Mayors across Central Alberta can look to the future knowing they will have money for infrastructure from the federal government.
“I heard that there's definitely going to be some money coming to this province and it's going to be specific,” said Jim Wood, mayor of Red Deer County. “There's going to be some relaxed guidelines which I believe will definitely help municipalities,” he added, noting that he believes much of the funding will be geared towards water, wastewater, transit and similar areas.
Wood said that while he was pleased with what he heard from the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi, he also had concerns about what he didn't hear.
“I wanted to hear something about how we're going to get people back to work. I wanted to hear something about how our pipelines are going to be built, and how we're going to be able to transport all of the oil and grain and other commodities that we are definitely going to need to move in order to keep people working,” said Wood.
In its 2016 budget released on March 22, the federal government announced $120 billion for infrastructure projects across Canada over the next 10 years. Wood said there was no specific amount allocated for Central Alberta as of yet, but he was pleased to hear some good news.
“I am happy to hear that some of the money that was supposed to be given out a few years ago is in fact now going to be fast-tracked,” said Wood, referring to the $700 million earmarked for Alberta by the former Harper government in 2014.
“In 2014 the previous government allocated a significant amount of money for Alberta but very little of that money has actually been invested in infrastructure,” said Amarjeet Sohi, minister of infrastructure and communities. “Our government's goal is to allocate that 700 million dollars as quickly as possible and expedite that to deliver on the infrastructure needs of Alberta.”
Wood noted some additional areas in the county that he feels need infrastructure funding.
“One thing that I definitely think is important is that we do have wastewater and water systems (from all municipalities in the county) that will have to be looked at,” he said, noting an increase to 50 per cent of the federal government's share of the Building Canada Fund, which means a reduction of money contributed by the province and municipalities.
“I looked at that as a very positive number,” said Wood. “I'm not sure how we would fit into the scheme of things in our county at this time, but it was very interesting to hear some of these changes.”
