Business View Magazine | December 2020

268 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2020 Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to help bridge the gap between public and private funding, and it will play a critical role in Canada’s recovery from this pandemic. The Bank is actively working to attract private investments to help advance public policy objectives on complex, long-term challenges, and to help public dollars go further. Right now, the CIB is working alongside federal, provincial and territorial partners to build a portfolio of public and private partnerships in clean electricity that, when taken together, offer the potential to make a substantial contribution to supporting Canada’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. In my job as the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, the importance of strong communities has never been so clear. If anything good has come of this pandemic, it is a heightened awareness of what it means to be part of a community. We’ve seen how crucial it is to look out for each other, to protect each other and to see every day that our community is what we choose to make of it. I find myself constantly thinking about how infrastructure investments support and strengthen communities across Canada. It also means helping attract new investments from everywhere. Businesses want to locate and build where they know infrastructure is modern, clean, and resilient. Canada has an excellent opportunity to be the low-carbon economy that global investors beat a path to if we keep making smart choices right now. Putting tax dollars to work – in clean water, in better transportation, more efficient buildings, renewable energy, flood and fire protection, better broadband – helps provide good jobs, stabilizes the economy, and helps communities get back on their feet. And those investments do so much more. They help build a better country for our children and grandchildren. manage wastewater. Infrastructure Canada has mandated that 45 per cent of this funding must go to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To help infrastructure owners plan their projects so they can withstand the effects of climate change and reduce carbon pollution and greenhouse gases, Infrastructure Canada implemented a Climate Lens assessment that is consistent with the objectives of the Pan- Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change. We’re re-thinking our approach to infrastructure planning, from finding ways to reduce emissions and move closer to a net- zero carbon economy to building more resilient infrastructure that will help protect communities and industries from the impacts of climate change. These critical innovations won’t happen with public resources alone, so we’re engaging the private sector, which also recognizes the investment and partnership potential of green infrastructure. We established the Canada