Transport Committee on March 21st, 2018

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Through you, Madam Chair, thank you so much for the question, and congratulations on your new role as critic for the infrastructure and communities portfolio, Madame Sansoucy.

I can assure you that the process we undertake for the selection of board members, board chairs, or the CEO of the Canada Infrastructure Bank is open, transparent, and accountable, and vigorous screening is applied to any possible or perceived conflict. The rule for the chair or the CEO is that they will not have any vested interest in any projects that get reviewed or funded by the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Thank you.

My next question also concerns the Infrastructure Bank of Canada. James Cherry, one of the bank administrators, has spoken in favour of the privatization of airports. We simply want to make sure that the administrators who are appointed will not be promoting the privatization of airports.

Have you abandoned the project to privatize airport authorities, or not?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Through you, Madam Chair, the mandate of the Canada Infrastructure Bank is not to look at current infrastructure and privatize it; the mandate is to actually build new infrastructure, to only engage in building new infrastructure. We are very clear. The issue of airport privatization is not in the mandate of the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Thank you.

I have a question for you, Madam Chair.

We know that we will have to go and vote. I simply want to know how you will ensure that we vote on the motion before we go to the House.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

We have indicated to the minister that at 5:15 we would go into committee business. If we have unanimous support, of course, from the committee, even though the bells are ringing we'll be able to have 15 minutes of committee business.

The first thing we'll do is vote on your motion.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Okay. Thank you for that clarification.

Let's continue.

In the supplementary estimates (C) expenditures, which we are discussing today, we see that $2 million is proposed for the Infrastructure Bank. Can you tell us in detail what that amount will be used for?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

I'll ask Deputy Minister Kelly Gillis to respond.

[Kelly Gillis, Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada]

The money in the interim estimates for the Canada Infrastructure Bank is to support staff and some professional services in the transition and the opening of the bank. We have a very small transition team in supporting the bank and becoming operational.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Very well. Thank you.

Over the past five years, Infrastructure Canada has on the average spent $1.1 billion less per fiscal year than the amount authorized by Parliament. On the average, the unspent amounts represent 24.8% of the amounts approved. I am the member of Parliament for a riding made up of 25 municipalities that have enormous needs. Do you not find it problematic that Canadians are not benefiting from infrastructure funds that have been approved?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Through you, Madam Chair, there's no funding that has lapsed in the infrastructure programs at all. What we are referring to is the reprofiling of funding that already has been approved for the particular projects, only until we are able to receive the invoices and pay their money out.

We are very pleased to work with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities as well as provincial and municipal associations. They're generally very happy with the way the infrastructure funding is being invested in their communities. As I said, we have approved a number of projects. After listening to the communities, we have also given them extended time to complete those projects, because they were feeling that under phase one there were so many projects that were being funded that they needed additional time to complete those projects. That's why we have given them additional time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Minister.

We'll move on to Mr. Fraser.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll be sharing my time with my colleague Mr. Hardie.

Minister Sohi, thank you for being here.

As you know and have been keen to discuss with me before, I primarily represent small towns and rural communities. When it comes to infrastructure funding, there are some historical challenges that the communities I represent have faced. The smaller they are, the bigger the challenge, it seems. The primary challenge is that historically there has been a requirement that these smaller communities chip in maybe a third of the cost of a project, for example. One of the things this leads to is that rural communities often miss out on having any presence of the federal government in their community, which particularly compounds the social problem of young people leaving our communities because they're less vibrant and they don't have access to the same resources that others do.

Our rural caucus has been advocating for a change in the way we do things, to have a carve-out for small towns and rural communities and to change the share that small communities are required to contribute in order to access federal infrastructure funding. What's your plan to make sure that small communities like the ones that I represent in Pictou County and Antigonish on the eastern shore aren't left behind when it comes to federal infrastructure dollars?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

We appreciate the range of diversity that exists in our country, cultural and linguistic and geographical diversity, with our large-sized urban centres, mid-sized communities, small communities, and rural northern communities. We want to make sure that every community gets the necessary support from the federal government. That's why we have created this dedicated funding of $2.4 billion to support rural and northern communities on projects and also to get northern communities off of diesel and on to a more sustainable source of energy.

You have identified something that we have heard very loud and clear from MPs as well as from mayors and councillors in small communities. What we are doing moving forward is that instead of having the cookie-cutter approach that every community must match one-third of the funding, the province must match one-third, and the federal government gives one-third, we are changing that formula for communities with populations of less than 5,000 people. The federal government will pick up the cost at 60% of the funding, and provinces will provide one-third of the funding. That takes a lot of pressure away from local communities. They will only contribute a small amount. Their tax base is very limited, and we feel this is a transformational change when it comes to supporting small, rural, and northern communities.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you, Minister. This is transformational. This is going to make a very big difference for me at home.

Madam Chair, I'd like to share the remainder of my time with Mr. Hardie.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Actually, I'll cede my first question to my colleague Angelo.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you.

Thank you, Minister.

My question is very simple. It is about the Champlain Bridge. We know that it is an essential structure for the province of Quebec and for the economy. Today we are examining a request for $62.5 million. Could you explain in detail how that amount will be used?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

I'll ask my staff to talk about the amount, but as I said earlier, 65% of the work on Champlain Bridge is completed. If you drive by there, you can see the bridge emerging from the water. I think there are some pictures being passed around that you can look at on the funding appropriated in these estimates.

[Kelly Gillis]

Thank you for the question.

As you see, in the estimates under capital expenditures, there's a total of $760 million. In our agreements on the Champlain Bridge, the majority of that—almost all of it, other than a very small component—will be going to our commitments to meet our proponent's payments for the construction of the bridge this year. All but $2 million will go to the payment that we are due to pay for bridge construction.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

I have a quick question for the home team here. I want to talk about Surrey's light rapid transit line. Using that as an example, you've had some questions about the money not being spent. Saying that you've announced it but it hasn't gone out the door is a little mischievous, I think, because many of the people who are asking the questions know full well how these things work.

Using the Surrey LRT as an example, how much money are we dedicating to that project, and when will we actually run up and stuff it in somebody's pocket? When will we rush out there with a cheque and present our portion of that particular project?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Through you, Madam Chair, what we are doing to support Surrey's LRT project is that we have given approval for a funding commitment from the federal government for the design and planning work of that large infrastructure project. That work is being done.

You're absolutely right, though, that the design work would not have proceeded without the federal government's commitment to that project. We haven't paid any money out yet because we have to wait for the invoices, right?

It is very important to understand that such large projects cannot be possible if the federal government is not at the table to support the ambitions of local governments. That is why I am so proud that we are investing $29 billion in public transportation—LRT systems and subway systems—throughout the country to make sure that people are not stuck in traffic, that our air is clean, and that we are dealing with the pollution and the environmental degradation resulting from the changes in climate. Public transportation is very important.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much, Mr. Sohi.

We'll go on to Mr. Badawey.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, I have to say it is refreshing that at this level of government we're seeing a shift to a culture that takes partnership into consideration and takes into consideration being more of an enabler for our partners, the public, and the private sector to meet their strategic goals and therefore their outcomes.

What I've heard today that you've been doing that by integrating investment for better returns on investments in environmental, economic, social, and cultural projects. They're very proactive projects.

I too, as Mr. Sikand has alluded to, received $81 million for transit in Niagara, which was actually leveraged—once again, leveraged—to $148 million. That is the largest transit investment in the history of the Niagara region. We're very appreciative of that.

My point is this, Minister: we're seeing a lot of these investments and, as I said earlier, there is a culture shift with respect to investments being made by taking into consideration all the different priorities of all the different ministries.

We spoke with Minister Garneau earlier. We talked about the national transportation strategy. We talked about trade corridors. We talked about the ports modernization project. We talked about infrastructure investments attached to those recommendations that will satisfy the financial requirements. We talked about municipal strategic planning and private sector leveraging.

In your words, how do you see everything coming together and meeting those four priorities, which are economic, social, environment, and cultural?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Through you, Madam Chair, when we were designing the long-term infrastructure plan, we had all those objectives in mind. How do we create economic growth that benefits everyone? How do we build a stronger middle class? How do we provide opportunities for those Canadians who work hard each and every day to join that middle class and to build inclusive, welcoming communities? That's why everything we do is focused on those objectives.

Another thing that is transformational is that our partners looked for long-term sustainable and predictable funding. This 10-year plan gives every municipality a 10-year horizon to know how much money they're going to get for those four areas of investment so that they can start planning and prioritizing the needs of the local communities. The ad hoc approach did not work in the past. This sustainable approach will help.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Minister, regarding the announcement today of the $125 million facility that UPS is putting in place in Montreal, which will be 180,000 square feet, taking advantage of our infrastructure—mostly transportation, of course—how do you find that these investments you've made will help complement the investment that UPS is going to make in Montreal?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Can you tell me what UPS is?