Is Canada a country that cannot build? Increasingly, there seems to be a case for that sad sentiment. Housing targets are set, only to be constantly missed. Subways and tramways suffer endless delays and budget blowouts. And despite decades of talk, we lack the infrastructure to get resources to the coast and international markets, which is especially crushing in the current trade war.
That inability to build doesn’t come out of nowhere. It arises out of a broken process. As yet one more example: last week, the federal government directed Alto — the high-speed rail project from Toronto to Quebec City — to “consider” adding a station in Kingston. It’s a small but illuminating example of Canada’s problems.
