Let's agree that this is a project of significant complexity. It's over 1,000 kilometres of dedicated line, straight line; there aren't many curves. There can be some, but in order to achieve the speeds that we're looking for, this is a piece of linear infrastructure. Anyone who studies the construction of linear infrastructure projects around the world will tell you just how difficult they are. We must do the engineering and the land assembly. We must plan, in some cases, intricate entries into cities like Montreal and Toronto. This is a major engineering project; it's a major construction project. It's one where if we do not take active measures to shorten the planning process, that will significantly delay the construction.
I should mention that delaying the construction by any amount, delaying in any significant way, costs billions and tens of billions of dollars. Canada can do itself a favour by moving forward the date at which we begin the construction of that first segment between Montreal and Ottawa and by then closely after that following in parallel to construct the Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal to Quebec City portions of the project.
This is a popular project. It makes people imagine a better future in many cases. It offers new possibilities to up to 40% of Canada's population, and it is a test and a sign of our ability to get big things done. I think it is an outstanding proposal. This is but one measure that we are proposing to make sure we can get to creating the projects. It's interesting to me that many of the debates we have in the House of Commons are about how we accelerate projects and that—