The Mayor of Gatineau and I have sent an urgent message to the federal party leaders

Key areas of focus and shared priorities:

1. Revitalizing downtowns: partnering with the federal government to repurpose vacant federal office spaces and revitalize our downtown neighbourhoods.
2. Fair Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILTs): requesting PILT payments on properties at market value to reduce pressure on City budgets and residents having to make up the difference.
3. Support for public service worker transition: implementing retraining and reskilling programs to help workers affected by layoffs in the federal public service.
4. Public transit funding: securing long-term federal funding for public transit, including infrastructure funding for the tramway in Gatineau and Stage 3 LRT in Ottawa.
5. Affordable housing and homelessness: calling for increased funding to accelerate the construction of affordable housing and support homelessness prevention initiatives
6. Strengthening regional governance: increased representation on the National Capital Commission (NCC) to ensure better decision-making for residents.
7. Infrastructure and climate resilience: requesting federal investment in critical infrastructure and climate resilience projects.

Read the letter sent to NDP party leader here

Read the letter sent to Liberal party leader here

Read the letter sent to Progressive Conservative party leader here

Read the letter sent to Green party leader here