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By Priscilla Adjei Lessons Learned That Would 30 Modernizing Infrastructure Be Valuable Across Canada Death of November/December 2017 Evidence-based Planning The Real Value of Toll Roads Canada’s P3 Landscape Billions on the line Getting Off the Political Roller Coaster Contents novEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 GOVERNANCE FINANCE 8 Getting off the 28 Assessing Tolling Projects Roller Coaster As demand increases for tolled Fourteen years after transportation projects, a number becoming Ontario’s first of factors need to be considered to minister of infrastructure, evaluate their financial viability. David Caplan reflects on By Priscilla Adjei lessons learned that would 30 Modernizing Infrastructure be valuable across Canada. The Canada Infrastructure Bank 10 Improving and Smart Cities Challenge present Project Delivery new opportunities for financing What bringing 100 municipal infrastructure assets. Alternative Finance and By Alison Babbitt Procurement projects to market has taught SMART CITIES Infrastructure Ontario. 32 Smart Opportunities 14 By Ehren Cory The upcoming Smart Cities ENERGY Challenge presents an opportunity for cities to execute a strategy 14 An Education for a digital transformation. in Energy By Alex Miller Taking an up close look at the development of Canada’s EDUCATION largest post-secondary net zero energy building. 34 The Need for By Andrew Macklin New Education What does the education sector need 16 The New Frontier to consider to provide the proper How the Canada Green training for the next generation Building Council’s Zero of infrastructure developers. Carbon Building Standard By Ashley De Souza 24 could help mitigate building emissions. TOP100 PROJECTS By Mark Hutchinson 36 Five burning questions MANAGEMENT that will be answered with the 2018 Top100 Projects report. 18 P3s are Thriving! By Andrew Macklin Exploring the successful use of private-public DEPARTMENTS partnerships across the country. 4 Editor’s Note By Mark Romoff Andrew Macklin on why the 20 Entering the Post- country needs to watch how events unfold in Churchill, Manitoba. Consultation Era How the voice of the people 5 Front is having a greater impact Jonathan Hack discusses the 16 34 on the development of need to plan infrastructure new infrastructure. with expertise, not politics. By Jacques Bénard 22 Panorama 24 Benchmarking Where the Trolls Live Energy Management 38 People & Events The use of big data for Appointments, announcements, energy benchmarking can company news, and event reports. help reduce consumption and create new efficiencies. 42 Closing Shot By Shooka Karimpour Matti Siemiatycki asks if evidence- and Thomas Dandres. based planning is dead in Canada. All back issues of ReNew Canada are available 42 for download at library.actualmedia.ca renewcanada.net November/December 2017 ReNew Canada 3 Editor’s Note WHAT ABOUT CHURCHILL? November/December 2017 Volume 15 Number 6 By Andrew Macklin EDITOR Andrew Macklin ou may have missed the Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister extended PUBLISHER Todd Latham ugly situation that has been an offer to the federal government: DIRECTOR OF Elena Langlois Y unfolding in the small town of cover the cost of fixing the railroad and BUSINESS Development Churchill, Manitoba. re-opening the port, and the province CONTRIBUTORS Priscilla Adjei, Alison Babbitt, Jacques Bénard, In May, rail service to the town was would pour $500 million over the next David Caplan, Ehren Cory, suspended indefinitely due to severe decade into resources for Churchill. Thomas Dandres, Ashley De Souza, Mark Hutchinson, flooding and washout conditions. This whole ugly scenario begs several Shooka Karimpour, Combined with the closure of the questions: How did a large stretch Alex Miller, Mark Romoff, port in 2016, this important hub for of railroad, one that provides vital Matti Siemiatycki environmental study and eco-tourism links to otherwise-stranded remote ART DIRECTOR Donna Endacott has become cut off from the rest of communities fall at the mercy of an AND DESIGNER the province. American company? And now, faced ASSOCIATE EDITOR Katherine Balpataky You would think that it would just be with financial adversity over the cost CONTENT AND a matter of making immediate repairs of repairs, why should government Todd Westcott MARKETING MANAGER to the rail line to get service back be forced to foot the bill to bail out ADVERTISING Elena Langlois running and remove the community their investment? [email protected] from isolation. But that’s not the case. Regardless of whether or not you Todd Latham The rail line is owned by an American can find legal or personal justification [email protected] company, Denver-based OmniTrax for the company’s actions, the fallout ADVISORS Nick Reid, James Sbrolla Inc., who announced that they were not from this ordeal could set dangerous prepared to spend the money necessary precedents for this country. Because, to repair the line, with chief commercial if a government does foot the bill officer Peter Touesnard stating that “We for the repair, Omnitrax walks away cannot justify spending the resources to with a (potentially) profitable asset repair the line […]” during a July 18th that cost nothing to fix, reaping all of ReNew Canada is published six times a year by Actual Media Inc. media conference. the financial rewards of the repair. The media conference was held to What’s to stop any other company from 147 Spadina Avenue, Unit 208, Toronto, ON M5V 2L7 Phone: 416-444-5842 provide an update on the extent of the expecting the same? Why spend the Subscription/customer services: 416-444-5842, ext 211 damage to the line. In a media release money on repairs when you can force dated June 9th, the company stated someone else to? that the track bed had been washed Immediate action is needed. No ReNew Canada subscriptions are away in 19 spots, five bridges were government should pay for this repair, available for $39.95/year or $64.95/two years and include the annual Top100 Projects report. visually damaged, and an additional but no government should have allowed ©2017 Actual Media Inc. All rights reserved. 30 bridges and 600 culverts needed the sale in the first place. If there was no The contents of this publication may not be further assessment for structural legal way to block the sale, well, perhaps reproduced by any means in whole or in part, without prior written consent from the publisher. integrity. Then at the July 18th event, it’s time to consider some new laws to Printed in Canada AECOM Canada rail expert Ron ensure this doesn’t happen again. The "ReNew Canada" and "ReThink. ReBuild. ReNew" Mitchell presented the findings of the fate of an entire community is at stake are Trademarks of Actual Media Inc. full assessment of the rail line, with because of this. a cost range of $20 million to $60 Who will step in and save Churchill? million (later pegged at $43 million) to complete the repairs. That was a price too steep for OmniTrax to accept. Instead, it wanted the government to Andrew Macklin is the editor cover the cost. of ReNew Canada magazine. Undeliverable mail return to: 147 Spadina Avenue, Unit 208 After several weeks of no movement, [email protected] Toronto, ON M5V 2L7 Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement 40854046 ISSN 1715-6734 Join the conversation. Search “ReNew Canada” on LinkedIn. Proud members of For daily news and discussion, visit @ReNewCanada /ReNewCanada 4 ReNew Canada November/December 2017 renewcanada.net renewcanada.net November/December 2017 ReNew Canada 5 ABOUT THE COVER Front Capital spending on infrastructure Send your letters to the editor to [email protected] needs to be consistent, not based on election cycles. Find out more on what needs to change on page 8. WHY ENGINEERS MUST HELP SHAPE B.C. BUDGET UPDATE PUBLIC POLICY The Government of B.C., under the By Jonathan Hack leadership of premier John Horgan, has issued its first budget update stating n Canada’s House of Commons, members with engineering financial priorities for the months ahead. backgrounds hold only four per cent of the 338 seats. In Ontario, I the situation is even worse. At Queen’s Park, home of the Legislative The Budget Update outlined Assembly of Ontario, fewer than two per cent of the members are professional current public sector infrastructure engineers, and not a single engineer is in the current governing party. investment commitments: Why should this be a concern? Because the issues facing Ontario, Canada, and the world are increasingly complex and technical in nature. Engineers $2.6 billion for post-secondary have a scientific understanding of the world in which we live, meaning institutions to build capacity and help they appreciate how people and systems interact over the total lifespan of meet the province’s future workforce projects. Engineers have an ability to simplify intricate problems and are needs in key sectors, including science, skilled developers of evidence-based decisions and scenario analyses. trades, and technology; The gap exists at the policy formulation stage, particularly when it comes to $3.1 billion to expand and upgrade critical, technically-sophisticated ministerial portfolios such as infrastructure, innovation, and the environment and climate change. Because non-technical health facilities. These investments politicians and their staff are first to devise and review new government support new major construction projects initiatives, a significant amount of planning and consideration is given and upgrading of health facilities, medical to policy ideas before engineers in the Ontario Public Service have the and diagnostic equipment, and information opportunity to review these proposals and offer recommendations. management/technology systems; and Just as lawyers have been historically predisposed to entering politics, engineers have largely been dissuaded—but these trends are changing. $1.4 billion to support investments in The engineer of old was routinely told that their central role was to serve maintaining, upgrading, or expanding and protect the public. But by failing to shape policy, engineers aren’t fully ministry infrastructure, such as fulfilling their duty.
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