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Distracting attention from disappointing delays is something done by all governments. And the Trudeau Liberals gave a master lesson on that dark art last week.

That distraction came in what NDP Parliamentary Leader Guy Caron calls a “face-saving” announcement from the Infrastructure Bank.

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The Bank was announced by Finance Minister Bill Morneau with much fanfare in his 2016 budget. In spring 2017, Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi told privatization interests the Bank would fund exactly – exactly! – $186 billion in infrastructure projects by 2029.

Less breath-taking, though possibly more honest, the Bank’s CEO this spring said no investment deals would be likely until fall 2019. Then, this summer, Minister Sohi was replaced by Francois-Philippe Champagne. And something else changed.

Last Wednesday – contradicting his previous fall 2019 timetable – the Bank CEO announced a $1.28 billion loan to expand the REM, a Montreal-area rapid transit line. And he promised a flurry of deals this fall.