Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am very pleased to see you today, because your presentations give us a chance to see and understand the problems facing municipalities in Canada and Quebec.
What I notice from your three presentations is that you are talking about the infrastructure needs of cities in Canada and Quebec in terms of support, flexibility and time. You have talked about all three. The recovery plan is a sudden event. I think it was the Union of Quebec Municipalities that pointed out that for many years there has been a hidden deficit of over $18 billion in chronic underfunding that started under numerous federal governments, without naming them. You are also asking for more flexibility in the programs. I think this committee will try to take your requests into consideration and make recommendations in that regard.
I was expecting to see considerable divergence between the views of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the two groups from Quebec. The only difference I see relates to the speed with which infrastructure projects are being approved. Mr. Généreux tells us that the process of signing the agreements was lengthy. In April or May, the Minister told this committee that he was making every effort to speed up the process, particularly in Quebec. We know that there must first be an agreement signed by the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada.
Mr. Généreux, can you tell me what you attribute the slowness with which the agreements are being signed?