Investing in our Quality of Life Sustainable Infrastructure begins with sustainable investment

摘要

from the Media Planet feature in the National Post, February 25, 2011. Infrastructure is an investment - not an expense. It is an investment in our economic, social and environmental quality of life. If the benefits to our quality of life are to be sustainable, either economically or environmentally, then the investment must also be sustainable. While the recent renewal of interest in infrastructure is welcomed, we still have a long way to go before we achieve sustainability. In fact, commitment to long-term strategies by all levels of government has significantly waned since the 1960's. Since then, infrastructure investment in Canada has decreased by half. In 2004, TD Bank Financial Group released its landmark study Mind the Gap: Finding Money to Upgrade Canada's Aging Infrastructure. That study identified a 50% decline in annual per capita capital investment by government from 1962 to 2003, with a resultant infrastructure investment shortfall as high of $125 billion in 2004.