Thank you, Chair.
My question will go to Mr. Leys, and then I want Mr. Barron to speak to it.
Suffice it to say that successive governments, some more than others, have not spent enough on small craft harbour infrastructure. That's established; that's given. Fiona has demonstrated the impact of that.
We recognize that the money announced by our government is a first step. We've made that clear. At the same time, the Government of Canada set aside a billion dollars a couple of weeks ago to accept the cost that's coming from the four provinces under the DFAA agreement. Some of the infrastructure Mr. Barron referred to could be covered under this if it is not small craft harbours. Small craft harbours, under the Financial Administration Act, are the only property the Government of Canada can spend money on to improve. There may be a source from there.
My question follows what Mr. Small and Mr. Arnold raised. The concern I have is that while we can appropriate money, it's not going to immediately translate into work getting done.
Mr. Leys, do you have any recommendations to this committee that would allow a faster process while protecting the taxpayers' public funds, a faster process that could go from dedicated funding to projects getting under way? This is one of the frustrations I pick up from harbour authorities. Could we use harbour authorities more?
Mr. Leys, you could briefly speak to that. From your experience, can you recommend anything to this committee that could speed up the process? If there's a lot of money to spend on fixing things up, you have to have contractors in place, you have to have adequate design, you have to have oversight, and you have to ensure that public funds are spent in the right place.
How do we resolve that conundrum?