Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs
May 14, 2015

The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Keith Hutchings, Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs:

Official Opening of Corner Brook Water Treatment Plant

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in this Honourable House to highlight a significant announcement that my colleague the Honourable Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture and I recently participated in - the official opening of the new Corner Brook water treatment plant.

Through an investment of approximately $50 million from the federal, provincial and municipal governments into the water treatment plant and associated infrastructure, quality drinking water will be provided to the residents of the City of Corner Brook and adjacent communities of Massey Drive and Mount Moriah.

The new Corner Brook water treatment plant was made possible under the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund and I am pleased to say that the Provincial Government contributed $12 million to bring this project to fruition.

The new water treatment plant is designed to meet the Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines, has an above ground storage reservoir system located adjacent to the plant, and a reservoir sized to meet the needs of fire and emergency services. The plant is designed to produce a maximum flow rate of 30 million litres per day.

Mr. Speaker, the City of Corner Brook working in partnership with our officials procured this infrastructure through a design-build process. This process enabled the city to evaluate proposals not only on the basis of up front capital cost, but on life cycle cost. As a result of this process, the cost of completing the plant was reduced by approximately $15 million when compared to the traditional design-bid-build approach that was initially explored. It is important we continue to explore innovative approaches such as this to ensure we are maximizing the value of our investments.

Mr. Speaker, as a government we have been making progress in addressing infrastructure needs through our municipal capital works program, with key priority areas including improving drinking water and waste water systems.

In fact, between 2008 and 2014, we have approved in excess of $800 million in provincial funding for municipal infrastructure projects, resulting in new and improved infrastructure in communities throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. Approximately $184 million of this funding has been invested in water projects.

Mr. Speaker, in recognition of the need for continued investment in municipal infrastructure and building on the three-year $200 million municipal infrastructure programs announced in 2014, as announced in this year’s budget our government is committed to a $175 million investment in new projects for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20. This is in addition to provincial funding that will be provided over the coming years to leverage federal funding under the new Building Canada Fund.

These significant investments and levels of funding are enabling our communities to secure, develop and improve infrastructure to support long-term growth and sustainability.

Thank you.

2015 05 14                             2:05 p.m.