Honourable senators, I rise today to speak to you about Bill C-344, An Act to amend the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act with respect to community benefit.

I will begin by stating that I support this bill and that I am in favour of a federal contracting strategy that takes into consideration socio-economic factors and Canadian communities across the country.

My comments will be twofold. First, I will summarize the main points of the bill and highlight that it is straightforward and non-binding. Second, I will provide concrete examples that show that when a government spends money wisely, everyone wins, both communities and proponents.

Bill C-344 amends the process of awarding federal contracts from a socio-economic contract from sustainable development for communities. Specifically, the bill gives the discretion to the minister to require that submissions to federal government infrastructure projects contain information on the local benefits that their work will generate.

The bill defines community benefit as a social, economic or environmental benefit that a community derives from a construction, maintenance or repair project, including job creation and training opportunities, improvement of public space and any other specific benefit identified by the community.

The legal framework proposed in this bill is neither binding nor restrictive with respect to the powers of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services. The proposed amendment to section 20 of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act is modest but is nevertheless likely to have a noticeable positive impact on the well-being of communities.

The bill provides an opportunity for the government to invest in local talent and counter the labour shortage announced upstream. It also ensures that the wealth of federal markets is distributed in a more equitable way.

To illustrate this, I will share with you some of the successes associated with the project to rebuild four electric dams on the Mattagami River in northern Ontario.

Bill C-344 would prioritize community benefit agreements in federal contracts. The department’s discretionary power under section 20 would make it a leader in implementing such agreements. Ultimately, community benefit agreements would enable communities to reap their fair share of the federal government’s infrastructure investments and help create a more egalitarian society. It’s clear that the federal government must consider the well-being of the people who will be most directly affected by infrastructure projects in their community.

This brings me to my second point. One of the unique attributes of community benefit agreements is that they provide tangible and measurable results. Moreover, the benefits of taking into account the socio-economic interests of communities and the considerations of sustainable development in the procurement strategies of a governance body have been repeatedly demonstrated.