More than 56 per cent of the nearly $100 billion is for so-called “green” and “social” infrastructure.
transportation infrastructure
Ottawa’s so-called infrastructure spending plan includes $77 million to develop regulations for driverless cars and unmanned air vehicles.
Traffic congestion isn’t just a nuisance or environmental hazard—it’s also a significant economic harm.
Premier Notley recently commissioned a report on infrastructure financing by former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge.
The current transit plebiscite, conducted by mail-in ballot across Metro Vancouver, asks whether residents are willing to support a 0.5 percentage point increase to the Provincial Sales Tax, which would generate an extra $250 million to help fund $7.5 billion worth of transportation projects tabled by the Mayors’ Council.
This spring’s mail-in plebiscite will essentially ask Metro Vancouver voters if they’re willing to pay $250 million more in sales taxes each year to fund the $7.5 billion expanded transit system proposed by a council of the region’s mayors.
Finance minister Mike de Jong recently issued a flurry of press releases touting the high credit rating of the BC government by various rating agencies. In one release he said: “The judgment of the rating agencies is an objective confirmation that by balancing our budget and keeping our debt affordable for British Columbians, our finances are on the right track.” Statements like these can mislead British Columbians about the actual state of BC’s finances, which may not be as rosy as the minister lets on.