Thank you, Chair.
Welcome, Minister Baird. And as always, I look forward to your direct and forthright comments. I know that like most regions across this country, my riding of Prince Edward--Hastings certainly is eager to be a willing partner in infrastructure improvements. We look forward to participating in this form of stimulus, which obviously will provide a long-lasting benefit for all Canadians.
That having been said, I think we all recognize that the time limits and the various levels of cooperation are absolutely critical. So as such, there's been a lot of talk about the need for all the levels of government to work together. What I would like to know from you is this. What is your department, on behalf of our government, doing to encourage and to facilitate these various levels of cooperation? Likewise, what is it doing to ensure that all the provinces and all the municipalities receive their share of this funding as quickly as possible?
So there are two questions: the level of cooperation and the speed of the funding.