It turns out not all the information Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli provided at a funding announcement last Friday in North Bay was accurate.
During a media scrum at an Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) announcement, Fedeli said that as a result of changes to the funding formula, small communities that otherwise would not receive any money under OCIF would now get a minimum amount.
Fedeli used as an example the Township of Mattawan which he said under the old OCIF formula would have received nothing because of its very small population.
He added thanks to the revisions, every community is guaranteed at least $50,000 including Mattawan.
However, when contacted by MyNorthBayNow.com, Clint Thomas, Fedeli’s executive assistant, says the MPP misspoke.
The government’s website shows that communities with very small populations, including Mattawan, received $25,000 under the program in 2015, another $25,000 in 2016 and then $50,000 in 2017 a year before Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservative party took power.
The website further shows that communities that began receiving $50,000 in 2017, were given the same dollar amount in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
But, in some cases, other communities that started at $25,000 and then rose to $50,000 in 2017 like the Township of Armour saw further increases in future years.
While Armour’s share of OCIF remained at $50,000 in 2018, under the revised funding formula its share rose to $73,948 in 2019 and then to $87,003 for 2020.
The revised formula also significantly increased OCIF dollars to other surrounding communities.
For example, the Township of Nipissing received $25,000 two years in a row, then $50,000 in 2017 followed by a grant of $61,720 in 2018, $96,852 in 2019 and in 2020 the dollar amount dropped to $95,150.
Another example is the Municipality of West Nipissing which received $158,198 in 2015, then saw some steady increases in the ensuing years but enjoyed spikes once the funding formula was changed and in 2020 was allocated $607,089.
For a complete list of the dollar amounts municipalities have received under OCIF from 2015 to the present go to https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/ontario-community-infrastructure-fund-recipients/resource/0939bcfc-1d6e-4608-97af-42b3d007fe6d and then click the link under OCIF Formula Grants to download and view the information.
