$6B infrastructure package enough to shovel a molehill

It's $232 billion short. That's right, the Harper government's $6 billion infrastructure "stimulus" package is TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO BILLION dollars short, when you add together the funds required to repair existing facilities to those needed for future growth.

Jean Crowder is the (NDP) MP for my riding. In an article she writes in one of today's local papers, she cites several problems with the Harper shovels-in-the-ground budget.

Since 2007, three major flaws ensured that the $33 billion Building Canada Fund has flowed very few dollars: an excess of red tape, reliance on private-public partnerships (P3s), and the fund's reimbursement model, rather than upfront funding.

Even if the first two could somehow be managed, the last means that the poorest communities and hence the ones most needing help will be unable to access these "stimulus" dollars.

Recommend this post