Kamloops city councillor part of federal group making recommendations on national COVID-19 recovery

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The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) says rural high-speed internet, modernizing public transit and investing in affordable housing should all be part of Canada's economic recovery from COVID-19.

Included in its duties, the organization, which represents more than 2,000 municipal governments across Canada, lobbies upper levels of government; late last month, FCM released a 20-page report detailing different ideas on how the country can rebound from coronavirus.

Kamloops Coun. Arjun Singh, who has recently joined the FCM board, says municipal governments are on the frontlines and see what needs to be done in their individual communities to achieve broader goals. 

The recovery period is also a time to do good work, Singh tells Castanet.

"It would be horrible to go through this… and then not come out of it better and more prepared for the future," he says.

The report (and Singh) highlights some basic goals that should be focused on, including more housing for those without shelter, funds for local climate action and support for equity and anti-racism.

Of the ideas in the report, Singh highlights rural internet as an important one to pursue.

"We need to get these things built out so rural areas can get the same access," he says.

Another is the financial stability the federal and provincial governments can provide to municipalities. Singh wants to see some of the emergency funding local governments have received in 2020 carry over through 2021 (as the pandemic continues).

The local councillor then wants to see those dollars post-pandemic, to help communities fund important projects out of their reach (like active transportation).

"(We need funding) to allow us to keep ourselves level and above water and help us post-COVID and really do some cool things and help climate and economic development," he says.

The FCM, Signh says, is the right place for these policy ideas to come from because of how representative of Canada it is. It has local representation unaffiliated with political parties.

"It's the best place to come up with policy because it comes from a diverse place." 

Singh notes Kamloops is well represented by municipal figures right now, with Coun. Sadie Hunter joining the Union of BC Municipalities and Coun. BIll Sarai on the South Interior Local Government Association board.