March 11, 2010

Ontario throne speech

Show us the infrastructure money, Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association says

IAN HARVEY

correspondent

Premier Dalton McGuinty’s throne speech promise to export Ontario’s expertise in water-treatment technology is a wonderful plan, says Ontario Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association executive director Joe Accardi. Now if only the government would devote resources to fixing its own deteriorating infrastructure.

“With nearly half of our drinking water being lost to leakage and the infrastructure crumbling before our eyes, you’d think that a government looking to export sustainable, green technology and expertise would fix problems in their own backyard first,” said Accardi.

In the throne speech, the government says it will introduce a new Water Opportunities Act, which it says will take advantage of the province’s expertise in clean-water technology, where Ontario firms already employ 22,000 people.

The announcement is ironic, Accardi said, since the government has shied away from investing more directly in watermains and sewers because “they’re just not sexy.”

Even the ongoing $32.5 billion federal infrastructure package is being diverted away from watermains and sewers, he said, because they’re not so-called “shovel-ready” projects and often require six to eight months of engineering.

“So they’re grabbing the funds to pay for a shave and pave on roads without really addressing the underlying infrastructure issues,” he said.

His complaint that the Open Ontario Plan is short-sighted was echoed by Karen Renkema, director of government relations for the Ontario Roadbuilders’ Association.

“They talked about a five-year Open Ontario plan, but you know, back in the 2007 election, they campaigned on a need for a 10-year infrastructure plan and I have to ask, where is that 10-year plan?” she said.

Federal and provincial infrastructure stimulus funding is welcome, but she said the lack of a long-range plan is an obstacle for ministries, municipalities and businesses.

“We need those plans so we can manage our businesses,” she said. “While they’ve been very aggressive in investing in infrastructure of the last five to seven years, the Ministry of Transportation needs a longer range plan so they can keep generating their rolling five year- plans. We can’t keep going on one-off funding.”

On a more positive note, she said, the industry is looking forward to the government’s response to the Red Tape Commission and hopes it will streamline the process for infrastructure approvals.

David Zurawel, vice-president policy and government relations at the Council of Ontario Construction Associations, said the speech had little new funding directives and extended the message the provincial Liberals have been sending in the last few months.

“This is about reinventing Ontario for the future,” he acknowledges. “And preparing the province to become a leader again in the post-recession economy.”

He also cited the Red Tape Commission as a positive step, and is hoping to see more in the budget, which he expects to be tabled around March 25.

Most positive, he said, is the government’s lead on chromite mining.

The province says it will capitalize on northwestern Ontario’s deposits of chromite, a key ingredient in stainless steel. These deposits are among the largest in the world and the only source in North America.

“This will really put northern Ontario on the map and will mean a lot to the mining sector and of course, construction for us,” he said. “It’s good for the Aboriginal community too.”

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