By Michael Holden
In the Victoria Times-Colonist, Vancovuer Sun, StarPhoenix and Edmonton Journal
June 19, 2013
The western premiers wrapped up their annual conference yesterday in Winnipeg. For the third year in a row, the premiers identified a lack of federal clarity on infrastructure investment as an ongoing issue and called for discussions with Ottawa.
The premiers are absolutely right that the federal government should coordinate its infrastructure strategy and spending with the provinces. This is especially true when it comes to trade-related transportation infrastructure.
Western Canadians depend on international trade to drive the economy. In 2012, western Canada exported and imported over $271 billion worth of goods. That’s $25,000 of international trade per western Canadian. There is a lot riding on the trade infrastructure that gets all this stuff where it needs to go.
Even so, if Ottawa were to ask the western provinces to identify and prioritize their collective trade infrastructure needs, they would not have a ready answer. The provinces have tended to focus on priorities within their own borders. However, there is a pressing need to coordinate trade infrastructure planning across the West.
The provinces could wait for Ottawa to present such a coordinated plan. Better yet, they could show leadership and develop a plan themselves. By doing so, they can take immediate steps to improve economic competitiveness in the West. Plus, by putting their own skin in the game, the western provinces can say with greater legitimacy that it’s time for Ottawa to ante up.
The need for a combined infrastructure plan rather than a series of individual provincial plans is simple. Businesses across the West rely on a common transportation network to get their goods to market. Strategic and targeted investments in that network therefore benefit the entire region, regardless of where the money is actually spent.
If, for example, Manitoba exporters need to send their products through Saskatchewan and Alberta to reach BC ports, then they have a vested interest in ensuring those products are moved through those provinces as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Some regions might benefit more directly than others from the spending called for by such a plan. BC stands to gain the most, simply because it is home to nearly all of western Canada’s seaports.
The western premiers need to recognize and acknowledge that their long-term economic interests rely on strategic investments in other provinces. This means letting go of the idea of what constitutes a “fair” allocation of federal infrastructure dollars and looking at export infrastructure from a regional perspective.
It also speaks to the critical need for federal involvement. It is politically difficult for the province of Manitoba to cut a cheque for a new highway interchange in Saskatchewan. Federal money is needed to bridge these gaps.
One of the criticisms of Western Premiers’ Conferences is that the same items tend to appear on the agenda year after year. There is a bright side to this: infrastructure will likely be discussed again at next year’s meeting. In the interim, there is time for the western provinces to take the lead and begin work on a pan-Western strategic infrastructure plan.
For decades, western Canadians were frustrated that their economic and political interests were not being heard in Ottawa. Today, however, the West has never been more economically or politically important. We need to use that influence constructively and work together to secure our common long-term economic future.
Western Canada has a voice. It’s time to use it.
Michael Holden is the Senior Economist at the Canada West Foundation, a think-tank that exclusively focuses on the policies that shape the quality of life in western Canada.