Canadians living in towns and cities do not worry about sewer and water. It comes and goes neatly in the pipes that bring fresh safe drinking water to our homes from municipal systems and takes away our sewage in similar fashion to be processed at a sewage treatment facility. We are not like our district residents who bring and purify their water from underground sources and then have septic sewage fields to manage their sewage. Our district neighbors must look after their water and sewage systems themselves. Town residents just look to their government to oversee those issues. When the water stops coming into their homes or they can’t flush their toilets then they are concerned.
All three levels of government like to spend money on new infrastructure projects. New subdivisions, new roads, improved airport facilities, new schools, sidewalks, new recreation facilities, new libraries which are all highly visible and make being a politician look successful and valued in the public’s eye.
Unfortunately, in Canada we are failing to look after all the buried infrastructure. I listened to a voter who complained as First Street in front of the newspaper was torn up and the sewer, water and storm sewer pipes were replaced, before everything was graded and new asphalt laid. His complaint was that the road was in better shape than the street by his home. The sewer was over 100 years old, and the clay pipe was disintegrating, even though everything looked great at ground level.
As Canadians we are learning that much of our below ground sewer and water pipes are at the end of their expected life. We have watched and chuckled at the mess of Calgarians who have been on water rations and will continue to be rationing water through September. They have discovered that their major water line is failing. Just last weekend, a major water line gave way in Montreal, flooding streets. Today, as repairs begin, much of Montreal is on a boil water order. A 2020 report on Canada’s Infrastructure found that close to one in five kilometers of water, sewer, and stormwater pipes were reaching their end of life having been built more that 50 years ago. That is 86,000 out of 472,000 kilometers of pipe that needs replacing.
Fort Frances has a major infrastructure deficit. They cannot tax residents enough to overcome the shortfall to begin replacing all the pipes in the ground, the sidewalks and roadways. More senior levels of government must come to the rescue of all urban communities. Fort Frances councils must be commended for examining all the below ground infrastructure and choosing the repair of those blocks with the highest potential for failure. Unfortunately, in examining the deficit in infrastructure, it will be impossible for the community to ever catch up without provincial and federal dollars.
