OTTAWA - The infrastructure in Canadian cities is "near collapse" and will cost $123 billion to repair and replace — money that municipalities don't have, a new report warns.That figure is far higher than previous estimates and indicates that the physical foundations of cities like Toronto are deteriorating faster than first thought, municipal officials said today.
"If serious action isn't taken now, our infrastructure is headed for collapse — the problem will simply overtake us," said Gord Steeves, president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
The municipal association today released a new study that shows that the cost of repairing aging bridges, roads and water systems has soared in recent years.
And it called on the federal government to create a "long-term national effort" to eliminate the so-called infrastructure deficit, warning that towns and cities lack the financial resources to pay for the repairs themselves.
Steeves, a Winnipeg councillor, said he has written Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the three opposition leaders, urging them to acknowledge that Canada is the "tipping point.
"Coordinated national action and political will is necessary — today," Steeves told a Parliament Hill news conference this morning...
