By Doug Draper
The Niagara region will need continued assistance from the Ontario government to help it address one of the highest jobless rates in the country and a host of other economic challenges, members of the province’s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs was told this Jan. 25.
Niagara regional councillor and Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn
“Our citizens tend to be older on average, tend to have greater health problems and are worse off economically than the rest of the province,” Dave Augustyn, a Niagara regional councillor and mayor for Pelham stressed during a pre-budget consultation session the committee was holding in Niagara Falls.
Speaking to the committee on behalf of Niagara’s regional government, Augustyn went on to tell that in general “household incomes (in the region) are lower and our youth have to leave Niagara to find good-paying jobs.”
To help address these and other financial problems, the region is urging the province to continue providing funding for roads and other infrastructure to stimulate the economy, Augustyn said. He also urged the committee to recommend the that the government give clearer direction to provincial arbitrators that ensures they take into consideration a region’s “ability to pay” when it comes to wage settlements with police and fire services.
“Our police forces and fire departments play a vital role in our communities and we have to have them. But their arbitrated wages settlements are becoming unsustainable and unaffordable,” Augustyn said. To continue reading a prepared text of the key points Augustyn made to the committee, click on the following tab: Continue reading
