Canadians have spoken. The election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals can be interpreted in many ways but clearly Canadians voted for change.
One significant change that the Liberals promised to voters was an increase in infrastructure spending – even if infrastructure investment meant running a deficit. This element of their economic platform differentiated the Liberals from the Conservatives and NDPs.
So, the election of a majority Liberal government has to be interpreted, at least partially, as Canadian’s endorsement of the Liberal economic policy to invest in our public infrastructure.
Given that public schools are a key component of our society’s infrastructure, it is worth noting that in Ontario public schools, there is currently a $15-billion repair backlog. Other provinces such as B.C., Alberta, and Quebec also face repair backlogs in their public schools. This situation across our country is unacceptable and untenable. Some of the federal infrastructure funding promised by our new Liberal government has to find its way to provincial coffers and be used to fix our schools.