Marc Miller

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the location, while key to developing and working with our private proponents, is not of capital importance, insofar as we need to focus more on the historic infrastructure that we are making and the capital that we are freeing up in order to put forth our transformative infrastructure plans for Canadians.

Toronto was chosen among other cities because it has great access to private players. That is one of the options that we entertained, and it is one of many options that we may have had, including Montreal, Halifax, and others. Calgary certainly is a great place for private capital, a great place for investment, and that is why we are investing in Alberta.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, in-depth studies require consultation with many people, as I said earlier. I will not repeat myself.

We must consult the private sector, which will make those investments. It is worth mentioning that the KPMG report, just one of the reports we saw and examined, stated that the Canada infrastructure bank will accelerate economic development and growth, create major national projects, and ensure quick decision-making, considering the development that Canada needs now and in the future.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, this bears repeating.

The session with BlackRock last fall lasted only a few hours, but we spent hundreds of hours consulting stakeholders such as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, unions, the provinces and territories, indigenous peoples, academics, engineers, construction firms, and more.

For those in the private sector, this consultation process is an extremely important part of making decisions about investments that will be leveraged to mobilize more infrastructure money to improve the lives of Canadians and Quebeckers.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we value the expertise that those in the private sector can offer and thank those people who have been giving us this input. If we are going to offer options to the private sector, we indeed need to consult these people and get their input and feedback as we put our best foot forward in how to leverage that private capital.

It bears reminding the member that the session with BlackRock lasted only a few hours, but we spent hundreds of hours consulting on the infrastructure bank, including with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, unions, provinces, territories, academics, engineers, construction firms, and more.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, this is an important question to be asked. Indeed the infrastructure bank is an effort to leverage private capital in projects where we see fit. Again, let me remind the hon. member that these projects are put forward to us and these are projects that we will, through the infrastructure bank, examine and make the right choices for Canadians. By engaging private capital in these projects, our investments will go further and free up more funding for the record investments we are making in things of importance to the member opposite, such as social housing, disaster mitigation, women's shelters, and the like.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, if we mobilize private sector dollars to build new infrastructure projects, our investments will generate more spinoffs while freeing up public funds to invest even more in priorities such as social housing, disaster mitigation, women's shelters, drinking water, and wastewater treatment.

We believe that this bank will benefit Canadian municipalities of all sizes, like the one represented by the member opposite, and we will continue to work with our partners to build better infrastructure and make good things happen for Canada in the 21st century.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we were elected on a promise to make historic investments worth $180 billion to build Canada for the 21st century.

The session organized with BlackRock lasted just a few hours last fall, but we spent hundreds of hours consulting groups like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, unions, the provinces and territories, academics, engineers, construction firms, and more.

We are proud of the scope of our consultation on the development of this bank. We look forward to continuing our discussions with various groups, while we implement this important initiative.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we value the expertise that those in the private sector can offer and thank those on the economic advisory council for their advice, for example.

We have engaged a number of actors across the country, including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, unions, provinces, territories, indigenous peoples, engineers, construction firms, and more. We are proud of this level of engagement on the infrastructure bank design. From someone who comes from the private sector, for me this is absolutely a no-brainer.

We look forward to continuing to speak with a wide range of actors. We will continue to do so, all in the interest of Canadians.

[Infrastructure, May 12th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we were elected on a platform to invest in a historic infrastructure plan, including developing an infrastructure bank.

The infrastructure bank would engage private capital to build better public transit, energy transmission, trade corridors, and more across Canada. By engaging private capital in these projects, our investments will go further and free up more funding for the record investments we are making in things like social housing, disaster mitigation, women's shelters, and clean water and waste-water systems.

[Business of Supply, May 11th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her very good question.

We committed to investing $2 billion in rural communities. That is a very important part of our plan. In addition, $500 million has been allocated to Internet service for rural and small communities. I want to emphasize that. It is an option in our traditional funding structure.

Some people think that the infrastructure bank will only fund big projects in big communities, but that is not at all the case. Here is how it will work. We will take proposals. Not all of the proposals will be approved, but Canadians and Quebeckers will be our primary consideration in selecting proposals that make sense. If a small community submits a major proposal, it will be given due consideration because the infrastructure bank has a multiplier effect. It provides access to funding, to private capital that we could not otherwise afford. Those people invest in projects that make sense for them, but when we evaluate projects, when the bank evaluates projects, it will have to put the needs of Canadians and Quebeckers, first.