Manitoba Heavy Construction Association

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9, 2016 3 A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS • A PERMANENT PROGRAM – no less so than healthcare, education and public safety • Primary focus should be to GROW THE ECONOMY • EMBRACE INNOVATION in every aspect, including design, financing/ funding, procurement, construction, maintenance and rehabilitation • Harness PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE PRIVATE SECTOR, the engine of ingenuity • Funded by DEDICATED REVENUE STREAMS in support of its purposes • Subject to ANNUAL TRANSPARENT REVIEWS for accountability, adjustment and 'discipline to purpose' A GUIDE FOR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT MHCA'S SIX PRINCIPLES " We want to build the Canada where our children can prosper, too." CHRIS LORENC, THE MANITOBA HEAVY CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION BUILDS ROADS, BUT IT ALSO SAYS IT HELPS BUILD A STRONG ECONOMY. HOW SO? We tend to only really think about our roads when they are under construction. In fact, roads are the arteries that keep our economy's heart – trade --pumping. There is clear economic evidence in a series of reports – from Canada West Foundation, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the World Economic Forum -- showing the link between sustained investment in core infrastructure and economic growth. And there's a growing body of research out of academic, business investment, banking and trade union circles, all calling for a nation-building, trade- enabling infrastructure investment strategy. This is why the Trudeau government's long-term budget plans call for trade-enabling infrastructure investment. These are lofty goals, but the business gets done at the ground level – on the roads we use daily to get to the office, to school, or to our weekend golf or soccer games. HOW DOES MANITOBA PLAY INTO THIS? Manitoba is a prolific trading economy: $33 billion of our GDP (45%) is tied to trade – larger than healthcare; 5,300 employers are involved in trade; 240,000 direct and indirect jobs in Manitoba are tied to trade; $19 billion of trade moves north/south on Highway 75 making Emerson the busiest border crossing by volume in Western Canada. Western Canada accounts for 42% of Canada's total trade volume. Manitoba has to position itself to capitalize on that and the new trade deals in the making. We should become a leading member of the New West Partnership Trade Agreement. We need to raise the profile of trade, and trade infrastructure. There is little point in Canada signing on to trade agreements if we don't have the infrastructure to move products to market and people to work. HOW DOES MANITOBA POSITION ITSELF TO ELEVATE TRADE? Manitoba must be seen to be championing a pan- western trade investment strategy. A new Western Canadian trade initiative can make the case to Ottawa that national infrastructure projects must be nation- building. Leveraging is key to such investment. In the Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, federal investment was about $1.4 billion. It leveraged roughly $14 billion of additional private- and public- sector investment. The private sector must play a key role in shaping a new trade strategy: Its products hit the global market every day. It knows where are the key bottlenecks and congestion points that inhibit the movement of goods and services. It knows which regulations must be harmonized. And we can't forget the value that Northern Canada brings not only in resource development but in exports. Churchill, Canada's only northern deep-sea port, must be key to a national strategy. THIS WESTERN CANADIAN TRADE INITIATIVE SOUNDS INTRIGUING, BUT HOW DOES IT WORK AND HOW DOES IT ACTUALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE CATTLE RANCHER IN THE INTERLAKE, OR THE IT SPECIALIST IN A SMALL START-UP IN THE EXCHANGE DISTRICT? It focuses on a couple of basic strategies: moving product to market and people to work. Those engaged in resource, manufacturing or food production know that exports move to where the logistics of trade are cost-effective. Without hosting such advantages, Canada loses and with that loss so, too, go the jobs in the sectors you have identified. A growing economy generates revenues to fund our healthcare, education and social programs that underpin our quality of life. Without economic growth sustaining those revenues, discussion around funding all those programs are moot. ON A 'LOCAL' LEVEL, THOUGH, WE STILL HAVE OUR HIGHWAYS AND STREETS THAT NEED WORK – HOW DO WE FIND THE MONEY TO DO THAT? It's all about growing the economy and prioritizing, with a strategy that underpins our infrastructure program. We advocate for six organizing principles to prioritize and stick to a plan: the program must be permanent, no less so that healthcare, education; it must focus first on investments that grow the economy, without ignoring the needs of existing roads; we need to embrace innovation in design, construction, maintenance. New products can extend the life of a bridge, for example, from 35 to 70 years; we need to partner with the private sector; we need to dedicate revenue streams to the plan so that the public sees where it is being invested, not spent; and we must review the program annually to adjust based on what is learned and to ensure discipline to purpose. HOW DO YOU SEE MANITOBA IN A DECADE? WHERE DO YOU THINK WE'LL BE IN TERMS OF OUR QUALITY OF LIFE, OUR EMPLOYMENT RATE, HEALTH STATUS? If we could harness a pan-western trade strategy, a nation-building effort, we would not be worried about whether our children and grandchildren have careers or jobs. We would relish in being able to leave, as our legacy, a sustainable, green economy to further enhance our quality of life. We would benefit by provincial and federal budgets getting back to surpluses that pay down debt while being able to strategically invest in an even stronger Canada. What we want is to build the Canada where our children can prosper, too. A country that inspires pride. A world-class quality of life. That is what we should aspire towards. Chris Lorenc is the president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association and the Western Canada Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association. Visit www.MHCA.mb.ca to view MHCA's submission to the provincial Budget 2017 consultation. ■ HIGHWAY TO TRADE: OUR ROADS ARE THE ARTERIES OF OUR ECONOMIC HEART AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS LORENC, PRESIDENT OF THE MANITOBA HEAVY CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION

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