The intent of the fund is to “help communities build and revitalize their public infrastructure that supports national objectives of productivity and economic growth, a clean environment and strong cities and communities”.
I would expect this program comes as a result of the pleas from our City and others who have aging and deteriorating infrastructure, and need this program to renew their infrastructure as outlined in their respective mandatory asset management plans, as well as to benefit from other non-capital investments in their communities.
The good news for our City is the list of eligible project categories.
The previous categories of public transit, local roads and bridges, wastewater, water, solid waste and community energy infrastructure, to name some, remain. New categories includes among others, highways, disaster mitigation, brownfield redevelopment, culture, tourism, sport and recreation infrastructure.
Thunder Bay could benefit from this funding in a number of ways, as we have many needs as evidenced by our $17 million annual infrastructure deficit.
A few projects which come to mind include continued improvement of our storm water system, and separation from the sewer system which is underway, (under the Disaster mitigation category), Conservatory renewal (under the Tourism or Cultural Infrastructure categories), Boulevard Lake and Dam upgrades (under Sports, Recreational or Cultural Infrastructure).
Improvements to our off-road cycling options may be considered under the Local Roads and Bridges category, which includes active transportation infrastructure.
The sports infrastructure category may be of interest for any future and perhaps more modest replacement to the Gardens, but it excludes facilities, including arenas, which would be used as the home of professional sports teams or major junior hockey teams (e.g. Junior A)).
Also of interest, is the “Brownfield Redevelopment” category, where the redevelopment includes the construction of public infrastructure, or municipal parks and publicly-owned social housing.
One notable point in the context is the section which encourages cities to support the use of apprentices in infrastructure projects receiving funding. Not sure exactly how that will be facilitated or enforced, but it's certainly a good idea, with the skills gap in the country.
So, there are other opportunities for Thunder Bay to benefit from the Gas Tax Refund. I don't doubt that City Administration is looking closely at the program to see where Thunder Bay can benefit, to deal with the reality that our City is spending $17 million less annually than we should be, just to maintain our existing infrastructure.
Patty Bates,
Thunder Bay
