Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Karen Leibovici just finished presenting the Canadian Infrastructure Report Card, and while it’s pretty bare-bones in terms of what it addresses for now – water systems and roads – she explained in an interview following the presentation that the FCM is looking to release a new instalment every two or three years, with expanded data and broader focus. Transit, for example, is something they’re looking to address in the next report card.
The big findings are here, and the upshot is that wastewater and roads are cities’ biggest necessity deficit, with an estimated $39 billion and $91 billion in repairs for the next two decades. Which, y’know, yikes: those two systems alone have a looming bill of $130 billion out of the $170 billion the report says needs to be spent to bring systems in “fair” condition across Canada up to a “good” standard. With the total estimated municipal infrastructure deficit across Canada right now sitting at $300 to $400 billion, it’s not hard to see why the FCM only focused on wastewater, drinking water, stormwater, and municipal roads in their first report card; taken together, those four systems represent roughly half of the deficit.
Going on right now is a presentation on “COMMUNITIES OF TOMORROW” and here’s an actually funny thing, if you’re into grim humour: according to the PowerPoint slide on display, a civic leader at a SUMA conference responded to the goings-on with, “Innovation you say? Innovation? We’re too busy trying to keep our ass above the alligators.” That’s, uh, that’s funny, right? Laughs? Nobody tugging their collar and going “guh-hoy?” Okay good, great.
(Image above from the FCM’s Canadian Infrastructure Report Card website.)
