Campbell's politics stalling federal stimulus money

I thought writing about infrastructure stimulus spending would be dull. Then along came Shirley Bond.
B.C. has done a bad job of getting federal stimulus money out into communities.
And the reasons for the delays are all about appearances. That’s what keeping B.C. communities from getting some $450 million in federal funds for stimulus projects.
The New Democrats focused on the issue in question period this week.
Bond, the transportation minister, took the questions.
It was amazing, like she was doing an impression of Tina Fey doing an impression of Sarah Palin. The answers had little to do with the questions, but gosh darn, look at al the great things going on thanks to federal funding, said Bond,
The reality is that eight provinces have signed agreements to claim their share of the $4 billion in stimulus infrastructure money the federal government announced in January.
Not B.C. That’s about $450 million waiting to be put to work creating jobs and improving infrastructure across the province.
Back in July, Community Development Minister Bill Bennett said municipalities could hear within a week about projects to be funded under the program. Time was of the essence, he said. The government had “the pedal to the metal.”
Two months later, they’re still waiting.
The problem is political. The federal infrastructure fund requires matching contributions. For municipal projects, the total cost has to be split equally three ways.
For provincial projects, it’s a 50-50 contribution from the province and Ottawa. (On that basis, municipal projects deliver the greatest stimulus bang for the buck. The $450 million in federal money is matched by another $900 million from local and provincial governments.)
The province is OK with all that. But Premier Gordon Campbell has been trying to cut a special deal for B.C.
Funding has been frozen while he tries to persuade Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do a special agreement so B.C. can call its contribution a capital investment, rather than operating spending.
It’s a lame reason for stalling help for.
Either way, the money is added to the provincial debt and taxpayers will have to pay the interest in future.
But Campbell wanted a deal to keep the commitments out of this year’s operating expenses, so the deficit would look smaller.
Politically, that matters. Campbell promised during the election campaign that the $495-million deficit was easily achievable, without deep cuts.
The deficit is now at $2.8 billion. The province’s share of stimulus funding could push it higher, or bring even deeper cuts to health care and other services.
That would be embarrassing for Campbell and the Liberals. But it would mean nothing to the people of British Columbia. Call it operating, call it a capital expense – the province is still spending the money and it will still be added to the debt. There is no real difference.
Campbell’s unsuccessful attempts to cut a face-saving side deal could be costly.
The Union of B.C. Municipalities works at hard at staying friendly with the provincial government. But they’ve spoken out about the stalled infrastructure money.
The worries aren’t just about delays. The federal money could be entirely lost.
The Harper government wanted quick job creation. So the federal contribution only comes for work completed by March 31, 2011.
That was 26 months away when the program was launched. But now many communities are heading into the slow winter construction season. Some important projects can’t be considered, because there just is enough time to complete them.
Other federal spending has been flowing.
But still, $450 million is a lot of money to leave on the table. Prince George, on a per capita basis, could expect $8 million. Trail, $900,000. Kelowna, $12 million.
Those communities – and hundreds of others - could do a lot with that their share.
The money seems to be tied up for just one reason – the Liberal government’s political considerations.