Now that the Liberal wins a majority government, it is interesting to see how the other people see the opportunities and concerns. I’ll try to jot down some notes for my readings, mainly of newspaper articles.
Tuesday (Oct. 20) witnessed an immediate positive market response of the infrastructure sector to the election result. Fengate CEO Lou Serafini states that “if the government is consistent about the delivery of infrastructure, you tend to attract better competition and better innovative solution.” To maintain the momentum of P3s in Canada, it would be great if the new government can signal some clear message about the new government’s plan about P3.
The article reports that the Liberals promised during election campaign to increase federal infrastructure investment to $125 billion. Some analysts speculate that the debt induced by the infrastructure expenditure may decrease policy flexibility in future.
The news also reports the recent acquisition of MMM Group by WSP. Starting with a building services consultancy in Surrey, UK in 1969, WSP (original name as William Sale Partnership) has grown to become a giant player in engineering consulting industry. The recent significant merges/acquisitions include Genevar (2012), Parson Brinkerhoff (2014), SPL (2014). With the acquisition of MMM Group, WSP becomes one of the largest engineering firms in the world.