Notley urges construction
Premier eyes ‘ shovel- ready’ projects but opposition wary of debt levels
Premier Rachel Notley said Thursday the NDP government is looking to accelerate spending on capital projects in Alberta and wants municipalities to help make the case that more money for infrastructure is needed.
But while municipal leaders are embracing the idea of pumped- up capital spending, opposition parties are sounding the alarm over increasing debt levels.
Speaking at the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association annual convention Thursday, Notley said the government is “taking a very careful look at the timing, the pace and the priorities of Alberta’s capital plan.”
The premier said that while Alberta grapples with tough economic times due to sliding oil prices, increased spending on capital projects would help maintain jobs in the short term and boost the competitiveness of the economy in the long term.
In her keynote address, Notley said municipalities have a significant need for more provincial dollars to go to waste and wastewater projects, flood control, public transit, roads and highways.
“I need you to make these points loudly, clearly and with enthusiasm to reassure the people of Alberta that the time is right for a significant additional reinvestment in the infrastructure in this province,” she told the municipal leaders.
“We are looking carefully for useful, well thought- out, shovel- ready initiatives that make sense to green light this fall.”
The NDP will also be looking at a “substantial additional sum” to be added into the government’s fiveyear capital plan, she said.
Notley’s government, elected this May, will release its first budget later this fall after the legislature resumes on Oct. 26.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said the city has a long list of unfunded capital projects, from water and sewer to transportation and community infrastructure, that could easily be fast- tracked with new money from the province.
“We would very much be ready to bring forward projects,” Nenshi said.
“We’re very, very happy to do that.”
The premier detailed the fiscal challenges now facing the province, with Alberta’s economy expected to shrink by 0.6 per cent this year and energy sector capital investment plunging by a projected $ 25 billion.
It’s estimated more than 35,000 oilpatch jobs have disappeared so far this year, while the province’s deficit could top $ 6 billion.
The federal election campaign, which wraps up with the vote on Oct. 19, has already focused attention on the issue of infrastructure spending.
But Nenshi has talked about the city taking advantage of low interest rates and low construction costs to stimulate the economy by accelerating capital projects — with or without money from other levels of government.
“You’re going to be hearing some talk this fall about self- stimulus, about us bringing forward our own projects,” he said.
“But if there’s ability to leverage money from the federal and provincial governments, and depending on what happens on Oct. 19 there may be federal money as well, we have a long, long list — and we’re ready to go.”
The city’s major unfunded capital projects — such as the $ 4.6- billion Green Line transit line — are unlikely to be considered shovelready, but require substantial cash. Areas that could be moved on more quickly include smaller projects such as bus rapid transit ( BRT) routes.
The NDP isn’t the first Alberta government to see a need to boost capital spending, both to address an infrastructure deficit and to act as an economic stimulant.
The previous Progressive Conservative government, first under Alison Redford and then Jim Prentice, committed to significant infrastructure spending covered, in part, by taking on debt.
The provincial budget released this spring — but never passed under Prentice — called for $ 6.4 billion in capital spending this year as part of a plan projecting $ 29.5 billion in expenditures over five years.
In turn, the province’s capital debt was to grow to $ 31.2 billion by 2019.
Notley noted her government has enlisted former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge to review the province’s infrastructure plan and part of his job was to assess the province’s capacity to ramp up spending.
“I believe there’s a great deal of potential there,” she said.
But opposition parties, while acknowledging the importance of infrastructure, are leery about the government’s intent to increase spending.
“It concerns me the amount of debt that’s piling up,” said Wildrose infrastructure critic Dave Schneider. “It doesn’t seem, standing back, that there’s a plan for the amount of debt.”
Schneider also questioned whether capital projects can be hurried in the way the government anticipates.
While the PC government pledged a massive push to build new schools, many of those projects have been plagued by delays, he noted.
Interim Tory Leader Ric McIver, who served as both transportation and infrastructure minister in the previous government, said promising infrastructure dollars will always go over well among municipalities.
“What’s missing for me is how she’s going to pay for it. And if she’s going to borrow money, how much and how long to pay that back,” said McIver, a former Calgary alderman.
“She told the easy, popular part of the story today.”