{"id":127479,"date":"2017-10-30T05:09:59","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T09:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=127479"},"modified":"2017-10-30T05:09:59","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T09:09:59","slug":"liberals-to-delay-billions-in-planned-infrastructure-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/10\/30\/liberals-to-delay-billions-in-planned-infrastructure-spending\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberals to delay billions in planned infrastructure spending"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pixabay<\/a>
The federal government regularly has to carry over, or “re-profile,” infrastructure money from one fiscal year to the next: Spending analyses have shown that about one-quarter of infrastructure funds don’t get spent in the year for which they are budgeted. (Pixabay photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals plan to shift just over $2 billion in planned infrastructure spending to future years, reflecting slower-than-anticipated spending on the file, The Canadian Press has learned.<\/p>\n

The money won’t come from planned spending in one specific year.<\/p>\n

Nor will it come from one specific program, but across multiple funds set up by the Liberals and the previous Conservative government, as well as large-scale projects overseen by Infrastructure\u00a0Canada, such as the Champlain Bridge replacement in Montreal.<\/p>\n

What the Liberals have found is that they can’t move cash fast enough out of the federal treasury for infrastructure projects around the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is about cash flow management to better meet the (construction) schedules of our partners,\u201d said Brook Simpson, a spokesman for Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi.<\/p>\n

The federal government regularly has to carry over, or \u201cre-profile,\u201d infrastructure money from one fiscal year to the next: Spending analyses have shown that about one-quarter of infrastructure funds don’t get spent in the year for which they are budgeted.<\/p>\n

The reason is that federal dollars only flow once project proponents submit receipts for reimbursement, often leaving a lag between when work takes place and when infrastructure money is actually spent. In some cases, the federal government won’t receive receipts until the end of a project.<\/p>\n

And projects themselves can be delayed for any number of reasons, such as bad weather or a labour disruption, that are beyond the control of the federal government.<\/p>\n

Infrastructure\u00a0Canada’s website shows that as of last Friday, there was about $20.5 billion left unspent across 13 different programs, including two set up by the Liberals.<\/p>\n

The Liberals promised in the last election to move unspent infrastructure money into the gas tax fund that goes directly to cities for transit, water or roads projects.<\/p>\n

The government closed out several old infrastructure programs at the end of March, giving the gas tax fund $30.1 million of money which the provinces didn’t earmark for any projects.<\/p>\n

That won’t happen with the money to be spent in future years because it comes from programs that still have years left before they expire, Simpson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFunding is being re-profiled to future fiscal years of programs that are ongoing rather than dormant, be that the New Building\u00a0Canada\u00a0Fund, Clean Water and Wastewater Fund, or Public Transit Infrastructure Fund,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to work with our partners to move their priorities forward and provide the flexibility necessary to meet their submission of claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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