Monday, 23 June 2008
'Building Canada' With a Vision We Should Emulate
I recently participated in the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering's annual conference in Quebec City. I had the pleasure of sitting at dinner one night with Carol Beall, assistant deputy minister for program operations for Infrastructure Canada. She described to me their current program entitled "Building Canada -- Modern Infrastructure for a Strong Canada, Stronger, Safer, Better."
The Ministry of Transport Infrastructure in Communities recently developed a vision for Canada's infrastructure for the next seven years through 2014. Their vision statement can be found at www.buildingcanada.gc.ca. They are also providing a federal investment of $33 billion over these years, which represents the single largest federal commitment to public infrastructure of this type. For Canada, this is an investment that would compare to the United States of between $500 and $750 billion dollars. Their focus is not just on building a stronger economy, but also building a cleaner environment and better communities. The funding for this effort comes from multiple sources, including a gas tax fund, general revenue, public/private partnership fund, and a gateways and border crossing fund.
It was very interesting to learn that our neighbors to the north have developed a balanced program to make significant investment in their future infrastructure. I urge all of you to go to their Web site and read their vision document. This clearly is the kind of visioning effort that we hope our federal government will undertake through the proposed Federal Infrastructure Commission legislation.
The Ministry of Transport Infrastructure in Communities recently developed a vision for Canada's infrastructure for the next seven years through 2014. Their vision statement can be found at www.buildingcanada.gc.ca. They are also providing a federal investment of $33 billion over these years, which represents the single largest federal commitment to public infrastructure of this type. For Canada, this is an investment that would compare to the United States of between $500 and $750 billion dollars. Their focus is not just on building a stronger economy, but also building a cleaner environment and better communities. The funding for this effort comes from multiple sources, including a gas tax fund, general revenue, public/private partnership fund, and a gateways and border crossing fund.
It was very interesting to learn that our neighbors to the north have developed a balanced program to make significant investment in their future infrastructure. I urge all of you to go to their Web site and read their vision document. This clearly is the kind of visioning effort that we hope our federal government will undertake through the proposed Federal Infrastructure Commission legislation.
Posted by at 10:00 AM in Infrastructure