Cement Association of Canada applauds government's renewed Gas Tax Fund
The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) applauds the Government of Canada and the Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, the Honourable Denis Lebel, for delivering on the government's commitment to support local infrastructure priorities with the renewed Gas Tax Fund.
The CAC commends the Fund's focus on core civic infrastructure projects, as this will contribute to the social and economic prosperity and health of communities across Canada, it said in a statement. It also welcomes the 10 year renewal of the Fund, which provides municipalities with the long term planning horizon needed for effective decision making on their infrastructure investments.
At the same time, the Association urges all levels of government to incorporate the use of full life-cycle cost analysis in their procurement decisions for infrastructure projects to ensure these investments deliver the best possible social, financial and environmental outcomes for Canadian taxpayers.
"We appreciate that governments face a variety of pressures that have often led to decisions being based on securing the lowest initial costs possible, even though these decisions typically result in higher long term costs", said Michael McSweeney, President and CEO of the CAC. "But as infrastructure projects are for the long term, it's crucial that all levels of government focus on life-cycle assessment to ensure maximum value for Canadians not only today but also tomorrow. Building infrastructure projects with durability, longevity, resilience and life-cycle cost in mind makes economic and common sense." he concluded.
* Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a scientific method for measuring the true environmental footprint of materials, products and services over their entire lifetime (i.e., from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling), as opposed to just in initial construction. Similarly, life-cycle cost assessment considers the cost of a project over its entire lifetime.
