Opening Remarks for The Honourable Maryam Monsef, M.P., P.C., Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development

Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities appearance for the Study on Targeted Infrastructure Investment

Ottawa, Ontario, virtual meeting
May 4, 2021

Traditional land acknowledgment

Peterborough: Traditional territory of the Mississauga Anishinaabeg (ah-nish-naabek).

Ottawa: Traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishnabe Nation.

Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about infrastructure accessibility and its contribution to the overall success of our communities.

This last year has been a difficult one for Canadians. Triggering the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, the pandemic has disproportionately affected vulnerable groups like low-wage workers, young people, women, and racialized Canadians.

COVID-19 has magnified gaps in the services and infrastructure available in specific populations, including rural communities.

We all know there are significant benefits to infrastructure investments—some benefits are immediate and create jobs, while others create the foundation for long-term improvements to quality of life.

These investments are critically important in rural communities, where strategic infrastructure investments can generate economic growth, fight climate change and build more inclusive and connected communities for all Canadians.

Investments like these are more important than ever as we recover from this health crisis and build back better and stronger than before.

We have been making good progress through our Government's Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. 3,400 projects have been approved so far, including more than 2,000 projects this past fiscal year – all during a pandemic.

This means federal investments of more than $3.2 billion for rural communities, including under the Rural and Northern Stream, which is specifically dedicated to supporting rural communities, and making investments in broadband, clean drinking water, roads and community centres across the country.

This a big step forward for Canadians living in rural, remote and Indigenous communities.

The federal Gas Tax Fund – which we intend to rename the Canada Community-Building Fund – is also making a difference in communities across the country. To help ease the cash crunch last year, in June 2020 we delivered the whole year's $2.2 billion Gas Tax Fund to municipalities.

But colleagues, there is  more work that can be done.

As I connect with Canadians from coast to coast to coast, when I speak with parents, with small business owners, with rural mayors and economic development experts, I continue to hear about the need for more.

There's a need for improved social supports, infrastructure, housing and tourism, in addition to even more significant investments in broadband connectivity—areas that are addressed in Budget 2021.

This is a historic Budget. It presents our plan to beat COVID-19, and our plan to heal the social and economic wounds every Canadian has felt over the past 14 months.

And it will help connect all Canadians. While this has always been a top priority for our government, when the pandemic hit, we heard loud and clear that we needed to accelerate broadband investments to help get more people connected faster.

Building on the $6.2 billion that the Government has made available for broadband since 2015, Budget 2021 proposes an additional $1 billion over six years for the Universal Broadband Fund.

This brings the total to $2.75 billion available through the UBF to improve high-speed communications in rural and remote areas of Canada. High-speed Internet will be available to 98 percent of Canadians across the country by 2026, with the goal to connect all Canadians by 2030.

To further support communities, we are proposing to double last year's Gas Tax Fund payment just as we did in June 2020 and once again provide the full 2021-22 amount in one payment instead of the usual two installments.

The progress continues through the more than $180-billion Investing in Canada Plan to get high-speed internet to Canadian households, clean our air and water, and make our communities safer, more resilient, and inclusive. Five years in, we are 40 percent of the way through the 12 year Plan and we have delivered over 40 percent of the funding available.

We are committed to completing the remaining 60 percent and adapting to evolving needs.

For example, $120 million in new funding was recently added under the COVID-19 Resilience stream to improve ventilation in public buildings to help reduce the risk of aerosol transmission of COVID-19.

The pandemic has reminded us how vital our connections are. Bridges, broadband, roads, waterways and community centres—they connect us and that is critical – because we are stronger when we are connected to the people and services we so desperately need during this very trying time.

When we work together to strengthen and build rural communities over the long term, we are creating a stronger, more sustainable, fairer and more inclusive Canada.

Thank you.