Fire Departments Not Eligible (YET) to Apply for Communities Building Fund

MOPC Council is waiting on the provincial government to determine if there will be changes to how the Canada Community-Building Fund is to be used before it can consider any new requests.

District 8 Coun. Larry Turner asked Council to write a letter of support for the Abercrombie Fire Department which wants to apply to the fund to help with the cost of repairs to its hall. 

The former Liberal government announced during the summer election that the fund, which was previously known as the Gas Tax Fund, would be open to fire departments. 

Fire halls had not been eligible for funding under this program, previously known as the Gas Tax Fund, and such work as roof repairs and basic hall maintenance are typically paid for by the departments through community fundraising or loans.

“The Abercrombie fire department has a leaky roof and is going to the Canada Community- Building Fund to ask for money and it wants a letter of support from Council,” said Coun. Turner.

However, MOPC staff told Council that the fire departments would need to come to Council with its request since it is given an annual allotment from the fund each year to use on municipal projects that meet the fund's requirements.  In the past, the MOPC has used Gas Tax funding on sewer and water projects. 

But even though the changes were announced during this past summer's election, with the approval of the federal government, the current provincial government has not signed off on the changes that allow fire departments to apply for funding.

MOPC CAO Brian Cullen said the municipality to continue to receive funding and Council will determine, as it has done in the past, what it will be used for, but at this point, until formal amendments are made by the provincial government, fire departments are ineligible. 

“The federal government has said it is open to fire departments and infrastructure, but the province has not yet agreed to that change,” he said.  “The politicians might have thought they have agreed to it, but the bureaucrats have not finalized anything.”