Tuesday’s federal budget is sitting well with local politicians.

Penetanguishene Mayor Anita Dubeau admitted, while she hadn’t had the opportunity to read the details, the first thing that stuck out was funding for infrastructure.

“It seems like a good thing and hopefully, smaller municipalities like ourselves will be able to have access to some of those dollars,” she said.

Midland Mayor Jim Downer agreed.

“They have a strong infrastructure program – $33 billion over seven years, and I hope Midland is part of that,” he told The Mirror. “We haven’t been too successful in the past so I will believe it when I see the cheques coming in.”

Dubeau said she found the transportation initiative – up to $500 million in support of capital investments to improve public transit – to be of particular interest.

“Usually when they give that kind of money, it goes to the bigger cities, so it will be interesting to read the detail and see if there is anything available for smaller municipalities. We do have a project we’d like to get involved in, but we need some money to do it.”

That project, she says, would include the purchase of a new vehicle for residents with special needs.

“We have no access for people with special needs, and the system that’s going on now with Community Link and Town of Midland – well, it would be great if we could access the dollars to buy a new vehicle for the residents in our community to access.”

Downer adds the government’s plan to reduce the national debt is also a step in the right direction, as is the one using $2 billion in gas tax funding to aid all municipalities when they begin working on their five-year plans.

“It will be nice to know that money is going to be there,” he says, adding their decision to set aside $500 million in support of improvement for capital projects like public transit is a good thing, as is the $5,000 tax-free savings account for young families

“They will be able to try and establish a brighter future for themselves, and it will encourage people to save … it certainly would have me when I was younger.”

Downer says the budget will also go a long way in helping farmers with the $3.3 billion in potential cash advances should there be crop failures.

“That way you don’t lose the farm. We do have quite a few local farmers who will benefit from that. I hope they never need it, but it’s there if they do.”

He says there were no real big surprises.

“It helps students, encourages people to save and also reduces the national debt, so I think it’s a very good budget – and I think there were a few items in there that have never been in there before and will help people (that haven’t had it before).”