Foreign Affairs committee  If they're following the standard model, it would probably be very little in terms of out-of-pocket expense. It would be people's time in terms of going and trying to build capacity, and it might be leveraging some community money. Do you have any more specifics?

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll take a try at the first part, in terms of the volunteer and the people-hours. The way it generally will work in a municipality is that, simply put, an initial group of people will go over for a pretty short period of time; then, over an extended time period that could involv

Foreign Affairs committee  Broadly based, this is an FCM CIDA-supported project. The funding to move the people back and forth, etc., and to fund whatever needs to be funded is coming form the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Drayton Valley is an excellent example. I'm not that familiar with Drayton

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll take a stab at the first part, the liaison with regional governments. That's a great comment. From an FCM perspective, we're operating at a couple of different levels. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities, as we've said, is involved in all of these projects, but at a di

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, a number have. In Montreal and Quebec City, in particular, there are international programs. It plays a big role in their culture. To continue with the process issue, or the focus on the process, not individuals, when we go to a place the interest is in developing processe

Foreign Affairs committee  There are advantages for Canada, particularly within municipalities. We believe this is a way to build a bridge between the local government, for example in Winnipeg, and a community that supports our campaign, our ideas and our issues. This is an opportunity for us to connect w

Foreign Affairs committee  If you don't mind, I will answer in English. I apologize, but my French is not great.

Foreign Affairs committee  I want to answer the first question. How do we distribute the money? I'll ask Brock to back me up on this, but primarily I think the program is made available and the information distributed by FCM, which looks for the initiative to come from the municipality itself for speci

Foreign Affairs committee  Maybe I'll take a stab at a couple of those issues. I'll talk about the picking of the projects, and I'll ask Brock to talk about the money and the technical--where everything is coming from. From a municipal perspective--and maybe as politicians we can all appreciate that ther

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairperson. As already introduced, my name is Gord Steeves. I'm actually the acting president now of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, just by virtue of the way things have worked out. I'm joined by Brock Carlton, who's our director of inter

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  Generally speaking, as an organization we have worked very strongly with the federal government over the last years in terms of many programs that have been implemented. The programs that began with the last government are going to continue with the current government. We see the

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'd probably have some questions, at the very least.

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I appreciate the question. It's very interesting. Again, I can't honestly claim to be an expert—

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  —on wood-burning stoves, but I will take this opportunity to highlight the need for federal standards in a lot of different areas. Everybody can appreciate that when you talk about standards within the context of one municipality, it becomes very difficult. When you talk about s

Bill C-30 (39th Parliament, 1st Session) committee  I'll give you a list of six things: energy efficiency in buildings; energy efficiency in lighting, particularly street lights; alternative fuels for municipal fleets; purchasing renewable energy, as opposed to fossil energy; and landfill gas and methane recapture in landfill oper