OTTAWA – Canada’s infrastructure minister is promising that taxpayers won’t be left holding the bag should any projects funded through a proposed infrastructure bank go bankrupt.
Amarjeet Sohi tells a committee appearance today that the bank, once it is created, will conduct extensive analyses on proposals before approving them for funding.
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Sohi can’t say, however, who would make the final decision about what projects would be funded through the bank – most of those details won’t be worked out until after this year’s federal budget.
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Among the details still under review are the size and location of the bank’s offices, a point Sohi made when a fellow Liberal MP pushed for it to be in Montreal.
The new, experimental infrastructure bank will take $35 billion in public funding to attract private investors to fund infrastructure projects that may not be built for years.
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The Liberals have promised that cities and provinces won’t be forced to use the bank, but officials say it will primarily fund projects that can generate a return for private-sector investors.
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