Evidence of meeting #64 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 report.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Vance Badawey Liberal Niagara Centre, ON
Madam Chair, let's look at this realistically. We're going to have either recommendations or a report to deal with. My question is for the analysts.
What are your thoughts? Are you going to have this report to us?
11:30 a.m.
Committee Researcher
We're still on schedule for Monday at end of the day.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Vance Badawey Liberal Niagara Centre, ON
Okay, so that's your schedule.
I'm assuming, because you guys are great, that you are going to have these reports to us.
11:30 a.m.
Committee Researcher
It's up to the translator at this point. Our job is done.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Vance Badawey Liberal Niagara Centre, ON
Okay, so we can have this report. We'll get the report, or if we don't get the report, which would be an anomaly for you guys because you usually stick by your schedule with much discipline, then we'll be looking at the actual recommendations.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
When you say, “Go over the recommendations,” I think it will be interesting to go over them if we don't have a report in hand to sort of refer back to the testimony. We have often had discussions when we're trying to—I guess—consider what the recommendations are actually trying to address.
If members think we can just have recommendations in front of us since we may not have the report, I just don't know how that works. I guess that if that's what we're left with, that's what we're left with.
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
We'll certainly have the report Monday evening. It's a question of how much of it we are able to read through and absorb, and so on and so forth.
As mentioned, let's push for the minister and officials to come. If they can't, we know we're going to be dealing to some extent with the aviation study. We'll do the best we can. If we find it too frustrating, then we'll just do the best we can to get as much done as we can from that avenue.
We're now going to move on to—
11:30 a.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
11:30 a.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
11:30 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
We're going to talk about Mr. Bratina's motion. We had as a committee agreed to two meetings, and whatever day that was last week, on Tuesday, it was suggested that we use the time, the four extra meetings that we are going to have on smart communities and infrastructure, to also talk about water quality and so on. But at the end of the day, there will need to be two reports, so what's your suggestion, Mr. Badawey?
June 8th, 2017 / 11:30 a.m.
Liberal
Vance Badawey Liberal Niagara Centre, ON
I guess I have the advantage of having folks here. I'm not sure about Mr. Aubin, but many of us have sat on municipal councils in the past, and have had the opportunity for many years to put together a layered process that brings us to a point of smart investments.
I'll preface my comments by saying this, Madam Chair. Right now you have many announcements that both Minister Sohi and Minister Garneau are making that align, quite frankly, very much with what we're hearing from different mayors across the country, big and small cities, but especially from the small to medium-sized cities, with respect to the need for infrastructure dollars. That's the “what”, by the way. That's the “what”, the creation of a community improvement/growth plan.
The next layer then is, “Okay, what's part of that plan?”
When we look at underground, we look at water, sewer pipes; when we look at on-ground, we look at roads, sidewalks, parks. Then you get to the more appealing investments such as the beautification of downtowns, and the list goes on.
As former mayors, we all get that.
Having said that, now we have to get to the “how” we are going to make those investments. The “how”, as announced by Minister Sohi, is technology and innovation. Instead of the traditional lights, go with LEDs. Instead of having five wastewater plants that run themselves, put a SCADA system in place so that one system runs five different plants, and the lists go on. That's the next layer.
Then after that, I can foresee the committee starting to discuss the alignment of the economic side of investing in infrastructure. That being, for example, in Mr. Berthold's constituency, rail and how we can possibly look at future investments that can economically benefit your constituency that might have a niche or a strength with respect to transportation when it comes to rail. In my constituency, it's the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Welland Canal. You can see how it widens.
Lastly is the most recent announcement by Minister Bains when it comes to superclusters. Now we look at our areas and this is how it widens now; and this is having a vision to then make proper investments for better returns in a wider area, those returns being economic, social, and environmental.
Now we talk about the superclusters, and how the smart cities initiative, the investments made, a more efficient and effective way of doing business—the “what”, the “how”—can actually create more economic development opportunities based on superclusters, that being not just business, but also the infrastructure that attaches that business; hence, the reason the business is there in the first place.
If you follow me, you can see that the process starts here and gets bigger and bigger and bigger, but ultimately what it does is two things. One, I'll use the word “encourages”; it encourages a discipline to start making investments that create better returns. Secondly, it also disciplines that those investments be attached with asset management and therefore proper financing, and therefore not saddling future generations with infrastructure deficits or debts, as we today are. I'm sure you have pipes in your city that are 80 years old. That shouldn't be the case for the next generation.
I know I'm running through this in a short way so I won't talk too long, but at the end of the day I'm hoping you can see the vision with respect to the process of the smart cities initiative that we're going to start on, and how it relates and aligns with what we are doing as a committee. Equally as important—and you may not like this, but with all due respect, it is what it is—it aligns with the direction that we're taking as a country, as a government, with respect to trade, transportation, job creation and, ultimately, investing in infrastructure and ensuring that those investments are attached to returns on those investments.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
11:35 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
At the end of the day, we'll have to have a separate report referencing Mr. Bratina's motion, so you want to wait and not do any further work on Mr. Bratina's motion. We'll incorporate it into the work we're going to do on smart communities when we have FCM and other folks here as part of our questioning on what cities are doing with their lead pipes and so on and so forth. It's an opportunity to flag it and profile it, but at the end of the day we need to do two separate reports that reference back—
11:35 a.m.
Liberal
Vance Badawey Liberal Niagara Centre, ON
It's part of those investments, those smart city investments, to get rid of lead pipes.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
In the meantime, because we chose to take an hour to discuss Mr. Bratina's motion, what's the process now? Do we report it back to the House? What do we report back to the House? I assume it would get put on the schedule at some point in time, to be voted on.
11:35 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
We have until December 1 to report back, so the idea is to utilize the time we're working on smart communities to do some questioning as well on Mr. Bratina's motion, but at the end of the day the analyst would do two clear reports back to the House.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
Then I concur with Mr. Badawey and think that we can deal with it in the fall.
