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If there were one issue that should have dominated last week’s federal budget speech, it would be the need for infrastructure investment. As it stands, the country’s infrastructure deficit is estimated to be between $350 billion and $400 billion. And while the government’s announcement of a “new” Public Transit Fund is welcome, much more needs to be done.

Early 2014, the Harper government launched a New Building Canada Fund (BCF) as a continuation of the original BCF put in place in 2007. Sounds pretty good, and simply an extension of what the provinces and municipalities have become accustomed to receiving from the federal government. However, there are noteworthy differences.

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Up until last year, the BCF was supporting projects of “national, regional, and local significance” with annual federal investments in the order of $1.6 billion. Under the New BCF, the annual contribution was reduced to just $210 million in 2014-15. That’s a budget cut of 87 per cent.