Only out of pure affection.
When the Building Canada Fund was announced in 2007, it was done with much fanfare. This was to be long-term, predictable funding to build the infrastructure that we needed in this country. It was announced in 2007. We know that of the allocations that were made for 2007 to 2009, less than 5% actually flowed. Today, you yourself acknowledged that the Building Canada Fund has simply not worked. How are you managing to speed things up, when all of the stimulus infrastructure money is supplied in the same fashion as the money for the Building Canada Fund, with a matching funds requirement?
I have before me a one-page application form for money from the fund. If indeed you are speeding this up somehow, does this provide accountability? As for the attestation at the bottom, where the applicant warrants that the project would not be built without federal funds, we are hearing that people are attesting this even though it's not true, just to get the money. This calls the accountability into question. How are you speeding things up with a program that's built exactly like the Building Canada Fund? Is the level of accountability adequate?