Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm very pleased to be here. I appeared before this committee a number of times when I was President of the Treasury Board and I'm glad to be back.
Obviously, we're going through some very uncertain economic times, not just in Canada but throughout the industrialized world. We believe the government can play an important role in responding to these economic challenges. They didn't originate in Canada; they originated in the United States and then have spread around the world. But we are committed to doing our part to help stimulate economic growth and to getting Canadians working again.
Infrastructure is one part of that program. We have a number of important initiatives designed to help give a much-needed shot in the arm to the Canadian economy. They range from the Building Canada plan—a lot of those funds go directly to municipalities through the gas tax—to the GST rebate. Then there's what I call Building Canada proper, in which we work with provinces and territories constructively on identifying and getting projects moving forward with various proponents. In many cases they are municipalities.
There is a huge need for infrastructure renewal in this country. There is a huge infrastructure deficit, and this is a great opportunity to ensure not just that we put Canadians to work in the short term, but that we come forward with measures to allow us to come out of this economic difficulty sooner than the United States and countries around the world do, and that we come out stronger and better able to respond to some of the challenges. The GDP decline was much less pronounced in Canada, but nonetheless it's a major concern. That's why we're moving aggressively to identify projects, to get agreement, and then to move forward as expeditiously as possible.
In most of the infrastructure projects we'll engage in, the Government of Canada doesn't hold the shovel. Rather, it's held by provinces, by municipalities, or other authorities. Whether it's a port, an airport, a convention centre, or the crown—you name it—we're doing the best we can to respond to the need to cut red tape and to speed up the process that will give a federal green light.
We met with the premiers and first ministers. That went tremendously well. We came forward with a five-point action plan that received unanimous support—which is quite remarkable—from Liberal, NDP, and Conservative premiers from coast to coast to coast. I think that speaks to the quality of the work that's been done both by parliamentary committees and by the public service, whether it's on the Navigable Waters Protection Act, or on having one environmental assessment process, or on cutting red tape, and not just at the public service level but at the political level. Too often decisions take an inordinate amount of time. The good news is, generally speaking, that we are working tremendously well with our provincial partners. Where there had been acrimony, there is, generally speaking, a much better level of engagement and agreement. I think that is what Canadians expect in these difficult times.
We have come forward with a significant number of infrastructure projects and plans. They also include, though, things outside of the traditional involvement, whether projects for colleges and universities, which would be managed by the Minister of Industry and the Minister of State at Industry Canada, or for support for VIA Rail or support for a good number of other initiatives, whether environmental, recreational, or a more traditional involvement in infrastructure.
Since January—just in the last month and a half—we have given the green light to 480 community projects worth more than $1.5 billion, primarily in Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. Whether it's for the Evergreen Line that the Premier of British Columbia and the Prime Minister announced, or whether it's for cleaning up the Saint John harbour in New Brunswick or for new water treatment facilities in Nunavut, we're doing our best to give the green light as quickly as possible. The funding will flow within 30 days of our receiving an invoice. We've said to all of our partners that we will be as flexible as possible and will pay our bills within 30 days so that these projects can move forward as expeditiously as possible.
In Ontario we announced more than 289 projects last month totalling $1 billion; that's good news. They're in communities of under 100,000 right across the province. There is a good tripartite agreement with the municipalities, the province, and the federal government.
In British Columbia we announced 41 projects for about $175 million. In Saskatchewan, $90 million was announced to work on 46 different projects.
This is just a start. We are undertaking extensive consultation and decisions with our provincial and municipal partners around the country.
I'm very pleased now to take your good counsel and questions, Mr. Chair.
