ottawasun.com - Ottawa and Region - Community group fights for taxes - The Diigo Meta page

• 14 Nov 07
  

  Yule Heibel

  canada cities infrastructure_funding municipal_funding

  • As potential cuts to services loom large at city hall, community groups are mobilizing to fight back.
    

    People for a Better Ottawa is a new coalition of community groups and individuals that will be launching its campaign today at the Jack Purcell Community Centre.
    

    "We want to build a consensus that we need to build a balanced approach for the budget, that includes investments in social health and arts programs and services," said David Robbins, launch organizer. "I think that a lot of councillors would agree that there is not a lot of fat left to cut."
    

    The coalition is composed of groups representing arts, culture, students, communities and others.
    

    The coalition wants to work with the city to lobby the province for more money for issues such as infrastructure and services previously downloaded by Queen's Park.

  • However, getting money from the province is never certain, and Robbins said his group would be willing to advocate on behalf of a property tax increase as part of the solution.
    

    "We need to improve and strengthen services, find other solutions for revenue that don't require contracting out or privatization and build on services for the long term," said Robbins.

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