On December 5, 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered his first speech from the throne. The Speech sets the tone and lays out priorities for the new government. 

 

The issues raised that will impact our members include:

• A renewed environmental assessment process – under the Harper government the federal EA process was significantly changed to require assessments from only the largest and most significant projects, leaving the provincial programs to evaluate impacts for smaller projects. These changes exempted most municipal water and wastewater projects from federal assessments. A renewed program could see our members subject to federal environmental assessments once more.
• Recognizing that public investment is needed to create and support economic growth, job creation and economic prosperity, the Government will make significant new investments in public transit, green infrastructure, and social infrastructure – it is expected that this commitment will result in more federal spending in water and wastewater among other infrastructure sectors.

Access the entire speech.