With the Liberals winning a majority government in last week’s federal election, the political landscape in Canada is poised for change. With the liberal government planning on running budget deficits to allow investment in infrastructure, this could be an opportunity to fund water and wastewater upgrades, and secure much needed funding to meet the Wastewater Effluent Regulation requirements.

In their platform the Liberals committed to: 

• Continue to oppose proposed Northern Gateway pipeline; support Energy East and Keystone XL pipelines.
• Put a price on carbon pollution that allows provinces to design their own carbon pricing policies.
• Partner with provinces and territories to establish national emissions-reduction targets.
• Invest millions in clean technologies and enhance tax measures to create more green jobs.
• Introduce an environmental review process with more "teeth."
• Hold First Ministers’ meeting with premiers within 90 days of the Paris UN climate change conference this December to establish a framework for reducing Canada’s carbon footprint.
• Increase the amount of Canada’s protected marine and coastal areas to five per cent by 2017 and 10 percent by 2020.
• Phase out subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.
• Along with the US and Mexico, develop a North American clean energy and environmental agreement.

 

• Boost infrastructure funding through "alternative sources of capital" such as having large pension funds invest in major infrastructure projects in urban and rural communities.
• Provide infrastructure funding for affordable housing, public transit, transportation, climate change and "smart cities."
• Hold a big city mayors’ meeting annually to discuss pressing infrastructure issues facing cities.