Amarjeet Sohi

[Infrastructure, May 29th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we consulted municipalities, provinces, and territories before the creation and introduction of the legislation for the creation of the infrastructure bank. What we heard from our partners is that despite the historic investment we are making in infrastructure, there will still remain an infrastructure deficit. We want to mobilize private capital to ensure that when municipalities need infrastructure, they have the infrastructure to grow the economy, create jobs for the middle class, and provide opportunities for those who work hard each and every day to be part of the middle class.

[Infrastructure, May 19th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, as the hon. member mentioned, I was honoured to visit Nunavut and announce, alongside the territorial government and the hon. member, $230 million in joint funding for nine projects that will help 19 communities deal with waste management systems, improve waste water quality, and make further investments to improve water quality in those communities.

We are very proud to be making investments in Nunavut, and we will continue to work with our partners to build stronger communities in the north.

[Infrastructure, May 19th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I can assure the hon. member and the House that we will do the proper due diligence before we undertake any project, by the bank, by the private sector, by the municipal sector, by the provincial sector, people who will be involved in building that infrastructure.

Our goal is to make sure that we protect the public interest, to make sure that public dollars are protected, while we build the infrastructure that is required by our Canadian communities.

[Infrastructure, May 19th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, for almost a decade the municipal sector was neglected by the previous government. Our goal is to put forward an infrastructure plan that will help rebuild Canadian communities from coast to coast to coast.

The creation of the infrastructure bank would allow us to build more infrastructure by mobilizing private capital. That would help us to build and transform infrastructure that our communities need and deserve.

[Infrastructure, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we are engaging through our partners. One thing we have learned is that for the last decade the Conservative government underfunded infrastructure. We have a huge infrastructure deficit in our Canadian communities.

We are making historic investments of $186 billion over the next decade. Despite that, there still remains or will remain an infrastructure deficit. Our goal is to mobilize private capital to build the necessary infrastructure, to grow our economy, create jobs, and support our municipalities in helping—

[Infrastructure, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell the hon. member that he is absolutely wrong. The bank will shift the risk to the private sector appropriate to the investment that it makes. Every deal will be structured in the public interest. We want to make sure the public interest is protected.

That is why we want to attract the right people for the CEO, the board members, and the board chair. We encourage everyone to apply so that we can have the right expertise to make sure that we structure our deals in such a way that they are in the public interest, that we build more infrastructure that our communities need—

[Infrastructure, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the pension funds that I talked about are where Canadians are investing for their retirement. That is the money we want to use to build the infrastructure that our Canadian communities need. I really do not understand why the member of the opposition is so much against organizations like Caisse de dépôt, which a very credible organization, or CPPIB, the teachers fund, or IMCO. These are credible organizations that invest on behalf on Canadians, creating jobs in our own country to help us grow our own economy. What is wrong with that?

They may have issues with private investors investing. We do not, because we know—

[Infrastructure, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, after consultation with Canadians from wide experience and backgrounds, we have been able to create the right balance. We will make sure that the bank is an independent arm's-length crown corporation that is able to make decisions on its own but at the same time will be accountable to this House, to the people's House, to Parliament. As well, we will make sure that we are there to protect the public interest, that we are there to ensure that private bank funds are in the public interest and are needed to meet the needs of Canadian communities.

That is our goal. That is exactly what we are doing.

[Infrastructure, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian pension funds like the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Fund, the Caisse de dépôt, the Alberta Investment Management Corporation are credible organizations that invest in places like Latin America and Australia. We want to make sure that they invest in our own country to create jobs here in our own country so that the middle class can grow and those people working hard to be part of the middle class have the opportunity for employment, communities that need infrastructure have the infrastructure to reduce traffic gridlock, and—

[Infrastructure, May 17th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, for the entire last year, we engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, municipalities, provinces, territories, labour unions, trade councils, the IMF, the World Bank, private investors, and our own pension funds, which invest in other countries. We want to make sure they invest here, in our own country, to create jobs here for the middle class, to create prosperity here in Canada, to make sure that we build infrastructure our communities need. What is wrong with that? The NDP might have an issue with that. We do not.