by / Janet French
Legislation will come in spring 2020 to give Albertans a clearer look at how public construction projects are funded, Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda says.
Consultations are beginning this month to prepare for the introduction of the Alberta Infrastructure Act, which is intended to provide more transparency into how schools, hospitals, bridges, dams and other public infrastructure are prioritized, Panda said in an interview last month.
As promised in its election platform, the United Conservative Party government intends to prepare 20-year construction plans, which would be five times longer than the current four-year plans.
Whether the government will rank requested projects across the projects from across the province — posting publicly, for instance, whether a new school in Grande Prairie is a higher priority than a replacement school in Vulcan — Panda wouldn’t say.
“All options are on the table,” he said, adding it will depend on provincial feedback and best practices from other jurisdictions.
