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16 Dec 08

"Need for infrastructure investment nears crisis point," by Mike De Souza (National Post)

Yet another article on the massive infrastructure crisis in Canada, and the federal attempts to boost the economy by putting money into infrastructure upgrades.

www.nationalpost.com/story.html - Preview

national_post canada cities infrastructure_funding infrastructure federal bailout

Canada's crumbling cities are on the verge of getting a multibillion-dollar makeover through a federal strategy that is being billed by the government not only as a shot in the arm for a fragile economy, but also as a long-awaited plan to rebuild the backbone -- from roads to sewage treatment -- of our communities.
For years, the country's ever-growing "infrastructure deficit" took a back seat to other priorities. Now it is on the lips of virtually every politician as a key solution for tackling an economic slowdown by providing funds to companies bidding for contracts and putting people to work.
The Conservative government introduced its Building Canada plan, an infrastructure strategy worth $33 billion over seven years, in its 2007 budget. But key stakeholders have raised doubts about whether it would be enough to fix the problems that are becoming more costly to resolve with each day.
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- Despite repeated warnings since the 1990s that much of the infrastructure has reached the end of its service life, the federal government is at least five years away from completing a study to get a handle on the extent of the problem.
  Perrault's federation estimates that cities would need at least $123 billion to bring essential public infrastructure up to acceptable levels and an additional $115 billion to build infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing population.
  Within that $123 billion, the Federation estimates that $31 billion would be needed for water and waste water systems, $21.7 billion for roads, sidewalks and bridges, $22.8 billion for public transit, $7.7 billion for waste management and $40.2 billion for community, recreational, cultural and social infrastructure.
- A study by economic forecasting firm Informetrica estimated that every billion dollars invested in infrastructure would create the equivalent of 11,000 jobs, including 5,500 in the construction sector. At the same time, the study estimated that better infrastructure could translate into savings for the private sector of up to 17 cents for every public dollar invested. The manufacturing sector, for example, could see reduced maintenance costs if delivery trucks are travelling on better roads.
  - Jeez, why does it all have to focus on ROADS for CARS and TRUCKS??? - on 2008-12-16
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"Need for infrastructure investment nears crisis point," by Mike De Souza (National Post)

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