Finance committee  As I said earlier, it's very important to be aligned with what's really happening in the municipalities, which are very different from one another. Mr. Demers alluded to regions with a population of around 100,000. That's a completely different world in terms of the needs of municipalities.

Finance committee  No, we don't have data on this particular initiative. However, we can certainly promise to look at the results of this program and determine whether it has been relatively beneficial compared to what was done before, or what was done for other types of housing. It would seem to make sense to pay close attention to what's happening in rural and smaller communities, because their circumstances are completely different.

Finance committee  Yes, it certainly does.

Finance committee  The federal government needs to work with municipalities and the Quebec government to develop programs or use existing programs in a way that would enable municipalities to identify their own requirements and come up with solutions. This means establishing regular communications with the RCMs and other municipalities to find solutions.

Finance committee  It's a bit early to gauge the impact of that program in particular. What will be important to assess is the willingness to get things done and the speed with which action is taken. This is a pressing issue for Quebec municipalities. People have wanted to settle in the regions for a year or a year and a half.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. FQM's members adopted a resolution on infrastructure at their annual general meeting in late 2021 calling for more investment in municipal infrastructure by the two levels of government. A recurring theme in our demands is that funding be predictable and flexible.

Finance committee  The cooperative model has always been around. You can see it virtually everywhere, but much more so in urban areas. It would definitely be helpful to deploy it more in all types of communities. However, expediting the development of cooperatives will definitely help meet part of the demand, which is hard to quantify.

Finance committee  We discussed housing in our presentation. This issue has been a concern for all Quebec regions, even rural regions, for some years now. However, the programs offered for social housing, affordable housing or housing in general are often designed to suit the needs of urbanized areas.

Finance committee  All right. Does that take into account the technical tests we did earlier?

Finance committee  The priority for Quebec and its regions is really cellular coverage. Operation High Speed, which was implemented jointly with the Quebec government last year, will provide Quebec households with high-speed Internet access by September 2022. FQM would like to see a similar investment for cellular coverage to provide services to all areas and to enable families to settle anywhere across Quebec's regions.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Demers. Good afternoon, members of the committee. The rural world definitely has its particular features. Every one of Quebec's regions is unique. Investment needs are different in the regions, and public policies must be adjusted accordingly. We often see underinvestment in regional infrastructure and services, and it always seems more difficult to convince governments to invest in sectors with low-density populations.

Transport committee  The same kind of situation certainly exists in Quebec. Municipal infrastructure here is funded either annually or by project. So there is always a deficit in terms of undertaking and completing infrastructure projects. Mr. Smith talked about communities wanting to build cultural or recreational infrastructure but getting rejection letters.

Transport committee  In terms of the investing in Canada plan, you know that infrastructure programs in Quebec often take the form of bilateral agreements with Canada. We still want some of the money to be in agreements so that it goes to the communities and that governments work together so that the programs can be put in place quickly, especially in rural communities.

Transport committee  Good afternoon, committee members.

Transport committee  Rural communities have their own distinct characteristics, and each of Quebec's regions is unique. The investments that regions need are different, so policy decisions need to reflect those realities. However, investments in regional infrastructure and services are still inadequate.