Brockville, Ontario, July 27, 2010 — Gord Brown, Member of Parliament for Leeds-Grenville, and His Worship David Henderson, Mayor of Brockville, met at Brockville City Hall to mark the arrival of 698 new energy efficient streetlights to be installed throughout the city. These upgrades are the second part of a three-phase project made possible with $329,130 in support from the federal Gas Tax Fund.
“Our government is pleased to have invested, through the Gas Tax Fund, in Brockville’s new approach to lighting up the city,” said MP Brown. “We are committed to supporting environmentally friendly approaches to municipal infrastructure like this one, and will continue investing to create jobs and build the infrastructure Canada needs for a prosperous future.”
Upon completion, Brockville will benefit from replacing 2,700 high pressure sodium (HPS) lights with efficient magnetic induction fixtures. This is estimated to reduce the city’s street light power consumption by 50 per cent, or 920,000 kilowatt hours of energy each year.
“The predictability of the federal Gas Tax Fund helps municipal councils plan ahead for long-term priorities and invest in sustainable infrastructure,” said Mayor Henderson. “The City of Brockville has leveraged this funding to make a number of environmentally beneficial infrastructure investments possible.”
Other city projects supported by the federal Gas Tax Fund include the Memorial Centre Solar Project, energy-efficient lighting retrofits of city buildings, and an update to Brockville’s Official Plan. Future investment priorities for Gas Tax funding in Brockville include the Gord Watts Municipal Centre Solar Project and the completion of the streetlight conversion project.
“The federal Gas Tax Fund acknowledges that all orders of government must work together to address the pressing need for infrastructure investment in Ontario,” said Peter Hume, President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). “The funding is supporting thousands of important infrastructure projects and is critical to job creation, Ontario’s competiveness and environmental sustainability.”
The Gas Tax Fund provides municipalities with a stable and predictable source of funding for environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure. Funding is also available for planning projects that contribute to the sustainability of communities and regions.
The Government of Canada extended the Gas Tax Fund to 2014 resulting in $746 million in funding annually for municipal infrastructure in Ontario. On April 23, 2010, the Government of Canada announced that Ontario received an advance payment of $373 million, which enables the province to allocate the Gas Tax funding sooner to municipalities, helping them make the most of the spring and summer construction seasons.
Under the Economic Action Plan, the Government of Canada is allocating $12 billion to infrastructure projects across the country. This is further complemented by a previous commitment of making the federal Gas Tax Fund permanent at $2 billion nationally as of 2014. From 2010 to 2014, Brockville will receive over $5.3 million from the federal Gas Tax Fund.
For additional information:
Office of MP Gord Brown
613-498-3096
Lesley White
City of Brockville
613-342-8772 ext. 439
Infrastructure Canada
613-948-1148
