Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda--Image from AB government

By Connor Gunn/LethbridgeNewsNOW

Infrastructure Accountability Act

Province proposes stronger review of capital projects

Oct 26, 2021 | 9:31 AM

EDMONTON, AB – The Alberta Government is proposing legislation to make the decisions on capital infrastructure projects “criteria-based.”

If passed, the Infrastructure Accountability Act will legislate a governance framework, including criteria to guide how capital project decisions and spending are prioritized.

“The act will increase transparency, accountability and remove politics from the process of building Alberta’s public infrastructure supporting Alberta’s Recovery Plan,” the government release reads.

As part of the proposed act, it will include the development and regular review of a 20-year strategic capital plan.

Prasad Panda, Minister of Infrastructure, says he wants this bill to pass to change infrastructure decision-making.

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“Alberta’s government is taking the politics out of building public infrastructure. The Infrastructure Accountability Act gives Alberta taxpayers certainty that their money is being spent on the critical public infrastructure projects that our province most needs.”

The province has provided the following six criteria in the Infrastructure Accountability Act to evaluate how a capital project will:

• address health, safety, and compliance needs
• align with government priorities and strategies
• foster economic activity and create jobs
• improve program delivery and services
• consider life-cycle costs and whether it will generate a
  return on investment
• enhance the resiliency of communities

NDP Infrastructure Critic Thomas Dang issued the following statement in response to the introduction of Bill 73: Infrastructure Accountability Act:

“Increased transparency around infrastructure planning and spending is always welcome. However, this bill comes too late to protect Albertans from the UCP’s bad spending decisions.

“The UCP government already gambled away $1.3 billion of Albertans’ money on Keystone XL without any consultation or transparency. In addition, they’ve funded infrastructure projects in UCP-held ridings that didn’t even appear on their own capital plan list, while delaying critically necessary projects like the South Edmonton Hospital.

“The only thing this bill does is reaffirm the criteria by which any government should be selecting infrastructure projects.

“Nothing in this bill requires the UCP to apply it to the upcoming Budget 2022 Capital Plan. Delaying the implementation of the bill means the UCP can continue their mismanagement of the province’s finances in an attempt to try to buy Albertans’ votes as we head into the next election.”

For more on the proposed infrastructure criteria bill, go to alberta.ca.

(With files from rdnewsNOW)