RC120 SeptOct 2025 - Magazine - Page 12
RENEW CANADA 20TH ANNIVERSARY
20 YEARS OF
HAPPY RETURNS
How we think about infrastructure
has evolved by Glenn Miller
“The quality of urban life in Canada is rooted in the strength
and diversity of its public realm. Education, healthcare, social
services, public transit, energy resources, public safety and
security, environmental stewardship, roads, streets and public
places will continue to be the connective tissues linking our
private worlds, fusing one generation to another.”
HIS WAS THE OPENING PARAGRAPH of my 昀椀rst article for ReNew
Canada, coauthored by the Hon. David Crombie, featured in the magazine’s very 昀椀rst issue, October 2005.
“Broadening our understanding of the public realm is
essential to protecting the competitiveness of our cities,”
continued the article. Looking back on two extraordinary decades, during which time ReNew Canada has helped its
readers track the evolving, ever-changing understanding of the
importance of infrastructure, I believe that these statements are
still true, and possibly more relevant than ever.
Articles in ReNew over the years have reacted to changes in
government priorities, crises of con昀椀dence resulting from recession (think 2008-2009 when the world’s 昀椀nancial institutions
were in crisis and the COVID-inspired recession of 2020-2021)
as well as inevitable periods of post-recession optimism and
recovery. This is why the Prime Minister’s Carney’s stated intent
to identify “projects of national signi昀椀cance… that will connect
Canada, that will deepen Canada’s ties with the world, and that
will create high-paying jobs for generations,” is viewed as a welcome statement of intent, and which promises to usher in a new
era of infrastructure planning and implementation.
Who knows? We might even 昀椀nd ways to build projects faster
while also staying within budget.
Ironically, the historic Thone Speech delivered by King
Charles last May did not include the word ‘infrastructure.’ But
don’t be fooled. The Government’s commitment to build—and
re-build—infrastructure in all its many dimensions could not
have been clearer. Also implicit in that carefully crafted statement was a recognition that dollars allocated to infrastructure
represent an investment, not an expense, a move consistent
with the philosophy of a prime minister trained as an economist. Prime Minister Carney recognizes that infrastructure of
all kinds—hard, soft, green, climate-resistant, innovative—is an
12—RENEW CANADA – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025
FCM
Glenn Miller, FCIP is a
senior associate with
the Canadian Urban
Institute who has
been contributing to
ReNew Canada from
the outset.
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