C E O ’ S M E S S A G E
Alberta Government Consultation
on proposed Infrastructure Act
and 20-Year Capital Plan
By Ron Glen, CEO, ARHCA
Part of the 2019 UCP election platform was to intro-duce
an “Alberta Infrastructure Act.” Very little was
said about it at the time, but the government recently
asked for some general feedback to help them write the leg-islation
and asked for our specific industry input. As this new
legislation has the capacity to affect our industry in a pro-found
way, I am using this edition of Alberta Heavy magazine
to share with you the summary of the ARHCA submission
to government.
We are currently experiencing a time of economic uncer-tainty,
and bold leadership is required. This is a time to be
transformative in public service delivery. The ARHCA believes
government must take a hard look at the governance, plan-ning
and delivery of infrastructure to ensure the manage-ment
of these assets protect the taxpayers’ investment.
Long-term strategic planning: 20-year
Construction Project Plan
A long-term strategic plan is critically important for hori-zontal
infrastructure. To be truly strategic, a 20-year horizon
is not nearly long enough as development patterns follow
transportation corridors. A 20-year capital construction plan
with committed funding would provide certainty and create
the incentive for construction companies to invest in Alberta.
nachai/123rf
Managing a physical asset worth $70 billion
ARHCA believes there is much room for improvement in
Alberta’s model of service delivery. Alberta’s $70-billion high-way
investment (replacement value) vastly outweighs some
of the other financial instruments the province maintains; it
is remarkable that the public has little insight into how this
investment is performing.
ARHCA’s recommendations
In 2019, ARHCA brought together a panel of distinguished
Albertans to study the issues, inform our membership and
make practical suggestions. Specifically, the panel found that:
• The province’s ongoing underfunding of road
rehabilitation and maintenance will significantly
contribute to the decline in Alberta’s roads
• Current, inconsistent approaches for approving road
projects needs to be improved
• New strategies are needed to provide the industry
standard 1 to 2 per cent of replacement asset value
required to maintain existing assets ($700 million
to $1.2 billion maintenance and rehabilitation in
today’s dollars)
ALBERTA HEAVY Quarter 3 2020 5