The Canadian National Newspaper: Conservative infrastructure funding delays results in lost Canadian jobs

VANCOUVER - Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s failure to let earmarked federal funding flow to infrastructure projects has cost Canadians’ jobs, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says.

“This Conservative government has consistently failed over the last three years to flow infrastructure funding to provinces and municipalities – which has delayed repairs to roads, water infrastructure and investment in public transit,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “In the last month alone, 44,000 Canadians working in construction lost their jobs, while Mr. Harper let billions in funding for job-creating infrastructure projects lapse.”

Mr. Ignatieff pointed to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) estimate that there are over $13 billion worth of municipal infrastructure projects that are shovel-ready. These projects have the potential to stimulate the economy by creating more than 150,000 jobs. The only reason preventing them from getting underway is Conservative delay.

“If the Conservatives had properly managed the nearly $3 billion in infrastructure funds they had set aside for the past three construction seasons, tens of thousands of jobs could have been created,” he said.

Mr. Ignatieff called on the Prime Minister to come clean with Canadians on why federal infrastructure funding has been so slow to reach municipalities when he meets with provincial and territorial premiers on Friday.

Mr. Ignatieff said that instead of delivering a comprehensive infrastructure strategy, the Conservatives have been playing a shell game with federal funding – repackaging and rebranding existing government programs to create the Building Canada Fund.

Since its creation two years ago, the Building Canada Fund has flowed less than $300 million of its $1.5 billion in budgeted spending. What’s worse, from 2006 to 2008, the Conservative government lapsed over $2 billion in infrastructure investments, preventing taxpayer dollars from being put back into the economy.

Unlike the Harper government which has refused to engage Canada’s mayors on key municipal issues such as infrastructure, the Liberal Party remains committed to working together with all levels of governments to meet the needs of our cities and communities and help get Canadians back to work.

“For the past three years, Canadians have heard a lot of talk about infrastructure from Prime Minister Harper but have seen very few results,” said Mr. Ignatieff.

“Mr. Harper must tell the premiers, territorial leaders and all Canadians why he has failed to deliver this funding for job-creating infrastructure and explain what he will do differently to ensure his failures do not continue.”

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