Rushing of ‘Canada 150’ Fund Triggers Criticism: Oppn Says It Is Ruling Conservatives’ Poll Sop

Canada’s initiative to spruce up infrastructure facilities with “Canada 150” infrastructure fund has aroused interest. However, it is facing criticism because of its shorter time frame in accepting proposals. The program was announced in the 2015 budget without any concrete funding limit.

The Federal government expects the program will help in renovating some 1,800 existing facilities that will include community centres, hockey rinks, legion halls and bike trails. Launching the program on May 15, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the fund will have a corpus of CA$150-million, to be spent over two years and will be managed by six regional development agencies, reports Globe and Mail.

However, provinces, municipalities and community groups are complaining that they are not getting sufficient time to submit the proposals as only three weeks are left. The haste, with which the program is being rushed, has triggered concerns that the Conservatives are rushing to spend the cash ahead of the October election. The PM also tried to project the unique fund as useful for a wide range of projects such as curling rinks, arenas, walking trails and bike routes, theatres and community halls in small towns and big cities where people can come together.

Build Canada

According to the PM’s office, Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program is aimed at complementing the CA $53 billion Build Canada Plan, focused on economic growth, job creation and long-term prosperity. The sub program- Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program, will further supplement the Canada 150 Fund to create opportunities for Canadians to participate in local, regional, and national celebrations to enhance attachment to Canada.

Limited Time Frame

Now the looming issue is the lack of uniformity among development agencies in terms of a common deadline for closing the submissions. For example, FedDev Ontario has June 9 as its deadline, while the development agency in Western Canada has kept it for June 17 and in Quebec, submissions are allowed until June 26. Also the agency in Western Canada is saying it will inform successful applicants within 90 days of the deadline. That will be early September, by that time the election campaign will also start.

Doug Dobrowolski, president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities said, “It’s a pretty tight time frame, that’s for sure, so we’re a little concerned about that. I don’t know how many are actually going to apply.” Referring to the tight deadlines, the opposition called it an exercise in rushing money ahead of an election. This looks very much like a "political fund,” said NDP law maker Matthew Kellway.

(For feedback/comments, contact the writer at k.kumar@ibtimes.com.au)