Close X
Friday, January 10, 2025
ADVT 
National

Liberal Infrastructure Changes Mean Money For Ferries, Small Roads

The Canadian Press, 25 Apr, 2016 11:03 AM
  • Liberal Infrastructure Changes Mean Money For Ferries, Small Roads
OTTAWA — Provincial governments are being told the first phase of the Liberal infrastructure program will cover the cost of new projects, as long as they are completed in three years.
 
The message is contained in letters from federal Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi to his provincial counterparts to be made public today  .
 
Project costs for transit and waste-water and water-treatment projects will be eligible retroactive to April 1, "so work can begin immediately," Sohi writes.
 
The first phase of the Liberals' promised 10-year infrastructure plan wraps up in 2019 — just as the country heads to the polls in a federal election — and is mostly focused on repairing aging roads, pipes and transit systems across the country. It is also designed to lay the foundation for the second and more lucrative phase of the Liberal plan by covering planning costs for larger projects.
 
"There is money for design, there is money for planning and there is money for doing small projects if they are ready to move ahead with them," Sohi told reporters at the Liberal cabinet retreat in Kananaskis, Alta.
 
"There are big challenges related to not doing the rehabilitation and the repairs that are necessary and for Phase 2 we have already started consultations with (cities) and that's where we will have the opportunities to support transformative projects."
 
 
The first two years of the new program includes $6.6 billion in cash for provinces and cities, not including money promised to First Nations infrastructure or to universities.
 
The Liberals pledged in the budget, flowing from a campaign promise, to double infrastructure spending over the next 10 years to bring the overall federal investment to $120 billion.
 
The letters Sohi sent out last week also outline changes to the government's existing marquee infrastructure program, known as the New Building Canada Fund.
 
About $8.7 billion remains from the provincial and territorial stream of that fund and the letters make clear the Liberals want the remaining money allocated to projects within the next two years.
 
The Liberals have previously vowed to speed up the federal approval process for money under the fund unveiled by the previous Conservative government in 2014. 
 
The letters say the government is expanding the projects eligible under that program, including work on modest highways and roads in smaller provinces like Prince Edward Island, that previously didn't qualify because they weren't big enough in scope or impact.
 
The federal government is also going to fund eligible project costs for ferry systems that provinces like B.C. wanted included in the fund. 
 
Sohi writes the government plans to cover up to half the cost of disaster-mitigation projects, including those that would fight floods in provinces like Alberta and Manitoba, and any projects delivered as a public-private partnership, known as a P3.
 
 
The government has removed the requirement for communities to always look for a private-sector partner on projects, but hasn't abandoned the idea: In a speech last week at a conference on public-private partnerships, Sohi said the government believes some projects are best suited to a P3, citing the new Champlain Bridge in Montreal and the Gordie Howe International Bridge in Windsor, Ont.

MORE National ARTICLES

Saskatoon Mom Sentenced For Stabbing 6-Year-Old Son Says She's 'Remorseful'

Saskatoon Mom Sentenced For Stabbing 6-Year-Old Son Says She's 'Remorseful'
The woman pleaded guilty last month to aggravated assault and on Monday, court heard details about what happened in March 2013 at her home with her two boys, then aged six and nine.

Saskatoon Mom Sentenced For Stabbing 6-Year-Old Son Says She's 'Remorseful'

Wildfires Force Northeastern B.C. Evacuation Orders But Cooler Weather Expected

Wildfires Force Northeastern B.C. Evacuation Orders But Cooler Weather Expected
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Three evacuation orders remain around the northeastern B.C. community of Fort St. John and at least one property was destroyed Monday when high winds and warm temperatures sparked wildfires. 

Wildfires Force Northeastern B.C. Evacuation Orders But Cooler Weather Expected

Scaffolding Collapse In Toronto Sends Seven People To Hospital

Scaffolding Collapse In Toronto Sends Seven People To Hospital
Police flocked to a construction site in the city's Forest Hill neighbourhood around 2:30 p.m. after the accident at a building currently being turned into a new public transit stop.

Scaffolding Collapse In Toronto Sends Seven People To Hospital

Mom, Three Kids Found Safe In British Columbia Interior

Mom, Three Kids Found Safe In British Columbia Interior
Angela Clarke, her two daughters and son were reported missing early Sunday morning when they didn't return home from a planned cycling trip at East Barriere Lake, northeast of Kamloops.

Mom, Three Kids Found Safe In British Columbia Interior

Ontario Woman Who Killed Elderly Neighbour Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison

Ontario Woman Who Killed Elderly Neighbour Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison
Sharon Baksh, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 89-year-old Aletta Rusnell, will receive credit for the time spent in custody before trial, leaving her with seven years, eight months and 13 days to serve.

Ontario Woman Who Killed Elderly Neighbour Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison

Ontario Provincial Police To Review Amber Alert Response

Ontario Provincial Police To Review Amber Alert Response
The alert was issued more than four hours after the girl was allegedly snatched from her mother's house in Aurora, Ont., north of Toronto.

Ontario Provincial Police To Review Amber Alert Response