Brock Township appealing for municipally-specific financial help from governments

DAN CEARNS, Journalism Initiative Reporter, for The Standard

BROCK: Township of Brock council is advocating for the provincial and federal governments to provide COVID-19 related financial assistance specifically tailored to help municipalities. At a meeting on Monday, May 11th, Brock council unanimously passed a motion to have the two upper levels of government “provide operating support for municipalities through municipality-specific grants.” In a report to council, treasurer Laura Barta explained the financial impact to the municipality from the COVID-19 pandemic have been “minimal”, but she cautioned the situation could change rapidly. “We are perhaps one of the few municipalities where the impact is not hitting us severely as yet,” Ms. Barta stated. “I think until we know when the end of this is, we are looking at some significant impacts going forward, and just the fact that the impact is being felt so strongly at the upper tier level, that will filter down to us in coming years. We need support from the upper levels of government, that municipalities can actually qualify to take advantage of, and so far that is very minimal.” Mayor Debbie Bath-Hadden said while she understands the situation the higher levels of government are currently in, she feels the municipality needs to get their specific needs across to government officials. “I feel we’d be doing a disservice if we weren’t lobbying now,” she stressed.