Speaking Notes for the Honourable Lawrence Cannon Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

Government of Canada Investments in Infrastructure and Environmental Leadership for CanadiansHouse of Commons Debate

Ottawa, Ontario
February 1, 2007

Check Against Delivery

Mr. Speaker,

I welcome this opportunity to speak today on this motion, and to highlight the efforts Canada's New Government has undertaken to deliver real environmental improvements through targeted infrastructure investments. I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Louis-Hébert.

I will outline for Canadians and Parliamentary colleagues, Mr. Speaker, how this government is delivering true environmental benefits across Canada through its targeted infrastructure spending efforts.

I will also highlight how this Government is working extensively with partners at the provincial, territorial and municipal level to focus our efforts on infrastructure priorities.

These priorities include improvements to Canada's water supply, and improvements to mass transit that are paying immediate dividends in improving the quality of life.

But first, Mr. Speaker, I think it's important to provide some background on Canada's infrastructure needs. The former government did not focus its resources on closing the infrastructure gap, and that has resulted in significant challenges and pressures on this country's infrastructure.

According to estimates from a Transport Canada study, the cost of highway congestion in Canada's major urban centres, in economic terms, is about $3.7 billion a year – almost $1.7 billion in the Toronto region alone. This figure does not include the financial impact in terms of our health and quality of life.

Transportation is one of the major sources of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and this sector will play a key role in efforts to improve air quality for all Canadians.

The substantial movement of goods and people required by a modern economy has consequences for the environment, including air and water pollution. This translates into real social and economic costs which affect the health and quality of life of Canadians.

Growth in trade and the continued dominance of just-in-time delivery models in the freight sector are also leading to significant increases in activity.
Overall, freight movement is expected to increase by an incredible 60 per cent between 1990 and 2020, with the largest growth in the aviation and trucking sectors. From 1995 to 2003, the freight moved by truck, measured by tonne kilometres, increased by 63 per cent.

What do those numbers mean? They mean major air pollutants from transportation activity – including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds – have been increasing, leading to the formation of ever-increasing amounts of smog. Transportation has been linked to 81 per cent of Canada's total carbon monoxide emissions and to 60 per cent of Canada's total nitrogen oxides emissions.

Transportation is also the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. Total transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions increased by 25 per cent between 1990 and 2003. Approximately two-thirds of these transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions occur in urban areas.

Smog has been linked to numerous health related problems, including cardio-vascular ailments and respiratory diseases, notably increased asthma rates among children.

Let me try to tell you what that translates into in terms of costs to Canadians. The Asthma Society of Canada estimates over $12 billion is spent annually on asthma treatment. Some 12 per cent of Canadian children have asthma, and every year, almost 150,000 Canadians visit an emergency room for an asthma attack.

Does reducing traffic congestion alone deal with that issue? Unfortunately, it does not, but reducing traffic congestion through increased mass transit use will make a difference in the long run, and if that means fewer Canadian children suffer with asthma, so much the better.

To that end, we have introduced new measures to encourage greater use of mass transit while at the same time funding the expansion of mass transit programs. As a government, we believe we must provide the means, and the encouragement, to ensure Canadians embrace mass transit in a more meaningful way.

For example, we have provided $1.3 billion for mass transit, to reduce congestion in urban centres, cut back on carbon dioxide emissions and improve the quality of life in our cities - $900 million in a public infrastructure trust fund and $400 million in the form of agreements with the provinces and territories.

When I was president of the Société de transport de l'Outaouais, I was able to see first-hand not only the importance of mass transit in a growing community, but also its urgent need for sustainable and reliable funding.

But when we talk about transportation, we should not be thinking only of big bucks and major projects. For many people, getting to work or elsewhere and returning home is a daily concern and consumes a significant share of their personal budget.

For example, it has been calculated that, in 2003, Canadian households spent an average of $8,353 on transportation, less than for housing, but more than for food.

That's why Canada's new government is giving mass transit users a federal tax credit to cover the cost of their monthly pass.

The impact on the greenhouse gases reduction equals removing 56,000 cars from our roads each year.

This investment in helping Canadians with the cost of bus passes is a tangible effort to provide them relief from the burden of transit costs.

Mr. Speaker, our priority is clear: we will help Canadians by helping the Canadian economy, and we will help the Canadian economy by investing in environmental improvements that enhance the lives of Canadians. This virtuous circle has, at its core, the recognition that this is a joint effort, that the federal government must partner with, and support, other levels of government.

In addition, all of the infrastructure programs of Canada's new government include environmental objectives such as reducing greenhouse gases and improving the quality of water and air.

As this government's First Budget and Economic Update and Forecast made clear, we are committed to long-term investments in infrastructure. We are developing an infrastructure plan now.

In creating this plan, we have consulted the provinces and territories, the municipal sector and many stakeholders on the most effective way to use our investment in infrastructure to:

• foster a more competitive and productive economy;
• improve the quality of life in Canadian communities;
• make concrete improvements to the environment; and
• ensure transparency and accountability for Canadians.

In the near future, and taking into account our commitment to re-establish fiscal balance in Canada, we will be letting you know how we plan to work with our partners to enable Canadians to benefit from the money invested in infrastructure.

But we have already seen tangible investments in environmental improvements. Members will understand if I draw on examples from my home province to illustrate a pan-Canadian approach.

For example, we are investing up to $36.5 million in the Quebec City Rivière St-Charles Waste Water Project which will keep polluted rain water run-off out of the St. Lawrence and St. Charles rivers. We have invested $58.5 million in the Montreal Atwater and Des Baillets water treatment plants.

Across Quebec – from Lac-Aux-Sables to Magog to Rawdon – we are investing in improving to water treatment facilities and wastewater treatment plants. These investments – made in partnership with the Government of Quebec and municipalities through the Gas Tax – bring real results to the people of Quebec, no matter where they live. These investments already total almost $300 million for improvements to water in the province under a variety of existing programs.

Canada's New Government is taking action to ensure we tackle air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. We are also targeting infrastructure at a more basic level, with the recent announcement of more than $2 billion dollars in EcoEnergy initiatives to help Canadians consume smarter.

On the bigger picture, Budget 2006 confirmed the government's commitment to the Gas Tax Fund, providing $5 billion over five years to municipalities. The Gas Tax will help municipalities achieve key objectives such as cleaner air, cleaner water and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

To this end, funding will go towards capital costs for environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure such as public transit, water and wastewater systems and more efficient transportation projects with sustainability outcomes.

Projects vary from the very large to very small. The City of Toronto and the Greater Vancouver Regional District are investing all of their funding in public transit - almost $715 million.

Montreal will receive some $180 million in gas tax funding, and those funds will also be allocated to public transit.

Smaller jurisdictions are adding their gas tax funds to their own funding to make possible projects such as upgrading wastewater treatment and rebuilding local roads.

To complement the Gas Tax Fund, a $400-million Public Transit Fund was created to support investment in public transit that will clean up the air and reduce GHG emissions. So far, we have signed bilateral agreements with 11 governments.

As with the Gas Tax Fund, planning is a key component of the Public Transit Fund. All local governments that receive Public Transit Funds must already have or develop a Transit Strategy. The larger the municipality, the more robust the strategy.

As a condition of many infrastructure contribution agreements, the Government encourages municipalities to build sustainable development considerations into their planning processes. In some public transit investments, we have required the purchase of hybrid buses.

We have also ensured that projects are consistent with long-term transportation and land use plans, and supported complementary transportation demand management measures to reduce single occupant vehicle use. Under the Gas Tax Fund, we require all municipalities to develop long-term plans that provide direction to communities to achieve a sustainable future.

The Government of Canada plans an unprecedented additional support for infrastructure programs in Canada.

Over the next few years, the federal government will provide a total contribution of $16.5 billion for provincial, territorial and municipal infrastructure projects.

But no one level of government alone can solve all the problems facing cities and communities.

Our success as a country depends on the establishment of solid and constructive partnerships that respect the responsibilities of every order. That is why we are working with provincial/territorial and municipal/rural governments to meet current and future infrastructure needs.

This is further proof of the determination of the new federal government to take action now to protect the health of Canadians and the environment by strengthening the competitiveness and sustainability of our economy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.