We need to continue to invest in infrastructure at the current high levels of investment.
This was the message I took to the meeting of provincial and territorial ministers responsible for local government this past week.
As intergovernmental affairs minister, I am responsible for working with Manitoba's 198 municipal governments. For many years investment in infrastructure was ignored whether it was municipal, provincial or federal. It was municipalities that were mainly responsible for drawing attention to what they called the "infrastructure deficit." This is the amount of money needed to address the actual infrastructure needs of different jurisdictions.
There has been significant progress recently in terms of infrastructure.
Provincially we are investing in infrastructure at historic levels. This did not just happen overnight. We started our major investment on roads by committing under an act of the legislature to spend all of the money we raise on gas taxes on our roads.
We also moved to amortize the cost of the actual expenditures on our infrastructure. When I was highways minister I was shocked to find that an expenditure on roads was treated as an operating expenditure even though the road would last 40 years. We know treat infrastructure capital investments like you would a mortgage on a house.
We have also moved to invest in everything fro sewer and water to recreation facilities, including providing funding for our municipalities and Northern Affairs communities for that purpose.
There has been an improvement in terms of the federal government. It wasn't that long ago that they spent only five per cent of what they raised on gas taxes. The federal government now transfers some of their gas tax revenues to the province, which we pass on to the municipalities. It does not represent all they raise but is significantly higher. There has also been a succession of infrastructure agreements with the provinces and more recently spending through the stimulus package.
These investments are making a real difference here in the North. We have seen a major investment in our roads and increasing focus on recreation and sewer and water.
The problem is that we need to continue these levels of investment if we are going to address the infrastructure deficit. We need an ongoing infrastructure program and other investments that are not tied strictly to the recession.
There was agreement from ministers from across Canada about the need for more investment in infrastructure. I will be continuing to raise this issue locally, regionally, provincially and nationally.
