OTTAWA – The new Liberal government says it’s looking for ways to speed up the spending of old Conservative infrastructure funds as Parliament returns to work.
The majority government of Justin Trudeau gets down to business in earnest this week with a dozen competing priorities and a gloomy economic outlook.
Federal infrastructure minister Amerjeet Sohi says he’s already in discussions with provinces about how to allocate existing cash from the $10 billion New Building Canada fund set up under the previous government.
READ MORE: Infrastructure money to come only after budgets are passed
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The Liberals have said they’d like to speed up infrastructure spending to help the ailing Canadian economy, but Sohi says he’s not looking to change the plan of rolling out some $10 billion in new funding over the next two years.
It’s just one of a dozen ambitious priorities for the Liberals – who have committed to fix the relationship with indigenous people, put a national price on carbon, bolster employment insurance, reform the electoral system, address health care, and end the bombing mission in Iraq and Syria, just to name a few.
Dominic LeBlanc, the Liberal House leader, calls it a luxury to be elected to government with such an ambitious agenda, insisting the Liberals will be “diligent and meticulous” in pursuing their many election promises.
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