February 19, 2004

Remarks to The Public Policy Forum
by David Caplan, Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal

Check Against Delivery

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

Let me begin by thanking you for the opportunity to speak here today. I was delighted when I received the invitation.

I have been looking forward to the opportunity to speak about the broader policy goals and objectives of the new Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal.

The ministry was created just 119 days ago to facilitate the one overarching priority of our new government, which is the delivery of quality public services to the people of Ontario.

Ontarians demand good health carethat means hospitals have to be built and maintained.

Ontarians demand great public educationthat means schools have to be built, expanded, upgraded and maintained.

Ontarians demand safe waterthat means treatment plants, sewer lines, long term planning, and attention to detail.

Ontarians demand good, safe communities that workthat means managing the growth of those communities in lockstep with the infrastructure that will support that growth.

In all of these cases and many others, there is a direct link between public infrastructure and the public services Ontarians need and deservethe services they elected the McGuinty government to improve and protect.

And that’s where the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal comes in. Our job is to pave the way – sometimes, quite literally – for the delivery of those services.

The ministry was created to capture and merge the critical roles played by two previous government organizations: SuperBuild and Smart Growth.

The connection between these two areas is obvious.

What has become just as obvious is how much sense it makes to have the two areas think in tandem, rather than in separate government silos.

Making public infrastructure a priority involves more than maintenance and ensuring a state-of-good-repair.

Yet, on this front alone, we face billions of dollars of deferred maintenance costs of public assets across all economic sectors. That’s just to fix up what we have today.

Our infrastructure also has to keep pace with our growth. So that means our infrastructure has to be planned – and planned well ahead.

Possibly more than any portfolio in government, infrastructure requires playing what Premier McGuinty calls “the long game.”

We have to be thinking beyond the next electionand beyond the election after that.

The Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal is in the process of developing a 10-year strategic infrastructure investment plan for Ontario.

It will ensure that Ontarians have access to modern and efficient infrastructure where they need it, when they need it, and at an affordable cost.

Our 10-year plan will be guided by our government’s vision for strong, vital communities, where citizens have easy access to the very best public services.

And it will also be guided by growth management principles that balance our economic, social and environmental objectives.

I spoke earlier about the link between infrastructure and smart growth. It is absolutely critical.

Within a generation, we expect central Ontario to grow by about three million people.

The triangle bounded by Oshawa, Barrie and Niagara Falls will be one of the most heavily urbanized regions in North America.

These communities are going to need schools, hospitals and roads.

And they are going to need growth that is well managed and planned, and not just sprawling uncontrollably.

In the past, our growth has been largely based on the construction of new greenfield residential developments on the boundaries of existing urban areas.

That model has served us well. It provided homes for many peoplequickly, and at a price they could afford.

But unrestricted greenfield development has also come with a high price. We see it on our roads everyday, and we also see it in the quality of community life.

Let’s face it; whole communities have been built without adequate infrastructure including schools, hospital and medical services and transit.

Residents travel well outside their communities to link up with already stretched roads and transit services. Gridlock and congestion follow.

We need a new model of urban development; one that emphasizes more compact communities.

And we must co-ordinate our infrastructure investments – in roads and in public transit – to reduce urban sprawl.

This does not mean halting growth.

But it does mean managing and planning for growth in different terms. Infrastructure planning can direct growth, instead of always trying to catch up to it.

One of the key components of managing growth effectively is planning for, and investing in, transportation alternatives, especially in public transit. That will play a crucial role in reducing traffic congestion in our cities.

Let me give you a couple of world-class examples of what might happen if we do not deal with gridlock.

In the City of London, England, traffic studies show that the average speed of vehicles in the downtown core is lower than it was in the 18th century.

It was faster to move around London in the days of the horse and buggy than in the age of the Mini Cooper.

In downtown New York, the average speed of a car during the day is about seven miles per hour – about as fast as a brisk walk. That hasn’t changed in almost 75 years.

Toronto is not at that point, but it’s getting there.

According to the Board of Trade, traffic congestion now costs Toronto more than two billion dollars a year, in wasted time and lost opportunity.

Toronto, and our other cities, will fail – simply fail – if we are unable to control congestion and gridlock.

Here in the GTA, the McGuinty government will establish a Greater Toronto Transportation Authority to co-ordinate and integrate transportation across the region – both roads and transit.

Across the province, we will link funding for transit and transportation to the growth management plan we are developing.

To put it plainly, the way we live tomorrow depends on how we manage growth today.

It also depends, very much, on finding the right way to pay for the infrastructure needed to sustain that growth.

It is clear that no single approach can successfully address all of our infrastructure needs. We must consider a full range of financing and procurement models and options.

For starters, we need to consider more strategic, and more cost-effective approaches to planning and managing growth.

Second, we need operating models that link users or beneficiaries to the cost of creating and maintaining the infrastructure.

Third, we will need increased direct capital investments by governments.

Fourth, we need to bring innovation to the way we finance infrastructure investments.

Finally, we need sound asset management practices, so that we get the maximum benefit from our investments.

And while we must have an open mind about our financing options, we will not be indiscriminate.

We will have some fundamental principles to guide our financing and procurement strategies.

This government believes it is important to bring both clarity and transparency to our infrastructure financing and procurement.

Issues such as public ownership and control, when and where appropriate for public services, will be important.

Finally there will be assurances of far greater levels of accountability and value for our money than were evident or practiced by the previous government.

I should point out that things were not done this way in the past.

Ladies and gentlemen, none of this is rocket science.

You don’t need to be Einstein to figure out that something as huge as a province’s infrastructure requires planning.

But in closing here today, I’m am reminded of one of Einstein’s observations, when he said:

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

I suspect Einstein would have looked at Ontario’s infrastructure and said…we need some better answers and we need some better solutions.

In the context of our government’s approach to infrastructure renewal, we can’t keep doing the same old things, the same old way.

That’s why the McGuinty government is making real, positive change – change that will help shape, build and sustain Ontario’s future.

Thank you.