Evidence of meeting #19 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was bank.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Thank you, Mr. Scheer.
Thank you, Ms. Gillis.
We're now going to move on to Mr. El-Khoury.
Mr. El-Khoury, you have the floor for five minutes.
Liberal
Fayçal El-Khoury Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My first question is for Ms. Gillis.
Ms. Gillis, the Minister recently drafted a new statement of priorities and responsibilities for the Canada Infrastructure Bank. She has provided the organization with the government's direction on investment priorities. It is my understanding that the Canada Infrastructure Bank's board of directors is ultimately responsible for making decisions on specific investments.
Could you outline the key changes announced in this new statement of priorities?
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As the Minister mentioned, one of the major changes in the priorities of the Canada Infrastructure Bank is a new $1 billion investment target for indigenous infrastructure projects.
Another change is to work on high-speed Internet access and connectivity—
Liberal
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
I'm not sure if it's happening for others, but I'm getting the French and the translation at the same volume.
February 25th, 2021 / 4:45 p.m.
Liberal
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
I tried muting my original audio, which worked before, but it didn't work this time.
My apologies, Ms. Gillis, for interrupting.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
I'm sorry, Ms. Gillis.
If the clerk could check into that, I'd appreciate it.
Ms. Gillis, go ahead.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
Thank you.
It's about focusing on priority areas, such as broadband connectivity and access to high-speed Internet, and having—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
I'm sorry, Ms. Gillis. Now we're not getting any translation.
Translators, are we all right?
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
[Technical difficulty—Editor] in French.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Mr. Clerk, how are we making out?
Let's try this one more time.
Ms. Gillis, continue.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
First, as I said, one priority is a new $1 billion investment target for indigenous infrastructure projects.
Second, we need to work in the areas of—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Excuse me, Ms. Gillis.
We're getting both. We're hearing both Ms. Gillis loud and clear and the translation, and the one is muffling the other. I'm not sure what you can do at your end, but we'll take 30 seconds to see if we can fix that and then we'll continue with Ms. Gillis.
Mr. El-Khoury, I've stopped your time.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
If I speak in English, would that help?
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
It's still going to be a problem?
Okay.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
You can be our tester to speak in French so that we resolve the problem.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
Okay.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Ms. Gillis, I'm going to let you go again and let's see what happens. Go ahead.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
Regarding the board of directors, one new priority concerns the indigenous communities—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Okay. I'm sorry. We're still getting both.
Ms. Gillis, how about speaking in English? If the interpreters can resolve that problem in the meantime, it would be appreciated. I'm just trying to respect the time.
Go ahead.
Deputy Minister, Infrastructure and Communities, Office of Infrastructure of Canada
Okay. Thank you very much.
In the letter of the statement of priorities and accountabilities, the main focus areas were the priority areas for investment, namely, a continuation of trade and transportation, transit, and green, but also more specificity to allow for connectivity, given the urgency today of connectivity and high-speed broadband Internet in rural and remote communities, as well as the billion-dollar investment in indigenous communities.
Last, like the minister, I'll just mention the national infrastructure assessment and the importance of having an evidence-based understanding of what is important, what the gaps are and how we can address and prioritize them for the Canada Infrastructure Bank to be able to support us where their model makes sense, and what those opportunities could be.
Those would be some of the key areas the minister outlined in her letter to the board of directors.
