KAILIE OORTWYN, Office of Laurie Scott, MPP
KAWARTHA LAKES: The Ontario government is providing up to $458,750 to help improve the delivery of critical programs and services in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock. The funding is being delivered through the Municipal Modernization Program and will support the following projects:
Township of Brock Digital Modernization Implementation Township of Brock Corporate IT Strategic Plan Township of Cavan Monaghan Information Technologies Modernization City of Kawartha Lakes Fire Department Service Delivery Review
“COVID-19 has demonstrated the need to modernize the important programs and services municipalities provide,” said Laurie Scott, MPP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock. “Not only will these projects help ensure community members will benefit from innovative and streamlined solutions, [but] they will also save taxpayers’ dollars.”
Ontario is providing up to $24 million to support the modernization of 224 small and rural municipalities across the Province. A total of 254 projects will receive funding under Intake two of Ontario’s Municipal Modernization Program.
Mayor Letham, City of Kawartha Lakes, commented, “Kawartha Lakes Fire Service operates over an extensive geographic area with 20 stations. We employ approximately 350 staff, the majority of which are Volunteer Firefighters. Given the significant size of the service and ongoing budgetary pressures associated with maintaining equipment and facilities, we will use the funding for a third-party review of the fire service budgets. We thank the Province, and our local MPP, Laurie Scott, for their commitment to assist municipalities in modernizing services, to continue meeting the needs of our communities.”
“This funding will help the Township of Brock modernize service delivery and better assist local residents,” said John Grant, Mayor of the Township of Brock. “Thank you, to the provincial government for providing this funding [which] will allow us to reallocate funding to other areas of need.”
“We are very pleased with the investment the Provincial Government is making in rural communities,” said Scott McFadden, Mayor of the Township of Cavan Monaghan. “Locally, these funds will enable us to move forward with strategies to strengthen our technology capabilities.” He added, “We can upgrade outdated technology and processes, thus mitigating risk, increase operation[al] efficiency and enhance citizen service.”
Municipalities will use the funding to find efficiencies and implement a wide range of initiatives, to digitize, streamline and integrate programs and services with neighbouring communities. The funding will also help municipalities administer the cost-saving measures, in time for the 2022 municipal budget cycle.
“Today [Friday, June 30th] marks another milestone in our government’s commitment to supporting municipalities, as they look for ways to improve service delivery in our communities,” stated Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “To put it simply, identifying and implementing modern solutions means money is diverted away from wasteful service delivery and stays in the pockets of local taxpayers.”
Ontario has committed up to $125 million over four years, through the Municipal Modernization Program, to help small and rural municipalities modernize services. Under Intake 1, the Province, Ford government invested $11.8 million in 180 modernization projects and identified over $100 million in savings and efficiencies.