As the Commission of inquiry into the collapse of a portion of the de la Concorde overpass (the "Johnson Commission") found, although the province of Quebec, like most provinces, maintains one or more databases of bridges and overpasses in its jurisdiction, the data maintained were not sufficient. The Commission recommended that the Quebec transport department, as well as larger municipalities, implement an accelerated, comprehensive and easily accessible on-line system, containing all records and data relevant to bridge and overpass structures in the province, including reports on inspections and repair activities.
This information will allow all three orders of government to develop key elements of a national plan, such as:
• planning for the total investment required and its timing, which is key for federal, provincial/territorial and municipal budgeting;
• tailoring the plan and priorities to fit unique regional, demographic or geographic needs, rather than relying on national, one-size-fits-all approaches; and
• setting accountability measures, such as interim progress milestones, and the objectives of the plan (the elimination of the municipal infrastructure deficit).
Equally challenging are constantly changing, ad hoc definitions of what constitutes infrastructure in successive federal programs, definitions that fail to account for the full range of municipal infrastructure. Municipalities are responsible for a broad range of infrastructure beyond water, sewers, roads and bridges.28 An agreed-upon definition of infrastructure must be developed that recognizes all municipal infrastructure and the importance to communities of having the full range of this infrastructure.
Other factors that must be considered include the impact of new environmental regulations, which can dramatically increase need and, by extension, limit municipal capacity to deal with the infrastructure deficit,29 and extreme weather due to climate change, which is putting new strains on infrastructure, accelerating aging and deterioration and increasing the risk of failure.
If Canada is to prosper, municipal infrastructure investments must support the economic potential of our cities and communities. For this to happen, financing must reflect the long-term nature of infrastructure investments, which will require a long-term investment plan with agreed-upon priorities. This plan must bring long-term certainty to infrastructure funding, which will promote new efficiencies, technologies and best practices in infrastructure delivery.
Any serious plan to address the municipal infrastructure deficit must begin with an acknowledgement of the scope of the problem and the urgent need to address it. This study represents the first step toward a real plan.
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28 These include community centres, libraries, recreational facilities, assisted housing, parks and, in some cases, childcare facilities. Infrastructure investments aimed only at more traditional projects, such roads or water systems, have often had the perverse effect of penalizing municipalities that have properly planned, financed and managed this category of infrastructure.
29 For example, the costs for municipalities to comply with new wastewater standards proposed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment and Environment Canada have been estimated at $8 billion to $12 billion, which could increase by as much as 10 per cent the need for new infrastructure.