The sentiment was expressed by newly-appointed Minister of Energy and Infrastructure George Smitherman in a letter he recently sent to Regional Chair Gary Carr.

The correspondence came in response to a letter Carr sent the minister detailing the Region’s Fairness for Halton campaign, which says the region can’t accommodate the thousands of residents called for in the Province’s Places to Grow plan without some hefty funding help for infrastructure.

The campaign lets those at Queen’s Park know about the local funding shortfalls that need to be fixed — such as a municipal infrastructure deficit of $300 million — in order to meet the growth targets specified in Places to Grow. The plan says Halton’s population is supposed to increase by more than 300,000 to 780,000 by 2031.

Over $2.5 billion will be needed for infrastructure to accommodate growth to 2021, while more than $8.6 billion will be required to serve the population increase to 2031, Carr informed the minister.

But Smitherman said the Province and its Places to Grow plan aren’t the cause of the problem.

“The servicing costs you indicate in your letter and the infrastructure deficit in Halton relate primarily to servicing areas which were planned for and approved by the Region prior to 2006 and precede the growth plan,” he said.

He also said, “The growth plan has not created this growth pressure — it provides a framework to manage and plan for it.”

The statements fly in the face of the Fairness campaign, which indicates that a lag in provincial funding is causing local infrastructure problems and the Places to Grow plan is only going to put more pressure on the system.

Carr said while he wasn’t on council prior to 2006, he was upset Smitherman blamed past council decisions for the infrastructure woes in Halton and countered that the minister’s accusation isn’t true.

“I think a lot of what’s transpired is due to a lack of funding from the provincial government,” he said. “So many of the services we need are what the Province hasn’t provided for us, like hospitals.”

He said another part of the problem is that the Province has downloaded costly services to the Region that end up on the property tax base.

“My big concern in all of this is the property taxpayers can’t continue to pay for downloaded services,” he said. “They’re being squeezed by increases in property taxes.”

Carr took exception to the part of Smitherman’s letter that highlights the construction of a new hospital in Oakville as a way the Province is meeting local infrastructure needs, since the project has been delayed.

“All we’ve got is a promise (for the new hospital), and promises don’t serve patients,” he said.

The chairman said he thinks the letter from Smitherman will make council want to take an even harder look at future growth.

“We have to be very sure that we have the infrastructure in place before we authorize new growth,” he said.

Carr recently tabled a motion that, if ultimately passed by council, could stop future development until the Province improves hospital capacity in Halton.

The motion is set to be debated by the Region’s health and social services committee on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Carr said now is the time for local residents to let him know what they think about the hospital issue.

He encouraged people to e-mail him their comments at gary.carr@halton.ca .

The letter from Smitherman was received by regional council at its meeting Wednesday in its correspondence package, but not debated by members.

Carr explained the majority of discussions typically take place at the committee level of council, and he anticipates the letter will be brought up at a future committee meeting.

Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com .