Water.ca - The Water Chronicles

July 30, 2010


	When Hindsight trumps Foresight On January 16, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) presented the Federal government with a list of over a 1,000 shovel-ready infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy. The Federation is asking that the government make job creation the key policy objective of a new short-term infrastructure program; use the Gas Tax Fund (GTF) model to flow money quickly; and cut red tape to accelerate major projects. Shovel-ready projects are those that do not appear in a municipality's 2009 funded capital budget, but could be started in 2009 with additional funding. There are 386 proposed water and wastewater projects across the country with a total budget of around $2.7 billion and an estimated job creation potential of 30,915. The highest number of Water/wastewater projects is in British Columbia with 183, followed by Ontario with 110, New Brunswick with 34, Saskatchewan 22, Alberta and Nova Scotia 12, Yukon 8, Quebec and North West Territories 2 and Manitoba 1. In most cases, these are small and medium-sized projects focused on the rehabilitation of existing infrastructure; patching up and catching up to the old rather than ushering in the new. Although it could be argued that national strategies to improve Canada's ecosystems and surface water are a provincial and federal responsibility, there is no overall vision to this wish list, and measures to counter climate change challenges are nowhere to be found. If the federal government declines to fund all these projects, there is also no indication as to which ones should be given the go-ahead? While the FCM should be lauded for being the first out of the gate to propose solutions to stimulate economic recovery, it offers no comprehensive analysis giving priority to projects that are most urgent and would have the greatest impact. Water infrastructure issues are rampant across the country. Which ones are most threatening to our health and lives? Is replacing lead pipes a better bet than upgrading water treatment, reinforcing dikes to prevent flooding, stopping stormwaters overflows, managing sewage or installing new meters to monitor the water we use? These are questions that should be addressed on a national basis. What the FCM is presenting us with is fragmented, city-centered wish list that may help the economic recovery in the short-term but does not suggest any long-term improvement to our municipal infrastructure as we face the new problems brought on by emerging contaminants and a changing climate. The Daily Commercial News provides a complete list of every project by province on its website, our report focuses on water/wastewater, providing a list of proposed projects in each municipality. Click on the links below to view our report on the municipal projects proposed in that province. BRITISH COLUMBIA ONTARIO NEW BRUNSWICK SASKATCHEWAN ALBERTA NOVA SCOTIA YUKON QUEBEC NORTHWEST TERRITORIES MANITOBA More News on main site WEEKENDER Archives