Thank you for your question, Ms. Pauzé.
The clean water and wastewater fund is a program linked to the federal infrastructure plan. The goal of this infrastructure plan is to ensure economic growth and job creation, which is a good thing. I think that it's a noble goal. However, the environmental impact of projects should be taken into consideration. In my opinion, the program's main goal must be changed.
If the main consideration for distributing these funds is the per capita basis, obviously preference will be given to projects that have a lower environmental impact. For example, in the case of the clean water and wastewater fund, there are ways to extend water systems or to supply new plants for economic development purposes. This comes at the expense of other projects that have a much higher environmental impact, such as pumping stations that would prevent waste water from being discharged directly into the environment.
I'll use the following image to show the people here. Saguenay, the city that I represent, is two and a half times larger than the island of Montreal. It has as many pumping stations, overflows and infiltration plants as the city of Montreal. However, its population is 15 times smaller.
As you can see, we can't succeed if we work this way.