OTTAWA’S INFRASTRUCTURE CASH WON’T INCLUDE STC FUNDS
Canada’s infrastructure minister, Edmonton MP Amarjeet Sohi, was in Saskatoon on Friday. He sat down with Alex MacPherson to talk about what the government’s plan to spend billions of dollars in the coming years will achieve — and what it won’t.
Q What is the state of your government’s infrastructure investment in Saskatchewan?
A Since taking office, my department has approved more than 4,000 projects with a combined investment of $35 billion, with provincial, federal and municipal dollars. For Saskatchewan that meant more than 150 or so projects that we approved for public transit, water (and) waste water projects, roadway projects and many other projects.
Q What can we expect to see in Saskatchewan over the coming years in terms of federally funded infrastructure projects?
A In budget 2016, we allocated more than $100 million or so for two specific areas of investment in infrastructure. Moving forward, we will be investing in four areas: public transit, water (and) waste water, green infrastructure and recreational-cultural infrastructure.
Saskatchewan will receive a significant amount of money from us to do the necessary work. We are in the process of negotiating our bilateral agreements.
Q Over the last year, we’ve seen significant numbers of people dropping out of the labour force. How optimistic are you that infrastructure spending can reverse that trend in Saskatchewan?
A I’m very optimistic … I’m from Alberta. Life has not been easy for the last number of years in Alberta and Saskatchewan and some other provinces that rely on the natural resources. But we see the recovery. We’re seeing the recovery in more jobs, better jobs and we are very hopeful that as we continue to invest we will see economies in Saskatchewan and Alberta recover more.
Q Is the federal government planning to invest in inter-city transportation to restart the shuttered Saskatchewan Transportation Co.?
A The decision of the provincial government to divest from this service is their decision. As a federal government, we do not get involved in the day-to-day operations of any public transit system, whether it’s inter-city or within municipalities. What we focus on are the capital investments.
Q The federal government has committed $18.6 million to Saskatoon’s rapid transit system, including money for the new bus rapid transit plan. Is more money coming?
A I will be meeting with Mayor (Charlie) Clark later on. I am looking forward to learning from him what the aspirations are of Saskatoon.
Q What kinds of projects will the government’s new infrastructure bank support in Saskatchewan?
A Our goal is that through the bank we can engage institutional investors; we can engage the private sector to build more infrastructure. The bank will supplement what we already do. It will undertake large projects that otherwise may never happen. (If ) it’s too expensive for the public sector to undertake and too risky for the private sector to undertake, what we are saying is the bank will facilitate that collaboration … and see the viability and feasibility of such a project and make it happen. This interview has been edited and condensed.