There are two subjects in that question.
I'd like to start with the issue of child poverty, because I heard some comments. The action we took in Budget 2016 to introduce the Canada child tax benefit gives 3.2 million families the Canada child tax benefit. In 2017 we will have 40% fewer children living in poverty in this country than we had in 2014. I don't know how anybody living in a country as wealthy as ours can say that's not something that we should absolutely aspire to, the idea that we are going to make a difference in child poverty. I mean, I don't know how a House of Commons with people from all different parties can't say, “This is absolutely a goal that we should aspire to.” I couldn't be more proud of those efforts. If we can look back a decade or two from now say that we've been able to do that, we will all be very proud of the time we spent in the House of Commons. I'm sure of that, because it will make a real and measurable difference in the long term.
The Canada infrastructure bank is something that's going to make a difference over the long term. It's something that we know will amplify our efforts. We want to get going on it quickly, so in response to your question around timelines, we will move forward with legislation for it in our 2017 budget. Our aspiration is that it will be operational in 2017. We'll be developing a pipeline of projects. I can't tell you right now that I know what the projects are, but I can give you examples.
The project in Montreal that the Caisse de dépôt and the transit system are working on with the Quebec government is a good example of the kind of project that has inspired our vision, the kinds of projects that public sector pension funds, in the case of the Caisse de dépôt , look at and see that they can improve the lives of retirees over the long term by having infrastructure investments. We can do that to improve the lives of the people who live in Montreal by getting them to and from work more rapidly by getting at this project. There will be big transformational projects in this country that we won't get to or won't get to quickly unless we find a way to crowd more funds into the sector. That's what we aspire to do.
I want to just make sure that you, Monsieur Caron, and others realize that we remain committed to significant infrastructure investments that will not be through the infrastructure bank, because there will be many projects for which it will not be the appropriate vehicle. However, there will be others that will be appropriate and that will have a bigger, quicker impact on Canadians and a much bigger impact on our economy because we move forward in a way that is groundbreaking in the world. That's our objective.
