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Infrastructure is an investment, not an expense: CDAO

January 17, 2013

Ontario stimulus results renew long-term funding call

The Auditor General’s review of 2009 infrastructure stimulus spending programs points to the need for continued long-term planning say construction industry leaders. In his 2012 annual report, Auditor General of Ontario Jim McCarter followed up on the 2010 annual report on infrastructure stimulus spending. The 2010 audit focused on three infrastructure stimulus programs: Infrastructure Stimulus Fund (ISF); Building Canada Fund – Communities Component Top-Up (BCF-CC); and Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program in Ontario and Ontario Recreation Program (RINC). These programs accounted for about $3.9 billion of the total $6.9 billion federal-provincial short-term infrastructure commitment. The programs were unveiled in the spring of 2009 and the substantial completion date was set for March 31, 2011. However, at the end of the first year of the two-year programs, less than $510 million, about 16 per cent, of the total $3.1 billion commitment by the governments had actually been spent. The deadline was then pushed back to Oct. 31, 2011 to accommodate the projects that would not be complete by the original deadline. One recommendation in the audit was that the Ministry of Infrastructure should follow a more risk-based approach to designing and implementing future capital-grant programs and consider all important factors affecting program delivery, including project sustainability, reasonableness of timelines and the capacity of and demand on ministry resources. Since the 2010 audit, the province has not initiated similar infrastructure projects and infrastructure minister Bob Chiarelli has indicated that the province will continue with more long-term planning, like its current 10-year infrastructure plan. The Construction and Design Alliance of Ontario (CDAO) has pushed for recognition that infrastructure is an investment, not a cost. “The Alliance works closely with the ministry. We see willingness on the part of the Ministry and IO (Infrastructure Ontario) to always be willing to adjust the plan so extending it out further will be a natural result of this consultation. We want to see this excellent consultation and collaboration continue which will allow us to effectively address the infrastructure deficit,” said Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA) president Clive Thurston. Click Here to read the complete story by Kelly Lapointe, Daily Commercial News

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