Liberal Infrastructure Critic Gerard Kennedy said today that Transport Minister John Baird is breaking his own program rules by not requiring and publicizing progress reports for $12 billion in infrastructure spending.
“Minister Baird is wrong when he says he’s not responsible for monitoring his department’s spending,” said Mr. Kennedy. “His own rules say his job is to ensure every taxpayer dollar is used well for the right purposes.”
The Ministry’s own reporting and public interest guidelines for the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, stipulate funding recipients must submit quarterly progress update reports on each infrastructure project. This week however, Minister Baird said it is not the federal government’s role to monitor infrastructure spending.
“Minister Baird already has engineered the perfect worst outcome,” said Mr. Kennedy. “He delayed funding for months so he could set his rules and personally choose the projects he wanted but now it is clear this means much less, not more, accountability and effectiveness for taxpayers.”
Municipalities, universities and other organizations are struggling with the consequences of delays from Ottawa in late season tenders, partial tender responses and higher prices in some cases. At last count 73,000 more construction workers were unemployed, waiting for infrastructure stimulus programs to kick in.
Last January, municipalities asked – and Parliament agreed in March– for half of the funding to be sent to them by the gas tax transfer system so they could get projects started without missing the construction season. Minister Baird refused, dismissing this proven, effective and accountable method as akin to writing “a blank cheque
“Minister Baird can’t decide to duck because it’s now politically convenient to say he doesn’t know why his projects aren’t happening,” concluded Mr. Kennedy. “If the program he designed is failing, Minister Baird is responsible for fixing it – and he remains responsible for every federal dollar spent, ensuring that projects get done properly, at a reasonable price, while creating the new jobs and economic growth he promised.”
