Infrastructure & Intergovernmental Relations
To me, infrastructure at any level of government always involves an urban lens. The outcome of investments made to improve gaps in our infrastructure, revive outdated aspects, or develop innovative solutions are all felt most closely by communities. For example, investments into greener energy initiatives improve air quality in surrounding communities. Investing in public transit networks make getting from point A to B safer and reliable for the average Canadian. More specifically, funding towards improving the cultural infrastructure is unique for each community. All of these initiatives take place at the local level, which makes infrastructure policy inherently urban.
Provincially speaking, the well-known and constitutionally recognized relationship between a province and its municipalities is still complicated. Municipalities are largely governed by a vast range of regulations and are held fiscally responsible by the province. However, the role of municipal governments, from my understanding, is that they are a service provider at its core. Without municipalities providing services, the province would begin to unravel.
The institutions that shape our daily outcomes are guided by provincial oversight. To my surprise, there are 280 provincial statutes that dictate municipal responsibilities in Ontario. I don’t know why this number was shocking — maybe its because I hadn’t put much thought into it or maybe its because I imagine each individual statute being overly dense, complicated, and vague…
Anyway, looping back to infrastructure; given the demand for high-speed internet to support remote work in the COVID-19 era, improving broadband for all has taken priority in the province of Ontario’s infrastructure agenda. Ensuring all Ontarians are connected to high-speed internet can improve access to health care, ensure loved ones are cared for, and can stimulate economic growth. By improving the existing plan and expanding other initiatives to include this policy into the greater strategy is the approach the province is taking to better connect communities. Costing for this program will take place through a competitive process by giving telecommunications and internet service providers the opportunity to bid on ensuring broadband for all. Sure, telecommunications companies would get the most benefit from this initiative, financially speaking, but the average Ontarian living in a rural community who was only able to access dial-up internet, if that, would be much better off because of this! This is how provincial, and federal, intervention has the ability to make an impact on the ground level.
As a personal anecdote, I was under the impression that being a federal public servant would make me feel so far removed from making a real impact. Currently, working part-time for an internal-facing team at Employment and Social Development, I often feel very detached from seeing the results of my work. However, this week in class I realized that there is an opportunity to be an urbanist at the federal level, and my takeaway was that infrastructure policy at any level, can bring me back to my roots.
