Transport Committee on April 22nd, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Please make a brief comment, Gerard. We're over time.

[Gerard Peets, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy and Results, Office of Infrastructure of Canada]

Our programs measure GHG impacts based on a baseline. The Environment Canada processes factor in economic growth and measure infrastructure investments compared to a standard of economic growth.

As to the specifics of the question, we'll have to get back to you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Peets, Mr. Bachrach and Ms. Gillis.

We're now going to move on to our next set of questions. Mr. Soroka, you have five minutes.

[Gerald Soroka, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I'll be splitting my time with Mr. Kram.

This government always seems to be focused primarily on how much money they can spend and how fast they can spend it. We see this in the federal budget and we see this within the department. However, if the only metric for success is how much money the government can spend, since the other ones are being revitalized, then it appears the government is falling down on that front too. The recent Auditor General's report said, and I quote:

We found that the programs contributing to the Investing in Canada plan were not spending their allocated funding on projects as quickly as planned.

I am hoping you can elaborate on the reason the money is not getting out the door as fast as government would like.

[Kelly Gillis]

When we look at the overall plan, we can see that it involves 21 departments, 93 programs and 12 years. We've just completed our fifth year, so we're just at 40%. As a government, overall we have committed $81 billion, and as at the end of January, $48 billion has been paid related to those commitments, and that relates to a whole host of different programs and services related to infrastructure.

If I concentrate just on our own types of infrastructure investments that we do know are making a difference in communities, we've invested in 1,100 community centres across the country. We are investing in light rail in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto. Those are important announcements that are—

[Gerald Soroka, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Okay, Chair, we're short of time. We're going to have to go to Mr. Kram.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Ms. Gillis.

Go ahead, Mr. Soroka.

[Gerald Soroka, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

I'll pass it to Mr. Kram now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you. Mr. Kram, go ahead.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses from the Office of Infrastructure Canada for joining us today.

Back in February, 17 members of Parliament, including me and Mr. Fillmore, signed a letter in support of Ronald McDonald House Charities. The letter was sent to the Minister of Finance and cc'ed to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities as well as the Minister of Health and the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity.

The letter explained that Ronald McDonald House Charities provide accommodation, meals, peer support and many other services to take care of an entire family while their child is being treated in a nearby hospital. Ronald McDonald House Charities were looking to expand their network of houses and services across Canada.

Maybe I missed it in the recent budget, but I didn't see anything in the budget for Ronald McDonald House Charities, so was their request formally denied or just ignored?

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Go ahead, Ms. Gillis.

Mr. El-Khoury, can you mute yourself, please? Thank you.

Ms. Gillis, go ahead.

[Kelly Gillis]

I would have to look into that particular letter, because offhand, I am not aware of that particular request.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

All right.

In just more general terms then, perhaps you could provide some friendly advice to Ronald McDonald House Charities about how they could qualify for funding. If they had promised to put solar panels on the Ronald McDonald House or something like that, would that perhaps make them qualify for some of the funding announced in this week's budget?

[Kelly Gillis]

As we look at non-profit organizations and opportunities for the services that they provide, depending on the program, they may be eligible. I would be happy to have a conversation with them to understand more about what their opportunity is and to direct them to the right place, whether it's our programming or other programming within the federal government.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Well, it certainly was a disappointment to see that they were not included in this week's budget. I don't think I have enough time left to get into too many other details, so I will just leave it at that.

Thank you to the witnesses.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Kram.

We'll now move on to our next set of questions.

We have Mr. Fillmore. I'm asking that Mr. Fillmore try to split his time with Mr. Iacono, as we're trying to fit everybody in here.

Mr. Fillmore, you have the floor.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I'll just say thank you to Mr. Kram. The letter was a very good letter. I know that Ronald McDonald House is seeking enhanced funding across the country. They are getting projects funded. They had one funded in my riding here in Halifax, for example. Thank you for raising that. We can follow up later.

Ms. Gillis, first of all, I want to thank you and your team for all your incredible hard work and dedication. Because of your work, there are Canadians across the country who have jobs. There are communities across the country that are having their infrastructure renewed. I give a sincere thank you to you and your team for helping that happen.

When we look at the 10-year agreement that the Conservatives signed on the gas tax fund in 2014, we see that it does not require provinces to provide detailed reporting on each project or its outcome. In that context, I'm saddened to see that the Conservatives are trying to drum up false claims, as we've heard in the first hour, that there are missing projects.

I know it took a lot of work for you to correct the lack of reporting in the Conservative programs. I'm wondering if you can clarify that there are, in fact, no missing projects, and that they're all accounted for.

[Kelly Gillis]

I can indeed confirm that there are no missing projects, and we have provided the PBO with a full accounting of the projects. At the time, there were 52,000. Now there are 67,000, because every day there are new projects that are approved. We worked with the 21 departments to provide the information to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

I can go further and say that we have a funding table on our website with all of the programs for the $188 billion. In the Auditor General's paragraph 9.40, she says that the project list in the funding table does provide a full accounting for the plan, so there is no question that we have been able to report on the full plan and provide the information to the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the Auditor General.

That said, there are different levels of information that are available, such as for the gas tax. We don't get the same level of detail as we do for other programs that apply directly to us or other federal departments.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Thank you for that, Ms. Gillis.

Mr. Chair, I'll yield the remainder of my time to Mr. Iacono.

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Thank you, Mr. Fillmore. Thank you, Ms. Gillis.

Mr. Iacono, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, my dear colleague, for giving me the rest of your speaking time.

Since 2015, our government has invested $430 million in Laval to improve our transportation, our roads, and even our water infrastructure. That has been tremendous.

However, we also know that in 2014, the Conservative government cut the Building Canada fund from $1.7 billion to $210 million. So we saw a decrease for the 2014–15 period.

The Office of Infrastructure of Canada is projecting significant contributions of over $2 billion. More money is being invested to fund streams of the new Building Canada fund.

Can you tell us why more money is needed and what it will be used for?

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Ms. Gillis, you're on mute.

[Kelly Gillis]

Thank you very much for the question.

Communities are in need of significant infrastructure investments. We are working on our programs to ensure that they meet the specific needs of the communities. We are working to ensure that our new programs, such as the green and inclusive community buildings program, make it possible for communities to access targeted funding for buildings that need to be built or repaired. It's important that our programs continue to meet the needs of our communities now and into the future.

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

Thank you.

I'd like to ask you a few more questions.

Have the infrastructure needs that existed yesterday increased or decreased, and why?

[The Chair, Liberal, Vance Badawey]

Go ahead, Ms. Gillis.