Finance committee  I have two quick comments, ma'am. Whether it be here in Canada or in the United States, federal investments in infrastructure will continue through the federal budgetary process. The projects that I'm mostly alluding to are what are called revenue-generating projects, which are the purview of our governors and our mayors, our large municipalities.

Finance committee  It's public use infrastructure, but again, it's not the federal portion in that, the Department of Defense portion. What I find gratifying about your comments about your own fiduciaries, your own pensioners, is that there has been some criticism by people who are not in these plans that these plans are overly beneficial.

Finance committee  I do, sir.

Finance committee  There are two BlackRocks. There's one that seeks very high rates of return, and it does have its own low interest rate, fixed-income portion of the bank, of the institution. As we were saying a moment ago and earlier to your two colleagues further down, the only thing that matters to me is size, impartiality, and low rate of return on the capital of the institution.

Finance committee  It would be rude for me to suggest, sir. I was simply asked to convey an alternative to what you were considering. It's not for me to comment on Canadian government practices. It's just not, sir. My role here was to give you an alternative that I think is attractive, that doesn't burden the Canadian taxpayer, as is being suggested.

Finance committee  It's something I'm hoping for, Mr. Liepert. No, we don't have one. What we have is $1.5 trillion of unmet needs. If you've travelled in our country you can see it first-hand. We have our own budget concerns, and I share your concern absolutely, which is why we can't look to our federal government.

Finance committee  I would find that objectionable, sir.

Finance committee  We've done everything we can, from our vantage point, to obviate that, to find an alternative source. Every developed country is in budgetary crisis, in my opinion, because of our payments that we are committed to, and—

Finance committee  I think, sir, it's simply the contrast between OMERS and Toronto-Dominion Bank. Toronto-Dominion Bank simply cannot lend to these kinds of projects at 2% and 3% interest rates. They won't. Also, the life of these projects is very long. It tends to outstrip the desired lifetime of the private finance sector.

Finance committee  I don't think you're behind at all, sir. I think you're on the cusp. We're not there yet, but we know we can't afford the alternative. I have been working with the Trump administration, as well as both sides of the aisle in our Senate, and we can't pay for what we want.

Finance committee  I would kill off two of the Ps. I'm completely in the private sector supplying the materials, and I believe in the private sector constructing the infrastructure. I do not believe in the private sector financing the infrastructure. I've just seen too many instances throughout the world where the private financing piece of it, as I explained to your colleague, has left the user community on its knees.

Finance committee  Madam, it's music to my ears. Your new Prime Minister and Mr. Wegiel have talked on the issue of your domestic steel producers. Prime Minister Trudeau has talked about real unemployment in this country mirroring ours, which is roughly twice the nominal rates. Nothing in the world addresses infrastructure spending in steel, or jobs, better than an infrastructure bank.

Finance committee  When I say “national infrastructure bank”, ma'am, I never mean Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley. The fault in our own country has been what are called P3s, the public-private partnerships. The cost of capital on the private side is usurious for the user community. Notably in the state of Pennsylvania, where great efforts were made to upgrade infrastructure, we ended up with roads and bridges that became unaffordable to the middle class because of the user fees.

Finance committee  Mr. Chairman, it was not that much of an effort. It's a privilege to be with you and your members this afternoon. The issue of large-scale infrastructure investment, as we all know, is foremost about stewardship, but sadly, in most of the developed countries, our eyes, so to speak, have always been larger than our stomachs.