What actually goes into major project budgeting at the government level—and what does it mean to take a calculated risk with public dollars? In this episode, Riccardo and Peter Weltman explore how public infrastructure decisions get made behind the scenes. 

A former Financial Accountability Officer for Ontario and veteran of the Treasury Board of Canada, Peter has decades of experience in cost estimation, defence procurement, and parliamentary budgeting. He provides illuminating explanations of how funding decisions are influenced by factors like confidence intervals, political priorities, and strategic tradeoffs. Together, he and Riccardo take a look at the budgetary pressures facing all levels of government and what “over budget” really means. This episode offers a frank perspective on implementing a shift from reactive fixes to proactive planning and the financial and political mechanisms that could make that possible.

Key Takeaways

• How the Treasury Board of Canada makes decisions around government spending on infrastructure;
• The political side of deciding on major project budgets;
• How the Canadian Infrastructure Council is researching their report;
• Asking questions that help secure budget decision accountability;
• The benefits of financial incentives for infrastructure maintenance.

Quote:

“Really, the best investment [for Canadian infrastructure] right now is investing in making the stuff we already own work better.” - Peter Weltman

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com
• Follow Peter Weltman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-weltman/

 Music: "A New Tomorrow" by Chordial Music. Licensed through PremiumBeat.