The Infrastructure Stimulus Fund was created to spark construction and create jobs across the country where the unemployment rate is 8%. Projects have been focused largely on upgrading things like water supplies, public transit, highways, and municipal buildings or on improving the infrastructure for supporting the arts and culture. The March 31 was set as a death line for these projects.

The federal government was not very willing to go beyond this date. However, they knew that it would be wrong to end needed projects just because they do not meet the deadline. "Some projects should be shelved, and governments should quickly assess which projects provide the greatest long-term economic benefit, and ensure that those get funded," the Globe and Mail said. The work has already started on more than 93% of the projects countrywide, while 56% of the projects will be completed ahead of schedule. "The Parliamentary Budget Officer's report that up to $500-million in federal stimulus money (part of $4-billion in federal funds) could go unspent may be a blessing in disguise," CBC reported. Under a worst-case scenario 46% of the total, might not be completed by the March 31, 2011 deadline. But, according to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, " We don't leave four walls standing without a roof. Let's find a way of coming together and finish that job." John Babcock, press secretary to the minister of transport, infrastructure and communities answered that if a project is not completed by March 31, 2011, Ottawa will not claw back its contributions, provided the recipients commit to completing the project.

Miroslava Hospodarova

Photo: ISIFA