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The following articles are from roncesvallesvillage.ca BIA site
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Toronto's Roncesvalles is into the second phase of its reconstruction. Roncesvalles Renewed is a group of residents, business owners, politicians, city planners, and transportation officials working together.
Our key priority was to ensure that plans include the conditions necessary for trees to flourish. We also planned for better sidewalks and improved public spaces to create an avenue that all would enjoy. These plans are now undersay. To show your support for a great street and to help our businesses get through this final phase, please buy and dine locally.
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Dig This! Reconstruction News and Updates
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Mar
11
Written by:
News Editor
3/11/2009 9:06 PM
To the Roncesvalles community,
Gerard Kennedy's motion to parliament last Tuesday passed. The motion directs the government to distribute half of new stimulus spending using the Gas Tax Transfer spending model. Mr. Kennedy argued, with strong agreement from Mayor David Miller and Councillor Gord Perks, that this model is is far more efficient, fair and accountable than the various intergovernmental cost-sharing schemes that often bog down in red tape and jurisdictional intrigues. Mr. Kennedy's motion was strongly supported by both the Roncesvalles Village BIA and Roncesvalles Renewed. Thank you to everyone who took the time to write in support of the motion!
However, do not celebrate just yet. Quoting from the Epoch Times, Mr. Kennedy said
there had been no acknowledgement from the government that they would adjust their budget guidelines to align with the motion, but that it is "bound to take this into account in some fashion."
"It really has to justify why it wouldn't use this method. There's no application process that can get dollars out there adequately in time to projects. They don't have the staffing, they don't have the preparation in place. Any government would face a certain amount of challenge," he said.
In tabling his motion, Kennedy criticized the Conservatives for failing to get previously announced spending out the door, citing a performance review that found the Tories had delivered only four per cent of spending announced.
He noted that that number stood in sharp contrast to 95 per cent of gas tax monies that were successfully delivered.
In the Bloor West Villager, Mr. Kennedy says that this motion, if followed by the government, would greatly increase the chances of full funding for the Roncesvalles Sustainable Tree and Sidewalk project. Councillor Perks tells me that the City would need a signed funding commitment from the federal government very soon (i.e.: within just a few months), for federal money to be included in the project's RFP. It is essential that federal money start flowing now, and the Gas Tax Transfer model is the best way for this to happen.
But follow-up is needed. The government, not parliament, is in charge of spending the stimulus money, and it has still not agreed to adopt the Gas Tax Transfer model. If you haven't already, I hope you will please take the time to write John Baird, Canadian Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities (mintc@tc.gc.ca), to express your support for using the Gas Tax Transfer model to distribute new infrastructure funds. Please copy Mr. Kennedy as well.
Cheers
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Discover more about Roncesvalles Renewed friends and members; and share stories with the fans of this one-of-a-kind main street.
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