Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank the ministers for being here.
Mr. Minister, you are here before the committee, and you want to ask us for $547 million in additional appropriation authority for infrastructure. You know that Quebec had municipal elections on November 1. During the 30-day period leading up to the elections, no political decisions can be made, since mayors and councillors are in the midst of an election. So no political decisions are made.
Afterwards, it is time to prepare budgets. There are a lot of new city councils, and you said it yourself, or at least some of your colleagues in the House of Commons did, no announcements were made in Quebec during the last election campaign because you did not want to interfere with the municipal elections. And that is good. It is just that today, in the fourth report, you are stating that the government's deadline for the provinces and territories to have committed all the remaining funding is January 29, 2010.
Are you aware that in Quebec, since, I would say, at least August, no decisions have been made by cities or municipalities because of the municipal elections, and no decisions will be made. They are in the process of passing budgets. Some have even asked for an extension until the end of January in order to table their municipal budgets. Therefore, a number of municipalities will not be able to submit requests.
You seem to be sticking to the January 29, 2010 deadline at all costs. Are you flexible on that at all, or is it non-negotiable?