Finance committee  Obviously, you can see the improvements being made with the GST itself. I can let my colleague Mr. Roy speak to the bureaucratic roadblocks, since that's more technical.

Finance committee  You have to understand one thing, which is that cities have responsibilities and jurisdictions. So we mustn't start interfering in the municipal realm. Having said that, I think the bill needs some improvements, which we can certainly address.

Finance committee  I understand that you're from two different parties, but I'm not going to get into politics here.

Finance committee  Every time I have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Union des municipalités du Québec, it is clear that improvements must be made to the way municipalities do things. Let's not bury our heads in the sand. However, we, too, have consulted our members and have seen that processing times have been much shorter in recent months.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, members of the committee, thank you for giving us the opportunity to take part in the pre-budget consultations ahead of the next federal budget. I am accompanied by Samuel Roy, Strategic Policy Advisor at the Union des municipalités du Québec.