Time once again for another episode of Ministerial Senate Question Period, with special guest star Infrastructure Minister Amarjeet Sohi. Sohi took his place next to Senator Harder, and things got underway with relatively poor attendance, somewhat unusually, but many senators were at the legal and constitutional affairs committee for the pre-study of the assisted dying legislation. Senator Carignan led off, talking about a major infrastructure project in Montreal, and whether Sohi had met with the provincial minister and if they planned to participate. Sohi first thanked the Senate for the special opportunity to be there, and then launched into a discussion about the meetings he was having around the project and how important it was to engage with pension funds like the causes de depot as this project was.

Senator Downe led for the Senate Liberals, and asked that if the new Champlain Bridge was going to be toll-free, then would the government also make the Confederation Bridge to PEI the same. Sohi told him that the new bridge is a replacement and not new, and that was why they committed not to have a toll, as the existing one does not. Downe took the supplemental, noting that the Confederation Bridge was a replacement for ferries and ice boats, and reminded him that this was a promise made upon Confederation. Sohi first launched into an explanation of lifting restrictions on other Atlantic Canadian infrastructure funding, and returned to the bridge issue and the contract to maintain tolls until 2032.

Senator Stewart Olsen asked about a needed letter of support for the Great Moncton wastewater treatment plant upgrades, and after a lengthy explanation of the infrastructure funding commitments, Sohi said that he was aware of the project and that he has sent out letters to getting bilateral agreements in place, hopefully within the next month.

Senator Patterson asked about needed infrastructure in Nunavut to boost the mining sector. Sohi noted the different needs in the North, including for housing and differing construction seasons, which is why they made changes to the Building Canada Fund in order to meet their needs. Patterson asked if he was aware of the proposed wastewater project in Iqaluit, and after Sohi laughed about how this was testing his memory, he said it was about recognising that the communities get a base level of funding allocations before population top-ups, so that smaller population provinces and territories will do better.

Senator Batters asked about Saskatchewan’s transit funding instead of funding roads, and Sohi gave a measured response about how infrastructure was about building strong partnerships and not partisanship, and then noted that transit funding was based on ridership as opposed to population-based allocation, which actually got them more funding than if it was combine with the population-based water/wastewater funding.

Senator Mockler returned to the transit funding allocation, noting it penalises areas like Atlantic Canada that don’t have well-developed systems. Sohi said that this first phase was about making needed replacements, while other funds were available for longer-term planning.

Senator Unger asked why the government wasn’t funding a proposal to decommission old wells as a way to create jobs and clean up the environment. Sohi noted that this wasn’t in his portfolio, and then talked about what his department was doing to help Alberta and Saskatchewan deal with the oil downturn.

Senator McIntyre worried about the cost to taxpayers of a planned infrastructure bank. Sohi said that they were aware of the issue, and the plan was still under consideration.

Overall, it was a much quieter day than usual, and the pace of questions was much more sedate, as was the pace of Sohi’s answers. In fact, they had long prefaces about the breadth of the infrastructure investments they were making before he got to the substance of the questions being asked. It was too bad that we didn’t get a couple of extra questions as a result, but considering the low attendance, that may not have been such a bad thing.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Senator Claudette Tardif for a black dress with a white jacket with a black shell pattern, and to Senator Grant Mitchell for a tailored dark grey suit with a crisp white shirt and light grey tie. Style citations go out to Senator Don Meredith for a black suit with a white shirt and a yellow tie and pocket square, and to Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen for a grey-green over-shirt over a somewhat shapeless forest green dress.