Good afternoon. I'm Glenn Campbell, assistant deputy minister at Infrastructure Canada. I'm joined by Niko Fleming, a chief at Finance Canada.
Division 18 of part 4 would establish the Canada infrastructure bank, announced first in the 2016 fall economic statement, as well as in budget 2017. For reference, the proposed amendments are clauses 403 to 406, which can be found on pages 236 to 248 of Bill C-44.
Please allow me to begin by providing some background and context around the proposed bank. Then I'll walk through the contents of the proposed legislation at a high level, and finally, we'd be happy to answer any questions.
The Canada infrastructure bank is intended to provide innovative financing for new infrastructure projects and help more projects get built, including those transformative projects that would not have otherwise been built in Canada, by attracting private and institutional investment. The proposed bank is part of the government's overall “Investing in Canada” infrastructure plan of more than $180 billion. Federal support for infrastructure would continue to be delivered largely through traditional infrastructure models. The Canada infrastructure bank represents less than 10% of the total planned amount.
The bank would be one tool that government partners, particularly municipal, provincial, and territorial, could choose as an option to build more infrastructure projects. The bank is a new partnership model to transform the way infrastructure is planned, funded, and delivered in Canada. Leveraging the expertise and capital of the private sector, the bank would allow public dollars to go farther and be used more strategically, with the focus on large transformative projects such as regional transit plans, transportation networks, and electricity grid connections, just as examples.
This is a review of the legislation. The legislation proposes the Canada infrastructure bank act and can be grouped into six main areas, including incorporation, mandate, function and powers, governance, funding, and accountability. I will address each of these in turn.
I had prepared a rather lengthy response to cover the contents of the bill, so it's up to you whether....