Mayor Iveson welcomes provincial boost for municipalities
Posted July 28, 2020 1:42 pm.
Last Updated July 28, 2020 1:43 pm.
EDMONTON – Mayor Don Iveson is welcoming news of a major cash injection from the province.
On Tuesday, Premier Jason Kenney announced a $1.1 billion stimulus package to help cities across Alberta affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
READ MORE: Kenney announces $1.1B stimulus package for Alberta cities
Iveson says municipalities have been working hard to sound the alarm over their finances and he’s thankful the province and the federal government came together to get much-needed money to local governments.
Iveson is particularly happy to see a $60-million transit boost for Edmonton. He says the health of the transit system is key to keeping Edmonton rolling and ETS should be resuming a full-service schedule at the end of August.
Iveson says the health of the transit system is key to keeping Edmonton rolling (work, health visits, etc) – very glad Calgary and Edmonton get the biggest transit funding boost.
This, as city of Edmonton prepares to resume normal transit service on August 30th. #yeg #yegcc
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) July 28, 2020
Transit ridership has been cut by about half due to COVID-19.
Edmonton will also get $116 million from the federal Safe Restart Agreement and the new provincial stimulus plan to kick-start infrastructure projects and help the city maintain services through the pandemic.
The financial impact of the pandemic in Edmonton alone is expected to reach $172 million by the end of the year.
