December 5, 2012

CEO pushes for reliable infrastructure funding

TORONTO

For the last two years, Consulting Engineers of Ontario (CEO) has been pushing for long-term infrastructure planning and reliable funding at the provincial level.

The association, which represents 215 engineering firms across the province, now has lent its support for action at the federal level, attending a recent media event in Toronto hosted by the Municipal Infrastructure Forum.

The forum, a coalition that includes the Canadian Construction Association (CCA), came together to ask that the federal government include its pending long-term infrastructure plan in the next budget.

For its part, CEO is committed to a more reliable and sustainable long-term infrastructure program in Canada, a point emphasized in its submission for Ontario’s Building Together plan and at the Toronto regional workshop on infrastructure investment last July with Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities Denis Lebel.

“CEO does not believe in long-term investment in isolation,” said Barry Steinberg, CEO of Consulting Engineers of Ontario. “We believe in investment that results from long-term planning. This distinction is not subtle.”

In a statement issued following the event, Steinberg said a strategic infrastructure plan and budget is required that includes municipal asset management programs as a means by which to measure success.

“Financing decisions must also be made using well developed decision-making criteria, which are used to select the project delivery models that emphasize public safety and life-cycle costing of our assets,” he said.

DCN NEWS SERVICES

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