Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'll start with Mr. Peslari.
I've met with many rural municipalities, towns and city councils since being elected, and water is often the key issue, water and waste-water infrastructure, and storing water for overland flooding and irrigation purposes. Infrastructure funding for those projects has seen a lack of federal support in many of their eyes, as you mentioned, not only due to a forced need for collaboration between rural municipalities that might be at odds in their needs, but also due to the onerous nature of a lot of the project applications and the timelines in which these applications are approved. Often, the project's total cost is up 30% or more by the time the federal government actually comes through with the money.
Are there any recommendations that you have for the federal government? How can we go about getting those projects completed with less work for municipalities that don't necessarily have the same levels of capacity? How can we fund them appropriately as well so that by the time shovels are in the ground to upgrade water and waste-water systems, it doesn't put undue burden on a level of government that doesn't have the same deficit capacities as the federal government?