Ah, infrastructure.  Along with motherhood and maple syrup one of those things no one is really against. Bridges to nowhere are frowned upon of course, but the idea of infrastructure is uncontested.  With the flood gates of government now fully open on account of the crisis, everyone is looking for their percentage.  The public doesn't normally associate post-secondary education with infrastructure, the former is schools and teachers, the latter is bridges, roads and sewers.  It seems that the definition of infrastructure becomes somewhat elastic in a crisis.  Enter the colleges of Ontario, promising 50,000 construction jobs for new facilities, if only the feds would cough up the money.

Community colleges across the country say they are being left out of the federal government's infrastructure plan, even though they have enough projects to create about 50,000 construction jobs.

Jim Knight, president of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges, said the institutions urgently need new classroom space to cope with rising enrollment rates that could grow even faster in the coming months as thousands of laid-off workers seek training for new jobs and skills.
The association, which represents about 150 colleges across the country, estimates that new investments would create jobs right away in the construction of long-awaited expansion projects.
"It's a winning combination both ways," said Mr. Knight in an interview. "It creates employment now and then it creates the skills we need for the go-forward economy of the future."

But officials from the colleges said the existing framework of the Harper government's infrastructure plan focuses on roads and bridges and does not include specific targeted funding for classroom facilities.

Mr. Knight said the only option for colleges is to apply for funding for recreational facilities that would be shared with local communities.

"We need classrooms here," Mr. Knight said. "We need to ramp up the advanced skills we need for the future. Not to denigrate recreational, athletic and performing arts facilities, but obviously, the core need is much greater than that in colleges."