Feds announce plans to postpone $450M in Northern and rural infrastructure funding in 2018 budget

Four hundred and fifty million dollars in infrastructure funding for Northern and rural communities promised last year has been postponed.

In its 2017 budget, the federal government stated it would spend $2 billion over 11 years on infrastructure in Northern and rural communities. In the first five years, the government said it would spend $650 million, with the remaining$1.35 billion to be spent in the remaining six years.

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However, in the final pages of the 2018 federal budget announced Tuesday, the federal government adjusted how it plans to rollthat money out.

Instead of spending $650 million over the next five years, the federal government now says it will spend $200 million. The remaining $450 million has been pushed back, leaving $1.8 billion now projected to be spent between 2022 and 2028, well after the next federal election.

Money intended for roads, connectivity

According to the 2017 budget, the money was meant to improve road access, expand internet connectivity and help remote communities reduce their reliance on diesel power.In the 2018 budget, the federal government said it pushed the spending back to "reflect when the government expects to receive claims from recipients."

A spokesperson for AmarjeetSohi,the federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, told CBCthe money is still available, but the federal government doesn't reimburselocal governments for infrastructureprojects until the work is completed and claims are submitted to the department.

"Claims are coming in later than expected," Minister Sohi's press-secretary, Brook Simpson told the CBC.

Simpson says that despite the delay, Ottawa is still committed to improving infrastructure in the North. He said, since coming into office in November 2015, the Liberal government has approved 60 infrastructure projects in Yukon, 69 in the N.W.T. and 18 in Nunavut.

But Louis Thriault, vice president of industry and public policy at the Conference Board of Canada, said more needs to be done.

"The infrastructure gap in the North is something that is a major problem," he told CBC.

"When we talk about skills and education programs, well you need to be able to access them. It has an impact on resource development. It has an impact on a number of other dimensionsaround local services that aren't up to par."

'Robbing Peter to pay Paul'

In a press release issued Friday morning, the Association of Manitoba Chiefs expressed their frustration with the decision, noting that they still have four First Nations that rely on diesel power.

"Recently, the station at Tadoule Lake ran out," said Grand Chief Arlen Dumas. "This puts our First Nations citizens lives at risk, especially in the winter months."

The release notes that the $450 million push-back severely offsets the $600 million announced by the federal government to support housing on reserves across Canada.

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"This is not helping our people," said Dumas. "It's a robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario."

When asked about the pushback of infrastructure funds, N.W.T. Finance Minister Robert C. McLeod said the territory has many applications in for federal infrastructure money.

"We have applications in for a lot of the money that was announced in the couple of previous budgets so we're just waiting to get some word back on them," he told CBC.

"You always want them to roll out the money a lot quicker. I'm not sure what kind of details they were working on."

According to the 2018 budget, the federal government has promised to spend $17 million of the remaining $200 million on projects over the next year and a half. The budget did not include details of where that money would be spent.