Windsor pitches priorities for provincial funding, misses one opportunity to do so

The City of Windsor has missed what some are calling an important deadline to submit a proposal of municipal needs during a all-party provincial pre-budget meeting that took place in Windsor last week. 

Officials made Windsor their last stop on a province-wide tour to get input on the next budget due in the coming months.

Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky sat on the all-party pre-budget committee last week, listening to organizations that wanted provincial funding. She said she was surprised that the City of Windsor didn't submit a proposal last week.

"Anytime you have an opportunity to present and share your priorities it is a good opportunity to take," said Gretzky. "I think every time we have a chance to raise an issue ... we have a better chance of being heard and having the funding we need float over to the municiaplity." 

Windsor's chief financial officer and city treasurer, Joe Mancina, said the reason for not submitting something last week might have been due to a timing issue.

"One of the things that played last week is certainly we were dealing with our own operating and capital budgets," said Mancina. "We like to take as many opportunities as possible in terms of presenting and being able to get before the province and federal level of government."

City's submitted priorities

At a pre-budget consultation held in Windsor Thursday the city did submit a list of funding priorities. 

Yvan Baker, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance and MPP for Etobicoke Centre held the consultation.

"These are critically important for municipalities, which is why we're travelling the province to so many communities to hear from people," said Baker. "We're very much aware of many of the concerns and just because someone doesn't submit an ask doesn't mean we're not going to address those issues."

Baker said the input from cities is important, and helps the province understand the issues better and how to address them.

What Windsor wants

At Thursday's meeting the city did announce what their priorities for provincial funding are. Here's some of the highlights: 

• $30-35 million to build new affordable rental housing.
• About $2 million to move the University of Windsor's law school into the Paul Martin building.
• A significant, multi-year investment into infrastructure including roads and sewers.

It's unclear when this year's budget will be released, but it will be before Ontario's election on June 7.