Building consensus on large infrastructure projects

Join host Jon Finkelstein and guest Ron Jaikaran to discuss Ontario’s Accelerated High-Speed Internet Program. Ron is the Director of Commercial Projects at Infrastructure Ontario, where he is driving progress on Ontario’s 4 billion dollar investment in high-speed internet. The program aims to bring high-speed connectivity to some of the hardest-to-reach communities in the province, to deliver this essential service to all Ontarians. A project of this size requires consensus between partners and collaboration between the public and private sectors to deliver results by 2025, something Ron and his team manage. Ron discusses the opportunities and challenges in undertaking such a large project, how Infrastructure Ontario is managing various partnerships at the municipal and provincial levels, and how the private sector is helping the government tackle some of the largest challenges.  (00:02)- Jon’s introduces Shift and Ron Jaikaran(01:29)- Ron introduces himself and Ontario’s Accelerated High-Speed Internet Program(03:54)- Ron discusses the teams and partners involved in the program (06:15)- Ron discusses how the private and public sector are working together to implement high speed internet (09:05)Ron and Jon discuss why access to high-speed internet is so important, and the challenges posed by the geography of Ontario (14:49)Jon asks Ron about the legislation involved in the project (15:44)Ron talks about the importance of setting expectations with the market (19:22)Ron and Jon talk about the project’s quick timeline, (24:33)- Ron shared the challenges that had to be overcome along the way, and how this project can be used as an example for future Infrastructure Ontario projects (28:06)Ron and Jon discuss the importance of building consensus (29:56)- Jon and Ron share their closing thoughts and conclusions