As efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus are eased, communities across Canada are confronting a difficult reality: how to pay for things like skating rinks, swimming pools, beaches and golf courses that people have come to expect from their local governments but that they may not be able to afford.
Mayors and city councillors are warning the economic shock from COVID-19 to their communities could be a deathblow if the federal government and provinces don’t provide help. “This financial emergency is a direct threat to Canada’s economic recovery,” said Bill Karsten, a Halifax city councillor and president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM).