November 24, 2016
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The federal government's new infrastructure funding is an insult to rural Canada, says Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb.
Nov. 4, during its fiscal update, the Liberals announced new infrastructure funding and proposed changes to previously-announced infrastructure spending in Budget 2016.
"These changes leave rural Canada out of most infrastructure funding options," Lobb says.
The fiscal update promised $81-billion in new infrastructure spending for initiatives across the country. Of that, $25.9-billion will be viable over the next 11 years for public transit infrastructure projects, $21.9-billion for green infrastructure projects, $21.9-billion for social infrastructure projects, $10.1-billion for trade and transportation infrastructure projects, and only $2-billion for rural and northern communities.
"Rural Canadians have been allocated only an abysmal 2.5 per cent of the Liberal government's infrastructure fund," Lobb says, adding that this bad news is coupled with the news that the $15-billion that was promised in Budget 2016 to communities for infrastructure projects will now no longer be available. Instead, the Liberal government will use the money to finance a new infrastructure bank. This infrastructure bank will provide funding only for projects worth $100-million or more, virtually guaranteeing most rural communities across Canada will not qualify.
"This fiscal update is an insult to rural Canadians" says Lobb. "Removing $15-billion previously available to communities, in order to create a centralized infrastructure bank, will not benefit Canadians; it only creates a new level of bureaucratic red tape. Infrastructure funding should be fairly available to all Canadians, not just those who live in cities. Rural Canada needs infrastructure funding, and the 2.5-per-cent funding allocation will leave our communities out."
To date, only one per cent of the announced infrastructure projects have begun construction, says Lobb. "The Liberals continue to promise huge deficits will create jobs and economic growth, but clearly, their plan is not working and Canadians are stuck with the bill."
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