Tessa Holloway, North Shore News

Whoever wins the federal election should commit to help pay for a new sewage plant on the North Shore — regardless of any deficit — say area mayors.

That’s the item at the top of a wish list for North Shore mayors, in particular because it was Ottawa that mandated the new plants be built when it toughened up standards for sewage waste that’s routinely dumped into the ocean….

City Mayor Darrell Mussatto also said daycare and affordable housing are important areas the city wants to see addressed, and though he was pleased to see a Liberal promise to put $250 million a year into an affordable housing strategy, he said the money fell short of the need.

“We’re finding many of the people who work in the city can’t live here, so we’re going to need a strategy for housing in the city,” he said.

All mayors said they expected new spending would be hard to come by considering the deficit is predicted to last several years….

Still, Mussatto said he didn’t believe the Tory assertion that no new money is available until the budget is balanced. “I understand the current government wants to buy fighter jets for I don’t know how many billions, but we’re saying, ‘Listen, maybe we should be looking at our more immediate needs….”