As the clocks counts down toward Sunday's anticipated federal election call, the electoral battleground of Metro Vancouver witnessed two major funding announcements within hours of each other that totalled close to $2 billion. 

The more significant of the two announcements happened just before noon at Vancouver's Waterfront Station when Jonathan Wilkinson, federal minister of energy and natural resources and MP for North Vancouver, announced that TransLink, the regional transit authority for Metro Vancouver, would receive more than $1.5 billion over ten years starting in 2026, subject to a funding agreement.

The federal funding promises to fix some, but not all funding issues facing TransLink, as the authority faces a combined shortfall that could top out at $4.7 billion in 2033. 

"This significant, long-term funding is designed to meet the needs of a growing modern region by providing long-term, stable funding to support high quality and affordable public transit, and improve housing supply in the area," Wilkinson said in a statement. Ottawa said Friday's announcement is the first of its kind under the Canada Public Transit Fund described as the largest public transit investment in Canadian history. Plans call for the fund to distribute an average of $3 billion per year in permanent funding for public transit across the country. 

Provincial and municipal leaders in Metro Vancouver have long called on Ottawa to step up its contributions and some of their past frustrations shine through in statements Friday. 

B.C. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth welcomed the additional funding in a statement. "Maintaining and growing a reliable, effective transit network requires cooperation from all levels of government and so it is important our federal partners are at the table."

Translink CEO Kevin Quinn also welcomed the funding.

"(We) look forward to continuing that partnership through the Metro-Region Agreement. Investing in public transit is crucial to economic prosperity," he said, adding TransLink continues to work with all levels of government to secure funding to maintain and expand existing transit needs for the region. 

The second major press event happened Friday morning when Wilson Miao, MP for Richmond Centre, re-announced $250 million from Ottawa over five years toward the first phase of upgrades to the Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant in Richmond. The federal funding matches B.C. contribution toward the first phase of the project, whose current price tag reads $9.9 billion, a figure that includes a buffer of $3.5 billion.

The facility, which first opened in 1963, treats about 200 billion litres of wastewater from 750,000 residents living in a geographic area that includes Vancouver, UBC, University Endowment Lands, parts of Richmond and parts of Burnaby. New federal requirements requiring secondary treatment of sewage have forced the upgrades with a planned completion date of 2035. 

The federal government had first announced the money in December. 

B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon welcomed the funding. He said the additional money will help create more affordable housing through more affordable infrastructure, whose costs developers help carry through development cost charges. The federal money lowers those charges, thereby lowering the cost of housing, he said. 

Money is coming from the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund. 

Kahlon added that his government would continue to engage Ottawa around securing support from a housing (rather than infrastructure) specific fund. 

Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley, who chairs Metro Vancouver Regional District board, welcomed the funding, noting that it will help the region meet federal requirements. He added local governments themselves have limited resources and need help from Victoria and Ottawa to meet the growing needs of the region, whose population is projected to reach four million by 2040.

He also addressed concerns that the cost of upgrading the Iona wastewater treatment plant in Richmond could suffer the fate as the North Shore Wastewater treatment plant. Its price tag has ballooned to almost $4 billion from the original estimate of $700 million. This development has drawn consternation from not only citizens, but also inspired calls for the provincial government to launch an inquiry into Metro Vancouver's handling of the plant. 

Hurley tried to dismiss those concerns Friday when he pointed to a decision asking staff to review the project with an eye toward bringing it over the finish line with a final cost well below the current estimate. 

Marc Lee, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, welcomed the funding, but also called for perspective and warned against high expectations in

"I think every little bit helps and it香蕉视频直播檚 good to know that some additional federal money is on the way," he said of the transit funding.  "This is actually funding that was announced many years ago, but is only kicking in in 2026. So it香蕉视频直播檚 been on the books for quite a while and has been re-announced several times."

He also pointed out that the annual total of the funding breaks down to $150 million per year. While it is "definitely helpful," it is "not particularly huge" given TransLink's overall annual budget of $2 billion. Public transit in Metro Vancouver needs more reliable funding, he added.

"There has been an ongoing call for additional operating subsidies from provincial and federal governments, in addition to the capital funding that goes to bigger projects like SkyTrain," he said. 

"So yes, overall it香蕉视频直播檚 helpful in the sense that every little bit counts, but the federal government should be doing a lot more to support transit within regions like Metro Vancouver, as well as intercity transportation that was decimated when Greyhound pulled out in 2018."