SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017 3
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Celebrating 75 GROUNDBREAKING years in 2018
TIME TO FOCUS ON ECONOMIC GROWTH MANITOBA NEEDS A TRADE STRATEGY BY CHRIS LORENC, PRESIDENT, MHCA
T he Pallister government recently released its final accounts for the 2016 year, and it looks like the big target — the deficit — is getting hit. Getting back to balance will take time, but we’re on the road to getting expenditures under control. What about that other bull’s-eye? That’s the one Premier Brian Pallister drew around the Manitoba economy; growing it is central to his goal of making this the most improved jurisdiction in Canada. How’s that faring? Manitoba is humming at projected economic growth of between
ports and municipal partnerships, such as in the Capital Region. What we need is a Trade Team Manitoba, to bring together the best minds across the private and public sectors, to identify impediments to commerce and trade, key in on prospective sectors for growth and highlight the infrastructure — new and improved — needed to get trade moving efficiently. Premier Pallister made the right decision to join the New West Partnership. Manitoba is a part of the West, but we must remember it is a trade “gateway” in all four directions — Churchill is this country’s sole inland and Arctic deep-sea port, and Emerson sees
two and three per cent. That is not bad, but it’s not where we want to be, to get employment rates rising and making this province attractive to relocating and expanding businesses, and prospective new citizens. What is Manitoba’s economic-growth strategy? It cannot simply be controlling expenditures, beating down deficits, and easing the burden of red tape. It has to be ambitious and focused on return on investment. Time and again, economic analysis has shown that investing in trade, specifically the infrastructure that enables the free flow of people, goods and services, is the key to economic growth. Trade generates 50 per
$18 billion in trade move north and south annually as one of Canada’s busiest border crossings. CentrePort Canada has put us on the map; this foreign trade zone is Canada’s largest inland port. Manitoba is unique as a trade hub in this country. What would Trade Team Manitoba do? TTM would bring together trade- and export-oriented private interests in Manitoba to collaborate with public bodies and agencies to increase the capacity and raise the profile of Manitoba’s commercial interests and industries, through strategic investment in highways, roads, trade-transportation hubs and corridors.
TRADE TEAM MANITOBA WOULD BRING TOGETHER PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS TO INCREASE CAPACITY AND RAISE THE PROFILE OF MANITOBA’S TRADE ASSETS.
Chris Lorenc is the president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association.
Trade Team Manitoba would promote projects that raise Manitoba’s trade profile, including: • Transportation efficiency: Identifying and supporting strategic investment in key multi-modal infrastructure assets to enhance the productivity and efficiency of the trade transportation network. This means taking the next step to update the network of strategic road and rail links, border crossings as well as inland and marine ports for new and enhanced domestic and global trade opportunities, including with the United States. • Regulatory harmonization: Support for fast-tracking efforts to eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers and to promote harmonization of related regulations. • Foreign investment: Attracting direct foreign investment and increasing exports to leverage new trade agreements, including through CentrePort Canada. • Business opportunities: Leveraging public- and private- sector investment in new and existing business opportunities and jobs. Opportunity awaits. We should be ready to move on it. We need to step up the capacity of our trade-transportation assets so we are ready to move greater volumes of goods to continental and overseas buyers. We should have a Trade Team Manitoba to help design the policy, and strategy, to get it done. ❱❱❱
cent of Manitoba’s $64-billion GDP each year; it engages 5,200 employers and 240,000 jobs. It is responsible for $3.3 billion in payroll. Provincially, that’s 16 per cent of total payroll. Canada is poised for trade growth. Despite the protectionism and tough talk swirling about trade agreements, Canada, especially with the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), has heady prospects for expanding trade ties. As the U.S. pulls back, new opportunity opens for the rest of us — yes, in Mexico but especially in Asia. Other countries are poised to move in; we can’t afford to be left behind. That is equally true of Manitoba, working with and competing against other provinces. But Manitoba needs a trade policy, clearly defined with growth targets. Fundamental to that policy is strategic investment in trade corridors, border crossings, development of our inland and marine
Strategic investment in critical transportation assets has a significant, defined return to the economy. The Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, a federal program that strengthened Western Canada’s supply chains to booming Asian economies, saw $1.4 billion in federal funding/$3.5 billion of public investment leverage $14 billion in total investment (private and public). The APG&CI, however, saw an uneven distribution of that investment: Fully 60 per cent of the federal funding was invested in British Columbia’s transportation facilities. APG&CI is nearing its end; we must ensure Manitoba outlines a plan, identifies projects to qualify now for federal joint funding under the $2-billion National Trade Corridors Fund. Manitoba has lagged behind the country in making use of such federal infrastructure funding agreements. We can’t allow this to continue.
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4 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Celebrating 75 GROUNDBREAKING years in 2018
PUTTING MUNICIPALITIES ON THE ROAD TO NEW REVENUE SOURCES
A city’s development plan is supposed to be about vision, forging a path to a brighter future to capitalize on demographic changes and economic possibilities. But a discussion paper issued recently by the City of Winnipeg as it prepares to update OurWinnipeg might leave us all a little fearful of what’s around the corner. The capital region is expected grow to more than one million people by 2035. That presents definable challenges, but real opportunities as well for the city and it’s a good time to plan to meet them. It is about moving people to jobs and goods to markets efficiently, and providing the amenities — libraries, public facilities and green spaces — that residents in a world-class city deserve. It is about making Winnipeg a “must visit” location for site selectors scoping out markets when corporations expand or relocate (hello, Amazon). A development plan sets out where a city wants to be in 20 years, and how it will get there. Yet, on that point, the OurWinnipeg discussion paper recently distributed appears to dampen expectations, underscoring city council’s budget pressures. Infrastructure challenges are singled out. “We have a $2.2+ billion infrastructure deficit over the next 10 years, mostly related to road projects,” it said. “Using current funding sources, a significant additional amount per capita in tax support would be required to fully absorb the projected transportation-related infrastructure deficit over the next 10 years.” Increase property taxes? City taxpayers already pay an annual two per cent tax increase dedicated to local and regional streets — it shows Winnipeggers
and city council are doing their share. But revenues are constrained, the city document noted. “Therefore, moving forward, the City faces a number of critical decisions with respect to the ongoing transportation needs, choices, and costs for a growing population.” Infrastructure is an investment — the revenues dedicated to streets, roads and water and sewer fuel the economy, attracting new businesses and greasing the wheels of commerce. This is true of all municipalities and the revenue problem is not just a big-city issue. All Manitoba towns and cities face the same budgeting struggle. Municipalities own 60 per cent of infrastructure assets, yet reap only eight cents of every tax dollar collected. That is why transfers from higher levels of government have always been key to this annual budget line, and to infrastructure investment planning, which involves capital financing over multiple years. But transfers have tightened up. The Pallister government is holding down expenditures across departments, including transfers to municipalities, as it wrestles with deficits. Gone is the Building Manitoba Fund, which tied increases in transfers directly to PST revenues (ie. a growth tax). That makes it tough for municipalities to plan infrastructure projects, especially major projects that require significant financing arrangements. Being forced to go cap in hand to Broadway every year, as budgets are planned, is not productive. Aside from the horse trading that inevitably goes on (provincial vs. municipal priorities), when finances tighten up cities and towns inevitably must make do with less, or with smaller increases to transfers.
The provincial focus on expenditure control is understandable, but that can’t delay the development of an infrastructure investment strategy to plan the future of a modern metropolis. Overall, Winnipeg’s infrastructure investment deficit was pegged, in 2011, at $7.4 billion (in 2009 dollars). We await an update to that figure, but Winnipeggers know intimately the condition of their roads, streets, sidewalks — and the rising need for active transportation facilities, which are becoming increasingly popular. THE PROVINCIAL FOCUS ON EXPENDITURE CONTROL IS UNDERSTANDABLE, BUT THAT CAN’T DELAY THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT STRATEGY TO
the provincial government making tax room, and granting new authority for municipalities to levy, for example, their own consumption tax dedicated to public purposes, like strategic investment in infrastructure to grow the economy. These options were recommended by the Infrastructure Funding Council, in its 2011 report to the City of Winnipeg, which urged: • Municipalities work to maximize own-source revenues, introduce organizational efficiency changes, adjust delivery models, and implement related best practices; • The province allocate growth taxes and vacate a further portion of education property taxes dedicated through legislation to municipal infrastructure; and • The province, the AMM and Winnipeg jointly pursue a national strategy, petitioning Ottawa to take an enhanced, permanent role in municipal infrastructure funding The Pallister government has pledged to roll back the PST by one percentage point in its first term. That makes this an auspicious time for a serious discussion about a new relationship that lets the province focus on fighting the deficit, and municipalities to meet their own challenges and goals. Winnipeg appears to agree, noting in its discussion paper that it is “exploring new sources of revenue to address service costs and the infrastructure deficit.” Manitoba’s municipalities need a long-term solution to an old revenue problem arising from an antiquated, dysfunctional governing relationship. We need the province, our cities and towns to collaborate to find a better way. ❱❱❱
PLAN THE FUTURE OF A MODERN METROPOLIS.
Municipalities, of provincial governments, have limited access to revenue sources. What’s the fix? being creatures What municipalities need is a new fiscal arrangement, one that balances responsibilities, roles and resources better, and frees them from the Oliver-Twist reprise, every year at budget time. A possibility of a new fiscal arrangement would see
Top: Flin Flon’s iconic Flinty statue overlooks Hwy 10A at the entrance to the town. Photo by RUTH BONNEVILLE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Bottom: A surveyor’s view from the top of North Hill on Brandon’s First Street. Photo by MATT GOERZEN/BRANDON SUN
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CITY OF WINNIPEG LOOKS TO RECORD INVESTMENT IN ROADS FOR 2018 COUNCIL STILL AWAITING CLARITY ON PROVINCIAL SUPPORT OF FEDERAL FUNDING APPLICATION BY SCOTT GILLINGHAM & MARTY MORANTZ
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his year’s road construction season is drawing to a close and preparations for the 2018 City Budget are well underway. That makes it a good
is exacerbated by freezes and reductions in funding from the provincial government. To be clear: We understand and appreciate the financial challenges that this government has inherited. However, the province’s unilateral decision to eliminate the Building Manitoba Fund means that what was previously a predictable, incremental funding source for city infrastructure is no longer available. Moreover, the province has only committed to keeping capital contributions to the city at 2016 levels for 2017. If this level is maintained (or reduced) for 2018 and beyond, it will be even more challenging for the city to make the necessary infrastructure investments to support a growing city. Lack of certainty around provincial funding levels has complicated the city’s budgeting process. As a city, we continue to seek new revenue sources to supplement our road renewal budget. In July, council unanimously endorsed an application for accelerated regional street renewal funding under the New Building Canada Fund established by the former Harper Government in 2014. This application seeks to leverage existing city and provincial road investments in order to access additional federal dollars. This would result in an even greater investment in roadwork through the coming years. We are not looking for any incremental funding from the province for this program, only their support of our application to access the federal funding. If approved, the federal funding request would increase the regional street renewal budget by 50 per cent, over current levels, resulting in a federal contribution of $182 million over six years (2018-2023). Total investment would be more than half a billion dollars over six years in regional street renewal alone. As a key industry partner, the MHCA is playing a strong role in advocating for the city to receive every eligible federal dollar for its accelerated regional street renewals. We look forward to another record year of road renewals in 2018 and to strengthening our work with key stakeholders. ❱❱❱ Scott Gillingham (left) is the chairman of city council’s finance committee and Marty Morantz (right) chairs the infrastructure renewal and public works committee.
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time to take stock of our investments in road renewals over the last few years and provide a glimpse of the City’s future road renewal plan. Winnipeggers have consistently made it clear that their No. 1 priority is fixing our roads. The mayor and city council have listened. In the last three years our investment in road renewal has exceeded the levels of the previous six years. The Local and Regional Street Renewals Reserves, established in 2013 and 2014 respectively and each funded by a one per cent annual property tax increase, have allowed us to invest in street renewal at record levels. The street renewal budget in 2017 is $105 million, a 115 per cent increase from $48.9 million in 2014. This year’s $105 million supported over 150 projects comprising 130 lane kilometres of road renewal across the city. This year’s budget included the renewal of the northbound and southbound lanes on Pembina Highway, renewal of Empress Street from St Matthews to Portage Avenue as well reconstruction of significant portions of Ellice Avenue. Looking ahead, the city plans to adopt the 2018 budget in December. Winnipeg residents can expect the 2018 budget to include another robust street renewal plan funded by the dedicated property tax increases. In preparation for next year’s budget, we embarked on an extensive public engagement process early in 2017. Beginning in April, Winnipeggers used multiple opportunities to provide their input on budget priorities. Consultation included an online survey, online budgeting tool, idea forum, and pop-up events located throughout the city. Feedback from the public, city employees and from key stakeholders, including the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association (MHCA), is ensuring the budget is developed to reflect Winnipeggers’ service and investment priorities. Results show fixing roads remains the top budget priority for Winnipeggers. Despite the record levels of investment on street renewal, the city faces substantial financial challenges, particularly in the operating budget. The city’s tax-supported budget has a structural deficit: Sustainable revenue streams do not cover required expenditures. The fiscal reality
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6 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Celebrating 75 GROUNDBREAKING years in 2018
CAPITAL REGION: ARE WE REALLY OPEN FOR BUSINESS? BY COLLEEN SKLAR
T he recent Amazon HQ2 proposal has sparked conversations across the capital region. From the boardroom to the dinner table, Manitobans are talking about what we really have to offer to entice major businesses to move here. As someone who loves this province, our capital region strengths are evident and the benefits of locating here come without saying. But if you don’t know this place like someone who was born and raised here, is our “value proposition” really that clear? The exercise of taking inventory of our collective strengths and documenting our shortcomings, which is what I think we did in our Amazon pitch, is a real opportunity. For decades, municipalities have been operating in a system that drives competition and provides no adequate mechanisms for collaboration, leaving us at a disadvantage. Since 1998, local leaders in Winnipeg and the surrounding municipalities have been chipping away at the edges of status quo, trying to follow successful examples that have moved other jurisdictions from merely coping to creating regional systems that combine and leverage their strengths to boost competitiveness. What we have learned from others who have been successful at working together across municipal boundaries is that regional coordination is not another level of government. It does not add a whack of permits or more forms to fill out. Contrary to dire predictions, it doesn’t grease the slope to contentious annexations or forced amalgamations. In fact, in many jurisdictions cooperative, flexible inter-municipal coordination is the way around this. Regional coordination has also proven to be very effective in ensuring social, economic and environmental resources are harnessed for the well-being of all. Regional coordination allows us to be good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars, to plan better, to design and build better infrastructure, to maximize stretched budgets by avoiding duplication of efforts. The quality of services is improved and processes streamlined, attracting good jobs and investment.
This common-sense approach can also help us build better partnerships with federal, provincial and Indigenous governments, as well as with the businesses and industries that provide services, products and jobs. A coordinated approach for Winnipeg and the capital region is an opportunity to package our collective strengths and flip the open-for- business sign on — together. Our region has no shortage of strengths; located in the centre of North America, we have extensive trade corridors connecting us across Canada and to the United States and Mexico. We have CentrePort Canada, North America’s largest inland port. Along with our transportation and logistics opportunities, we have some of the world’s best agricultural lands and productive capacity, abundant freshwater resources, low-cost renewable hydropower and a diverse and highly skilled workforce.
by Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson, is a partnership of 15 metro region municipalities to create a shared regional economic development strategy to boost investment and jobs for the region. The organizing principle of shared investment/shared reward leaves competition behind, for a greater return when local leaders shift from a zero-sum game strategy. Across North America there are 350 metro regions working together to build their value proposition. Those similar to the scale of our metro region are collaborating on economic development, roads and transportation infrastructure, public transportation and land-use planning. Manitoba’s capital region is competing against this reality. We have to work together to succeed. Often, what investors are looking for can only be delivered by the breadth of what a region can offer. We can no longer just pay lip service to regional collaboration. We must do it if we are to keep the social, economic and environmental security we have become accustomed to. Otherwise, we fall behind. Leaders from the capital region have been working hard on the challenging task of regional planning and action. They see that this will promote regional cooperation. It won’t deliver every aspect of municipal operations together, but strategically align efforts where it makes sense to do so — and investment in economic development like Amazon HQ2 has inspired us to put our best foot forward. This work is in progress, but leaders could use a little help from provincial and federal governments, business and industry, NGOs and associations, in supporting the development of a regional framework. We need an “all hands on deck” approach to design and deliver a regional framework, so we can move faster to build on our strengths and highlight all we have to offer. We have become very good at competing but we may be even better at collaborating. And, who knows, maybe “Winnipeg Global” is not too far off. ❱❱❱
WE HAVE A LOT TO OFFER POTENTIAL INVESTORS LIKE AMAZON, AND INVESTORS WHO HAVE BEEN HERE FOR GENERATIONS AND ARE CONTEMPLATING EXPANSION. BUT LOCAL LEADERS AGREE WE HAVE MORE WORK TO DO.
Colleen Sklar is the executive director of the Partnership of the Manitoba Capital Region.
We have a lot to offer potential investors like Amazon, and investors who have been here for generations and are contemplating expansion. But local leaders agree we have more work to do. We must clearly define, package and build on our strengths to increase our competitiveness if we want to get in the game like our neighbours to the west. Edmonton’s Capital Region Board has just launched its “Edmonton Global.” This new entity, championed
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman and former Winnipeg Blue Bomber Obby Khan participated in the video component of Economic Development Winnipeg’s pitch to Amazon.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017 7
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Celebrating 75 GROUNDBREAKING years in 2018
OBSTRUCTIONIST POLICIES A QUICK PATH TO ECONOMIC RUIN WE STRIVE TO TRADE GLOBALLY, YET SOME GOVERNMENTS THWART COMPETITION IN CANADA
THE PALLISTER GOVERNMENT ITSELF EFFECTIVELY DECLARED MANITOBA HAS ZERO TOLERANCE FOR LOCAL PREFERENCE CLAUSES IN PUBLIC TENDERS, ISSUING NOTICE TO DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES, CROWN CORPORATIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARDS, AMONG OTHERS, THAT NO SUCH PRACTICE WILL BE PERMITTED.
G rowing the economy is more than a buzzword. Canada’s GDP is inching up, but for real employment gains, it needs a shot in the arm. So why would public offices employ obstructive policies that deliberately thwart business from expanding their markets, creating jobs and returning to government the tax revenue that underpins Canada’s globally envied social programs? Sounds counterproductive, right? We think so, too. Yet, time and again business and trade organizations get thrown under the bus when they attempt to compete fairly for work that is tendered by government or public offices. Yes, that’s right — public procurement policies that defeat competitive bidding, whether by design or effect. The first kind of obstructionist policy is that which some jurisdictions use to give favourable treatment to local companies, even after signing trade agreements that are supposed to pave a level playing field, ensuring best value for the public dollar. This fall, for example, Manitoba contractors were prevented from bidding on tenders in a neighbouring jurisdiction that uses local preference policies. Local preference clauses do not explicitly say “out-of-towners need not apply.” Typically, they are disguised in language such as “experience working with local authorities and community organizations” or “knowledge of and experience with local conditions.” This practice is particularly offensive since Manitoba’s public procurement rules open the door to all comers in other provinces, making for some tough bid-competition in the heavy construction industry. Ron Duncan, president of Winnipeg heavy civil contractor Tri- Core Projects, says tenders should permit open, fair bidding and, after assessment for bids that qualify for the work involved, the contract “That gives you an idea of what is at stake for Manitoba contractors, and their workers, when the cards are stacked against them,” says Duncan. “But also, it ramps up cost to the taxpayers in that jurisdiction, because the public owner has already written off getting ‘best value’ from the tender in limiting the competition.” The Manitoba Heavy Construction Association (MHCA) has opposed such local preference policies repeatedly. And now, the ought to be awarded to the lowest qualifying bid. The contracts can be worth millions of dollars.
Pallister government itself effectively declared Manitoba has zero tolerance for local preference clauses in public tenders, issuing notice to departments, agencies, Crown corporations and public school boards, among others, that no such practice will be permitted. Further, the government also has said that public tender and contract documents will not contain what is known in the industry as arbitrary or punitive ‘reprisal clauses.’ A reprisal clause tells bidders for public contracts that they need not apply if they are now, or recently have been, in legal dispute with that public entity arising from a previous contract. Recently, a Manitoba school division included such a clause in its tender documents. Basically, the impact of such as clause is: If you exercised your legal right to civil action because of a dispute over the terms or conditions of the contract, the reprisal clause bars you from submitting a bid to compete for work. But that tramples recourse to basic contract law, which provides for legal recourse to resolve disputes. Either party is allowed that right, which is constitutionally protected. Imagine the chill that would send down private enterprise — public bodies are the owners of some of the highest value projects and work tendered in any given year. Jack Meseyton, co-owner of Portage la Prairie contractor E.F. Moon, doesn’t have to imagine the chill — he’s felt it first-hand. He stopped dead when he read the division’s reprisal clause in the tender document. While he hasn’t been involved
chilling practice that effectively denies a company of its right to contractual redress.” Reprisal clauses also work against the public interest because they limit competition. Both forms of obstructive trade practices are bad for business, bad for the public’s dollar and destructive to economic growth. The MHCA supports and agrees with the Canadian Construction Association in its efforts across the country to fight pernicious
tender practices, whether they be giving the leg up to local companies in tenders, or eliminating competition through reprisal clauses. Canadian businesses have shown the world they can compete globally with the best, time and again. We should
not have to fight restrictive trade practices that limit the value of vigorous competition from our own governments and public bodies. That kind of internal warfare paves a path to economic ruin. ❱❱❱
Tri-Core Projects president Ron Duncan says tenders should permit open and fair bidding. Photo by DARCY FINLEY
in past legal disputes with the school division, the threat of reprisal would colour his options should a dispute arise. “The effect of the reprisal clause on my company is to make us reluctant to enforce legal rights because of the threat of being blacklisted from future work,” Meseyton
explains. “The public entity can exert undue pressure on my company to abandon our legal claims, or settle for considerably less. “So you can see how the use of reprisal clauses is an unfair,
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8 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Celebrating 75 GROUNDBREAKING years in 2018
HOW DEEP IS THE HOLE? MANITOBANS NEED HARD NUMBERS
ON THE MAGNITUDE OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT DEFICITS
A crumbling street (above) Photo by DAVID LIPNOWSKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Sidewalk construction (below) Photo by WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Y ou bump or trip along potholes and crevices as you make your way by street, sidewalk or highway to school, work, pastimes or place of business each day. But do any of us know just how deep is the hole? That sometimes jarring experience is a problem — streets, highways and sidewalks that are in poor condition, or that simply don’t measure up to the needs of a growing population and economy — can do noticeable damage. It can be tough, however, to see the forest for the trees, so to speak. And when it comes to infrastructure — the streets, highways, sidewalks, active transportation facilities and the bridges, underpasses, and water and sewer lines — the ‘forest’ is a gloomy place. This is what we call the “infrastructure investment deficit,” which refers to the cost of repairing existing and building new infrastructure required to keep us moving efficiently and safely. Beyond safety’s sake, seamless and efficient infrastructure is critical to economic growth because it is foundational to the movement of goods to market and people to jobs. In 2011, the City of Winnipeg pegged its infrastructure investment deficit at $7.4 billion, in 2009 dollars. About half of that was calculated from the required repairs and new construction of transportation assets. City council passed in 2013 and 2014 two dedicated tax increases, one per cent annually for local street renewal, and then another one per cent annually for regional roads. Implementation of the two annual taxes was backed by a plan that continued base funding and targeted 2022 as the year at which the city reached a sustainable level of investment. The provincial government, for its part, similarly assesses its infrastructure investment deficit, which informs its budgeting process for its highways and water/
provincial fiscal performance, published in part in the 2018 budget papers, that deferred maintenance accounts for “approximately $8 billion in core government infrastructure alone.” Deferred maintenance does not include the construction of new transportation assets Manitoba needs to stay competitive and ready to take advantage of new trade opportunities at our doorstep. Trade supports more than half of this province’s $65-billion gross domestic product. For example, PTH #75 carries roughly $18 billion of north-south trade between Manitoba and the United States. So where are we? How much will it cost to bring our streets, sidewalks, highways and trade corridors up to shape? That’s a question that both the municipalities and the provincial government must answer. The City of Winnipeg has not published an update of its infrastructure investment deficit since the 2011 report of the Infrastructure Funding Council, which laid out a responsible path to address the hole. That report projected the Manitoba-wide municipal infrastructure deficit would sit at $13.4 billion, by 2021, given the 2011 investment levels. In fairness, Winnipeg has tried to address the investment deficit, with its dedicated taxes and increased budgets for the local and regional street renewal program annually. The provincial government still needs to take that critical first step, making public its valuation of the infrastructure deficit, so we know the challenge before us. Without a benchmark to start from, and then updated regularly taking into account both the work done annually and the changing scope of needs SO WHERE ARE WE? HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO BRING OUR STREETS, SIDEWALKS, HIGHWAYS AND TRADE CORRIDORS UP TO SHAPE?
for modernization, Winnipeggers and Manitobans are driving, walking and pedaling in the dark. To extend the metaphor, we are blind to whatever pothole or crevice is yawning before us, at our peril. The IFC Report in 2011 had good advice for governments. It recommended that municipalities find economies and efficiencies within their operations in order to direct the financial resources available to core infrastructure. But, more pertinently, the IFC cogently argued the provincial government should “allocate growth taxes and vacate a further portion of education property taxes dedicated through legislation to municipal infrastructure.” This latter recommendation became known as a “new fiscal deal” between the province and municipalities, recognizing the limited revenue capacities of cities and towns, which shoulder responsibility for some 60 per cent of public infrastructure. The federal government has a role to play in the would- be deal, too, through enhanced municipal infrastructure transfers, as part of a national strategy. The IFC warned that “failure to act now saddles the present and future generations with a significant financial burden and unquestionably will lower Manitoba’s standard of living and economic growth.” Manitobans are still awaiting the fix. We know the provincial government is wrestling with deep deficits and rising debt servicing costs. Municipalities are trying to manage amid a new reality, no longer
able to rely upon the predictability of provincial transfers tied to PST revenue growth. But “deferred maintenance” cannot be the strategy for a trade-dependent province like Manitoba. It would, in fact, send us down the road to economic ruin. The first step to a more productive path is to evaluate and make public the infrastructure investment deficits of our municipalities and our provincial government. ❱❱❱
flood capital and maintenance budgets. The previous government never publicly released the infrastructure deficit — even though it exists — , despite repeat requests. We know, however, from the review of
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017 9
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Celebrating 75 GROUNDBREAKING years in 2018
City of Winnipeg, Winnipeg in Focus fonds, 1963
Manitoba Archives, Transportation – Roads and Highways fonds, 1910
75 in 2018 The MHCA is turning 75 in 2018 and we’re telling our story. The heavy construction industry has helped build this province, its economy and foundational infrastructure: roads, highways, bridges, and water/sewer. As part of the commemoration, which will include celebratory features throughout 2018, we are asking for your memories, your photos or any archived materials that can help tell this tale in displays at our marquee events next year. Do you have something to share? Please email Katie Pfeiffer at katherine@mhca.mb.ca Thank you,
Greg Orbanski Chair, MHCA
Chris Lorenc President, MHCA
City of Winnipeg, Winnipeg in Focus fonds, 1963
HEAVY CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY TESTED BY TIME, PUBLIC BEST INTEREST MANITOBA HEAVY CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATION CELEBRATES 75 YEARS OF PRINCIPLED ADVOCACY
BY GREG ORBANSKI, CHAIR, MHCA
I work for an industry that has the “smell of the streets” on it. Literally. And we wear that proudly. I doubt Manitobans give much thought to the heavy construction industry, except in the months when streets are barricaded, torn up and traffic is detoured and the commute is slowed. I understand that. But I think the heavy construction industry — the men and women who are in those holes building or repairing roads or installing new sewer and water mains, or building the bridges — deserves a bit of recognition. In 2018, the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association (MHCA) celebrates its 75th anniversary. So it’s a good time to talk about what the industry has done over the years for our communities, province and country.
The TransCanada as a physical asset is invaluable, and rightly now occupies the attention and investment of governments coast to coast. But for the MHCA and its western partners, it was and is the natural manifestation of our “nation-building” strategy, which placed strategic transportation policy at the centre of economic and social development. The MHCA crafts its advocacy on principles, including that the management of public budgets, such as for highways, should focus on investment, not spending, and should meet the test of public best interest. As part of that, the concept of “trade- enabling” infrastructure as deserving of a higher priority in public policy has evolved. Governments have adopted that position. Today, governments, particularly at the national level, don’t get elected without laying out their vision for cost-
• Necessity of dedicated taxes for transportation infrastructure • Public disclosure of governments’ infrastructure investment deficits — that gap between what is being invested and how much is required to bring core infrastructure assets to good condition • Collaboration among municipalities of transportation priorities and budgets, for regional benefit and economic growth • Transparent, accountable investment of public dollars , through annual and five-year budgets These principles and positions, and many others, have spawned national and regional research, task forces and reports on trade-enabling transportation investment policy and strategy. MHCA was central to the idea of “nation-building” infrastructure that sits at the core of federal cost-shared programs now. It has been said that, as an experiment in national and cultural cohesion and identity, Canada just shouldn’t work, shouldn’t exist as a country. We leave it to the philosophers to work through existential questions. Here, on the streets, our industry understands, at a practical and visceral level, how Canada was made to work despite the odds. A principled, strategic use of our collective resources united us and put us on the road to prosperity that now underpins Canada’s vaunted social programs and our quality of life. It is why MHCA’s advocacy, through the years, has always been tested by that ‘public best interest’ yardstick. Tested by time, the industry, in its 75th year, proudly measures up. ❱❱❱
THE HEAVY CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY HAS BEEN FOUNDATIONAL TO KEEPING PEOPLE AND GOODS MOVING IN AND BETWEEN OUR COMMUNITIES. IT ALSO HAS HAD A PIVOTAL ROLE IN ELEVATING THE CONCEPT OF TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE AS A GENERATOR OF PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH.
Greg Orbanski is the Chair of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association.
The heavy construction industry has been foundational to keeping people and goods moving in and between our communities. It also has had a pivotal role in elevating the concept of transportation infrastructure as a generator of provincial and national economic growth. Out of this industry in this province, policies and principles underpinning the idea of “nation-building” infrastructure were initiated. Those initiatives helped moved Canada to a place where, now, our highways, trade corridors, border crossings and ports are seen as feeding the heart of trade, which is the backbone of our gross domestic product. In 1943, the industry formed its own association and, working with the industry in Saskatchewan, founded a regional roadbuilders association. This was not simply a lobby group getting its voice heard at local levels for the industry. It was recognized at the time that what Canadians needed was a strategic approach, tied to defined economic return, to easing the movement of people and goods across a country that, due to its breadth and geography, defies the notion of a “nation.” In 1943, the MHCA saw the potential Canada held, but understood that some heavy lifting had to be done to tie together its peoples and communities as citizens and trading partners. It saw that Canada could up its game as a trading nation with commodities — natural resources and manufactured goods — the world was hungry to import. Far-sighted MHCA directors and chairmen moved regional support to champion the idea of a national transportation system — a transcontinental roadway. Those efforts helped propel the construction of the TransCanada Highway, launched in 1950 and completed in 1962.
shared, robust infrastructure funding, focused on economic growth. Other ideas initiated by MHCA locally and nationally over the years include: • Creation of TRIP/Canada, which became the national flagship advocacy entity of the Canadian Construction Association
Manitoba Archives, L.B. Foote, 1914
10 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Celebrating 75 GROUNDBREAKING years in 2018
SAFETY LEADERS THE BUSINESS CASE FOR INJURY PREVENTION IN HEAVY CONSTRUCTION
BY JAMIE HALL, COO, SAFE WORK MANITOBA
T he first responsibility of employers is to ensure their employees work safely, and end their day that way so they make it home to their families whole and healthy. That is the core goal of workplace safety and health programs. Good employers know that, and hold that goal as a moral responsibility. But there’s a powerful business case to be made for injury prevention in the workplace, too. SAFE Work Manitoba collaborates with our partners in the safety community to help make our province’s workplaces safer and reduce the number of injuries to workers. Our partnership with the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association (MHCA) on injury prevention has proven enormously successful. For the last two decades, MHCA has been instrumental in making the heavy construction industry safer through its COR™-based WORKSAFELY™ program, and has shown time and time again that employers that invest in safety will see the benefits through safer workplaces, lower injury rates and lower Workers Compensation Board (WCB) premium costs.
of 46 per cent. This means that over the last decade, far fewer workers have been injured at work and are available to put in a productive day’s work. This is not a trend, however, across all industries. One of the key differences and advantages that the heavy construction industry has working in its favour to reduce workplace injury numbers is the MHCA’s work to make the industry safer.
which will make them eligible for the WCB’s new Prevention Rebate Program starting in 2018. As a result, an estimated $1.7 million is expected to be returned through the program to employers in the heavy construction industry who have demonstrated that they have reduced the risk of injury to their workers. For the heavy construction industry, this will mean a substantially larger reduction in WCB premium costs. The new Prevention Rebate Program is designed to provide employers with a financial incentive to invest in reducing the risk of injury to their workers. In the heavy construction industry, COR™ certification provides employers with a way to demonstrate their commitment to safety with a focus on hazard identification and risk control, safety leadership commitment and worker participation. The good news is that the heavy construction industry is not alone in this endeavour. Several other industries are also working in partnership to offer meaningful industry-based safety programs in their industries. Together, these industries are not only reducing the number of injuries to workers, but are also demonstrating that improving safety makes good business sense. The business case for injury prevention has never been stronger. I encourage all employers to reach out to their industry, and if you have an industry-based safety program, seek guidance in how you can make your workplace safer and maximize your investment in prevention. ❱❱❱
FROM 2016 TO 2017, EMPLOYERS IN THE HEAVY CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY PAID $1.7 MILLION LESS IN PREMIUMS, A REDUCTION OF 13 PER CENT. IN 2018, THESE EMPLOYERS ARE PROJECTED TO PAY $1.2 MILLION LESS IN WCB PREMIUMS THAN THEY DID IN 2017, A SAVINGS OF AN ADDITIONAL 11 PER CENT.
Jamie Hall is the COO of SAFE Work Manitoba
An investment in safety protects workers, the key to their business’s success. But, there are other benefits to investing in safety initiatives and to accessing the services of organizations that provide industry-based safety programs, like WORKSAFELY™. The WCB’s injury statistics show that the heavy construction industry has seen its time-loss injury rate consistently decrease from 6.9 injuries per 100 workers to 3.7 over the last decade, a reduction
In dollars and cents, fewer injured workers also means lower WCB premiums. From 2016 to 2017, employers in the heavy construction industry paid $1.7 million less in premiums, a reduction of 13 per cent. In 2018, these employers are projected to pay $1.2 million less in WCB premiums than they did in 2017, a savings of an additional 11 per cent. In addition, many employers in the heavy construction industry are COR™ certified,
Workers apply cement during road construction on Hwy 75 in 2014. Photo by BORIS MINKEVICH/ WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017 11
A SUPPLEMENT TO THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Celebrating 75 GROUNDBREAKING years in 2018
Diamond Construction safety officer Stacy Martens has Return to Work plans and procedures in place to support ill and injured workers. Photo by DARCY FINLEY
RETURN TO WORK PROGRAMS HELP SPEED UP RECOVERY BY PAT ST. GERMAIN
P revention is always better than a cure. When injuries and illness occur, supportive employers don’t just send wishes for a speedy recovery, they help workers achieve it. Workers Compensation Board (WCB) manager of Return to Work Program Services and Employer Relations Chris Poot says his department was established about 18 months ago to increase focus on Return to Work (RTW) programs and build awareness of their benefits to employers and workers alike. “There is considerable medical research out there — and it’s all readily available — that tells us that recovery is better and faster when you resume activity,” he says. “And so that’s just
such as administrative or other light duty work.” He recommends employers take advantage of WCB’s free one-day workshop, RTW Basics, to learn how to create and manage an effective RTW program to bring injured workers back to the workplace in a safe and timely manner. A WCB Basics workshop is required for construction safety officers and response to the optional RTW Basics course has been overwhelmingly positive. Diamond Construction safety officer Stacy Martens is a past participant who sees the value of having RTW plans and procedures in place for her company and its workforce, which numbers about 100 during peak periods. “We all know that when people work they feel fulfilled and feel worthwhile,” she says, adding it’s
as simple as getting up and brushing your teeth and having a shower and going to work. All of those things participate in your recovery.” Poot advises employers to do some advance planning. An injury might require light duties, or alternative duties within limitations set by by the worker’s doctor, so it’s important to be prepared by creating a set of modified duties that can be matched to medical restrictions.
better for a worker’s physical and mental health to rejoin their peers rather than be isolated at home. “We haven’t, thankfully, had a lot of injuries as far as prolonged time off, but there have been a couple of circumstances where we’ve had to do Return to Work and use the Return to Work modified program,” she says. “It’s not always possible to get them right back, obviously, to their original
WHEN INJURIES AND ILLNESS OCCUR, SUPPORTIVE EMPLOYERS DON’T JUST SEND WISHES FOR A SPEEDY RECOVERY, THEY HELP WORKERS ACHIEVE IT.
kept him off the job site for a short period of time spent a few productive days reviewing manuals in the Diamond Construction safety office. “We needed to review procedures for our different pieces of equipment and the ones that he was familiar with he was able to help us out and do that, so for that little bit of time that he needed to rest, he was able to fulfill something that we needed for our safety program as far as employee review and he was able to get back to work,” Martens says. “I think in general it just creates a healthy work environment and … we hope as a company to have an environment where if they’re not there they do feel missed and they feel like they’re part of their community of construction.”
Poot notes that RTW programs are also good for employers’ and workers’ financial health. WCB premiums decrease as lost-time injuries decrease and the heavy construction industry has seen rates fall as safety programs have improved over the years. “When that happens it makes you just a little more competitive and it allows you to hang on to some of your talent, because there is a shortage coming, we make no bones about that.” For a worker, returning to work or staying at work helps remove financial uncertainty and allows for the continuation of contributions to extended health plans and pension plans. “There’s no question about it, it’s better for a worker to be back.” ❱❱❱
“Most employers are seriously trying to hang on to their talent because they are people that have some skills and they want them to keep working there and be productive, and one of the ways, especially in construction, is to keep them, as often as possible, working with the crews, working on site,” he says. “One of the things that we suggest is to temporarily assign individuals to alternate work
duties or tasks, but alternatives in work for the employee would maybe be a modified job in the same workplace, maybe a similar job in a different workplace within the company, a different job in the same workplace or sometimes even a different job in a different workplace within the company. It’s just trying to get them back to work as quickly as possible.” In one instance, a loader operator whose injury
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