The Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario (RCCAO) is using the power of the Internet to draw attention to the importance of infrastructure investment.
The organization has published a video on YouTube that characterizes what will happen in the future if society fails to invest properly in public infrastructure.
The RCCAO is an alliance of management and labour groups, including Local 793 of the International Union of Operating Engineers.
The video is titled A Child’s Future in Ontario? It can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6S4pmwouQw.
RCCAO executive director Andy Manahan said infrastructure is something the public rarely thinks about, but the future looks bleak if investments aren’t made.
The RCCAO recently released a study showing that the average worker in Ontario could lose some $400,000 in potential wages over his or her working life as a result of system failures and inefficiencies caused by underinvestment in infrastructure.
“We recognize that the province has to get its financial house in order, but delaying infrastructure programs is not the way to get there,” said Manahan.
He said even the recently-released Drummond Report urged the province not to address its fiscal problems by postponing needed infrastructure projects.
The RCCAO video portrays a young girl visiting her own future in Ontario. She finds that her generation is paying the price for the failure of the present generation to spend wisely on infrastructure.
“It looks at this as an inter-generational issue, and it suggests that we are selfishly leaving our children fewer opportunities,” Manahan said. “Perhaps, for some, it will be a wake up call.”