Conference Board of Canada logo. Photo courtesy of Twitter.
The Conference Board of Canada estimates the infrastructure deficit on reserves and northern communities to be about 10 billion dollars.
This is money that is needed for things most people take for granted like clean water, schools, housing and transportation. In a report released today, the board recommends ways to get the money moving faster and to include a far greater participation of Aboriginal communities.
The board’s director of Northern and Aboriginal Policy, Christopher Duschenes, says there are lot of positive things going on, but he says there is not enough information sharing and not enough input from Aboriginal communities.
He says one thing was clear after holding several discussions.
“This is an incredibly complex area where we probably collectively don’t know enough or have learned enough from each other,” he said. “There is need for ongoing discussion.”
Duschenes says the common belief is the federal government is responsible for basic infrastructure needs and it should move quickly to upgrade them. Duschenes says a key element that is often missing is input from the local community, something he says is essential.
“So it is a huge opportunity, the communities are huge assets, they know their strengths and needs. They know what works and doesn’t, they know who has to be involved,” he said.
He adds that non-traditional funding, working with private public partnerships and bundling infrastructure needs for nearby communities are ways of making infrastructure funding more efficient, and allowing projects to be completed sooner.