Let’s get ambitious about transport projects: former minister

TORONTO — Former Transport Minister David Collenette says now is the time to consider ambitious national transportation projects – like bridges or tunnels that would make it possible to drive straight from Vancouver Island to St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Speaking at the 45th annual Canadian Transportation Research Forum in Toronto yesterday, he said economic conditions are right for the political pendulum to swing toward greater interventionist policies.

"As transportation advocates, we should be making our voices heard to encourage the federal government not to let its guard down in regulation, and not to fail to implicate itself in industry," he said. "Now makes good economic and public policy sense for the revival of an activist government — a government that embarks on truly national projects that will be of benefit in years to come."

Collenette, who served as Liberal Minister of Transport from 1997 to 2003, reminded the audience of the success of the "famous Moncton bypass" and the bridge to Prince Edward Island, which he described as "one of the great engineering feats of our time." And then he offered a number of "old chestnuts" — projects that ought to be considered today:

♦ High-speed rail in the Quebec-Windsor, and Calgary-Edmonton corridors;

♦ A bridge to link the north part of Vancouver Island to the mainland;

♦ A tunnel for road and utility transmission on the strait of Belle Isle, linking Newfoundland and Labrador;

♦ A causeway or tunnel extending Highway 427 out over Lake Ontario to the Niagara Peninsula.

Collenette says there’s an appetite
for more gov’t involvement

"There are lots of great ideas we could use in transportation to improve the quality of life of our citizens," he said. "They’re not wild dreams."

He said infrastructure spending is a good investment even on borrowed money because the projects funded will improve productivity and generate an eventual payback when the economy improves.

"This was an effective strategy during the Great Depression, and it appears to have worked 80 years later," he said.

Collenette, who is now senior counselor at Hill & Knowlton in Ottawa, recounted the efforts made since the early 1980s to deregulate transportation — particularly highlighting the legislative changes he introduced to the Canada Marine Act, and amendments to the Competition Act to deal with the restructuring of the Canadian airline industry.

He also pointed out that recent government bailouts to save industries hardest hit by the recent economic collapse came with strict conditions.

"So it looks like regulation is back big-time," he said. "Sustainable transportation requires a degree of regulation. The pendulum on government involvement in the economy is about to swing back toward more intervention. It is swinging back and we should accept this as being in the broader public interest."

The Canadian Transportation Research Forum winds up today.  


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