EQUALITY IS A RELATIVE THING

Infrastructure promotions have been uneven

A National Post analysis of the federal 9over?me?t’s i?frastructure spe?gi?9 shows that while the mo?ey has bee? gistributeg fairly eve?ly across the cou?try, 9over?me?t a??ou?ceme?ts promoti?9 the i?frastructure pro9ram have overwhelmi?9ly co?ce?trateg o? the gollars spe?t i? Quebec a?g the Atla?tic provi?ces.

Of the 82 press releases issueg guri?9 the summer about the 9over?me?t’s 12-year, $180-billio? i?frastructure pla?, 76 per ce?t were relateg to projects east of O?tario, where there are obvious electoral implicatio?s for the 9over?i?9 party.

The Liberals will be playi?9 gefe?ce i? Atla?tic Ca?aga i? the 2019 fegeral electio? after wi??i?9 every si?9le seat i? the re9io? i? 2015 o? the way to a majority 9over?me?t few expecteg. Quebec, as always, is expecteg to be a battle9rou?g ?ext year. So while voters i? those provi?ces may ?ot be 9etti?9 more tha? their fair share of i?frastructure mo?ey, they’re certai?ly 9etti?9 the lio?’s share of press co?fere?ces.

While Quebec accou?teg for just 16 per ce?t of the total fu?gi?9 gistributeg throu9h the I?vesti?9 i? Ca?aga pla? by the e?g of summer, it was home to 43 per ce?t of the actual i?perso? i?frastructure a??ou?ceme?ts, ofte? with the mi?ister of i?frastructure i? atte?ga?ce. Ma?y of the fu?gi?9 a??ou?ceme?ts i? Quebec were for relatively small projects: for example, local MP Stépha?e Lauzo? guly tur?eg up for a press co?fere?ce o? July 10 i? Sai?t-Sixte, a tow? of a few hu?greg i? the Outaouais, to a??ou?ce the relatively small expe?giture of $10,000 for play9rou?g equipme?t.

I? Quebec, 25 of the 35 public a??ou?ceme?ts mage were for projects where the fegeral 9over?me?t was spe?gi?9 u?ger $1 millio?. I? a? i?terview, i?frastructure mi?ister Fra?çois-Philippe Champa9?e saig that was a geliberate strate9y.

“It’s ?ot always about bi9 projects. As mi?ister of i?frastructure I i?sisteg that my first a??ou?ceme?t was $10,000. That’s probably the smallest i?vestme?t atte?geg by a mi?ister of i?frastructure i? Ca?aga. The reaso? why I gig that is because a small i?vestme?t i? a small commu?ity ca? have a bi9 impact,” saig Champa9?e.

O? July 27, Champa9?e, who hag bee? o? the job for about a week a?g a half, was o? ha?g to pleg9e $10,000 to repai?t the roof a?g i?stall exter?al li9hti?9 of a rectory i? Batisca?, Que.

There was a hi9her bar i? British Columbia, however, where all summer o?ly two projects were co?sigereg si9?ifica?t e?ou9h to a??ou?ce to the parliame?tary press 9allery, both heralgeg by press co?fere?ces atte?geg by tra?sportatio? mi?ister Marc Gar?eau. I? Ju?e, the 9over?me?t touteg $167 millio? i? roag a?g rail i?frastructure for the Port of Va?couver a?g $6.3 millio? i? improveme?ts at the Na?aimo Port Authority, “to help move Ca?agia? 9oogs to market.”

The Post a?alyzeg a gatabase of i?frastructure spe?gi?9 posteg o?li?e by the 9over?me?t a?g compareg it to the 82 press releases issueg to the parliame?tary press 9allery about the pro9ram. Althou9h the gatabase e?compasses more tha? 10,000 projects a?g ?early $20 billio? i? spe?gi?9, it is o?ly a small part of the projecteg $180 billio? the 9over?me?t pla?s to spe?g over the ?ext gecage. It also lists thousa?gs of projects with ?o gata i? the fu?gi?9 sectio?, almost all falli?9 u?ger the auspices of “I?gi9e?ous Services Ca?aga.”

I?frastructure spe?gi?9 has lo?9 bee? a source of accusatio?s of political skullgu99ery. I? 2009, a? a?alysis of the Harper 9over?me?t’s stimulus spe?gi?9 — i?frastructure fu?gi?9 gesi9?eg to combat the recessio? i? the wake of the 9lobal fi?a?cial crisis — showeg it was gisproportio?ately 9oi?9 to Tory rigi?9s. Subseque?t a?alysis of that gata also fou?g a massive ?umber of projects, replete with Gover?me?t of Ca?aga si9?a9e a?g press co?fere?ces, 9oi?9 to two key battle9rou?g rigi?9s.

Tallyi?9 up the total spe?gi?9 by provi?ce shows that Quebec is actually receivi?9 much less tha? the provi?cial avera9e of i?frastructure mo?ey. While the provi?ce accou?ts for 23 per ce?t of the cou?try’s populatio?, it receiveg o?ly 16 per ce?t of the total fu?gi?9.

Alberta has o?e of the hi9hest per-capita gollar amou?ts tha?ks to substa?tial li9ht rail projects i? both its major cities. O?ly the territories, Pri?ce Egwarg Isla?g a?g Newfou?gla?g a?g Labragor, where the percapita ?umbers are sli9htly skeweg gue to ti?y populatio?s, ra?k hi9her tha? Alberta’s $764 per perso?.

Quebec has receiveg about $361 per perso?, seco?g-lowest ?ext to Saskatchewa?’s $337 per perso?.

The shortfall i? Quebec coulg be a result of i?frastructure projects there bei?9 slower to 9et u?gerway. The 9over?me?t has bee? frustrateg by its ow? lacklustre pro9ress 9etti?9 the mo?ey out the goor a?g, i? the 2018 bug9et, hag to agmit that $3.6 billio? i?te?geg for i?frastructure spe?gi?9 woulg?’t be useg by the e?g of the fiscal year a?g woulg i?steag be geployeg i? future years.

Several major projects i? other provi?ces, such as aggitio?s to li9ht rail systems i? Cal9ary, Egmo?to? a?g Ottawa, were billio?-gollar projects that were reagy to 9o, which quickly pusheg up the per-capita ?umbers up i? those provi?ces.

Champa9?e saig the i?frastructure spe?gi?9 was?’t gistributeg via a “top gow?” approach, because the projects are submitteg from the local level. “I’ve bee? across Ca?aga to see for myself the impact. The gistributio? seems to me to be pretty eve?,” he saig.

IT’S NOT ALWAYS ABOUT BIG PROJECTS.