Build Canada rules need tweaking, Sudbury's Dave Kilgour says

A Sudbury city councillor says municipalities are being kept in the dark when it comes to new federal infrastructure funding.

The government has trumpeted its new $14 billion Build Canada fund for the past few months, but Councillor Dave Kilgour, who also sits on the board of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, said cities and towns aren't sure how to access the money.

• New infrastructure fund includes $1B for small communities

Kilgour also wondered if the emphasis on public-private projects applies to new roads, such as Sudbury's long-delayed Maley Drive Extension.

"Do you want to potentially get into a 3P with a roadway like that, which automatically, almost, makes it a toll road? I don't think anybody's interested in that,” he said.

He said, so far, the rules for the new $14-billion dollar Build Canada fund list small communities as being under 125,000 people. Kilgour noted that will leave small towns and townships with very few staff to compete with mid-sized cities.

"[That] makes it very difficult for some of these smaller communities to prepare and actually get documentation ready and gives the appearance they're going to be competing with Thunder Bay [which has] 125,000 [people]. Barrie is at 125,000."

Kilgour said he is hopeful that there is still a chance to adjust the rules for the infrastructure funding before the cheques are sent out later this year.