The Infrastructure Bank: Another Taxpayer-Funded Subsidy To Big Business

There are undoubtedly those who will never accept the fact that in electing Justin Trudeau and his sunny band of men and women, they were, in fact, putting into power a group as neoliberal as the outgoing Harper regime. It is a hard truth, one that I have had to accept despite the fact that mine was one of the many votes that put the Liberals back into power.

The latest evidence of this sad truth is found in new information about the Canadian Infrastructure Bank, a scheme ostensibly designed to raise private capital to fund various projects to rebuild our steadily decaying roads, bridges, etc.

Federal investments doled out through the government’s new infrastructure financing agency may be used to ensure a financial return to private investors if a project fails to generate enough revenues, documents show.

What investors have recently been told — and what the finance minister was told late last year — is that if revenues fall short of estimates, federal investments through the bank would act as a revenue floor to help make a project commercially viable.

Experts say the wording in the documents suggests taxpayers will be asked to take on a bigger slice of the financial risk in a project to help private investors, a charge the government rejects.

The devil, as they say, is in the details:

An October briefing note to Finance Minister Bill Morneau ahead of the fall economic update where the government unveiled the financial plan for the bank, said federal funding could be structured in such a way that the bank’s “return on investment will only materialize if defined institutional investor revenue thresholds are met.”

“The infrastructure bank could enter in the capital structure to bridge the gap between reasonable returns on investment for investors and the revenue generation capacity of specific infrastructure projects,” reads the briefing note, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

In other words, if I interpret this correctly, should revenues for private investors fall below expectations, we, the taxpayers, will be propping up their profits.

Despite my aging olfactory system, I am forced to conclude that this scheme does not pass any reasonable smell test.

In Some Ways, It Must Be Nice To Be An Idiot

That way, you get to say anything that comes into your near-empty head.

Some Interesting Facts About Andrew Scheer

If you have trouble reading this, just click on the image to enlarge it.

A Lesson In Ecological Humility

I saw the following last night on Global. It impressed me so much that we took a drive today to Long Point, an area I hadn't visited for over 45 years. The story is a singular illustration of can be accomplished at the local level.

A new research paper, published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin, details the community of Long Point’s construction of roadway fencing and culverts – tunnels used for animal travel – to decrease the numbers of turtles and snakes dying on the Long Point Causeway in a southwestern part of the province.

The road connecting the Long Point Peninsula on Lake Erie and mainland Ontario was ranked as North America’s fourth deadliest site for turtle road mortality in 2003. Researchers also estimated that since 1979, as many as 10,000 animals per year were killed by traffic on the two-lane stretch, representing close to 100 species.

The study found, however, that the community’s work to protect the reptiles living in wetlands surrounding the causeway has reduced the number of turtles venturing onto the road by close to 90 per cent over 10 years, while the number of snakes going on to the road dropped by close to 50 per cent.

Normalizing Treason

Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly seems to have tumbled down a very deep rabbit hole.

President Trump's National Security Adviser, H.R. McMaster: "I Smell Nothing"

It's sad to witness the total failure of the olfactory system.

Thanks to the work of The Washington Post for this:

On Public-Private Partnerships

Much has recently been written about the Trudeau government's plan to establish an Infrastructure Bank whose putative purpose is to leverage private sector money to help fund projects. One can legitimately ask why that is necessary, given the record -low rates at which the government can currently borrow money.

Trapinawrpool provided a Twitter link to an analysis that should give everyone pause. Perhaps its most salient point is this:

It appears that public private partnerships (P3s), and not low-cost financing, will be the focus of the bank. The likely impact will be interest rates of 7 -9% on Infrastructure Bank projects, instead of 0.8 per cent, the current federal borrowing rate.

In other words, the proposed structure will increase interest costs by a factor of 10: 8% instead of 0.8%. Those higher costs will be paid by governments, by higher user fees, or both. Municipalities are not blind to this issue, preferring public financing due to its lower costs and improved control over public infrastructure.

For a quick look at the forces of unfettered capitalism that may very well be unleashed by the cozy relationship that Mr. Trudeau seems intent on fostering and furthering with his corporate pals, the American experience with such dalliances may prove instructive, especially when the report describes the field day private interests are having with toll roads they financed:



Clearly, Canadians should be very, very worried about what lies ahead under Mr. Trudeau's plans.