supplies and to
improve wastewater systems. This move will allow
municipalities to address water issues, and free up
much-needed municipal funding for other priority areas.�
The Gas Tax Fund supports environmentally sustainable
infrastructure projects that lead to cleaner air,
cleaner water, or reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The
Government of Canada will permanently extend the Gas Tax
Fund beyond 2014 at $2 billion per year for
municipalities across the country.
In April 2009, the Government of Canada accelerated the
first Gas Tax Fund payment to all Canadian
municipalities, allowing them to draw on gas tax funding
three months earlier than previous years. Newfoundland
and Labrador recently received its second payment of
$16.45 million from the 2009-10 Gas Tax Fund allocation.
The Gas Tax Fund complements the $12 billion in
additional infrastructure funding in Canada�s Economic
Action Plan, which is accelerating and expanding
existing federal investments in infrastructure stimulus
funding over the next two years.
For more information about joint federal and provincial
infrastructure initiatives in Newfoundland and Labrador,
visit
www.creatingjobs.gc.ca or
www.infc.gc.ca.
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Media contacts:
Heather MacLean
Director of Communications
Municipal Affairs
709-729-1983, 697-4137
heathermaclean@gov.nl.ca |
Office of the Minister of
Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
613-991-0700
Infrastructure Canada
613-948-1148 |
2009 12 17
10:50 a.m.