Canwest News Service Asks: Can Fixing Our Crumbling Cities Save the Economy?

Canadian infrastructure is in crisis. In a special five part series – Rebuilding Canada – Canwest News Service explores the critical infrastructure issues facing our cities. The series runs from December 15 – 19 in print and online. Canwest newspapers and newspaper websites including: Victoria Times Colonist, Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald, Regina Leader-Post, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Windsor Star, Ottawa Citizen and Montreal Gazette, local and national infrastructure issues will be explored.

Expanded content will be available online at Canwest newspaper websites where readers will also have the chance to weigh in on daily poll questions and view an interactive map highlighting city-specific infrastructure issues.

The series takes an in-depth look at the realities and the dollars behind Canada’s infrastructure crisis including:

• A study by economic forecasting firm Informetrica estimates that every one billion dollars invested in infrastructure would create the equivalent of 11,000 jobs, including 5,500 in the construction sector.
• The Canadian Federation of Municipalities estimates that our cities need $123 billion to bring essential public infrastructure up to acceptable levels; and another $115 billion to meet the needs of a growing population.
• Canada’s social infrastructure (pools, libraries, arts centres, community halls) is estimated to be in need of a $40.2 billion dollar boost to maintain and grow to meet the needs of an expanding population.
• The average Canadian produced more than 1,000 kilograms of garbage in 2006 and we’re running out of places to put it. A number of Canadian provinces have major projects in place to convert and compost that waste into renewable resources.
• Transit initiatives in six of Canada’s largest cities will transform the way commuters move between work and home. Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Montreal all have billion dollar projects planned.

Rebuilding Canada, a CNS feature series is on newsstands and online December 15 -19, 2008.

About Canwest News Service

Canwest News Service (CNS), a division of Canwest Publishing Inc. provides news, sports, entertainment, photography, financial and feature information and data to Canwest's Canadian newspapers, television news operations, online properties and a number of third party clients in Canada and the United States. CNS draws content from its own team, including a group of premier news, feature and specialist writers and from journalists working throughout Canwest's newspaper, television and online outlets. CNS operates the Canadian News Desk, which co-coordinates Canwest's news gathering and content sharing throughout Canada and around the world. CNS has the country's largest news bureau in Ottawa, and has bureaus in Washington, New York, Jerusalem, Afghanistan, Paris and Shanghai.

About Canwest Global Communications Corp.

Canwest Global Communications Corp. (www.canwest.com), (TSX: CGS and CGS.A,) an international media company, is Canada's largest media company. In addition to owning the Global Television Network, Canwest is Canada's largest publisher of paid English language daily newspapers and owns, operates and/or holds substantial interests in conventional television, out-of-home advertising, specialty cable channels, web sites and radio stations and networks in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Images of Rebuilding Canada promotional advertising are available.