Senator Martin: Senator Gold, it seems like your government thinks that the fix-all solution to this problem is to simply throw money at issues as they arise rather than to address the root cause.

Former minister Perrin Beatty has said that your government has tended to measure infrastructure spending in terms of job creation, as opposed to what the “problem in need of a solution” is and what the economic returns are. This short-sighted approach is evidence of a lack of long-term planning by your government on this issue.

Senator Gold, when will your government start to get serious about the development of a long-term national plan to strengthen and secure Canada’s infrastructure and supply chains?

Hon. Yonah Martin (Deputy Leader of the Opposition): Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader.

Senator Gold, Canada is falling behind under this Trudeau government. According to a report released earlier this year from the Canada West Foundation, confidence in the reliability and competitiveness of Canada’s trade infrastructure has been declining, both here at home and abroad. In 2019, Canada was ranked thirty-second in the world, placing us below all of our major competitors. Trade and infrastructure experts have long been sounding the alarm on this and calling for Canada to urgently address its long-neglected trade infrastructure in order to remain competitive.

As our economy and population continue to grow, more strain will be put on our existing infrastructure.

Leader, why has your government not heeded these warnings? When are you going to address this?

Senator Gold: The government supported, and indeed took over, a major pipeline because it recognizes the importance of that for our industry. Provincial premiers, at times, have been the ones to discourage infrastructure investments in that area. The government remains committed to helping all sectors of our economy prosper in this changing economic environment.