Who is to blame?

So Mayor Gregor Robertson is speaking up about the bureaucratic wasteland that sits between the province and the federal government when it comes to stimulus funding that was supposed to be destined for BC’s municipalities.

Campbell: "Hey, there's our portion of the stimulus." Harper: "Where?" Campbell: "Made you look. Ha!"

And rightfully so.  It is September 18, 2009, and nine months after the federal budget that promised billions in economic stimulus funding, BC communities are still waiting in limbo.

So, the question that needs to be asked is, who exactly is to blame?

First, let’s look at the federal government.

The budget allotted $12 billion in new funding over two years.  More specifically, the $4 billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund was touted by the federal and provincial governments as a way to provide short-term stimulus to the economy.

The hoops with the federal government to tap into these funds, however, started right away.

Work must be completed by March 31, 2011; half the funding must be spent during the first fiscal year, ending March 31, 2010; funds were contingent on the provincial and municipal government putting up an equal matching amount.

Then, it took the feds three months to come up with the exact criteria, which was passed onto the municipalities with a three week window in April to submit project proposals.  And, having sat with the City Manager of Surrey in a meeting with Liberal finance critic John McCallum around that time, I can confirm that the confusion that ensued regarding what exactly was eligible was widespread.

But fine…assuming that all went as planned, the timelines – while very tight – could still work out if agreements were signed.

Which then brings us to the BC government.

BC’s share of the federal cash is $450 million.  Thus far, BC municipalities haven’t received a dime of the combined $900 million that would come from the federal and provincial governments.

To be fair, these delays are not exclusive to BC.  In Ontario, for example, the Toronto Star reports that “many regions and municipalities report they have not received any formal contribution agreements from the province, which is responsible for distributing the federal cash.”

What makes us different, however, is while eight provinces have signed agreements to claim their share of the $4 billion in stimulus infrastructure money, BC has not.

In July, they were “really close” and apparently going to put the “pedal to the medal” to get the funds out to communities.

Why is it September without any of these commitments fulfilled?

Well, it is a fudge-it-budget type of issue.  Capital investments are not counted towards the deficit, while operating spending is.  So, to avoid have the deficit from coming in at higher than $3 billion, the BC government has been trying to convince the Conservatives to call its contribution a capital expenditure rather than an operating expense.

With winter around the corner, those projects that haven’t started by now are facing a slower or even stagnant building season, which would virtually kill any hopes of these municipal projects meeting the abovementioned federal deadline requirements.

And yet, Gordon Campbell has promised that “no federal funds will be left on the table.”

So there you have it -  inflexible deadlines and ambiguous and delayed criteria from the federal government, and political hedging and funds upheld by a provincial government more concerned with saving face than getting people back to work.

With $500 million on the table from the City of Vancouver ready and waiting to be put towards the $1.5 billion in proposals sent to Ottawa back in April, for once it isn’t a municipality that is waffling or having difficulty coming up with cash for joint projects.

The UBCM convention is going to be very interesting.