I will give you a specific example. For those who are not from Montreal, I will try and make the example clear.
There is an arterial road in Montreal called Autoroute 40. The highway goes east-west across the entire city. It was once one of the most dynamic focuses in Montreal's economic plan. Major companies like Pharma and Merck Frosst were located beside Autoroute 40. Those were major innovating companies. They were affiliated abroad, but they were still Canadian companies.
That economic zone has become weaker over about the last 10 years. When you dig a little deeper with those companies, you find that the lack of solid public transit infrastructure is a factor that leads them, when they are choosing to invest or reinvest in the region, to relocate near a public transit system. Ultimately, that translates into a destructuring of the local economy, but it also leads those companies to look elsewhere. Basically, it means that they do not immediately and automatically invest where they are presently, and we can lose them. When we are talking about multinationals, it is an investment that Canada cannot lose.
I agree with you entirely. I am talking about Montreal because that is the community that I represent, but I feel that this is about dynamically urbanizing economic activity all over Canada. I certainly do not want to leave you with the impression that what happens in the regions is not important. Roads are important in the regions. However, our cities must work well and they must be modern. I believe that, if we want a modern Canada and we want an infrastructure investment plan, the time to act is now.
My last topic will be VIA Rail. This has been talked about for decades. Bombardier makes high-speed trains for other places in the world. How come there are none in Canada?
We tell ourselves that, given the costs and complexity of the project, Canada is different. But there is no dedicated track for VIA Rail in the corridor where Canadians do a huge amount of travelling. We are very aware of the state of our environment. So, in this infrastructure investment plan, it makes sense to plan this major initiative that would be a legacy for future generations. By that, I mean a plan for VIA Rail.