Manitoba Heavy Construction Association

A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2020 5 C anada is one of the world's most export- dependent economies and Western Canada is the most export dependent part of Canada. Two-thirds of our national income is generated by the trade that ows through the network of transportation infrastructure that comprises our roads, railways, ports, airports, waterways and pipelines. Unfortunately, concerns with declining reliability of Canada's transportation network to deliver the products we produce are threatening that income and the quality-of-life that it a ords. In 2008-09, Canada's transportation infrastructure was ranked in the top 10 in the world. Today it stands at 32nd. Our success in earlier years was not coincidental. At the time of our top-10 ranking three major national infrastructure programs were in full swing. All three were built around a common organizing principle of improving the infrastructure of economically signi cant gateways and trade corridors to connect to key export markets. ey featured strong leadership from our federal government and active industry participation. ose trade-corridor focused programs have long since wound down. On top of this continued decline are unforeseen new challenges a ecting Canada's access to its historical trade markets. e Chinese canola embargo, US restrictions on steel and forest products, railway blockades and, now, the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic have hurt Canada's trade-based economy and supply chains. At some point the world will come to terms with COVID-19 and countries will begin rebuilding their lives and their economies. For that they will need the goods and materials that Western Canada produces. A plan to strategically rebuild Canada's capacity to move these products to foreign markets can be foundational to that economic renewal and an important signal to our trade partners. Fortunately, a coalition is emerging around a solution. Alongside Canada West Foundation, organizations like the Western Canada Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association, the Western Transportation Advisory Council, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of Canada and the Canadian Construction Association are jointly advocating for a permanent, systematic solution that leverages the respective core competencies of government and the private sector, is informed by operational insights from industry and grounded on national priorities. At the same time, Transport Canada is breaking new policy ground and broadening engagement on its regional transportation assessments of national supply-chain needs. In addition, at February's meeting of the Canadian Council of Ministers of Transportation, representing all provinces, territories and the federal government, ministers established a national task force to improve the competitiveness of Canada's trade corridors. With this con uence of interest, CWF and its partners are working to publish by this summer a long- overdue solution framed around four core elements: 1) An Up-To-Date Overview of our National Trade Corridor Network which can help inform trade-corridor movements, better manage congestion and help identify the priority investments required to address bottlenecks, redundancy and capacity; 2) A Long-Term Project Pipeline which inventories strategic infrastructure investments over 15 to 20 years to enable the coordination of upgrades to economic corridors, prioritized far enough in advance to facilitate upfront planning and public consultation; 3) More Sophisticated Network Management and Modelling Tools to anticipate changing trade dynamics and required system improvements. Today, modelling of new trade agreements and data which are being generated in real time on the performance of our infrastructure can improve decision- making by users and operators.; 4) Investments based upon ROI and Criteria of National Signi cance to guide the pipeline of projects can ensure projects will achieve evidence- based improvements to network uidity, substantial economic gains and more transparent, publicly supportable returns on investment (ROI). Properly conceived trade infrastructure investments consistently provide economic returns over the lifetime of the asset, between $1.50 and $4 for every $1 invested. The Urgency to Act Emerging from the ravages of the pandemic, we will need to rebuild our economy, our communities and earn back the prosperity that we once took for granted. at means rebuilding our capacity to generate the revenue to support that future by producing and moving goods to foreign markets. e window of opportunity is short. An e ective solution requires unprecedented collaboration between government and industry. A joint undertaking to recapitalize the federal government's National Trade Corridor Fund, now almost fully committed, is but one example of low-hanging fruit. In its recent past, Canada realized signi cant bene ts from a coordinated public-private approach. We cannot a ord to let this moment of opportunity pass. LOOK UP! UP! Avoid contact with overhead power lines. Lower equipment before making a move. Plan ahead for safe clearance. Safety. It's in your hands. Avoid contact with overhead power lines. Lower equipment before making a move. Plan ahead for safe clearance. overhead power lines. Lower equipment before making a move. Plan ahead for safe clearance. 14756-MBH-ManHeavyConstructionAssoc-SupplementAd-OverheadLines [ClickB4uDig-Excavator][6.875x4.5]-Mar2020 FNL.indd 1 2020-03-18 10:46 AM B Y J O H N L A W John Law is the president of Lawmark International Consulting and a senior fellow with the Canada West Foundation. He is the former chair of the Canadian Council of Deputy Ministers responsible for Transportation and Infrastructure and served as president of the Transportation Association of Canada. THE WORLD AWAITS A SIGN CANADA CAN DELIVER THE GOODS " We need to improve Western Canada's trade corridors and gateways." At some point the world will come to terms with COVID-19 and countries will begin rebuilding their lives and their economies. For that they will need the goods and materials that Western Canada produces.

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