Federal minister's road funding comments 'out of touch' with reality, Winnipeg mayor says

Some members of Winnipeg city council added their voices to the chorus condemning federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault over comments earlier this week, while others welcomed the signal that Ottawa may cut off funding for building new roads.

Guilbeault said Monday the federal government will support provinces paying for maintenance, but Ottawa has decided that existing road infrastructure "is perfectly adequate to respond to the needs we have."

"There will be no more envelopes from the federal government to enlarge the road network," Guilbeault said, according to quotes published in the Montreal Gazette.

That led to backlash from other political leaders. His office issued a statement, saying he only meant "large" road projects, specifically a multibillion-dollar tunnel to Quebec City.

But Janice Lukes, chair of Winnipeg's public works committee, said the comments raise questions about Ottawa's priorities.

"Winnipeg is a multi-modal global transportation hub. We need to move goods," she said.

The city is working on building a business case for two massive road projects — the widening  of Kenaston Boulevard, and the extension of Chief Peguis Trail. The two projects are each estimated to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and will depend on funding from higher levels of government.

Mayor Scott Gillingham called Guilbeault's comments "out of touch" with the reality of what Winnipeg and other cities need.

"We need more housing and we're focusing on that, but to have more housing requires the growth-enabling infrastructure, such as roads," he said.

"Not everybody is going to live in an infill house or a multi-family house."

Mark Cohoe, executive director of Bike Winnipeg, would like to see the feds move away from car infrastructure.

"It also makes it more sustainable in terms of our taxation, in terms of what we have to maintain in our roadways, and in terms of what we can gather back in our taxes. So I think this is really positive," he said.

St. Boniface Coun. Matt Allard has been a vocal critic of both the Kenaston and Chief Peguis projects.

"Once we stop building net new roads, we're going to start focusing on the solutions. Because building net new roads doesn't solve traffic."

Allard says it would also free up money to maintain the roads the city already has. 

Chris Lorenc, president of the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association, called Gilbeault's comments "shocking," and called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to clarify his government's position.

In question period on Wednesday, Trudeau said the government will continue to invest in "infrastructure."

Asked if he'd condemn Guilbeault's assertion that the federal government is getting out of the business of funding some road projects, Trudeau said the minister "clarified" his remarks earlier and the government's "approach to infrastructure continues to be one of investing in the future for Canadians."

Lorenc said he doesn't support "building for the sake of building.… The issue is about investing in the capacity of the economy."