"Set The Table," St. Albert Mayor to Trudeau
"Set the tablecloth, place the plates, and put out the silverware, and we will come to the table." That was the message to Prime Minister Trudeau from St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron during a Q&A session at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Convention in Calgary yesterday.
During the half-hour session, Trudeau fielded a variety of questions from municipal leaders across Canada, covering topics such as healthcare, boil water advisories, economic development, and the federal budget. However, one issue stood out: the new municipal framework that the FCM has been advocating for since 2023, when the organization met in Toronto.
In an interview following the session, Heron expressed her desire for a meeting involving premiers, municipal organizations, and the federal government. "I would like an invite tomorrow to every premier, every minister in municipal affairs—they have different titles in every province—and maybe every president of every municipal association. Everybody wants everyone at the table, but nobody sets the table," she said.
Heron emphasized that meaningful discussions have not occurred because no one has initiated them. "He's my Prime Minister. He needs to be the leader, and he needs to set the table," she asserted.
During an armchair roundtable with Minister of Housing Sean Fraser, former FCM President and Councillor for Vegreville, Alberta, Taneen Rudyk, also urged action. "Send me a calendar invite," she told the minister, regarding meetings with all levels of government about housing and infrastructure—a key pillar of the new FCM Fiscal Framework.
Trudeau responded to Heron's plea by expressing skepticism about the premiers' willingness to collaborate with the federal government to address municipal needs. "I am absolutely open to convening meetings between the provincial premiers and municipal leaders from across the country so the federal government can be there to talk," he said.
However, he warned that provincial governments must not shirk their responsibilities simply because the federal government is involved. "One of the things that I've seen over the past years is that because the federal government has been stepping up for municipalities, provincial governments have been stepping back. They've been saying things like, 'Okay, we're going to invest in this wastewater, but only if the federal government comes in on half,' or 'We're going to help out with operational funding on some of the public transit uses, but the federal government has to come in on operational funding as well.'"
Heron concluded by expressing her hope that the next federal government, whether Liberal or Conservative, will take the FCM's advocacy seriously. "I would like the next government to be open to understanding that there is an order of government in Canada, closest to the people, that is struggling, and that is completely cooperative and consensus-building," she said.
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