Canada needs to focus on local communities when it comes to infrastructure spending plans, said Rona Ambrose, interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hosted a summit courting the world’s leading investors.

“I think it’s always a good idea to have the government partnering with the private sector,” Ambrose told BNN in an interview. But she said “infrastructure is about local communities, and at the end of the day, they need the support of mayors.”

Monday’s investor summit, attended by BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, and a number of federal cabinet ministers, intended to raise awareness about investing opportunities in Canada. It came two weeks after Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivered plans to prime a federal infrastructure bank – which would help build major projects across Canada – with $35 billion worth of public money.

In a statement released Monday , the Conservative Party criticized the Liberal government’s infrastructure bank plan.

“Today, the Liberals are rolling out the red carpet to try to sell foreign billionaires on their new infrastructure bank, an experiment that will cost taxpayers at least $15 billion,” the statement read. “The troubling part is that the Liberals don’t seem to understand that public pension funds and other capital investors don’t need an infrastructure bank; they have the ability to invest in Canada right now.”  

Ambrose cautioned that some of the proposed road and bridge projects that the Liberals hope to fund would result in fees and tolls for users that local communities might not accept.

“There are not a lot of mayors in this city or this country that will accept a toll or a user fee on their local infrastructure. So that’s going to be a big hurdle for them to overcome,” she said.

She also expressed concern about Canada’s competitiveness and ability to attract global investors under the Trudeau government’s economic plan, saying the country “doesn’t have a strong business environment.”

But after the summit ended late Monday afternoon, Trudeau told  the media he’s “not worried about competing.”

"Canada, with its economic, fiscal, political, social stability, is an extremely attractive place to do business [and] place to invest for global capital," he said.Canada needs to focus on local communities when it comes to infrastructure spending plans, said Rona Ambrose, interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hosted a summit courting the world’s leading investors.

“I think it’s always a good idea to have the government partnering with the private sector,” Ambrose told BNN in an interview. But she said “infrastructure is about local communities, and at the end of the day, they need the support of mayors.”

Monday’s investor summit, attended by BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, and a number of federal cabinet ministers, intended to raise awareness about investing opportunities in Canada. It came two weeks after Finance Minister Bill Morneau delivered plans to prime a federal infrastructure bank – which would help build major projects across Canada – with $35 billion worth of public money.

In a statement released Monday , the Conservative Party criticized the Liberal government’s infrastructure bank plan.

“Today, the Liberals are rolling out the red carpet to try to sell foreign billionaires on their new infrastructure bank, an experiment that will cost taxpayers at least $15 billion,” the statement read. “The troubling part is that the Liberals don’t seem to understand that public pension funds and other capital investors don’t need an infrastructure bank; they have the ability to invest in Canada right now.”  

Ambrose cautioned that some of the proposed road and bridge projects that the Liberals hope to fund would result in fees and tolls for users that local communities might not accept.

“There are not a lot of mayors in this city or this country that will accept a toll or a user fee on their local infrastructure. So that’s going to be a big hurdle for them to overcome,” she said.

She also expressed concern about Canada’s competitiveness and ability to attract global investors under the Trudeau government’s economic plan, saying the country “doesn’t have a strong business environment.”

But after the summit ended late Monday afternoon, Trudeau told  the media he’s “not worried about competing.”

"Canada, with its economic, fiscal, political, social stability, is an extremely attractive place to do business [and] place to invest for global capital," he said.