There are many that I know of, and there are billions of dollars in that account. We didn't need to go through all of this special eleven-twelfths unprecedented permission. If we wanted to get infrastructure money rolling out the door quickly, we could have just changed the rules in the Building Canada fund and taken away the matching requirement for provinces. Believe me, they would have come running with plenty of projects, and they'd be under way right now instead of in June. This is the frustration we have and why we're suspicious.
When we were called into that special briefing, all four parties, and asked to give unanimous consent to this notion, we were all very wary, because three-twelfths is the norm. That gives you the bridging necessary and doesn't sacrifice any of the oversight and scrutiny that's been so carefully built into our parliamentary system. Asking for eleven-twelfths up front is a pig in a poke. It's a blank cheque. As I say, the idea of John Baird in a bunny costume, skipping across Canada with a goody basket, spreading the Conservative government's largesse to swing ridings, just turns my stomach.