The report has the City recouping $174.9 million from the provincial and the federal governments, putting the total at $554.3 million.

The bulk of those expenses were spent on infrastructure. The biggest chunk was for civic infrastructure at the Olympic village site. The city spent an estimated $299.8 million there, including on a waterfront park, a community centre, a heritage facility and 252 units of social housing that are supposed to be part of the project.

Now people are asking whether it was worthwhile. Our upcoming May/June issue features a story on the showcase pieces Vancouver is left with post-Olympics and examines whether they’re truly creating a “sustainability legacy” or have sapped the City of time and energy only to leave them with a few isolated LEED developments.

To get access to that and other upcoming stories online, subscribe here.

During his budget address, Steele said, “We have and will be building infrastructure that would not have been possible without this stimulus spending, which was always intended as a two-year commitment. And the coming fiscal year is year two.” In other words, this is it.

Last year, Nova Scotia invested $724 million in capital funding in roads, schools, hospitals and housing. This year, Steele  says the capital investment “will be less, but only by a little.” The total capital investment is forecast to be $710 million.

The province will contribute $33 million to support infrastructure projects at its universities and the Nova Scotia Community College. That provincial funding is estimated to leverage $56 million from the federal government and $41 million from other sources under the federal Knowledge Infrastructure Program, for a total of $130 million.

New funding ($4.4 million) will be invested in a broadband project that’s already underway. When complete, the project will mean high-speed access to all areas of the province.

A new aquaculture strategy is being implemented which will involve what Steele calls “a new approach for managing our forests, minerals and parklands.”

Still working towards a target of 25 per cent renewable energy by 2015 set last summer, the Province will invest $24 million in energy conservation and programs for energy efficiency.

Finance Minister Colin Hansen released the budget in Victoria this week. While no new major infrastructure projects were announced, the budget does maintain investment in stimulus and municipal projects.

As part of an accelerated infrastructure plan, the Province will fast-track $58 million for community infrastructure projects, which will be matched by other levels of government.

While everyone agrees that eventually stimulus spending with have to stop, some argue it’s too soon to slow the flow of funding and that, when major projects like the $1.2-billion South Fraser Perimeter Road and the $2.46-billion Port Mann/Highway1 Project are done, the private sector investment B.C.’s economy needs to stay afloat will not have returned.

In his official response to the new budget, Philip Hochstein, president of the Independent Contractor and Businesses Association, said, “The budget is certainly good news for the construction industry, as it struggles to deal with the absence of private sector money. Hopefully, this will buy us some time until private sector investment comes back.”

The federal government’s numbers show that 90 per cent of the $4-billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund (ISF) has been allocated. That’s over 7,500 infrastructure and housing projects.

The Liberals have done some slightly different math, charging that the Harper government has only given out 12 per cent of the ISF.

Harper made the address from Saint John, New Brunswick, the potential site of an economically stimulating new rail project connecting the province with the State of Maine.

Needless to say, both the NDP and Liberal parties were less than convinced by Harper’s good-news attitude. The proof should be at the municipal level – Canada’s cities and towns will either see (or fail to see) the result of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. At first glance, Huntsville Mayor Claude Doughty’s resorting to paying for construction materials out-of-pocket seems like a clear sign that the federal government is not coming through. But in our latest issue more than a few contributors point out that money for these projects will not flow until the work starts and the invoices start coming in.

Two days before this welcome announcement, a change was also made to Metrolinx, the provincial agency that has been responsible for creating a coordinated, integrated transit plan for the GTHA.

First, some background. The Metrolinx plan has been completed and includes prioritized improvements and expansion across the region, including Transit City in Toronto. Since its inception, the Board has had a mix of citizens and elected officials appointed by the municipalities and the province. Recognizing the importance of transportation, the regions and municipalities chose to appoint their mayors and chairs. The board has included mayors and regional chairs from Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, Durham Region, Halton Region, York Region, as well as me as the chair of the TTC, the chair of Toronto’s Planning & Growth Management Committee, the chairman of GO Transit, and the former Chief Planner of the City of Toronto. It was chaired by the former mayor of Burlington.

Despite some skepticism in the media about the ability of such a group to work together without being derailed by bickering over local priorities, it all went remarkably well. Anyone who ever actually attended a meeting would know that it has been a very collegial group that never brought petty differences to the table, and worked hard to achieve consensus. This board clearly recognized the importance of its task and worked together almost unbelievably well to achieve consensus on the approach and the plan itself. Its success has been remarkable and sets a precedent for inter-regional cooperation. On a personal note, I can say it has been a pleasure working with them.

What could make more sense than to have a group like this responsible for transportation planning and implementation? They represent their communities, they know their communities, and they are responsible for the delivery of municipal services, including transportation. No group could come close to matching their experience and knowledge in delivering and operating transportation services in the GTAH. Just as importantly, having them at the table meant that once consensus was reached, they all “bought into” it. If you’re going to plan transportation in a community, buy-in and cooperation from that community is crucial.

Take, for example, the issue of land-use planning, which is the responsibility of the municipalities. Transportation planning and land-use planning have grown together so closely that these days, they’re inseparable. A successful transit system requires a certain population density along the route, and a certain kind of complementary urban design. Otherwise, it simply doesn’t work. It also makes no sense to put certain types of transit along routes that aren’t suited to it. An understanding of both is required for the system to be successful.

On top of all that, no one understands transit better than the local operators, who are closely connected to both the riders and the municipal or regional governments. Understanding the fine grain of how the services operate is crucial if you’re going to plan and operate them to be successful–financially, socially and environmentally. They also have a record of completing projects on time and on budget.

So what’s been missing? Why has transit become so strained in this generation? The answer is simple: funding. Every transit system in the world requires a significant government subsidy, with the exception of one or two in cities with extremely high population densities (i.e. Hong Kong.) In most transit systems, while some of routes may be profitable, such as the Yonge subway in Toronto, they must also provide service where it’s needed but is not profitable, such as smaller bus routes, if they expect the system to thrive as a system. The smaller, less profitable routes feed the larger, more profitable ones. In turn, the larger routes effectively subsidize the smaller ones. That’s how it works pretty much everywhere.

That’s another reason last week’s provincial funding announcement was so important. It means we have a partner in sustaining and building successful transit again. But two days before it was announced, the province also changed the composition of the Metrolinx board so that its membership will include only private-sector citizen appointments. The only people explicitly excluded from being on it are elected officials and public-sector employees. And of course, with this change come two days before the funding announcement, so it will look like once the new board was appointed, things really got moving. Of course, anyone who actually knows what’s going on will recognize that the removal of the funding barrier, as well as the work of the municipalities in preparing for the funding, will be the real reason that work will begin.

I don’t take this personally, but I do think it’s a bad decision. What’s lost in the new model is all of the experience and consensus-building that has gone into Metrolinx up until now, as well as the public accountability of elected representatives.

One of the first things the existing board did was push successfully for open public meetings. That’s also one of the first things that’s been changed back under the new legislation. Only certain meetings will be required to take place in public.

I believe we should keep the public in public transit. Doing so has been part of the TTC’s success, and despite its funding challenges, it is recognized as one world-wide. Most people know that the TTC is the least-subsidized transit system in North America, but remains easily the third-largest and most efficient. If Metrolinx is looking for a model of experience and leadership, it need look no further than the heart of the region. The TTC was formed because the private operators had made a mess of the system, and it needed to be put together in a way that serves the public interest first. It is the public that knows best how to do that.

Transportation Minister Denis Landry said during a PR opportunity at one of the new sites, “This year we are making the largest investment in northern New Brunswick highways in at least 15 years. This work is taking place on both high-volume highways and local roads as part of our work to build a better, self-sufficient New Brunswick by improving our highway infrastructure.”

From left: Landry; Wellness, Culture and Sport Minister Hédard Albert; Guy Jean, district engineer for transportation, District 1; and Mario Thibodeau of St. Isidore Asphalte Ltée, explaining grader operation on Route 360 in Butte d'Or.

Landry said that support from Acadian Peninsula mayors for a proposed Route 11 bypass spanning 46 kilometres between Pokemouche and Janeville will ensure continued road construction in northern New Brunswick.

“As a result of their approval, we are now able to move forward with the pre-construction activities necessary to make the bypass a reality. This project is valued at more than $200 million, and will be an important catalyst for economic growth in the Acadian Peninsula.”

The construction being carried out this summer is part of the Department of Transportation’s capital budget, which is nearly $340 million in 2008-09. Excluding any payments as part of public-private partnerships, this is the largest transportation capital budget in New Brunswick history.

Another big ticket item that will get financial support: a 31-kilometre, $4.6-billion light-rail line along Eglinton Avenue from Kennedy subway station to Toronto’s Pearson airport.

These projects are part of the McGuinty government’s plans to spend $11.5-billion on transit projects in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas.

In other Ontario budget news, $27.5-billion is being invested in highways, hospitals and social housing. The question is, will these projects really get started or will funding be tied up in the dreaded “red tape”-a phrase that’s quickly replacing “shovels in the ground” as the new favourite.

There’s $35 million set aside for infrastructure projects in central Newfoundland. The region is hurting after the closure of the AbitibiBowater paper mill this year in Grand Falls-Windsor. The closure left 800 people without work-new projects could get some of those people back to work.

Finance Minister Greg Selinger told the legislature, “Revenues are flattening out. We have to make sure that we’re careful as we go forward to have revenues to support key programs.”

The province is moving forward with construction projects, including a long list of health care facilities.

Municipalities and communities will get $84 million in funding for roads, transit, public safety and other municipal infrastructure and service priorities. Existing parks and campground infrastructure, as well as conservation districts, will also get some upgrades.

Budget 2009 will pump $1.6 billion overall into infrastructure projects, including:

• Over $160 million in social and affordable housing.
• $535 million for upgrading and building roads and highways.
• A new all-purpose road on the east side of Lake Winnipeg.
• $46 million in municipal and wastewater projects.

Details here.

As expected, Budget09 forecasts deficits of $3.9 billion in 2008-09 and $14.1 billion in 2009-10.  It lays out a plan to balance the budget by 2015-16 with the same “prudent management” that eliminated the $5.5 billion deficit that the government inherited in 2003.

The McGuinty government will spend $32.5 billion oninfrastructure projects over the next two years; $390 million  to develop initiatives that help implement the proposed Green Energy and Green Economy Act (to match Ontario’s estimated share of the federal Green Infrastructure Fund); and $250 million over five years for a new Emerging Technologies Fund that will include investments in green technology.

Will this stimulate the economy and get people working?

Last week, the Construction Sector Council (CSC) said initial assessments of the federal government’s stimulus package show it is helping to ease the economic impact of the recession on the construction industry. The CSC’s analysis shows the fiscal stimulus included in the federal budget, and anticipated in coming provincial initiatives, will boost construction spending and employment over the next three years.

Whether this will be the case in Ontario–and whether that good news can extend to other sectors–remains to be seen.