Canadian Lawyer InHouse

april 2014 38 INHOUSE over to various municipalities and organiza- tions upon completion, so a DBF was better suited, he says. Clark is well versed in infra- structure fi nancing and building. He start- ed his career as a corporate lawyer at Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, before joining Queen's Park in 2003 as a special assistant to the minister responsible for infrastructure. He left there in 2005 and joined Infrastruc- ture Ontario, when it was launched, holding a variety of roles. He played a lead role in introducing alternative fi nance procure- ment, which is at the heart of what Infra- structure Ontario does. He left there in 2008 and joined Scotiabank, where he ran its North American infrastructure business and returned to head up Infrastructure Ontario in August 2012. Clark said one of the "strong incentives" put in place in the Pan Am contracts to encourage builders to meet their deadlines involves fi nancing. "We're not paying them until the project is done," Clark says. The various project developers have borrowed money from banks to build the projects. "They can't pay off the banks until we pay them, and we don't pay them until the project is substan- tially complete. The clock is running on their loans and every week they're late is interest they will need to pay." Another interesting innovation to the Pan Am project is the Athletes' Village. It was built with a view to selling the units as condominiums when the games are over. Clark says following the games, the units will be retrofi tted — for example, existing kitchen countertops will be removed and granite installed — and sold as residential units. However, usually shovels do not break ground until a condo development has sold a certain number of units in advance. "We are asking people to build condominiums with- out any pre-sales, which is not how condo developers normally do things," Clark says. It meant the developers took on the risk and borrowed money from banks. Infrastruc- ture Ontario agreed to backstop the loans in the event that the games don't take place. The Pan AM P3 projects are also note- worthy because of the number of local municipalities and organizations involved that will take over the venues once the games are complete. It includes the cities of Toronto and Hamilton, the towns of Markham and Milton, York University, and the University of Toronto, among others. Osler's Emakpor says the Pan Am P3 proj- ects are also noteworthy because they brought together a lot of public stakehold- ers. "Infrastructure Ontario has to steward and marshal all those differing interests." From Clark's perspective, the future for P3s remains bright. "We have $18-billion in planning and procurement. We have a very deep pipeline of projects." The focus of late has been on a "massive backlog" in health sector capital spending and aging Ontario hospitals, which average 42 years old. Currently, there is $3 billion of construc- tion under way and another $5 billion has reached substantial completion. Next on the horizon is transit. "The area really poised for growth is transit and transportation. We have about $8 billion in planning and procurement." It includes the Union-Pearson express line linking the airport and downtown, light rail transit in Ottawa, the Waterloo region rapid transit, and the Eglinton light rail transit. "That area is just taking off." As for other sectors, Clark noted Infra- structure Ontario was recently assigned its fi rst transmission project and it has also stated its third college project. "We have a very, very active pipeline." As for the Pan Am games, Clark is comfortable with the progress "So far they are going well. They are on time and the vast majority of risk has been transferred to the builders and their fi nanciers. We are not losing a ton of sleep over those projects." IH '' infrastructure ontario has to steward and marshal all those differing interests. Tobor emaKpor, osler hoskin & harcourt llp '' I n d u s t r y S p o t l i g h t

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