Manitoba Heavy Construction Association

A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2019 3 M any Manitobans – certainly those living in Winnipeg – know the stress and worry that erupt when the foundation of a house starts to crack. en crumble. e kitchen reno, the vacation, the new big screen TV. All those "wants" dissolve from the forefront of the homeowner's mind because of the "need" that must be addressed. Foundation repairs can rival the cost of the new kitchen, and empty the vacation fund. But you can't not fix the crumbling basement. Every homeowner knows that. Ignore the foundation and you undermine the house, typically your biggest asset. Manitoba's "basement" is crumbling. Our transportation infrastructure – roads, highways, bridges – is falling apart. Right now, to bring our highways and bridges up to good condition, the cost of the work is a whopping $9 billion. But we are not addressing that need. In fact, since 2016, we have cut the budget for highways from $588 million to $350 million in 2018, where it remains for 2019. Manitoba is ignoring the crumbling foundation and, at that budget level, is adding to the cost of the repair bill we will have to foot, eventually. e house analogy is a good one, illustrating the importance of investment and budgets. ink of it this way: our economy is our "house." It provides for us. All of our needs are afforded through the incomes earned, and the government revenues derived from taxation, from our economy. Transportation infrastructure supports the economy because the economy rests on the ability to move people to jobs and goods to market efficiently and seamlessly. If you can't move people and goods, you undermine the economy. And that's why we say we need to talk about infrastructure – how we define it, how we fund it, where we decide to focus our investment and how we harness it. is has to become one of the leading issues heading into the next provincial election. Although we recognize the importance of deficit reduction, infrastructure should not be the political 'vote' winner, trotted out at election time. e damage inflicted on the economy by severe cuts to infrastructure programs is real – lost growth to GDP – and lasting, because it just kicks the cost of repairs to highways down the road, when those same roads need much more costly reconstruction. Further, it has the trickle-down effect of diminished returns to government coffers through the lost revenues from that economic impairment. To paraphrase Perrin Beatty, President & CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, there is the infrastructure we want like parks; the iinfrastructure we need like healthcare and education; and the infrastructure that pays for it all, and that's our core infrastructure: streets, sewer, water distribution and wastewater treatment, highways, bridges, including the most important of that collection, our trade infrastructure. Infrastructure is the great enabler. We build trade gateways and corridors, railway infrastructure, airports, ports both marine and inland, and highways. We link them with manufacturers, producers, farmers, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, fisheries and mines. We connect them into urban centres with their industrial parks. ose links are two-way streets. is collectively is our trade-route infrastructure. Our governments are expanding our trade relationships and deals to MANITOBA'S "HOUSE" NEEDS $9 BILLION IN FOUNDATION REPAIRS DON'T LET POLITICAL LEADERS SLIDE THAT PAST YOU B Y Y V E T T E M I L N E R A N D C H R I S L O R E N C Chris Lorenc is president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association Yvette Milner is president of Merit Contractors Association of Manitoba Terry Duguid, MP Winnipeg South 204.984.6787 Dan Vandal, MP Saint-Boniface - Saint-Vital 204.983.3183 Jim Carr, MP Winnipeg South Centre 204.983.1355 Providing more than $1.1 billion in infrastructure funding to Manitoba – we know that infrastructure creates jobs, boosts the economy and builds communities! Building Relationships Through Infrastructure • Bridges, Highways, Road Construction • Large Diameter Tunnel Boring and Pipe Jacking • Environmental Infrastructure and Site Remediation/Rehabilitation • Shoreline Stabilization • Waterline, Land drainage, and Wastewater Systems • Drilled Caissons and Structurally Engineered Excavations • Foundations UNIT 5 - 1595 BROOKSIDE BLVD. WINNIPEG, MB. R2R 1V6 PH: 204- 942-1516 | F: 204-942-0693 www.tri-core.ca info@tri-core.ca Tri-Core Projects is a diversified Contracting Firm specializing in: MANITOBA'S "BASEMENT" IS CRUMBLING. OUR TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE – ROADS, HIGHWAYS, BRIDGES – IS FALLING APART. send more of what we make to the world. But we can't fulfill these deals, achieve that potential, if we can't keep trade on the road? Manitobans need to be asking their government, specifically their provincial government and the parties that aspire to power, what is the goal? What is the plan to ensure our transportation infrastructure network positions Manitoba to compete, to grow? It's time for the public – which pays for it all and all too oen pays too much for too little in return because of the 'politics of infrastructure' – to weigh in. We will challenge political leaders to share their vision of how their party would enable our economy through strong infrastructure investment strategy and budgets, ensuring our foundation keeps the house standing. Manitobans should, too. Nobody wants our "house" to fall into ruin. ❱❱❱

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