JOHN FELDSTED -- Taxpayer funds to buy votes in major metropolitan centres -- meddling in provincial affairs

CBC NEWS: Ottawa to invest $1.3 billion in Blue line extension -- the investment corresponds to about a third of the expected total cost

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It is hard to know where to begin with what is wrong with this announcement. For starters, it is just in time for the fall federal election.

Local infrastructure is a provincial jurisdiction. The federal government has no constitutional authority to spend money on local infrastructure unless:

• The subway connects Quebec with another province or port; or
• The subway is of benefit to two or more provinces; or
• The subway can be declared of benefit to Canada as a whole.

Secondly, we have to look at populations and shares of cost. When sort through that:

• The City of Montreal is putting up about $1.995 billion
• Quebecers living outside of Montreal are putting up about $1.497 billion; and
• Canadian living outside of Quebec are putting up about $1 billion.     

As a Manitoba resident I have a problem with subsidizing a subway in Montreal.

Budget 2016 committed $14.4 billion focused on accelerating federal investments in the short term by providing funding for the rehabilitation, repair, and modernization of existing public transit, green and social infrastructure. Additional funding was targeted towards post-secondary education and broadband access for remote communities.

Budget 2017 made an additional $81.2 billion of funding available across five priority infrastructure streams: public transit, green, social, trade and transportation, and rural and northern communities' infrastructure.

Our federal government has created two programs. The Smart Cities Challenge and the Canada Infrastructure Bank to manage about $96 billion in funding. It is apparent that the federal government wants to control which major infrastructure projects will be funded in cities and municipalities although this is a clearly a provincial jurisdiction.

To see how our funds are being spent, visit the Infrastructure Canada funding site.

$42.3 billion in funding covering 48,195 projects has been approved. That is a bit over 12% of our projected annual budget of $330 billion and we know very little about exactly where the funds have been spent. That is just over half of the funds currently allocated.      

Samuel de Champlain Bridge

$42.3 billion is a little more than double our annual federal deficits.

The spending is unconstitutional meddling in provincial jurisdictions that allows the federal government to make announcements and appear to be working for us.  We begin to understand how insidious and destructive this regime is.

It is unsurprising that two examples of Infrastructure Canada’s investments are in the $4 billion Samuel de Champlain Bridge connecting Montreal with her south shore commuter communities and now the $4.5 billion Montreal subway extension.

The federal government is unlawfully using taxpayer funds to buy votes in major metropolitan centres.

Federal preoccupation with meddling in provincial affairs to appear to be leading the nation instead of paying attention to its responsibilities has to end.   

John Feldsted

Political Consultant & Strategist

Winnipeg, Manitoba