In terms of joint development, I think the Port of Saint John is doing a lot of joint development, as you know, with the Irvings and with the local uptown group. They've done a lot of good with the boardwalk they've built there, and with tourism and that kind of thing. They've enhanced that community greatly. They continue to work. They're on all kinds of committees and local partnerships. I think joint development is certainly a focus of the Port of Saint John, from what I know, and I don't know in great detail.
I agree with you that a study on the cost of the global bill, as you put it, for infrastructure would be a good one to have, and we don't have it, quite frankly. I know that the TD Bank Financial Group did a study a couple of a years ago and said there was a $120 billion deficit in infrastructure in Canada globally. The ports have significant infrastructure requirements, as well.
What the bill would be, I don't know. A few years ago we did a study, and the capital plans of the eight top ports in Canada was a $1 billion requirement. That's now probably doubled. In the U.S. the Port of Seattle has $8 billion for one port, and most of that comes from federal and state governments. They're funded to the hilt.
We have to go out and find ways and means of financing that infrastructure investment. With this new borrowing regime, we hope that the cost of borrowing will be reduced, because you have more dollars brought to the table when you're financing with the banks or private partners, and you're dealing with partners as equals because you're bringing money to the table as opposed to trying to get their money to do the investment in the port authority. There are lots of benefits from this.