A Vision to Pave the Way
for Canada’s Prosperity.
February 9, 2001
OTTAWA-Today
in his response to the Speech from the Throne, Opposition
Transportation Critic, Jay Hill, outlined a vision for
improving Canada’s economic prosperity and traveller safety
by improving transportation infrastructure.
“The State of
the transportation sector is deplorable! Rotting
roads, deteriorating ports and vanishing aviation competition
should be a priority for this government. The Throne Speech
was devoid of solutions for any of these problems.
What is needed is vision…some leadership and foresight
from this government to deal with these problems before
they become critical,” stated Hill.
In his remarks
Mr. Hill proposed that the government re-invest a significant
portion of the billions of dollars it collects in excise
tax revenues on fuel to finance the necessary repairs
to Canada’s infrastructure. The United States, Canada’s
largest trading partner and competitor, recently passed
the Transportation and Equity Act for the 21st
Century. This act will invest $217.9 billion over
six years into infrastructure by returning 90.5% of the
federal fuel tax revenues back to the state from which
it is collected.
“We are a trading
nation, in order to trade and compete globally, we must
be able to move our products and people as efficiently
as possible. The Throne Speech was all about the
information highway and nothing about the Trans
Canada Highway, ” Hill added.
A billion dollars
a day crosses the Canada-US border. Just-in time
manufacturing and electronic commerce require seamless
and efficient corridors to move goods. Canada is
lagging behind and risking future competitiveness.
“If the government
wants to attract investment, it must lead the way by making
the crucial investment in its infrastructure. The
longer we wait the more it is going to cost,” concluded
Hill.
|
