Feb 29,2008

The Tri-Cities haven’t seen the last of federal money for the Evergreen

 

The Conservative government fronted two years of cash to get the project going and more money will come, promised MP James Moore.

The Port Moody-Westwood-Coquitlam MP said this week that the $66 million announced in Tuesday’s budget is enough to start the six-year, $1.4 billion project and there is lots of time to negotiate the remainder.

So far, $877 million has been raised for the project, including the federal government’s recently announced share and $810 million promised by the province and TransLink.

The shortfall is, therefore, $523 million, which could be a combination of federal contributions — the province is hoping for a total of $410 million from the feds — and equity through a public private sector partnership.

“The balance of the money will come,” Moore said.

He said the project qualifies for two funds: the $33-billion Building Canada Fund for transportation infrastructure and a fund for projects that could benefit from private-sector partnerships. The federal government plans to set up a Crown corporation, called PPP Canada Inc., similar to the province’s Partnerships BC, to leverage a $100-billion investment in infrastructure.

Moore said the federal government can’t simply hand over the remaining cash without negotiations as to “accountability, foresight and timing.”

dstrandberg@tricitynews.com