June 28, 2005

Remarks to the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce - Holiday Inn
by David Caplan, Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal

Check Against Delivery.

Good morning, everyone. I’m delighted to be here.

I’m told that Sudbury was actually created in 1883 by the Canadian Pacific Railway, and that this community began its life as a humble siding.

It’s certainly hard to believe when today, Greater Sudbury is a bustling modern city

…A place where many of the people originally came to work but ended up staying because of the great lifestyle and other amenities.

Of course, Sudbury made its name as a mining town – Inco and Falconbridge are still your two largest employers - but as Mayor Courtemanche said in his “State of the City” address earlier this month, Sudbury is entering an important new era of growth.

And as he put it, “quantity of growth is irrelevant without quality of life.”

The challenge for Sudbury – like so many other communities across Ontario – is to ensure a future that is not only prosperous, but also sustainable

I know that the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce works very hard to promote and support this community – and you should be proud of those efforts.

As members – and leaders – of the local business community, you have an important role to play not only in helping to ensure that Sudbury continues to grow but also that it continues to grow well.

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For most people, the phrase “public infrastructure” might sound dull. In fact my wife sometimes makes fun of me – because I’m the only guy she knows who gets excited about infrastructure.

But even if infrastructure is pretty much invisible to most people, it’s still the backbone of our society. It’s absolutely vital to our prosperity and economic competitiveness, and to our quality of life.

As you probably know, Ontario is suffering from what’s been called an infrastructure “deficit”

This situation did not happen overnight, and it didn’t happen by accident. 

Chronic under-investment in our most important institutions decades of neglect of our public infrastructure and careless inattention to the facilities and services, have compromised the foundation of our success.

We need to correct the deficiencies and mistakes that are limiting our success and impairing our future.  And we need to do it now.

In fact, we have already started this process – here in Sudbury, and throughout Ontario.

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Our studies show that Ontario’s population will grow by almost four million people over the next 25 years – and that over the same period, the provincial economy will generate close to two million new jobs.

In order to accommodate that growth, our government has taken some important steps to ensure that this growth will be healthy and sustainable, while protecting our great quality of life.

One of our key achievements is the Places to Grow Act, which the Legislature passed a couple of weeks ago

...This is truly groundbreaking legislation one that will have important benefits for large and small communities in all areas of the province.

The Places to Grow Act allows the government to designate specific growth areas and to develop plans for how and where we want those areas to grow.

As you know, some parts of the province are already under intense pressure from growth while in other areas, the problem is that there’s not enough growth.

Growth plans will help in both cases by ensuring that each growth planning area in the province builds on its strengths and builds a healthier, more prosperous future.

Here in Northern Ontario, of course, growth plans will need to be developed in close cooperation with local governments and other stakeholders to ensure that the plans are truly made-in-Northern Ontario and that they benefit the people, families, and businesses who call the North their home.

We intend to listen carefully to what Northern residents think is important.

In this regard, the good work we are expecting from the Northern Development Councils will help us build on other recent planning initiatives, such as the Smart Growth panels.

However our growth initiatives cannot exist on its own without a renewal and expansion plan for Ontario’s public infrastructure.

Last month, I released a document called ReNew Ontario, the government’s first-ever five-year infrastructure investment plan. This plan calls for the province and its partners to invest more than $30 billion over the next five years in public infrastructure.

Under this plan, we will invest in key economic sectors – in health in education in transit and transportation in affordable housing in clean water infrastructure in new courthouse facilities.

In health care, we’ll invest at least $5 billion by 2010. This investment will allow us to complete 39 major hospital projects, and begin 66 new ones.

In September, as you know, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine will welcome its charter class of 56 students.

The provincial government has invested a total of $32.9 million to build the classroom, research and lab facilities needed to support the new school.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s curriculum will emphasize the special needs and requirements of practising medicine in the North

…Most importantly it will expand the number of doctors available to Northern Ontario communities.

In education, we plan to invest more than $10 billion over the next five years in our public schools, colleges and universities.

In transit and transportation, the province’s total investment over the next five years will be about $11.4 billion – to improve transit services, expand existing and build new highways, and relieve congestion at the borders.

Later today, I’ll be joining my Cabinet colleague, the Honourable Rick Bartolucci, to make an important announcement on Northern highways, an announcement that will benefit the city and the people of Greater Sudbury directly.

ReNew Ontario also calls for significant investments in affordable housing in the justice system and in water and wastewater systems throughout the province.

These provincial investments are critical to Ontario’s future prosperity, and to our quality of life. There’s a lot to do – and in some cases, the work is urgently needed.

But despite a tough financial situation, we are moving forward on the work that simply must be done.

One of the new approaches that will help us tackle this challenge is alternative financing and procurement, or AFP, for short.

AFP has been controversial in some quarters, and misunderstood in others. But let me be clear: AFP is not a code word for privatization…

…Rather, it is an approach to help us do more projects…and deliver them to the public sooner.

Our government has stated very clearly that Ontario’s core public services – including hospitals, schools and water and sewer facilities – will remain publicly owned and controlled.

What we do want is to harness the private sector’s expertise its resources and its capital when necessary to help us accomplish our goals.

Last year, I issued a detailed framework called Building a Better Tomorrow to guide the delivery of Ontario’s infrastructure investments.

The framework is based on five fundamental principles:

• The public interest is paramount;
• Value for money must be demonstrated;
• Appropriate public ownership and control must be maintained;
• Accountability must be clear;
• And, all processes must be fair, transparent and efficient.

These are the principles that we will use for all public infrastructure projects – and that will inform our dealings with our new investment partners.

Earlier this year, I also announced that Ontario will create a new public agency to oversee Ontario’s major infrastructure projects.

The Ontario Infrastructure Projects Corporation, or OIPC, will be an agency of the Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal…

…Its role will be to serve as an in-government centre of expertise for AFP projects, and to implement the Building a Better Tomorrow framework.

Ultimately, all of Ontario’s public infrastructure projects will be paid for with public money. AFP projects simply allow us to amortize the payments over the useful life of the asset so that we can do more and do it sooner.

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Here in Sudbury, we recognize that highways are a critical part of Northern Ontario’s infrastructure and that they contribute to the economic prosperity and quality of life in many northern communities.

In this year’s provincial budget, we made a commitment to complete the four-laning of Highway 69 south of Sudbury within 12 years.

We also approved $297 million in northern highway expansion and rehabilitation projects this year. That is the most we’ve ever invested in a single year through the Northern Highways Program.

The commitment for Highway 69 is a key part of our Northern Ontario Highways Strategy, which sets out a plan for improvements to vital corridors across the North.

This project is a huge undertaking, with a total estimated cost of completing the corridor from Parry Sound to Sudbury at about $1.2 billion.

Good roads are the key to a prosperous economy in Northern Ontario. The McGuinty government is committed to maintaining and expanding the highway network and the North will be stronger as a result.

As you may know, we are also helping to fund significant improvements to local roads here in Sudbury, through the Canada-Ontario Municipal Infrastructure Fund, or COMRIF.

Under Intake One of COMRIF, Sudbury received approval for a package of seven bridge projects with an approximate total value $21-million.  The provincial contribution will be nearly $7-million, or one-third of the overall cost.

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To close, I believe that our economic prosperity and our quality of life are intimately linked to the quality and efficiency of our public infrastructure

…And the quality of life that our society offers plays a huge role in our ability to continue attracting the people and businesses we need to remain economically competitive.

The McGuinty government has a plan to build a stronger, healthier and more prosperous province.  

By working with our community partners, we are working towards a common vision world-class communities offering a quality of life to be enjoyed today and far into the future.

Thank you.