TORONTO - Ottawa will fast-track the way it evaluates the environmental impact of the vast majority of its infrastructure projects, the federal minister responsible for infrastructure said Friday.
John Baird said the federal government will begin relying more on provincial assessments for joint projects rather than having both levels of government do the same work and bogging down the process.
The announcement comes as the federal government launches a series of initiatives to speed up construction projects in an effort to stimulate the economy and save jobs.
"We are going to be coming in the next 14 days with regulatory changes . . .that should eliminate about 90 per cent of federal (environmental assessments)," Baird said in Toronto, as he and his provincial counterpart George Smitherman announced roughly $1 billion in funding for projects in small Ontario communities.
"We could have a project in Ontario, for example, that's already gone through the provincial (environmental assessment), and the minute we give it federal dollars, it has to stop the process and go through another 18 months of paper work."
Ontario had been pushing Ottawa to implement a system where a single assessment would be enough for projects that involved the two levels of government, Baird said, and now Ottawa has agreed.
In cases where projects encroach on wetlands or a national park, federal assessments will still be required.
Spending on projects such as roads, bridges and sewers was noted as a key priority in the federal budget last month, as the Tories try to battle an devastating economic downturn that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of lost jobs.
Construction and renovation are considered sure ways to create jobs and inject cash into a troubled economy, since they boost jobs in the short-term and lay the groundwork for crucial services down the road.
But the projects often take a long time to get off the ground, a luxury the country doesn't have as the economic crisis deepens.
Baird said the streamlined system will mean 289 projects will be fast-tracked.
The funding announced Friday covers proposals that include wastewater infrastructure for the town of Wasaga Beach, sports facilities for Kawartha Lakes and roads for the community of Huntsville.
All of the projects are in communities with populations of fewer than 100,000 people and were selected by the towns themselves.
The governments of Canada and Ontario are providing up to two-thirds of the funding -- about $670 million -- as part of the Building Canada Plan, while municipalities are on the hook for the remaining one-third.
Pat Vanini, executive director of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, said Friday that although municipal governments are often strapped for cash, the infrastructure projects are commitments the municipalities will make a priority.
"Everyone wants to get shovels in the ground, get the infrastructure going, gets jobs created," she said.
Smitherman said future announcements will target big cities.
The Conservative government promised to spend nearly $12 billion on infrastructure projects in last month's budget, and said it would look at whether legislative or regulatory changes were needed to cut red tape and ensure the money gets spent over the next two years.
The NDP has complained the proposal to speed up environmental assessments was an effort to gut federal environmental rules, a criticism the government denies.
