The ice storm that battered Kawartha Lakes last year cost $29 million, a small fortune. Of this, nearly $26 million was covered by emergency funding from the provincial government. The city had to find the remaining $3.4 million.

As Mayor Doug Elmslie expressed appreciation for the funding, he cautioned it was “one-time” assistance. The next time of extreme weather the city would be on the hook. The mayor of Oro-Medonte, which also received ice storm assistance, expressed the same message from the province.

Powerful storms, droughts, floods, and fires are not one-hit wonders. They are not even the new normal because things are getting worse. 

If the Ford government is saying we are on our own, how will the next council protect us from the climate crisis? We’ve all been hit with additional costs from severe weather, including damage, lost work, rising insurance and utility rates, increased taxes. Our health, our homes, our community infrastructure, and natural environment are vulnerable. Increasingly, local councils are going to be stretched in responding to severe weather. How will our new council factor climate into its decisions?

Our municipal government is our first line of prevention. It ensures roads are safe, manages systems for safe drinking water and treatment of wastewater. It supports us with paramedic, police, and fire services, and our public health department. It provides childcare, long-term care, shelter services, social housing, transit, recreation facilities, libraries and parks. 

Many municipal services in Ontario are recognized as provincial responsibilities in other provinces. Remember when former Premier Mike Harris’ government downloaded them? And he didn’t just download the services, but also the funding responsibility. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario estimates that one-third of municipal spending is for provincial responsibilities. And despite some payments from the province, municipalities are still shortchanged by $4 billion annually. 

Consider this example. Our city, like many other municipalities, has outdated, polluting wastewater infrastructure that wasn’t built to withstand the current level of use, much less the anticipated population growth. Nor was it built to sustain impacts of frequent severe storms. This is a $381 million job to upgrade it. Meanwhile, the province has a puny $400 million infrastructure fund for the entire province and it’s at risk.  Clearly, much more is needed, considering there’s a province-wide upgrade backlog of $52 billion. 

The main way municipalities fund services is through property taxes and developing more land to get more property fees and taxes, a difficult solution for Kawartha Lakes, where much of our land is agricultural or the wetlands and forests that help protect us from climate impacts. And property taxes aren’t enough.

We need a council to be a strong advocate for our city and join with other municipalities to push the province to live up to its responsibilities.

We need a council that recognizes that in a climate crisis, investment in prevention now will cost less than repairs afterwards. And we need a council that sees the energy transition as an opportunity. Many municipalities are investing in renewable energy, and other climate-smart initiatives that save money or create revenue, cut greenhouse gas pollution, and improve life for residents. 

Huntsville, for example, (population 21,000) installed solar panels on municipal buildings in 2014, which generate an annual $25,000 revenue for the town. Orangeville (population 33,000) made its transit system free in 2023. This increased ridership by 160 per cent, cut traffic and pollution, and saved money and improved access for residents. Uxbridge’s (population 21,000) provincially-run GO bus to Toronto cuts traffic and pollution, and saves residents’ time, money, and stress. Where’s our GO bus? 

We need a council that will actively promote the city’s climate change strategy. 

Come to the Smokey Skies events in Lindsay and Bobcaygeon to learn more.