TRAN Committee Report

Additional opinion of the Bloc Québécois on the report

The Canada Infrastructure Bank

April 8, 2022

Introduction

First of all, the Bloc Québécois commends the members of the Committee and the staff of the Library of Parliament for the professionalism they have shown and the work they have accomplished during this study and thanks all the witnesses and citizens who fueled the debate on what should be done with this institution that is the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB).

However, the Bloc Québécois believes that this report has failed to answer a central question: what to do with the amounts invested in infrastructure by the federal government, in particular through the CIB?

Infrastructures, a responsibility of Quebec, the provinces and municipalities

As the federal government seeks to fund infrastructure through the CIB, this report raises a host of concerns ranging from the loss of control of our collective infrastructure, to a lack of transparency in the management of the CIB, to questionable effectiveness of this organization. There are plenty of valid reasons for wanting to close this useless structure.

Before even wondering how the federal government should fund infrastructure, we must first establish who owns public infrastructure in Canada. According to a compilation of Statistics Canada data presented on the Investing in Canada Plan website, nearly 98% of this infrastructure belongs to the governments of Quebec, the provinces, territories and municipalities. Only a measly 2.1% is federally owned.

This observation calls into question the federal role in the organization and allocation of infrastructure funds.

Since municipalities fall under the jurisdiction of Quebec, the Bloc Québécois believes that these amounts should be transferred to Quebec and the provinces, without conditions. It makes no sense for a government that does not own the infrastructure to come and dictate the conditions under which work may be carried out in this area.

Indeed, it is the owners and users of these infrastructures who are able to establish priorities on this subject and thus manage the money associated with it. In this context, the federal government should not seek to impose its agenda on the responsible governments and administrations. It seems clear in the circumstances that the actions of the federal government are just another example of the blackmail resulting from the fiscal imbalance that exists between the federal government and those of Quebec and the provinces.

The fiscal imbalance blackmail

This imbalance allows Ottawa to collect more revenue in taxes than it needs to accomplish the missions falling within its areas of jurisdiction, while Quebec and the provinces find themselves lacking funding for activities in their fields of competence. Thus, the federal government takes advantage of the fact that it collects more money than it needs to interfere in what does not concern it.

This situation is highly problematic since it is tantamount to blackmailing Quebec and the provinces so that they can have access to their own money. Everything therefore plunges us into a competition where the federal government will always impose more and more conditions on the funds it has in hand.

In the short term, some conditions seem commendable, but in the long term, the more conditions the federal government adds to the funds it transfers to Quebec and the provinces, the more it will hamper their capacity for action and planning. The federal government is therefore attacking the existing autonomy of Quebec and the provinces, which prevents them from effectively governing themselves.

Solve the problem of infrastructure funds

Which brings us back to infrastructure funds. In this regard, the optimal solution for Quebec will always remain its full and total independence from Canada. Thus, it would have access to 100% of the funds from its population and its territory and would be able to finance the infrastructures without the hindrance of the conditions of the federal government.

Until Canada gets out of Quebec, there are three solutions:

The first is that the federal government put an end to the fiscal imbalance by abolishing its infrastructure programs and returning the tax points used to fund them to the governments of Quebec, the provinces and the territories. This would solve the problem and give the necessary flexibility to the governments responsible for the infrastructures to manage them effectively.

The second option is to transfer en bloc, each year, all the amounts for infrastructure to Quebec, the provinces and the territories. This solution seems attractive, but it would maintain the constant threat that the federal government could take back these sums and impose harmful conditions.

The third option is to model all the infrastructure funds on the Gas Tax Program and the Quebec contribution. This is the only federal program that Quebec and municipalities find truly effective. For good reason, this is the only program on the subject which is both predictable and practically unconditional. The amounts are transferred en bloc to Quebec, which then distributes them to the municipalities according to their population. The only problems municipalities see with this program are the recent changes the federal government has made to it by adding conditions. This program could therefore serve as an inspiration for the federal government for all the sums dedicated to infrastructure in order to mitigate its interference in what is not under its control.

Conclusion

Finally, this report neglects to delve into the issue of the fiscal imbalance and its consequences on infrastructure investments and to propose solutions to remedy it. If this issue had been raised, we would have quickly realized that the federal government would benefit from not getting involved in what does not concern it. This position would save him from humiliating himself with dysfunctional institutions like the CIB.

Bloc Québécois Recommendations

That the Government of Canada transfer tax points funding infrastructure to Quebec and the provinces.

Failing that, that the Government of Canada unconditionally transfer to Quebec and the provinces the funds related to infrastructure.