Mayor ’s Report

Last week, I was invited to speak to the Ontario Good Roads Association membership at their Fall Training Workshop.

They asked me to talk about the unique challenges small municipalities face when making difficult decisions about paying to repair or replace declining infrastructure; roads, bridges and culverts, parklands and trails and facilities and equipment. More particularly, they asked me to tell them how local councillors need to make the tough decisions in order to address the mounting infrastructure deficit we face across the province and indeed the country.

Over the years, infrastructure has not been “top of mind” for many residents, although over the past 18 to 24 months, there has definitely been increased public awareness over declining infrastructure in communities across Canada. Some estimates suggest it would cost $250 billion to repair or replace the nation’s failing infrastructure, including water and wastewater systems, transportation networks, transit, waste management and community, recreational, cultural and social facilities. It is a staggering sum and you might well ask, “How did we manage to get so far behind in maintaining these vital public services?”

The candid answer is when things are humming along and nobody is complaining, infrastructure is rarely a popular political issue. In other words, elected representatives at every level of government would rather make popular decisions about reducing taxes, paying for new public buildings, adding to the parkland inventory or delivering more sports fields than spending tax dollars on public assets the voters cannot see. It is easier to point to a new arena or a beautifully restored lakefront park in demonstrating the positive changes you’ve made since elected than it is to stand at the roadside and ask voters to imagine the benefits of the new wastewater pipes you have installed two metres below their feet.

There are other issues that have played a major part in contributing to the declining state of Canada’s vital infrastructure assets. Every level of government faces the need to provide new infrastructure as development and growth put pressure on decisionmakers to provide the services, facilities and programs that new businesses and residents demand. The installation or building of these assets, however, has not always fully included what are known as “life cycle” costs; the funding required over the long term to maintain and repair the infrastructure over its lifetime. These costs have, in the past, been assumed by decision-makers to magically become available at some future date. For Canada, that date has arrived and a major funding dilemma has arrived with it.

Recently, the Town of Caledon began a review of its infrastructure with a view to understanding where we stand in terms of the age and condition of more than $650 million in assets, including 42 kilometres of trails; more than two dozen major buildings and facilities; 65 spectacular parks; a fleet of 145 vehicles and equipment; 133 major road structures – that is bridges and culverts and more than 740 kilometres of roadways.

The report did not paint a very optimistic picture, but on the positive side, Caledon is in a better position than many municipalities. However, we, like our colleagues across Canada, have some difficult decisions to make about keeping our roads and other infrastructure assets up to the standards of the Town and Province. Fortunately though, the Town has taken a leadership role in developing an Overall Condition Index (OCI) for our infrastructure. This pragmatic approach sets a base line against which council can establish meaningful priorities and appropriate financial strategies including fiveyear capital and longer term life cycle funding to bring our infrastructure up to date.

In Caledon, we have once again taken a positive and proactive approach to addressing the challenges of repairing and replacing our infrastructure assets.

The decisions council faces will be difficult I can assure you, but we will have the facts, the technologies, the innovative options and the financial planning we will need to make the right decisions for the long term future of our community’s infrastructure.