After fall update, Morneau embarks on sales pitch to sell infrastructure bank
OTTAWA — Canada’s finance minister began the job Wednesday of selling his government’s new vehicle for building the country’s infrastructure — and, the Liberals hope, the economy — as critics insisted the whole idea is a red herring.
Under grilling by MPs on the Commons finance committee, Bill Morneau said the country needs a new infrastructure bank, designed to pump private dollars into infrastructure projects, because private investors are clamouring for it.
Morneau said none of the existing Crown corporations, like PPP Canada, which oversees so-called public-private partnerships on infrastructure projects, meet the needs of pension and equity funds. Private investors want a dedicated, arm’s-length agency to contract with on long-term infrastructure investments that make sense for their members.
“What they need is not what we currently have,” he said during a sometimes testy exchange with Conservative MPs.