We are getting additional resources with respect to staff at Infrastructure Canada. We have come forward with our five-point action plan with respect to reducing red tape, which can be an awfully heavy paper burden, a heavy administrative burden on my department.
I think one of the approaches we take--and I don't apologize for in some respects being a provincialist--whether it comes to our friends in the Bloc Québécois, or whether it comes to, for example, the province in which I represent a riding in the House of Commons, is that it is not the federal government's job to micromanage the provinces.
Premier McGuinty brought forward to the first ministers conference a binder of some five or six inches of a business case they were required to do with respect to Infrastructure Canada and the federal rules and red tape. The Province of Ontario does not work for me. They do not work for Infrastructure Canada. Our job is to be a funding partner.
I think we can have a fair balance between the gas tax, of which I know you were a big advocate, where you just give the money as a blank cheque, versus having two years' worth of paperwork and administration where we try to micromanage things that are not our responsibility. So I think we're coming up with a reasonable balance.
What we want to do is identify projects in concert with municipalities and provinces. We want to ensure that they eligible and we want to respect jurisdiction.
I have no intention of trying to micromanage George Smitherman and Infrastructure Ontario, because I think they're quite capable of doing it themselves, and they are responsible and accountable to their provincial legislature, to their provincial auditor general. They're not responsible to this Parliament. They're not responsible to me. They're not responsible to the Auditor General of Canada.