Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, on behalf of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities, I wish to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Finance for allowing SARM the opportunity to appear before you this morning. We really appreciate it.
Perhaps the most pressing matter facing rural Saskatchewan today is its road infrastructure. Rural Saskatchewan has a population of 200,000 and has 162,000 kilometres of roads that service industries vital to the nation's economy, including agriculture, oil, natural gas, and potash.
As most of you are aware, rural line and elevator consolidation, which began in the early 1990s and continues today, has created a ripple effect that has resulted in our roads being used more and more frequently, thus resulting in more and more damage. Railway companies discontinued 517 miles of track in western Canada in 2007-08 and 403 of those miles were in Saskatchewan. According to the Quorum Corporation's annual report on the grain handling system, there are plans for the discontinuance of an additional 700 miles of track in western Canada over the next few years.
Any time a rail line is discontinued, roads in our province experience an increase in use, which is why it is imperative that the Government of Canada introduce a federal rural roads program to help with the maintenance and upkeep of our roads. The rural taxpayer simply cannot afford to shoulder the consequences of rail line consolidation on his or her own.
SARM has undertaken efforts to improve and upgrade our province's roads. We have done this by initiating a program called “Clearing the Path”, in which secondary roads are improved to primary weight standards capable of carrying and accommodating the heavier loads required by our province's industries in order to remain competitive in this global economy.
A report prepared by AECOM engineering for SARM and the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs this year indicated that road construction costs between 1998 and 2008 increased by 152%. This enormous spike in costs naturally reduces the distance over which road repair money can be stretched. SARM sees no real chance that construction costs will be reduced in the near future.
A separate 2008 Associated Engineering study determined that many bridges in Saskatchewan will reach the end of their expected life in a few short years. There are approximately 2,300 bridges on municipal roads in Saskatchewan, 400 of which predate 1955. These bridges were built with the idea that they would last 60 years. In many instances, that lifespan expires in or around 2015. As well, many of them were not built to handle today's heavy truck traffic.
The AE survey determined that $100 million is needed for immediate and near-future bridge repairs over the next five years. The majority of this money will address only the most serious maintenance backlogs that currently exist.
The province has recognized the seriousness of the problem and has raised contributions to rural municipal infrastructure from $20 million to $40 million, but again, there is a need for greater help. We believe the introduction of a new federal roads program would go a great distance toward assisting rural municipalities with the challenge of providing the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the province's growing economy.
In addition to our road infrastructure, SARM also feels that our livestock industry currently faces disadvantages that make it hard for the industry to compete. Specified risk material disposal and country-of-origin labelling are two of the principal problems that create competitive disadvantages for our livestock producers. These urgently need to be addressed.
In summary, we very much appreciate the Government of Canada's assistance with municipal infrastructure, including the gas tax program and the Building Canada fund. However, further assistance is needed in the form of a federal program that specifically targets rural roads. In addition, our prairie livestock industry needs assistance to overcome its current challenges.
I want to take this opportunity to once again thank the committee for allowing us to present here today.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.