We are trying to send a message to manufacturers and encourage them to get involved in the infrastructure fund. This would mean that, when an organization receives money from the fund, it also receives a discount that has already been negotiated with a group of manufacturers who are willing to participate.
We're already working with Hobart Canada. Mark Schilling has already agreed to join us on this journey for a number of projects, including the Drop-In Centre in Calgary, to which he provided kitchen equipment at nearly 50% of the cost. He delivered it directly to the organization, which needed to replace two-thirds of its kitchen equipment.
I think we need to talk to domestic manufacturers. There’s an opportunity for them to take a leadership role. I believe they’d be receptive to the idea, and it would lead to many other benefits. I will get involved, as this is one of the projects that is extremely close to my heart.
As for renegotiating the agreements under the national school food program, some provinces already use food literacy as a funding lever to finance initiatives. There are many small initiatives in elementary schools in particular that don't receive much funding.
For example, Quebec has currently focused all its funding solely on food. It has not used federal funding as leverage to support food literacy programs. I think that should be included in the next round of negotiations because a lot of food literacy organizations in Quebec are currently struggling. We're going to lose valuable expertise. I'm sure that's also the case in a number of other Canadian provinces.
These three elements are fairly easy to implement, and they would provide us with invaluable assistance.