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Tallying up the total spending by province shows that Quebec is actually receiving much less than the provincial average of infrastructure money. While the province accounts for 23 per cent of the country’s population, it received only 16 per cent of the total funding.

Alberta has one of the highest per-capita dollar amounts thanks to substantial light rail projects in both its major cities. Only the territories, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, where the per-capita numbers are slightly skewed due to tiny populations, rank higher than Alberta’s $764 per person.

Quebec has received about $361 per person, second-lowest next to Saskatchewan’s $337 per person.

The shortfall in Quebec could be a result of infrastructure projects there being slower to get underway. The government has been frustrated by its own lacklustre progress getting the money out the door and, in the 2018 budget, had to admit that $3.6 billion intended for infrastructure spending wouldn’t be used by the end of the fiscal year and would instead be deployed in future years.

Several major projects in other provinces, such as additions to light rail systems in Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa, were billion-dollar projects that were ready to go, which quickly pushed up the per-capita numbers up in those provinces.

Champagne said the infrastructure spending wasn’t distributed via a “top down” approach, because the projects are submitted from the local level. “I’ve been across Canada to see for myself the impact. The distribution seems to me to be pretty even,” he said.

A cabinet shuffle in mid-July saw Champagne take over from Amarjeet Sohi, who was shuffled to the natural resources department. Under Champagne, the frequency of announcements has spiked, with the new minister attending 18 events compared to Sohi’s six.

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