OTTAWA — Joe Oliver will today stand up in front of municipal leaders who may not be all that happy with his most recent messages.
The federal finance minister will be in Ottawa for a gathering of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities less than a week after a fall economic update that made only passing reference to the biggest issue on the minds of Canada's big-city mayors — infrastructure.
The crumbling of Canada's roads, sewer and water systems has been a major — and growing — concern of municipalities for years.
More than 200 municipal leaders are in Ottawa hoping to lobby the government to free up some of the shrinking, but still widely anticipated, budget surplus in 2015 for transit system improvements and other critical infrastructure projects.
Here are some other events taking place today in the nation's capital:
— Canadian Medical Association president Dr. Chris Simpson speaks at the Canadian Club about the strains faced by the medicare system in dealing with seniors care and an aging population;
— We'll find out how Canada Post is planning to deal with the short- and long-term challenges the mail carrier is facing as it holds its annual public meeting;
— Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community hold a news conference to discuss the extremist influence that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, can have on youth:
— And languages commission Graham Fraser and Ontario's French language services commissioner Francois Boileau release a joint report on immigration in Francophone minority communities.
