Innovative Policies: Improvements in government policy to fuel more and better investments in infrastructure
Investment in Infrastructure is Canada’s Economic Health Care Program
By: Chris Lorenc, President, Manitoba Heavy Construction Association (MHCA) It is well established that sustained investment in public infrastructure brings results—enhanced economic productivity, higher competitiveness, and therefore, better rates of economic growth. And, it is this economic growth that generates revenue for governments with which to fund Canada’s globally-envied health care, education, and social safety [...]
Bridging Our Way to a Better City
By: Charlie Clark, Councillor, City of Saskatoon Many cities have nicknames. New York is the “Big Apple.” Calgary is “Cowtown.” Brandon is “Wheat City.” And Saskatoon is the “City of Bridges.” At first blush, that label seems counter-intuitive. After all, Saskatoon sits smack-dab in the middle of the western Canadian prairie. But, Saskatoon is home [...]
Field of Dreams (Part II)
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation Whenever I point to the Jets Stadium and the establishment of the Vauxhall Baseball Academy as an example of a very successful local and rural infrastructure investment that has yielded some great economic development and social dividends, the response is overwhelmingly positive. Often, it’s outright [...]
Building Vibrant Cities
By: Stephanie Shewchuk, Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation When the Economist Intelligence Unit released the latest version of its Global Liveability Report two weeks ago, three Canadian cities were listed in the top five of the 140 cities surveyed. The Global Liveability Report, which originated as a means of testing whether Human Resource departments needed [...]
Field of Dreams (Part I)
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation I don’t know if Bob Miller ever heard a voice whispering “If you build it they will come.” Maybe. After all, Bob did much the same thing as Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, who in the movie Field of Dreams, acted on a little voice telling [...]
Movin’ on Up
By Ann Pham, Communication Coordinator, Canada West Foundation Living in a city where the temperature is below freezing for what feels like the majority of year, I’ve always been thankful for “skywalks”. These are indoor pedestrian bridges that connect together the separate buildings in the downtown core. Here in Calgary, we call them the “+15s.” [...]
Moose Jaw’s “Lean” Hospital Could Yield “Big” Dividends
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation About a year ago the good citizens of Moose Jaw—Saskatchewan’s fourth largest city—were thrilled by news that a new hospital would be built to replace the city’s aging Union Hospital. The new facility is tagged at $105 million, of which 80% will be paid by [...]
Wanted: An Innovative LTIP
By: Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst, Canada West Foundation After burning up 3,000 kilometers on western Canada’s highways, it feels good to be back in the saddle at Canada West Foundation’s offices in Calgary. In Saskatoon, I took part in a special Municipal Infrastructure Forum hosted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) following [...]
Let’s Fix the Cracks in Canada’s Highway
The following column is written by Gord Hume, President of Hume Communications Inc., former Councillor of the City of London, ON, and author of “Cultural Planning for Creative Communities” and “Taking Back Our Cities” for www.letstoc.ca While driving along the Trans-Canada in eastern Manitoba and northern Ontario recently, I was struck by the metaphor that [...]
Something New for a 125th Anniversary: Sustaining Public Infrastructure
By: Konrad Siu (P.Eng., FCSCE), along with Dr. Robert Driver (P.Eng., MCSCE) and Dr. Jeffrey DiBattista (P.Eng., MCSCE), Co-chairs of the 125th Annual CSCE Conference The annual conference marking the 125th anniversary of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE), running from June 6-9, 2012, will offer an exciting venue and numerous opportunities to learn [...]
