Vital capital : Using alternative procurement and financing models to capitalize on the 'infrastructure moment' in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Region

She completed Matthew Mendelsohn is the Director of the Mowat Centre a graduate degree at the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and an associate professor in the School of Public Policy & Governance and Governance, as well as a Bachelor of Journalism degree at Carleton at the University of Toronto. [...] There is significant potential for cross-border collaboration due to the integrated nature of the region and the potential for states and provinces to learn from one another and plan together around energy and transportation. [...] This report concludes that there is value in mobilizing alternative financing mechanisms in the GLSLR to respond to the need for infrastructure renewal and that closer cross-border collaboration is part of the solution to the challenges facing jurisdictions within the region. [...] The President’s Council of Economic Advisers concluded that “investing in infrastructure is essential to the economic health of the nation,”2 while David Dodge, former Governor of the Bank of Canada, recently encouraged greater infrastructure spending given the current economic environment.3 Notably, it is an issue that has brought together organizations on opposite ends of the political spectrum, [...] To illustrate the importance of infrastructure to the region, the Detroit-Windsor Ambassador Bridge alone carries more than 25 per cent of merchandise trade between Canada and the U. S.,8 with the region accounting for nearly 40 per cent of all cross-border trade by vessel, truck and rail between the two countries.9 Great Lakes waters are also a critical shared resource in the region for energy, t