The Conservatives, New Democrats, and Bloc Quebecois are calling for the environment minister to appear before the Commons Transportation Committee following his recent comments indicating that the federal government will stop funding new road infrastructure.
“We are writing to request an urgent meeting of the Standing Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities ... to discuss the recent comments from the Minister of Environment informing Canadians that there will be no more federal funding for road projects,” reads a
letter written to
committee chair Liberal MP Peter Schiefke on Feb. 16.
Environment Minister
Steven Guilbeault said on Feb. 12 that Ottawa had “made the decision to stop investing in new road infrastructure” and that funding would be better spent on public transit, active transit such as walking and biking, and projects to fight climate change and adapt to its impacts.
Speaking at a conference on public transit in Montreal that day, as reported by
Montreal Gazette, Mr. Guilbeault said that funding more road networks would encourage more car usage, which would in turn increase greenhouse gas-emitting traffic congestion and prompt more calls for road expansion.
Two days later, Mr. Guilbeault told reporters he “should have been more specific” in his initial comments. He said he was referring to funding for large projects like the Troisième lien in Quebec, which was promised by Premier Francois Legault during the 2018 election but has not yet started.
The Troisième lien is a road tunnel project aimed at linking Quebec City to its south shore across the St. Lawrence River.
Mr. Guilbeault’s comments were
criticized by several premiers, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford saying he was “gobsmacked” by the announcement, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith saying the environment minister should “return to the real world,” and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe saying the Liberal government was getting “more out of touch with reality every day.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also weighed in, saying the “radical” environment minister “won’t be happy until we’re living back in mud huts.”
‘Massive Consequences’ for Communities
The letter to the Transport Committee chair, signed by all Conservative, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois MPs on the committee, said Mr. Guilbeault’s comments would have “massive consequences on infrastructure development for Canadian communities and on the ability of communities to grow and prosper.”The MPs emphasized that rural, remote, and northern Canadian communities would suffer in particular, as they require sufficient federal support to operate. In addition to inviting Mr. Guilbeault, the opposition MPs also called for Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser to testify before the committee.
Conservative
MP Mark Strahl, one of the committee members who signed the letter, said on social media that his party was demanding that Mr. Guilbeault “answer for the Liberal government’s extreme and divisive ‘no new roads’ policy they announced last week.”
Mr. Guilbeault and Mr. Fraser have not yet indicated whether they have agreed to appear before the committee.
The Liberal government committed
$3.4 billion over three years to upgrade and improve public transit systems in its March 2016 budget. Then in February
2021, the feds announced an additional $14.9 billion over the next eight years for public transit projects across Canada.
Part of the $14.9 billion funding, specifically $400 million over the next five years, went toward the government’s
Active Transportation Fund, announced March 2021, dedicated toward capital projects like multi-use pathways, bike lanes, and footbridges across roadways as well as associated costs for design and outreach programs.
Active transportation refers to activities such as “walking, cycling, and the use of human-powered or hybrid mobility aids such as wheelchairs, scooters, e-bikes, rollerblades, snowshoes and cross-country skis,” says Ottawa’s National Active Transportation Strategy.
According to the Feb. 12
Montreal Gazette article, Mr. Guilbeault said the Liberal government has committed $30 billion toward developing public transit since 2016, and has announced Canada’s first recurrent financing program for public transit projects, which will provide $3 billion per year for projects starting in 2026–27.
