No Money for Canadian Roads

Patching up the country's medicare system takes priority for scarce government dollars

 BY ALEX BINKLEY

Ottawa- Despite the deteriorating state of Canada's highway network, the federal and provincial governments are not yet ready to invest billions of dollars in rebuilding them, says Transport Minister David Collenette. For now, patching up the country's tattered medicare system takes priority for scarce government dollars. 

However, the governments do realize the growing problem with the condition of Canada's highway system and know that money will have to be spent eventually, Collenette said during an appearance before the House of Commons transport committee. "Our highways are the backbone of our transportation system and the driving force behind our economic growth.'' 

He asked the committee to explore how governments might develop private-public partnerships to rebuild critical portions of the road network and the role new technologies might play in making the most out of the road network. 

The latest estimates prepared by government and industry officials are that 40 percent of the 15,500-mile National Highway System is substandard and that 25 percent of its 3,350 bridges will require major improvements or restoration within the next five years. Estimates for bringing the system up to acceptable standards range as high as C$20 billion. The federal government collects about C$4 billion annually in fuel excise taxes but little of that is spent on highway improvements. 

The United States will spend $225 billion on its road infrastructure during the next six years, Collenette noted. "If we don't advance as fast, we will have problems keeping up. Eighty percent of our trade is north-south," he said. 

Canada also needs to keep pace with the U.S. in the development of intelligent traffic systems to prevent congestion around the major cities and at busy border crossings. 

The first opportunity for the new government will come in the 1999 federal budget expected in February. It likely will be the first time in ages that the Canadian government posts a surplus rather than a deficit. However, the surplus is likely to be smaller than many forecasters predicted and that, Collenette said, is one more reason why major highway spending is unlikely. "I hope the minister of finance will find some bucks for the transportation system but I don't think we should be looking at an active federal-provincial road renewal program just yet," he said. 

- Binkley is a freelance writer in Ottawa.