Evidence of meeting #133 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:05 p.m.
Edmonton Riverbend, CPC
Yes. His words were that absolutely there will be consequences.
12:05 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
—and the degree of consequences is what we are in commercial discussions with right now.
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Liberal
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Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Thank you very much.
I appreciate the extension of the time so that I get a chance to ask a few questions.
Mr. Keenan, I am delighted to see some airport improvements coming to coastal British Columbia and the interior. Do you have any specifics or any background information on what we're doing in Port Hardy, Sandspit and Penticton?
12:05 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Transport
Yes, we do. I will turn it over to my assistant deputy minister of programs, Anuradha Marisetti, who is actually in charge of the program.
Would you give an update with a couple of details on those?
12:05 p.m.
Anuradha Marisetti Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs, Department of Transport
Sure.
On Port Hardy, some of the things they're doing with the resources are refurbishing and upgrading the equipment maintenance, the garage, to store the large, heavy equipment which, in the past, would be outside and subject to wear and tear.
At Penticton airport, most of the resources are going towards refurbishing the air terminal building.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
That's very good. Thank you.
Ms. Gillis, when we talk about infrastructure projects, generally speaking, in the past, the pattern has been for government to roll out massive infrastructure investments when we have a recession, when there are interests in getting things built and putting people to work. The direction we're taking now is not that. We're far from a recession. We're in a very buoyant economy with employment and a lot of other things in the best shape they have been in decades.
In your view, going forward and in your dealings with the provinces, what's the value in these investments that are being made right now?
12:05 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
When we're looking at infrastructure, infrastructure is a key enabler for the long term. The investing in Canada plan is a 10-year program to look at what are the important investments that communities need to make to ensure that they have their infrastructure as a key enabler, as an economic driver, in a way that's looking at a green infrastructure and upgrades.
It's not the short-term build, although there are often jobs and economic activity with that. The real benefit is actually the infrastructure being put to use within those communities.
If we look at transit, it is for mobility of our communities, of our urban centres; or investments in waste water, so we have safe drinking water for our communities; or investments in bridges, so that we have good mobility that allows for trade to happen.
It's the long-term opportunities that the infrastructure provides that Infrastructure Canada is looking at right now with its current programming.
12:05 p.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Do you have a sense as to the amounts allocated by province?
12:05 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
We do. If you go to our website, we have a geospatial map that you can actually click on and you can go to your province. You can go to B.C. and you can drill down into your community, and on there you will see all of the projects, not just from Infrastructure Canada.
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Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
I was actually just looking for the macro amount. I'd like figures, please, for B.C. and Ontario.
12:05 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
Okay.
For B.C., since November 2015, we have 326 projects that have been approved, for a value of $3.3 billion. That is for B.C. right now. That does not include gas tax.
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Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
Gas tax would be separate for that.
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Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
What are the figures for Ontario, and when was the last project for Ontario approved?
12:05 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
I would have to get back to you on that particular point. I don't have that information, but I can get back to you.
12:10 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
For Ontario, since November 2015, we have 2,188 projects for a value of $6.3 billion.
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Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
How many projects—again, can you not tell us how many projects have been approved in the last year for Ontario?
12:10 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
In the last year, I can.
I know it's 266 nationally, but I don't have that broken out by province in my head. I will try to get that, and if I can't get it to you right now, I can certainly provide it to the chair for her to share with the committee.
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Maybe you can just interrupt the next conversation with those numbers if you have them. It would be nice to have them here.
That's fine for me. Thank you.
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Liberal
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Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I do want to thank our witnesses for joining us this morning. It's already been pointed out that an hour and a half is not enough time to hear from the many of you who took time out of your busy mornings to come and answer any questions that we have. I think it goes without saying, in follow-up to the comments of my colleague across the way, that we do value the work that you as public servants do. I do want to thank you for that and recognize that you're called here—replacing the ministers, whom committees actually would like to be able to hold accountable for the decisions that are made, because we recognize that it is their decisions that you are then tasked to follow through on. So, I would just thank you for being here.
I guess in response to some of the other questions—
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
Angelo Iacono Liberal Alfred-Pellan, QC
Chair, I'd like to make a clarification based on her comments. Her colleagues have made a similar comment with respect to the presence of the minister.
The minister has appeared 12 times at TRAN during this Parliament, for a total of 14.5 hours of testimony. This included five appearances on estimates.
I'd like to also point out that in the previous Parliament, under the Conservative government, transport ministers made a combined nine appearances at TRAN for a total of nine hours of testimony. Six of those appearances were on estimates.
12:10 p.m.
Liberal
