Statement by FCM president Basil Stewart following today's speech by Prime
Minister Stephen Harper

TORONTO, May 28 /CNW Telbec/ - The following statement was released today by Mayor Basil Stewart, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) following the speech to FCM delegates by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at FCM's annual conference:

"Today Prime Minister Harper told municipal leaders that the federal government's stimulus partnership with municipalities was absolutely decisive in Canada's fight against the global recession.

As Ottawa gets ready to wind down the stimulus program in 10 months, we expect to work with the federal government to put our successful partnership to work in other areas such as keeping our streets safe, reducing gridlock and fighting homelessness.

Stimulus spending will end, and the federal government will set out to eliminate its deficit, but we must keep the underlying - and successful - partnership strong. When money is tight we need to continue working together, so we can coordinate our investments, and deliver better results with taxpayers' money.

We applaud the federal government for forging its stimulus partnership and working closely with municipalities to build projects that will put more than 100,000 Canadians back to work and strengthen our communities. These one-time investments are building on long-term federal funding delivered through the permanent federal Gas Tax Fund, the GST rebate and the Building Canada Fund.

Federal, provincial/territorial and municipal governments have shown what Canada can achieve when governments pull together with a clear, common objective."

For further information: Eric Collard, FCM, [phone]